Tiles: A Quilt Finish!

It's been a long long time since I finished a quilt, but the day has finally come!  I had forgotten how wonderful it feels; the sense of accomplishment you have putting in that last binding stitch.  Ah, happiness.  

Clearly Sunday was not the prettiest day for quilt photography.  It was grey, wind-less and foggy.  Really really foggy. The kind of fog that you can not tell if it is raining on you or if that is just the cloud touching your arm.  Weird.  I can not remember the last time I took quilt-on-the-line photos when the quilt just hung there.  It makes for a boring photo shoot if I'm honest.

Tiles began in a class I took with Amy Smart at the Fat Quarterly retreat in July 2014.  The class was wonderful and Amy was incredibly nice.  She had some really simple tips and tricks for rapidly piecing a quilt, which are always handy.  This quilt is from her book Fabulously Fast quilts.  It honestly would have been a fast finish (not a 6 month finish) if I had two weekends to dedicate to it.  

The top is Kona Snow with a variety of scraps from my stash and the shop.  Its a bit more toned down than my usual in-your-face scrappiness, and I like that a whole lot.  The borders are two Denyse Schmidt prints I picked up from Joann's a long while ago.  I love these fabrics, so what better way to incorporate them than as statement pieces like this?  I think they work.  

The back is pieced with a floral that I used on my Swoon called Farmgirl's Garden with a coordinating yellow on yellow polka dot from Social Club by Moda.  They went together so nicely and the yellow coordinated so very well with the Architextures and Vintage Happy yellows on the top.  Ah, I love it when fabrics come together.  I used the scraps of the yellow dot to bind the quilt.

I quilted it on my frame using a pantograph by Golden Threads.  I don't know if you can see it, but this pattern is a wave with a loop nested into the crest of the wave.  Together they reminded me of snowdrop flowers.  It was a bit of a learning curve for me quilting this, but in the end I am SO glad I stuck with it and saw it through.  I love the finished look and learned a tremendous amount.

That's it!  A finished quilt that's already in use on the couch.  It's covered in thread from my current super top secret birthday hand stitching, littered with dog and cat fur and a bit wrinkled.  Already broken in and happy.  Woo hoo for quilt finishes!

Quilt Stats:

Name: Tiles (as it was called in Amy Smart's book)

Made for: use on my couch 

Fabric: Kona snow with Farmgirl's Garden and Social Club dots on the back.   The scrappy top is from Vintage Happy, Weeds, Happy Go Lucky, Flea Market Fancy, Architextures, Scrumptious, Gingham, Simply Style, Technicolor (and a few more I'm sure I am missing)

Thread: Pieced with 50 weight Aurifil cotton in 2600 and 2021.  Quilted with Aurifil cotton 50 weight 201.

Batting: Simply Cotton.

Size: 55 x 76 inches.

Quilting: On my frame with Golden Threads panto pattern.

Pattern: From Amy Smart's book Fabulously Fast Quilts, but really from my class at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July 2014.

Tiles Quilt Top Finish

At the Fat Quarterly retreat back in June 2014, I registered for a class with Amy Smart for a quick pieced quilt top.   Although I had the little scrappy blocks pieced in no time, I could not seem to get myself organized to piece the rows on point and to add the little (already cut) triangles to the end of each row.  All it took was a day at home over the Christmas break and this pretty was done!

I absolutely love it.  I wish I used a wider variety of strips for strip piecing to give a more scrappy appearance to the tiles.  That said, I love how the colors sing together and one doesn't dominate.  I choose to use two Denyse Schmidt fabrics on the borders - the aqua one finishing at 2 inches wide and the plaid will finish at 3 inches wide.  They give it a bit of a retro vibe.

Now, I live in Galway.  It's not known for it's glorious weather, but is instead associated with insane wind, sideways rain and cloud cover.  The day of this photo shoot was suitably challenging.  I leave you with the out-takes.  I'm off to sort out a back and get it on the frame for quilting!  Woo hoo!

Finished My Swoon! Finished My Swoon!

Can you believe it?  I can not.  I had a look back through my blog to find my first Swoon post: I first joined Sarah's Swoonalong in June 2013.  I had my Denyse Schmidt fabrics pulled, the pattern in hand and a color coded plan ready to roll.

My first 5 blocks came together in August 2013 with the rest to follow in September and November.  I was on a roll....right?  That sashing was a mental block, but I came around eventually. It was April 2014 before I showed you a finished top.  I was DELIGHTED! 

