Quilt Reveal: Pinwheels

I have finished my latest quilt. It is relatively small 12" x 36" so it a mini quilt or a table runner.  It is my mini quilt of the month for the month of July.

The blocks were started in October 2010. While some quilts are delayed because of some problem, this one was delayed because I thoroughly enjoyed making the blocks. Once the components are made, they can be switched around and placed in different ways to form blocks that look very different from each other. I planned on making even more components to find more ways to form these blocks.

In May, I pulled out the blocks again. I decided to finish these blocks off into a quilt and experiment with more blocks at a later date.

The original plan was a 2 x 2 layout, but once I saw that a 1 x 4 layout let each block shine on its own, everything fell in place and it was easy to make the quilt top.

Then some things happened and this quilt top waited for me to finish it.

Sandwiching it was easy, since the backing fabric and the batting were already cut to size.  I haven't used the sewing machines in a while, and I still had post traumatic shock from the last time I used them. I broke needles, and a needle holder, and when I took the one machine to the shop, it got waylaid in the coronavirus store closing, and then I had to pick it up from another town quickly. "Come today because we might shut down tomorrow and then we don't know when you will be able to get your machine back."

The quilting is simple to let the quilt blocks shine, and since the busy border wouldn't show the quilting much anyway.  Straight lines to avoid any trauma.  I was originally planning on quilting horizontal lines on the longer borders, but I was afraid that there might be some puckering where the lines crossed, and I wanted this quilt to be as stress free as possible. Straight vertical lines did mean more turning (since I didn't quilt through the pinwheels), and more rows to quilt, but it is a small quilt so it wasn't a big deal.

I didn't have enough of the backing / border fabric for a separate double fold binding, but I did have enough for a fold over binding. I haven't done that very often, but I did write a tutorial the last time I did it.  Since it wasn't planned, I did have to rip out some parts where I had sewn past the quilt top, but it wasn't very much. Since I quilted all the way to the edge, I trimmed the quilt slightly past the quilt top to avoid cutting the backing and kept the binding wide enough to cover that gap. Since it is the same fabric as the border, it looks great!

Linked with:

Finished or Not Friday

Butterfly Wreaths -- Quilted Scalloped and Bound

I finished quilting the scallops for Butterfly Wreaths.  It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be.  I wound up having the exact amount of thread I needed to make that last row of quilting. I switched to another slightly darker thread, which will be fine because it shows on the back and not the front. I followed the instructions to make bias binding, and I wound up having the exact amount of fabric for binding this quilt. When you add in the seam allowance, the scallops don't wind up being as deep as they looked when they were being cut.

Here's what it looks like from the back. There are several different colors of thread on the back, but it isn't obvious and adds interest. It looks so pretty, I'm not sure where to add the label.

The wind posed this shot.

It isn't finished yet!  I will wash away a little bit of stray marks where I marked the cutting line for the scallops, and then will be adding these beads in the light squares. I have to justify all the beads I buy to embellish quilts, and I have enough of these leaves for all of the squares.

[Edited to add: I am going to call this finished for now. This quilt finishes at an awkward size - too small to be a wall hanging over the couch, and too big to fit comfortably on the bulletin board.  It will probably serve best as a table topper, which means I shouldn't be adding embellishments on it. Also I need to get to the backlog of quilts that also want to be finished.]

 

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 10

This week, I spent quilting and binding Butterfly Wreaths. Also learning how to scallop and do bias binding.  Yesterday, I started another (hopefully quick) quilt. I am almost done touching every. single. thing. in the master bedroom to see if it sparks joy. I have a couple of box lids of things I have kicked out of the room and I need to find new homes for them. After that, I need to do some general cleaning before I tackle deep cleaning another room.

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 69 out of 69 sessions
Success Rate: 100%

Linked to:
Oh Scrap!
15 Minutes to Stitch Week 10
Slow Sunday Stitching - I stitched the binding on this quilt.
Moving it Forward 
What I Made on Monday 
Needle and Thread Thursday

Quilt Festival Fall 2018

It's time for a virtual Blogger's Quilt Festival organized by Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side.

To participate, you get to show off one or two of your favorite quilts!  Today, I thank you for visiting, and share with you a quilt I finished early in the year, Adinkra.   It is one of favorite quilts for many reasons.

It started out very slowly, one block a month in 2016. This really helped me during the times of the year I was incredibly busy, as it was easy to make a block (fusible, machine stitched) there was no guilt for not finishing a whole quilt. One block was a finish. The slow pace slowed me down on this quilt, and I took my time making each decision on this quilt without rushing through and accepting the first choice.

