Modern Double Cross {a finished quilt}

This is the year of finishing things.  According to my blog history this quilt was imagined and started in February 2014 in the form of a tutorial for both 12 and 6 inch blocks for my turn as queen bee of We Bee Learning.  My cousin was graduating from High School that spring and I needed a quilt.

The blocks quickly came pouring in from across the country and, with the addition of a few more on my end, were ready to be pieced into a top by May.  Since the colors were so saturated I really felt like they needed breathing room, plus my cousins on this size are very tall and I didn't want to make 1000 blocks, so I played with some alternative layouts,

Once I had decided I bought the background fabric, going with a basic extra-wide blue and started to work out the piecing.  This was my first adventure into using an alternative layout so it was definitely challenging for me.  I eventually ran out of background fabric, purchased some more, and then it sat.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe I was overwhelmed with the though of trying to piece the whole thing together?  Maybe it was because it's simply larger than any of the rooms in my house so I didn't have a place to lay it out and work on?  Finally when I went on retreat this fall I brought it with me, hoping that would give me the kick I needed to get it finished.

Well I was right.  I found a big room, figured out how I had intended to put it together, and got to work FINALLY sewing the top together.  I had some much needed help squaring it up and learned some great techniques (the trick is to make the flooring work for you!) and it was ready to ship to the longarmer.  

Katie at Home Hearth Quilting did a fabulous job on it, quilting a fun bubble feather pattern on the blue background and crosses to echo the piecing through the orange and red.  She even added in a special quote for my cousin, who is studying music.

"Do not fear mistakes, there are none." - Miles Davis

Being a teenage male he was tough to read but I think he liked it. :) 

I gifted the quilt at our family Thanksgiving this year and promptly put him and his brother (both of whom are 6ft+, to work holding it for me for pictures.  This quilt finished at 107" x 96" so I really needed their help to get some pictures!

Nearly two years after it had begun, I was really glad to get this one finished.  Another WIP crossed off the list and happily received.  Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday and Finish it up Friday.

Carpenter's Star {a finished quilt}

This quilt has been a long time in the making.  It began in early 2013 when I found out that my uncle was getting married and was born out of my strong desire to make a carpenters star quilt.  I queried my uncles then soon-to-be wife and we settled on a red and white color scheme.  Without delay I started buying up every red or white fabric I found on the internet, not really thinking about theme or overall composition.  Keep in mind I didn't have a stash yet so to make a scrappy carpenters star I needed fabric.  Since it's hard to tell what color red a fabric is online, the reds in this quilt vary from pink and peach to burgundy and orange.  Because of my buying fervor there are some really interesting fabrics in this quilt.  Some of my favorites include:

• red and white zebras
• balloon dogs
• cutlery
• "How to iron a shirt" fabric
• coloring book animals
• Pi and the angles of a triangle

I cut without a plan too.  I knew I needed to make half-square triangles so I started cutting ALL of the fabrics I had bought into 10" squares.  Then I sewed them into HST using the biggest, widest seam you can imagine.  This was before I knew was a 1/4" seam was.  The large seam resulted in blocks that were roughly 7", give or take an inch....more or less.  I wasn't big on consistent sizing yet either I guess.  Either way, the top came together fine.  

I added three borders to the top to bring the size up to just under queen sized.  One dark solid red, a 1 inch solid white, and then an red plaid to take it from square to rectangular.  I didn't actually get a measurement on it before gifting.  Let just leave it at "large cuddle couch quilt" / "small queen bed quilt" sized.  I used the same red plaid on the back, but again, I wasn't big on measuring so I had to supplement with the excess red blocks I had cut and a pieced heart using scraps from the front.  Personally, I really love the back of this one.  The splashes of extra color make me pretty happy.

