Bloggers Quilt Festival ~ A Quilt for my Mom

 

 

 

I am excited to be participating in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I am entering a quilt I recently made for my mother in the Quilt Photographer category.  This is my second entry for the Fall Festival.

 

I have been slowing working on finishing several projects that have been put aside.  I am not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed that this quilt has taken me almost a year to complete (10 months).  I am not much of a yellow or orange person so the fabric colors did not really hold my attention.  I don't know why I did not like the quilt when I was making it or even when it was complete.  Once it was quilted I was awestruck and trying to comprehend what I had not liked.  I love it.  I was so shocked and happy when I picked it up from the woman who quilted it. 

Before binding - my assistant kept burrowing under the quilt making photography difficult.

Since binding is not my favorite activity - it took me another month or so to get that completed.  This quilt reminds me of fall so I wanted to get some pictures with fall leaves.  I told my son we were going for a hike and after he helped me with quilt pictures he could have some Cold Stone.

It was quite windy that day - My son wanted to know why "I wasn't a normal mom" - "none of my friends mom's make them climb a tree in the wind trying to get a good picture of a quilt"

A break in the wind.

Close up of the quilting.

 

 My son had more fun than he will admit on his hike with me and he was rewarded with Cold Stone as promised. 

 

Quilt Pattern:  Hopscotch by V and Co.

I did make a few changes.

Fabric:  Riley Blake

Pieced by:  Me

Size: 100X100

Category:  Quilt Photographer

Quilted by:  Loretta Tibor

 

 Thanks so much for stopping by.  Be sure to check out Amy's Blog to see all of the other talented blogger's/quilters.

 

 

 

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Fall 2013

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  This year I am entering a quilt that I made for a friend recovering from knee surgery.  She had no idea that I was going to do anything for her.  I had asked her a few questions about colors (pink, purple and really girly) I was hoping to do an abstract quilt - After talking with her I knew that she would not like that.  She loves symmetry.

She also loves really bold designs and flowers.  Since I had a large scale print I wanted to find a way to showcase the fabric.  I found a pattern free quilt pattern by Nancy Mahoney that I thought would work well.  I made my first test block on my design wall.  I did not like it. 

Test Block

I went back into my stash and I was able to come up with fabric that I liked a little better.  I was determined to work with what I had in my stash and I am pleased to say this entire quilt came from my fabric stash.  Of course I forgot to take a picture of the next block I made.

 

Here is the completed quilt top.  I spent a few weeks debating on how to quilt it.  I finally got up the nerve to begin a new swirly pattern on my machine doing free motion quilting - I did not care for it.  A friend came over and looked at and encouraged me to keep going - I did for a bit.  I decided I hated it and then spent the next week unpicking the quit.  It is amazing how fast the stitches go in and how slow they come out!!!

 

While I was at my local quilt store debating how to quilt I overheard someone talking about a person who rented out a long arm.  I got a name and number and away I went.  I was able to get an appointment for the same week.  I did not take any pictures of this one on the rack - I was too excited/stress to remember much.  Ironically I ended up quilting it with the same type of meandering loops I had just ripped out.  It was much easier on a long arm and I am quite pleased with my first attempt.  It was scary using my first long arm lesson to quilt on something that I was planning on gifting.  - I did have a back up quilt in mind to make if I really messed this one up. 

 

Close up of Quilting

 

 

Heida's Quilt

 

 

When I gave it to my girlfriend she was so happy she started crying.  I am glad that she is going to enjoy it.  Of course as you can see from the pictures that this did take me more than one season to complete - If I could only focus on one project at a time.......

 

About the Quilt:

Fabric:  Kona white, Riley Blake, Tina Givens, Art Gallery Fabrics, and a few others.

Pattern by:  Nancy Mahoney

Pieced and Quilted by:  Me

Size:  48X60

Category:  Throw quilts

 

I am off to look at other entries and become more inspired by all of the creativity I find on line.  

 

 

A Quilt for Erika

I have been steadily working on using up some of my fabric stash - I have challenged myself to finish all of my projects that are in various stages of completion and to not take on any new "projects" or engage in fabric acquisitions until the WIPs are done.  I have made some headway.  I have gone on a few vacations with the family.  The most recent one resulted in fun in the sun and the completion of 4 quilt tops without a trip to the fabric store!!!  The vacation prior involved a new project and several fabric stores - but I will save that for a different post. 

Here is the front of a quilt I made for my long time friend Erika.  I  used the Chopsticks pattern by Jaybird Quilts.  It went to together pretty fast.  I took several pictures of the quilt, I wanted to capture how the quilt changed by the quilting lines added. 

Quilt after stitching in the ditch.

I then stitched curves from each end of the triangle.

View after quilting in the white sashing.

Close up of quilting.

I am pleased to say I finished binding this last night, got it washed and delivered it to the post office this afternoon.

 

 

Trial fabrics for the next quilt from my stash - I have a tight timeline for this one.  The request was for something with lots of pink and purple.  I am hoping she does not mind that I am throwing in some yellow.

 

I hope to get the binding on another quilt this weekend and another quilt basted.  Hopefully I will have progress to show you next week.  I hope you are enjoying your summer.