I changed the size of the applique blocks, and made a mistake in sizing the economy blocks so I lost the sharp points on the yellow, but that made the quilt turn out even better. I didn't have to fix my "mistake" and I really like how the same yellow fabric in these blocks looks like it is a different color. That open area in the intersections work to prove that it is the same fabric.

I was able to use my precious African fabrics that were waiting for just the right quilt to use. Each of the fabrics worked so nicely together too.

The quilting on the quilt was so incredibly fun. I learned about doodle quilting, and I did exactly that. Instead of making a plan for each area, I just doodled different designs as it came to me.  The thread hides most of the stitching until you take a closer look.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt, and everything tended to work out on this quilt. As you can see in the picture above, even the join I had to make in the border worked well. The top of the head seamed nicely with the body on the next piece.


Even the binding went on well, with four sharp miters in the corners that look beautifully mitered.

All the pictures, and the rest of this post are from when I introduced it in February. Unfortunately, I haven't made a label for the quilt yet.

Quilt stats:

size:  44" x 44".

pattern: 2016 BOM by Debby Kravotil. Thank you so much Debby!

fabric: variety of African fabrics, most of which are metallic

quilting: free motion echo stitching around motifs, doodle stitching throughout border and remaining blocks

what I learned:

• Expanding the definition of what "matches". This quilt has lots of combinations I wouldn't have thought to use together, but my limited selection of fabrics made me stretch, and I think the result is fabulous.


• I really enjoy combining applique with piecing. The applique and the quilting were my favorite parts.


• When I first learned about free motion quilting, I thought it looked like doodling on fabric, but then I learned rules about not crossing lines, and saw lots of videos about proper quilting designs, and breaking the quilt into sections and choosing a different design for each section and lost the fact that I could truly doodle.  I truly doodled on this quilt and it was exhilarating!

I plan to make up a label that explains all the symbols on the quilt.

Linked with:
Friday Photo Fun

Unassuming Quilt

Quilts don't really talk to me, but sometimes describing the conversation helps explain the mood and feel of the quilt.

This quilt has always been unassuming and flexible. It made no demands and was willing to go along with the first thing I suggested.

I made some blocks (mistakes from the On Ringo Lake quilt), and when I decided to put them in the orphan box, there was nothing to compel me to do anything else.  But, as I was taking the blocks upstairs to put them in the orphan blocks box, I spied the sashing fabric that would be adequate for the quilt. There was nothing compelling me to find the perfect fabric to match.

Then I laid the blocks aside, and while I was looking for fabric for some other quilt (or cleaning up the sewing room), I found the other sashing fabric. Same situation for the border fabric.

When I went to get the Droid quilt, this quilt was a stowaway, as it was sharing a hanger. It was more than happy to just wait until I got around to quilting it, but as I was looking for batting for the Droid quilt, the piece I picked up was the right size for this quilt, and the backing fabric was sitting on top of a pile. Again, it was perfectly adequate, and there was nothing compelling me to find a better backing. I am really happy with this fabric as the backing. It adds a fun touch.

The quilting was also easy. There was nothing compelling me to try hard, so I made the leaf shapes.  I did practice feathers in the wide sashing. I was thinking of straight lines for the border, but am glad I decided to make hills instead. I decided to let this quilt keep things easy, and folded the backing to the front. I think the busy fabric keeps a casual look to the quilt.

 

“I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.”
― John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne 

15 Minutes to Stitch

I managed to stitch 15 minutes a day's worth this week on this quilt. I didn't do much stitching the previous week, and since I don't remember for sure, I will go ahead and call it 0. I just wasn't motivated to do much stitching last week.


15 Minute sessions of stitching this week:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  198 out of 245 sessions
Success rate: 80%

This makes my success rate at 80%. I'm hoping not to go below that, so hopefully I will continue the progress for the rest of the year.

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch - Week 35
What I made Monday 
Design Wall Monday 
Main Crush Monday 
Monday Making 
Friday Finishes 
Let's Bee Social

Quilt Reveal: Red and White Presents

Since I had such a good time quilting my last quilt, I decided to go on and quilt another one. Here's my finished red and white presents quilt. The lighting isn't good in the fall/winter, but at least you can tell that it is finished.

 

Unfortunately this one was not fun to quilt.  I used free motion quilting, and my biggest mistake was not planning a continuous line.  I knew I wanted to do loops in the inside squares, and a bigger loop in the long rectangles, but my plan for the remaining sashing involved traveling back along existing lines, and there really wasn't a good flow from one space to the next. 

(I obviously wasn't trying to match points on this quilt. The center square is half an inch finished.) 

There were other issues too. I kept running out of bobbin.  There is some kind of problem with the machine, and the bobbin fills only about half way.  I have a separate bobbin winder and my two broken machines upstairs have bobbin winders that work just fine, so I don't have any excuse for not using one of those, but I didn't think a small quilt like this would need that kind of effort.  Then I ran out of spool thread too.