Originally I wanted to quilt this myself but the size of it was overwhelming to me.  I made the decision and had it long-arm quilted locally.  This is one of the reasons that the quilt took so long to make.  When I got the quilt back I was really unhappy with the quilting.  It was not what we had discussed when I dropped off my quilt, whole blocks were not quilted and the wrong thread color had been used.  At that point I didn't know what to do so the quilt just sat for literally years needing only a binding.  

Finally I decided that it wasn't worth it to take the quilt back and have it re-quilted.  I certainly didn't want to rip all of those stitches out and frankly, didn't trust the long-armer to do it.  So I sucked it up, cut a binding, and finished it in time to gift at our family Thanksgiving this year.  And I'm glad that  I did.  They loved it, even though it was two years late, and were so excited to get a quilt.  And to be honest, I didn't even notice the quilting when I gifted it and I don't notice is now in the pictures either.  I guess I just needed an expectation adjustment.  After all, Finished IS better than Perfect.

Remember that pile of squares that I cut at the beginning?  Some of them became my Sailor's Take Delight quilt that I finished and gifted this summer.  

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday and Finish it up Friday.

Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap - Sent

Shortly after signing up for my first instagram swap I saw the posts about round four of the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap.  I've admired the mini' that are made for this swap for a long time and immediately jumped on the chance to participate. 

I was paired with Joy, @J.Meadows, from Texas who said she loved bright happy colors.  In her free time, when she's not sewing, she likes to workout and spend time with Tiny, her Grate Dane.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to make at first and ended up pulling out the scraps from Two Birds, One Stone, my Pantone 2015 challenge quilt and playing with the leftover blocks.  I had a few small blocks left and started by chopping them up to piece a teeny-tiny star block.  This sucker finished at 2.5" square. 

After that I added two more rounds of star points to make the finished mini about 12" around.  It was fun to use of these little scraps from my favorite quilt.  I hoped that the bright, scrappy colors would translate to something that Joy would like.

I ended up procrastinating and getting caught up with work and other things and didn't get back to quilting my mini for about two months.  I finally sat down to quilt it two weeks ago.  I wanted to play with shapes for the quilting and started by outlining two squares, on point behind the largest and the middle stars.  Then I filled in the background of each star, starting with a micro-stipple, bubbles for the middle, and straight lines for the outside.  I'm really happy with how the quilting came on this.  Although I must say that the foot I used for my machine started to squeak really badly after a little while.  Any thoughts on how to stop that from happening again?

I used a large scrap for the backing that I happened to have on hand.  It's not my favorite fabric but I though the colors did coordinate nicely.  I bound the quilt using a bright yellow strip I had on hand.  It was a littler narrower than I usually like to go for bindings but I managed to make it work by glue basting the unsewn side down before machine stitching it.  That's a trick I picked up at retreat earlier this year.  It's my new favorite method for perfect machine binding.  Let me tell you, those corners are tight!

For extras, I included a charm pack of V and Co's Simply Style since my partner mentioned that she liked their fabrics.  I also had a cute notepad and package of buttons that I had won previously at quilt guild but wasn't going to use.    Joy asked for notions in her extras so it seemed like a good fit.  Since I'm on a diet and I know that Joy likes to work out I threw in some yummy EPIC beef jerky instead of chocolate or sweets which was a win.  She's had to hide the jerky from her husband since they both really like it!

This was a great experience for me and I think I would definitely participate in this swap again.  Hopefully I'll be on top of things and catch the signup period on Instagram before it's closed for round 5!

You can find even more of the amazing quilts that were made 

for this swap by searching instagram for any of the following hashtags

#schnitzelandboominiquiltswap

#quiltersofawesome

#makeaquiltmakeafriend

Linking up with Sew Modern Monday.