I packed it up and sent it off to an Irish longarm quilter and waited...and waited...and waited...only for her to return it to me unquilted.  I threw it into a cabinet and shut the door.  I didn't even open the returned parcel I was so disgusted.  It sat there for nearly six months, ignored.

Finally in October, Liz Dunne and I started to work together to get this monster finished off.  I can not say enough about how wonderful Liz was to work with.  She offered ideas, listened to what I imagined, generated sketches and sent on photos and texts during the quilting process.  Wonderful.  I had my Swoon returned to me on Halloween day and finally bound as a 2014 finish in mid Dec.  What a long journey!  

Want to see it?

We took Swoon on a hike up Mullaghmore, Co Clare for a photo shoot on 27 Dec 2014.  It was a stunning day...and I had 2 men with me who were over 6 ft tall and could hold the quilt up no problem.  She's too tall for my clothes line, you see.  

The back was pieced Le Creme (with hot pink microdots) with a WOF strip of Farmgirl's Garden (by Joined at the Hip for Clothworks).  It was pretty straight-up as far as just piecing an off-center strip of my focus fabric within the Le Creme.  The back fabric color coordinated PERFECTLY with the DS prints I used on the front.  It's quite floral and romantic, which is not really me, but it works very nicely in this context.

At this point on our hike, the sun was starting to go down, so the quilt is a bit orange/pink tinted.  I couldn't stop taking photos, though.

The quilting by Liz was unique for each block.  The texture is incredible.  Liz used an Angela Walters swirl hook in the negative space, ribbon candy in the grey border, feathers in the gold borders, finger quilting in the exterior halo of the star with orange peels in the interior part of the star to give a flower-like effect.  The center of each star has a circular feather wreath.  All told, it's about 50 hours worth of quilting in this quilt.  

Thank you all for your continued encouragement through the long process of making this quilt.  This was a bit of a struggle at times, but now that she's finished I could not be happier.  I pet her every time I walk by, trace the quilting with my fingers and show her off to anyone who is polite enough to fake caring.  This quilt finish fills my heart with happiness and pride.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Swoon.  What else would it be?

Made for: Me. Me. Me.  It will live on my guest bed.

Fabric: Kona with Denyse Schmid fabrics on top.  Riley Blake Le Creme dot for the back with Clothworks "Farmgirl's Garden". Denyse Schmidt binding.

Thread: Pieced with 100% cotton Aurifil.  Quilted with So Fine pearl.

Batting: 100% Simply Cotton.

Size: 96x96 inches.  She's a whopper.

Quilting: Quilted by Liz Dunne. 

Pattern: Swoon by Thimble Blossoms, found here.

Big Stitch Swap Mini Quilt

Several months ago the Big Stitch Swap, co hosted by myself and Sarah, kicked off with a lovely group of happy stitchers.  The idea was to create something small (think table cover, zippy purse, journal cover) for your partner where hand stitching was a predominant design element.  It was perfect for summer time when everyone was on the go!  

I decided to make a mini quilt for my partner (and friend) Leanne using my recent favorite fabrics by Denyse Schmidt and a pattern from Cut.Press.Sew.Quilt that I have been wanting to try.  It has two perfect opportunities in the body and arm of the machine to personalize the quilt.

Luckily Leanne's blog header and logo are easily converted into cross stitching grids.  I went to my favorite cross stitch designer for help and then ran to the nearest shop for floss.  

I brought these with me to the beach, to music festivals...even to Fat Quarterly!  It was really nice to share my travels with you, Leanne.

The back and binding are coordinating DS prints.  That plaid could be one of my favorite prints of all time!  I'm using it everywhere lately.

And finally, on the back I added two little folds of fabric so that Leanne could easily hang it on her wall with a bamboo post or even a bit of clothes hanger wire.  She has such an amazing wall of minis that are done in her unique modern industrial style, so I hope this doesn't look too out of place.  I had a wonderful time making it, Leanne.  I hope it brightens your sewing room!

Mexico City Donation Quilt: Finished!

Earlier this year, the call went out from Alison, of Little Island Quilting, to create quilts for a home in Mexico City for street children.   The timing was perfect for me.  I had somewhat lost my quilting and blogging mojo around Christmas time, but this took my interest right away.  Before I knew it, I found myself stitching!

I had the quilt top finished in no time, but had a mental block against layering and quilting this cutie.  I do not know what my problem was because it took not time at all to baste and was quilted in one evening.