It's been quiet here

I have been really busy.  I am hoping to catch up and post some of my projects for you to see.  Here is a baby quilt I recently finished for a friend.  She had wanted something fairly neutral for her grandson and I have been using a lot of grey in my projects lately.  I think the fox print is adorable.  I don't care for the lighting in this picture but I gave the quilt away before looking at my pictures.

 

The quilt pattern is from Elizabeth Hartman's Craftsy Class - Inspired Modern Quilts   It was a lot of fun to make and went together very quickly.

 

Back

 

Close up of the front

 

Close up of the back

 

 

 

 fabric pull for my next project.

 

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012

I am so excited that it is time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012 - I love looking at how creative everyone is.  Thank you Amy for hosting this wonderful event.

I recently made a baby quilt for a friend of mine.  She was having a hard time determining what she wanted to do for her baby's nursery.  She was very excited about having a girl however, she is not a fan of pastels or pink.  She had spent quite a bit of time on line trying to find baby bedding that she liked.  She was not able to find any that she liked that looked even remotely girly.

I found some fabric on line -Michal Miller Lagoon that she loved.  I then told her I could come up with the bedding for her.  She was thrilled and I was left wondering what I was going to come up with.

I decided to try a variation of the Stepping-Stones Quilt from Jacquie Gering in her Quilting Modern book.

I can't tell you how long the quilt sat on my design wall while I tried to wrap my mind around how I was going to get everything pieced together.  I had never done any type of improve piecing and I was afraid of really messing things up.  Once I had the mindset that it was abstract - and it was up to me I realized no one would really know if I made an error or not. After starting I realized it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

For the back of the quilt I based my design on something similar to Bijou Lovely's color block quilt.  I wanted the quilt to be able to be reversible. 

I have a friend who has a long arm machine and she was willing to let me use her machine.  I was terrified and fascinated all at the same time.  I spent the afternoon at her house working on the quilt.  I selected a pattern with varying sizes of circles to mimic the black polka doted fabric in the quilt.  I am looking forward to using her machine again soon.  I don't have the space for a long arm but I really want one.  Scary as I have been quilting less than a year and I have a fabric stash that several family members have hinted indicates I have a problem and should be attending meetings of some sort.

Front

Back

 

Quilt Statistics~

Finished Quilt Measures: 42X55

Quilted by:  Me - Cindy

Best Category ~ Baby Quilt, Favorite Throw

 

Now I am off to look at all of the other quilts and discover new blogs.  Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.

 

Time Flies

It's hard to believe that summer has come and gone.  It went by so very fast - Of course when one works 55+ hours a week and tries to keep up with an active preteen and teen it is to be expected.

Taking my niece, son, and daughter sea kayaking in the early morning in Resurrection Bay.

Bald Eagle looking for breakfast as the fog began rolling in.

R actually having fun without an electronic devise!

The sun is out and the sea is calm ~ beautiful weather for kayaking.

I wish I had taken a picture of the garden when everything was in full bloom - goal for next year.

Now on to some of my sewing projects - while getting ready to do this post I realized I have been really bad about taking pictures of my projects and what is worse is I have given most of them away before taking a single picture.

Front of sampler quilt for my niece M.

Back of quilt

 

Pillow for bedding I made for friend - she is having a girl and she does not like pale pink.  This was my way of sneaking a little hot pink in for her.  She loved it.

Coordinating pillow for baby's room.  I used the tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew - I used double sided fleece instead of felt.  I also made a crib skirt, valance and quilt.  It is my hope to post the quilt pictures later this week.

 

I have approximately 20 various projects in the works for the holidays - my goal will be to post an update at least every other week on my progress, or lack of.

 

 

 

 

 

Where is summer....

I am waiting for sunshine and warm temperatures..... something tells me I am going to be waiting longer.  The pond is up an running but it has been too cool to leave the door open.  Each pump moves over 12,000 gallons of water an hour - I wanted it to look and sound like a real stream.

As you can see the tulips are just starting to bloom.  We are having a late start due to the record snowfall this year - over 11 feet down the hill. - Not a record I ever hope to see again or even get close to.   Looking out the window this winter you could not tell I had a fence.  The fence is 6 feet tall.  I am hoping that my vines will bounce back.  We had some pretty bad storms and 2 of my 4 trellises fell over damaging several plants and trees.  I hope to have better pictures once the flowers start to come in.  I have Clematis, Hops, Kiwi, and Rhodochiton growing on various structures in the yard.

Forget-Me-Nots and Poppy's in bloom - Hosta and Iris are beginning to emerge.

Viticella Venosa (purple)& Markhams (pink) Clematis

I cant remember the name but it is the only one the moose did not eat.  Grrrr (shade garden) The front yard is not fenced so I am frequently at odds with the moose.

One of my favorite shade plants - the leaves stay spotted all season.

More flowers in the shade garden

With all of this cooler weather that I love so much....(I love the sun and heat) I have been able to get a few more indoor projects out of the way.  I find it hard to weed when it is cold, windy and cloudy.  I will need to force myself to weed otherwise the horrid horse tails are going to win.

Top of quilt for twin size bed.

I am hoping for warmer temperatures and sunshine this week.