Twice as Nice Super-Hero Twin Quilts {two finished quilts}

Wow, it's been a month again...  how did that happen?  So much is happening right now.  Partly because I lost my sewjo again, the change in the seasons and my struggle with seasonal depression (and the loss of light) and an intense desire to watch re-runs of SVU on Netflix and eat cookies, and partially because of work demands and things that need to get finished at home before the snow comes in (winter IS coming).  If you really missed me I have been active on Instagram.  I vow to be more active here in this space moving forward though.  This is important to me and you are too.  I appreciate you taking the time to read my sometimes nonsensical rambling and comment on posts.  I look forward to that interactions with each of you.

Today I want to show you the coordinated twin quilts I recently finished for a co-worker.  I'm calling them my super-hero quilts.  All of the different shades of red, white and blue make me think of Superman, Captain America, and the lot.  I started these back in July and shared the tops with you shortly after as part of the Quilted Living Summer Blog Tour with Fat Quarter Shop.  I made the Freedom quilt and, after a quick email to my coworker to make sure she was on board with the idea, decided to break it up into two smaller quilts for her soon to arrive twin boys.  

I worked from my stash for this one and started with a big stack of bright red/orange, royal blue/navy, and a mismatched pile of low volume gray/cream/white. For backings and binding I used different fabrics for each quilt.  I wanted these quilts to be a matched pair but not matching quilts, that way Momma can tell whose is whose, even if she can't tell who's who.  Right Momma?

One quilt has a solid blue kona backing with a red binding and the other is a fun red-white-blue print with a coordinated blue binding.  I kept the quilting very simple on each quilt, mostly using my walking foot to straight line quilt in coordinated blue, red. and white threads.  I did go back and FMQ some areas as well.  I really love how the quilting shows up on the solid backing by the way! Maybe as I become more confident with my quilting I'll do more of these in the future?

In usual fashion I procrastinated getting these finished until the week before Mommas surprise baby shower at work.  I ended up quilting them over two days and then rushing to get the bindings on the night before.  I did finish in time to give her the quilts but then had to take them back so I could snap some pictures to share with you.  Unfortunately the weather was not cooperative so even the ones I got were not great (sorry).  

I'm really happy with how these came out, even the FMQ, which I usually struggle with.  Momma loves them too and was really happy to get some handmade quilts for her two newest boys. I did make her promise to send me a picture of her new babies on the quilts once they make their debut.  I won't wish them to hurry up but I can't wait to meet them!

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

Oakshott Scandinavia Challenge Quilt {a finished quilt}

Today I'm really excited to show you my latest finish: a Scandinavia inspired quilt sponsored by Sew Mama Sew and Oakshott Fabrics.

The call for contributors said:

Are you ready for a sewing challenge? We're looking for 6 people to sew with the gorgeous fabrics pictured here in an Scandinavian-inspired challenge. You can choose what to make (apron, mini quilt, table runner, etc.) but it has to use the fabrics from the collection and it has to be "Scandinavian inspired." 

Well I jumped right on that.  My paternal grandmother (or Farmor) is from Finland, a country I have had the opportunity to visit four times in my life, and hope to visit again very soon when we can find the time and money to go.  I find great inspiration in the simple, clean designs found in the region and really wanted to be able to create something that honors that piece of my heritage and family.  

The weekend before the fabrics arrived I visited Keepsake Quilting to pick up some (hopefully) coordinated fabrics to mix in with the Fat Quarters that would be coming.  I ended up buying several yards of various white and grey fabrics, unsure of what would match.  I had to stop and just admire these when they arrived, with 12 days to spare.  These fabrics are gorgeous!  They are all shot through with a creamy white that gives them the most amazing soft shine.  Pastel without being too Easter-y or babyish.

I had several ideas sketched out, and ended up texting my "more Finnish" cousin (as my Farmor says)  for help narrowing the choices down.  In the end I pulled out the Ittala dinnerware that we received for the wedding two years ago and used that as a jumping off point.