The backing is a single piece of Ikea hippos.  You can see the concentric (irregular) spiralling square/rectangle quilting a bit better back here.  I used good old 50 weight Aurifil (2024).  It never fails.  The binding is a white with blue and yellow dots and little orange flowers.  I like how it ties together the top and the back, but I'm a bit worried it will get dirty quite quickly.

I like the charms used here.  They're bright, colorful and unisex.  There are a few critters to keep a child's interest and different textures (cotton and cotton:linen).  I hope that some child will find it warm and comforting.

Alison, thank you for passing this along to a child who needs it!  It's already wrapped up and in the post winging its way to you.

This quilt is another finish on my Finish Along 2014 first quarter list.  Yippee!  That's 2 of 5 projects finished.  I had better get crackin' on the other 3...time is running out!

Name: Doesn't have one. I should think about that.

Made for: Mexican home for street children.

Fabric: Stash Kona Snow, charms from my stash, IKEA backing, Riley Blake binding.

Thread: Pieced with Aurifil 2024.

Batting: 100% Simply Cotton.

Size: Approximately 42x42 inches.

Quilting: Quilted in concentric, spiralling squares

Pattern: Moda Bake Shop pattern found here.

Mexico City Donation Quilt

After reading Hadley's post last week, I too was inspired to make a donation quilt to be sent to Mexico City. I skipped right over to Alison's post to get the details and I signed up to make a small charm quilt for a small person.  I quickly decided this was going to be made 100% from my stash, using the wealth of charms I have recently accumulated via swaps.  As usual, the Moda Bake Shop had the perfect pattern for me! 

The background is really cream - that awful yellow is from the ceiling light
in the room.  Stinky winter lighting.

I jumped right in and finished the top in a day.  The charms, background and solid stripes are indeed from my stash.  I have to say I was surprised to find enough background cream in my stash to make this!  I have also find enough backing, batting and binding.  Super.

Sadly, I didn't realize until the top was constructed that the dotty navy blue in the upper left 9-patch should really have been cream.  It doesn't bother me enough that I have the urge to unpick it and fix my mistake.  I also mis-interpreted the pattern where they discuss the charm squares for the upper and side stripes.  I should really have cut up double the number of charms that I did (and mixed them all up between the 4 stripes), but only realized after the two stripes on the left were pieced.  I thought it would look funny with other charm prints running across the top as compared to those running down the side, so I choose to go with a solid.  I think it still works.  Do you?  Or should I go back and re-piece them?

Can't wait to layer this and get to quilting!  It feels so good to have a project that takes my interest again.  I'm on a roll!

Modern Stitching Bee Quilt: FINISHED

Why is it bee quilts are always my favorites?  Is it because each of my friends contributed a bit of happiness?  Is it because I can see their personalities in each block?  I think so!  The ladies in this bee are so very special to me, so this quilt was bound to be a hit!  

This quilt started in November of 2012 when I was queen bee and requested a scrappy Depression block.  My bee mates were quick to send in beautiful blocks, but I had set them aside for months and months. It was only when I was preparing for the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July 2013 that I realized I could assemble the top and hand it off to Emily for quilting (you can see her work bit better in this post).  Done!

 

 

The back is Kona Peacock pieced with signature blocks from some of my bee mates.  I wish I made other siggy blocks for those who were not able to send in their own...just to have the complete group included.  Live and learn.

 

  

 I then finished it off with a dotty pink binding from Simply Style and popped it into the wash and held my breath.  Thank goodness the Color Catchers did their job because the white top stayed nice and crisp.  After a day or two on the line and a tumble dry, this quilt is now in use each and every evening.  

Ladies, thank you.  I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Quilt Stats

Name: Unknown - Modern Stitching Bee Quilt for now.

Made for: Me to use while watching TV curled up on the couch.

Fabric: Scraps and white fabric from bee mates, Kona Peacock on the back and binding by Simply Style.

Thread: Pieced with Aurifil.

Batting: 100% Simply Cotton.

Size: Approximately 60x60 inches.

Quilting: Quilted by Emily using an infinity loop.

Pattern: Depression block using this tutorial.

Significant Quilt Top Finished

Not that the finishing of this top is significant, but the name of this quilt will be Significant.  I will tell you the whole story later, but the long and short of it is this quilt is being made for a family who needs a quilty warm hug. I wanted to make a quilt that could be used by the whole family this winter when curling up on the couch.  I tried for a more neutral colors scheme than I usually go for (ash, white and creams vs. scrappy rainbow) and avoided things that might make it too girly as there are two fellas in this family.

