Happy quilt day!
This quilt was inspired by the Sea Squared quilt pattern, free from Birch Fabrics.
Most of the fabrics are from the Into the Deep fabric line by Michael Miller Fabrics.
The dolphins and whales are from a random panel that was in my collection. They had lots to say, so here they are on the quilt!
It’s a girl!
This precious fabric is the Little Red Riding Hood collection from Riley Blake.
The big bad wolf and grandmother’s cottage are also adorably represented.
And, of course, the mushrooms?
Guess the name of the new little niece…
The pattern is free on the Moda Bakeshop website http://www.modabakeshop.com/2014/04/charm-party-baby-quilt-bonus-pillow.html
After making the HSTs for the quilt, I ended up with smaller leftover HSTs.
They became this little dolly quilt. When Ava has a little baby, the baby can have a blanky like hers!
I chose this fun Hawaiian print for the backing.
I actually quilted this one myself!
Sometimes it seems like a stack of fabric is burning a hole in your fabric collection. Like you just have to use it, and use it now.
I had this bundle of Fibs & Fables fabric by Anna Maria Horner. Dying to use it, I was in between other quilting projects.
I pulled a book off my shelf, Tula Pink’s Quilts from the House of Tula Pink.
I picked the Dream Weaver pattern.
The solid is Essex yarn-dyed linen. This is one of my new favorite “solids” to use in my quilts.
I love the denim-y look of the Essex. In my world, everything goes with denim.
The quilting was done by Lea Ingram here on Kauai. I love the vertical rope-like look in the sashing.
Tippy the panther has claimed his spot at the foot of the bed. No close-ups of the cat hair today.
I probably should be more careful about folding Mark. But look at that detail in his hair!
I scanned the signature and stitched it out on my Destiny. What a great sewing machine.
The woodgrain in the fence makes you just want to run out and whitewash it!
This amazing quilting was done by Deonn Stott, a true artisan.
Every detail comes alive with her great vision.
The paddlewheel blocks were quilted to look like, well, paddlewheels on a river boat.
I embroidered a different quote on the quilt, one that felt more like “me.”
My new Pfaff and I won the battle, the Hawaiian quilt is bound and ready! Come back tomorrow for all the delicious pictures!
Don’t you just love picking out fabrics for quilt blocks? Once I’ve got that first print, that is.
I just got my hands on this yummy orange colored apple print. The blue jumped right in, and then the yellow.
I wanted black in my Caroline block. The red and green allowed for great contrast, which makes the pinwheels pop!
I am paper piecing my blocks, and have discovered a wonderful hint for the blocks like Caroline that have lots of pieces in lots of colors. Before I start stitching, I write the colors that I am using in the appropriate sections of the foundation papers. This has saved me a lot of grief in the piecing process!
Too lazy to wander out into the blazing sunshine, I decided to photograph the blocks on my new couch. The couch is orange, but seems to show up as a different color in each picture!
Wishing you sunny skies and rainbows!
Variety is the spice of life, so I am feeling very spicy. If I had to choose one fabric only to use for the rest of my life? Well that would be cruel, but I would definitely choose Liberty Tana Lawn.
Picking the fabrics to combine in each block has been helping curb my innate desire to make sure everything matches perfectly.
The hardest part of this project is trying to NOT plan ahead. I want to wait until I have all the blocks to choose the fabric and style of the sashing. But I’m getting impatient.
Five blocks a month, until I have a total of…I don’t know yet. I have not yet even calculated how big I want to make this.
Seeing each block individually makes me think I want this on my bed. King size. At least that will give me a long time to work on it. I really enjoy working on foundation paper pieced projects.
The obsessive part of me craves the perfection that can be achieved with paper piecing. And it is so easy! I took some pictures while I was working on these blocks.
Sew, press, cut, add fabric and repeat. Easy and stunning!
We’ll talk soon, I’m off on an adventure.
Speaking of my Anglophile tendencies, I went to Downton Abbey in May. A trip to the promised land for someone like me, someone whose idea of a rollicking viewing experience is Sense and Sensibility. Or Downton Abbey, of course. It’s my absolute favorite TV show in recent years.
Andover fabrics came out with Christmas Downton Abbey fabric this year! OMG, Christmas and Downton Abbey together? You know you can count me in!
Ebony Love at Lovebug Studios (http://www.lovebugstudios.com) started a Downton Abbey Christmas in July mystery quilt along this summer. I felt it was my destiny, nay, my responsibility, to join in.
I’ve never participated in a mystery quilt along before. I decided to go for this one, because I already knew I loved the fabric. In fact, I had already purchasesda half yard bundle of the fabric. The fabric requirements are obviously not the same as a half yard bundle, but I am going to be flexible and mix it up a little to use all the pieces in the bundle.
These 16 patch blocks show some of the changes made so far. I like the variety that this is bringing into my version of the quilt.
I have quite the assortment of candles going on in mine! I will be fascinated when the layout is available, so I can figure out how to incorporate my blocks into it.
It’s the fifth week of the quilt along, and I am up to date! That is something to celebrate, in my estimation. Once or twice in my life I have joined progressive projects, and let’s just say that staying up to date is not always my modus operandi. I guess it helps that I still like this project. And I know it helps that I love Downton Abbey. I think Lord and Lady Grantham are probably going to invite me to a shooting party soon.
It’s raining babies. Girl flavored babies. And so the parade of adorable little baby quilts continues.
I found the cutest pattern for a big block quilt. It’s called the Lone Star baby quilt by Amy Smart. She has an amazing blog, Diary of a Quilter. This pattern is on the Bernina website here: http://weallsew.com/2015/07/08/lone-star-baby-quilt-tutorial-part/
I love the look of a one block quilt. This one uses 10″ squares, a portion of a layer cake. I got it in my mind that I wanted to make this quilt for an upcoming baby. And I decided it should be a Christmas quilt. A Christmas baby girl quilt.
Then what to my wondering eyes should appear? A ten inch stacker by Penny Rose fabrics, Little Joys. 12 prints tied up with a bow. Throw in four white squares and it’s a quilt.
Dorito approves. The fabric has such sweet prints. Little reindeer, toys, trees, bows. And there are PINKS in this Christmas collection! My heart is aflutter. I ordered some yardage for the border, backing and binding. Or course i got extra of the two pink prints!
You can tell that this gem goes together quickly. For me, the tricky part, the challenge, is doing the actual quilting. I’m getting better at making my quilt sandwiches.
I included this picture because you can see the quilting pretty well. I used my walking foot, chose a section, and worked in a “spiral” towards the center of each section. No measuring or anything, I eyeballed it and drove full speed. I have only quilted a few things myself. I can’t see myself ever attempting anything the size of a bed. I do like how this one worked out. Practice makes perfect, right?
This one is going in the mail this week, and will reappear in the state of
Time for a project, stat! I don’t want to get behind on my Christmas in July projects. Of which I planned ZERO.
I don’t have nearly enough table runners. I’m serious. So I grabbed a charm pack of Folk Art Holiday by Moda.
The pattern is from the booklet Angles With Ease 2 by Heather Peterson. And I got to use my Triangler ruler from Anka’s Treasures. I cut the remaining charm squares in half, sewed them into a 2-1/2″ strip and used them as the binding. I am loving my scrappy binding!
I used my walking foot and improvised the quilting.
Oh look! The back of the runner is the infamous Hawaiian print of yore! Christmas 2012 I made matching outfits for the family out of the red and white. We rocked that Christmas photo.
A few of us had different colored hair back then.
I got the shots of my new table runner, then someone seemed to need a little photo sesh…
I’m all about indulging the children.
handmade by Carole Carr 