Feeling inspired at the moment. #oakshottscandinavia #iittala #inspirationeverywhere #thanksforthedishesGram #FinnishQuilt - See more at: http://iconosquare.com/viewer.php#/detail/1058925302181042470_1222082853

At first I thought I would make a large quilt inspired by the black and white dinner plate and mug pictured above.  I pieced a couple of arrows and then laid them out to take a picture but what I saw changed my direction completely.  The next few nights were spent piecing the rows and then after an emergency trip back to Keepsake to get more Kona Charcoal, and a marathon sewing night ending at around 1:30am, I had a finished top.  The next morning it was off to the quilter.  Ideally I would have quilted this myself but given the time crunch I thought it was best to have someone else do it for me this time.  I got the quilt back just in time to get binding on over the weekend and then enlist the help of my Dad and brother to photograph it.  I have to tell you, I'm in love with this quilt.

Thank you little brother and Dad for holding this for me!

The pattern came together really quickly since it's all row based piecing.  I really love how the simple grey and white let the beautiful Oakshott fabrics shine in all their glory.  I took a really ad hoc approach to adding in the colors, letting them fall where ever they would in the final top.

a glimpse into our bedroom with the quit in it's new home. notice the nicely coordinated pre-existing paint swatches...

The quilting is simple.  Katie Smith of Home Hearth Quilting quilted it for me in a simple birch tree-esque design following the direction of each row of piecing.  I love how it adds texture to the quilt without distracting from the overall design.  She did a great job and I highly recommend her if you're in the NH/VT area. 

in love with this quilt.

quilting detail

The quilt is backed in a Lotta Jansdotter print and a large scale Windham Fabrics print.  I chose these because of how they played into the simple, clean line astetic I was going for for the overall design.

This quilt finishes at 90" x 86" and will hopefully be plenty big enough for the two of us to sleep under.  I didn't set out to make such a large quilt but once I got started the fabrics and pattern made it easy to keep going.  Plus, I had the added encouragement that my husband get's genuinely upset when I make small quilts.  

I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to make this quilt.  The final quilt is really true to my original vision and reflect the emotion I was hoping to convey.   I think my Farmor would be proud.  Currently there is no pattern for this quilt but I am debating writing one up if there is enough interest. 

I highly recommend the Oakshott Scandinavia collection if you're looking for a soft, light, and airy color palette for any quilt.  They were absolutely beautiful to work with.  You can find them here:

Oakshott Scandinavia Collection

Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating in this challenge as well, either through the links below, or with the hashtag #OakshottScandinavia on instagram.

Jessica Skultety from Quilty Habit
Jennifer Fullerton from Never Just Jennifer (you are here)
Mary Kolb from Mary on Lake Pulaski
Casey York from The Studiolo
Deborah Fisher
Caitlin Topham from Salty Oat

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story today.

Baby F Quilt {a finished quilt}

Remember this quilt I was working on?  I finished it back in mid-August just before baby arrived on August 22nd..  The new mom and dad, family of my husbands, commissioned me to make them something special for their first baby, a boy.  

The new mom has a great eye for color and suggested a color palette of Mint, Aqua, Navy, White, Grey, and Apple Green.  We looked at a few patterns so that I could get an idea of what she liked and didn't like and then she basically let me run with it from there.

I used a simple equilateral triangle pattern, cutting my pieces at 5 inches tall.  Once I was done cutting I had a quilt top done in less than a day.  I quilted it the next day using a simple light blue thread echoed along the diagonals.  It's bound is a solid dark green that picks up on some of the darker fabrics in the quilt itself.

The quilt is backed in this beautiful wood print fabric.  I'm not sure who the manufacture is but it was too perfect to pass up for this quilt.  I snagged it a few years ago at a large fabric de-stash sale in Manchester, NH at a great price.   The grey of the logs coordinates perfectly with their gray crib and the overall feel of the piece really helps play into the woodland themed nursery.  