With three Comma charm packs, some Kona Ash and my Sizzix, I altered Jennifer's Starflower tutorial scaling each HST block to 4.5 inches square.  The first border is a 2 inch (finished) strip of Kona Black followed by a second border (3 inches finished) of Comma Asterisk.  The full top is now 70x70 inches, which is perfect for a couch quilt.

I just need to finish off the back, sort out the label and then I'm sending this off to be quilted professionally.  It is quite important to me that this family has the quilt quickly and I take months and  months to quilt anything.  Sending it out seemed like the best thing to do. 

I hope to show you a finished quilt next week!  

Modern Stitching Bee: Quilted

It is with great excitement that I show you my new gorgeously quilted Modern Stitching Bee quilt!  It was recently quilted by Emily on her wonderful frame and I am absolutely thrilled with the results!  Look!  Look!

Photo by Emily

As Emily's frame is new to her, she is offering a basting service to anyone who doesn't fancy loosing their dignity and crawling all over the floor to baste a quilt.  Although she is not taking quilts from the general public for quilting quite yet, she's happy to take quilts from folks who are willing to let her learn/grow in her quilting skills.  Now I know Emily is phenomenal, so I was more than happy to give her my quilty baby.

Photo by Emily

The Modern Stitching Bee was incredibly important to me as I had such great bloggy friends included in the hive.  I loved each and every month we had together for the laughs and the quilty inspiration.  I was Miss November and chose a Depression  Block for the ladies to make.  I was a bit slow contributing my own blocks...still making them in January after the hive blocks arrived!  I needed to add a few extra to bring it up to size.  Since winter, it's been a finished top hanging over the shop door waiting to be layered and quilted.

Photo by Emily

But when making my Q2 and Q3 FAL goal lists, including the goal to finish this quilt (!!!), I realized both Emily and I would be the Fat Quarterly retreat in London.  I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do a quilty hand off.  I happily gave her the finished top, batting and back (with signature blocks) and we chatted with Leanne to decide how it should be quilted.  We eventually decided on an infinity loop.  I wanted something bubbly to counterbalance the edges of the HSTs, but I didn't want it to be over quilted so that it would remain soft.  The infinity loop is perfect.  Before handing it off to Emily, we took a hive photo at the retreat.  How fun to get nearly half of the hive together!  The folks below are from the UK, Canada, Ireland and the US.  Amazing.

Photo by Leanne and Laura Jane
Susan, me, Leanne, Emily, Nicky and Di

Anyway, Emily has just finished it off and sent it over to Galway in the post.  Today it arrived and I am bubbling with excitement at the real deal in front of me.  I just need to get a binding on this old friend and we'll call it finished.  I am so excited to put it to use watching movies this winter.  Emily, it's gorgeous.  Thank you!!!

 I have just realized I need a name for this quilt.  Any suggestions?  

Little Star: A finish!

At the end of May, I started Little Star on a total whim. It was one of those quilty ideas that you had to immediately.  The quilt top came together nearly immediately as I was using the left-over pieced scraps from Nieve's quilt, Chaos.  I then thought it would be a great opportunity for me to give hand quilting a try.  You can read about that adventure in this guest post, but suffice it to say after a bit of a learning curve I did gain enough hand quilting confidence to finish her off.

This quilt has been finished since the first week of July...I just didn't get around to take photos for all of you.  Well, today's the day for her great reveal!

She is hand quilted in teal perle echoing the star, then in chartreuse green in straight lines through the center of the star.  The chartreuse blends in with the scraps, so you really only see that from the back.

  

I'm quite pleased with this little finish.  I'll happily pop her into the next shop pop-up stall to go to a new home.  Until then, she makes me happy every time I see her!

Quilt Stats:

Name: Little Star
Made for: the shop

Fabric: Scraps (all 100% cotton) in the star, then Kona teal as the background.  Kona medium grey is on the back, then its bound in a Robert Kaufman print
Thread: Aurifil 2600 for piecing (50 wt)

Batting: Simply Cotton

Size: 31 inches x 31 inches

Quilting: Hand quilted echoing the star in teal perle cotton (Anchor no. 8) and then in straight lines through the star with chartreuse perle cotton (Anchor no. 8)

Pattern: A small version of the Giant Star.