I also had other interruptions - some perfectly normal family type stuff, and some bots who are worried about the interest rates on my credit cards.  When I was working on the tile quilt, after an interruption, I would come back and say "now where was I?" and resume quilting. With this quilt, the interruption would lead me to say "let me turn this machine off and do . . . " something else. 

These interruption meant I wasn't able to establish a good rhythm flow to the quilting, and the path changed from one session to the next. I don't think any of that is obvious in the finished quilt though.

Here it is, a second generation quilt next to its parent.

Quilt Reveal: Awards Banquet

Hello all!

I have a finished quilt to show you!  Awards Banquet.

Here is the story. This quilt started out as a leftovers quilt, as do many of the small quilts I make. Here is the original quilt which used free pieced rails.  To make this one different, I used only the black and white fabric and cut the rails with a ruler.

4 Improv Quilt

©Shasta Matova

After I made the triangle blocks and decided to set them on point. I auditioned several fabrics and decided to use red for the setting squares and the center squares.  I pulled out this red which feels more city and made the quilt more elegant than the improv origins would show. I added it despite the fact that the red fabric felt more city-like as compared to the black and white chickens which felt more country.  We are allowed to have chickens in the city.

When it came time to choose a border, I was a little bit conflicted. I wanted to use up the black and white fabric I had, but I read the words as 2000 at first glance.  If I wasn't willing to use 2000 fabric in 2014, when was I going to?  So I decided to use it.  As I cut it up, I realized that it didn't say 2000 at all. It said "moo" and there were cows on it. How could I have missed them? My favorite fancy red fabric was going into a quilt with chickens and cows on it. I don't think we are allowed to keep cows in the city. Most of my black and white fabric came from a fat quarter swap.

My realization came at just about the time I received an invitation to attend an awards banquet.  It is an annual banquet to thank the employees for the hard work they have done during the year.  Usually when I am invited to this banquet, I am asked whether I want beef or chicken.  I didn't get to choose that year, because the person inviting me chose for me. It's probably because he didn't think to ask me until it was too late and had to make a choice right away, but I will believe that it is because he loves me and wants me to eat healthier that he chooses chicken.

Anyway, these two things mixed in my head and this quilt became to be known as Awards Banquet. After all, the name "Leftovers Quilt" has already been taken, and this quilt is far too nice to be a leftover.

I cut the setting triangles the wrong size, and instead of scrapping them, I turned them into three-dimensional prairie points in the border. I really like how they extend the setting triangles make the top float.  I was going to leave them loose, but it was easier to quilt them down. I free motion quilted awards ribbons in the center squares to fit the name. #1 of course.

This is a small quilt measuring 19 1/2" X 24". It was started in April 2014 and finished today.  It snowed yesterday, so I rushed to finish it today while there was still daylight outside.  I was able to photograph it outside in the snow. Even though it isn't an unusual design, it is my own design. It is my first Finish for 2016.

For finishing, I received this Certificate of Completion. But no beef or chicken, unfortunately, as I am trying to eat vegetarian, and I don't have either of those in the house.

Linked to:
Let's be Social #107.
Needle and Thread Thursday

Quilt Reveal: Irish Chain

I have finished my Irish chain quilt. And I managed to keep it simple and modern. Even though all that white space called out to me to do something - add an applique or embroidery motif, some large multi-colored hand stitches, etc., I kept my promise to keep it simple and do some straight line quilting. I even stayed with the original plan and managed to avoid free motion quilting. I figured that the hexagon quilt is already giving me enough challenge, and I need to get this one done.

I've been trying to make a modern quilt.  Keeping it simple, but for every other quilt, I wound up doing something that threw off the modernity.  Straight lines all the way up and down the quilt, even through the border.  I thought about making vertical and horizontal lines, but I liked them better diagonal to make them fancier. I was originally going to use that dark green thread throughout, but I chickened out and went with the lighter thread for most of it.  The dark green is only on the chains.  I like the contrast the two different thread colors give this quilt.

What's so funny is that my most modern quilt is also the most traditional.  One of the first quilts I ever finished uses this kind of quilting pattern.

I had an extra nine patch left, so I made a label for it. I found several quotes about chains, and I particularly liked this one. We have to make so many decisions in quilting, as in life, and it is always a gamble whether the decision is a good one or not.

 I have not an ounce of regret. Every link is so valuable in forming the chain that is my life. Who I am today is because of those links, and I wouldn't change any of them.
Alanis Morissette

I bound it while binge-watching Rehab Addict, a home improvement show that fits more my style.  A single mother fixed houses without killing the character of the home.  Each of the little squares finish at .75".  It is approximately 21' x 27", making it one of my biggest small quilts.