I also made a coordinated bumper for baby's crib to match the quilt.  I didn't get a ton of good photos of it before it was gifted though.  I used a solid minty-aqua for one side of the bumper and a piece of Lotto Jansdotter for Joann's Fabric on the other side.  Out of everything I made, the bumper took the longest.  It was over 160 inches long and was quilted using my walking foot roughly every quarter-inch.  I used scraps from the top to make the ties.

I'm so happy that the new Mom and Dad asked me to make something to be a part of their son's life.  It was a lot of fun to work on this quilt for them and I hope that they will get many years of use out of it.  

Linking up with Caroline at Sew Can She for Show off Saturday.

Quilt Love

This picture says what I could never say in a thousand words.  This is why I love to quilt.  This is why I give away my quilts.  These two goof balls enjoying a sandwich and a movie with my finished Aurifil BOM quilt

In Memory Of, #1 {a finished quilt}

As I have mentioned several times, I was commissioned in November to make two memory quilts by a local woman who lost both of her parents in 2012.  She found my blog through my Local Quilt Guild website and we started discussing:

...I am looking to hire someone to make two quilts for me.  They do not/will not necessarily be identical.  One is for me, one for my brother.  Our parents passed away six months from each other in 2012 and were known for their whimsical personalities and style.  I thought it would be fun to take the mix of fabrics from some of their signature wardrobes and have quilts made....Despite living in Vermont, they met on Cape Cod and lived life to the fullest.  They tended to be rather preppy and at the holidays could be seen in a lot of plaid...

She describes her parents as fun, whimsy, and prone to off-the-cuff style, often showing up in thrift store tux's or plaid pants and skirts.  We agreed on a pattern and I got to work sewing, deciding to start on the quilt for her brother first.  My design was based on Dots & Dashes by Bethany Fuller of Grace's Dowry Quilts (gracesdowryquilts.com).  I did not purchase a pattern.  I ended up using freezer paper as a foundation and sewing alternating strips of background fabric and clothing fabric to create the blocks.  What I ended up with I think accurately reflects both my customer's style and her parent's style.

The block were laid out in a grid formation alternating the direction of each block, horizontal or vertical.  The resulting quilt is both modern and simple but still evokes some of her parents plaid loving spirit.  Fabrics include neck ties, skirts, whale pants, paint stained sweatshirts, knit sweaters, and navy shirts.

The whole thing is quilted in a square grid using matching Aurifil thread in lines spaced about and inch and a half apart.  The quilt is bound using a solid navy color.  It finishes at 53.5 x 62", just smaller than a twin, so it's a good size lap quilt.

For the back of the quilt I used a solid taupe brown and off-set one extra block from the front with squares from her father's wool Navy blanket, a t-shirt with special meaning, and a piece from her parent's hand pieced and hand quilted drunkards path wedding quilt.

I learned a lot about myself and commission quilting during this process and was thankful for the opportunity to stretch myself and my skills.  My customer was wonderful to work with but we often had competing ideas about what would and wouldn't look good for the quilt.  I found that I often lacked motivation to work on the quilt and had to really force myself to push ahead and finish it.  With my own quilts, when I'm not feeling great about them, I can put them down and come back to them when I'm ready.  With this one, I was on a deadline to finish it for a customer and didn't have that luxury.  That was really difficult for me to do.

My customer was very understanding though and recognized that this was my first attempt at making a commissioned quilt.  In the end I think she was really happy with the final quilt also.  I can't wait to hear how her brother likes it.

After this experience I would definitely make another commissioned quilt but I would be more picky about what I would and wouldn't take on.  For instance, I'm not sure I would make another memory quilt like this.  I felt a lot of pressure to not screw it up... after all I can't just run to the store to buy more fabric if I do.  What are your thoughts, have you made a commissioned quilt before or better yet, a commissioned memory quilt?

Once again, Thanks to my Dad for holding the quilt for me to take pictures.  (Thanks Dad! You're the best!)

Linking up with Adrianne at One the Windy Side.

And with:

Kelly at Needle and Thread Thursday