FInished 2011: La Petite Ecole Quilt

And here it is, the last of the projects that I actually finished last year.

La Petite Ecole Quilt



All the printed fabrics are from French General's La Petite Ecole line and the solids are both Kona. I wish I knew what the green was exactly (another one of my many resolutions...right down the names of the solids I use) but I do know the brown is called Espresso, a favourite neutral of mine.



As for the quilting, it is hand-quilted with no. 8 perle cotton in an almond colour. For inspiration, I looked towards Jenny Carr Kinney's Quilting Designs from the Past. In there I found a square motif in which the corners reminded me of fleur-de-lis; so with a few minor changes, this is what the final design turned out to be...



Off to finish my first quilt of 2012 :)

Finished 2011: The Hexagon Afghan

Continuing my catch-up on projects I finished late last year, here is my Hexagon Afghan.



Detail



I began the project over Christmas 2010 after finding the pattern at Attic 24. It actually sat for a couple of months over the summer while I focused on some quilting projects. And like several of my projects that just never get done, it only took me a handful of hours to actually finish it 0:)

All the yarn is from an assortment of colours in the Naturally Caron's lines of Spa and County and Paton's Silk Bamboo. The result is a 'light' afghan that is warm and perfect for my lap while I work in my favourite chair.

Which it where the afghan resides when it's not in use.

Finished 2011: Helen's Afghan

Over the next week I'm going to try desperately to catch up with blogging about recently completely projects (okay, 2 of them were finished in say...November...). This is part of my number one resolution for 2012: do a better job with keeping up with posting about finished projects.

So for the first of three unblogged about finished projects, that I actually finished last year:

Helen's Afghan



Made from 20 different granny squares from 200 Crochet Blocks, this throw I literally threw my heart-and-soul into starting in November (as well as made countless purchases of books with different granny square patterns) in order to have in completed in time to be shipped to my in-law's house for Christmas.

It is not a large afghan, but size really wasn't important as putting a bunch of texture into it; including a border that is made from a row of dc, then a row of clusters (each made from five dc), and then a final row of sc. It's also not a heavy afghan, however, it was always a delightfully warm companion to have it on my lap in the evenings as I toiled away seaming the squares together.

And though my fingers ached on most days from the amount of crocheting I was doing at night to get this finished, in the end all that mattered was the thankful text I received on Christmas day from my MIL telling me how Helen (my MIL's MIL) loved it.

Finished 2011: Another Baby Quilt

Another finished baby quilt! The last one for the year. I get a short break for a while before I start up on a new round of baby gifts :)

Before I go any further, I want to apologise for the bluriness of two of the pictures. I'm going to try and re-shoot it when I see the new parents again but until then, the first blurry picture.


Front


Back

The mum-to-be didn't realise it, but she picked out the fabric during a random visit to my house. The printed squares are from a honey bun of "Sultry" from Basic Grey that I had in my stash. I have been wanting to try a Postage Stamp quilt for a while and I thought this was the perfect opportunity. Each little square measures out to 1x1 inches. Yes you read that right; I lost my mind.



Anyhow, when I went to put the squares together something didn't seem right so I add the sashing for some pizazz which turned a crib-size quilt into something that was nearly queen.

But what I really love about this quilt, is that I took a chance on the quilting. Yes it's hand-quilted with no. 12 perle cotton but I wanted to do something more/different with the quilting (mainly, I wanted to literally do something out of the box).

Though there is some 'box' work, the actual patchwork square has an off-centered flower quilted into each one (I free-handed each one entirely, including the center circle). I love how it turned out; it's subtle enough not to appear on the front but when you look closely on the back you see this --

Finished 2011: Origami Quilt -- The Florida Edition

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the planet -- yet.

Work has been crazy. Life -- insane. Not to mention drowning in deadlines.

However, I have been able to finish a quilt here and there.

Here's the first of three quilts I'll be blogging about in the next couple of weeks, as well as one afghan.


Machine Pieced. Hand-quilted in no. 8 perle cotton -- platinum color. Print fabrics are from a line from Moda that I purchased years ago. The Solids are from Kona and I don't remember the names of the colours

There is quite about less quilting done on this quilt than what I consider typical for me. To be frank, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the final results until I saw a photograph of it from last months Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I love the way the quilting gave this quilt a lot more definition in the end without taking away from the 'patchwork' done on the quilt (there is actually no sashing done on any of the blocks; those lines are from the quilting itself).

I need to go re-shoot the photographs of this quilt as I'm still not thrilled about the photos. Hopefully, I can find some time in December as the academic semester comes to a close.

Baby Gift: Blue Bow Quilt

I know it's been a while. Feel free to blame my allergies and work for my absence. I am.

And I really thought I posted these pictures, so without further ado...

Blue Bows

From Southern Girl Quilts

I had a lot of fun with this quilt. From the free piecing to the challenge of how to hand quilt this beauty without taking away from the patchwork...

From Southern Girl Quilts

To the challenge of finding the right binding. Which was already in my stash, though it took a long time and a lot of convincing by several quilters (and my husband) that the binding wasn't too girly --since it was for a little boy...

From Southern Girl Quilts

I have to admit, it was a lot of fun to do this baby quilt. Granted quilting never feels like work to me (unlike sewing clothes which requires me to do a significant amount of drafting and fitting), but I was surprised how much this didn't feel like work. Though it was way, way, way outside of my comfort zone, I enjoyed every minute of this project.

Now off to figure out what my next free-piecing project will be.

After I finish my other quilting projects.

And sew a few shirts and dresses.

And *wink, wink* finish writing two quilting patterns.

Baby Gift: Pink Texas Pinwheels

I am on a roll! This quilt is officially in the hands of the proud new parents of their second baby girl.

From Baby Gift: Pink Texas Pinwheels

Actually, I had finished this quilt a couple of months ago but didn't see the proud new dad until this week.

When I found out they were having a little girl, and remembering all the pink from their first little girl, I clearly went all out with the pink.

Even on the back...

From Baby Gift: Pink Texas Pinwheels

As per my normal, it is heavily quilted with no. 12 perle cotton in white.

From Baby Gift: Pink Texas Pinwheels

From Baby Gift: Pink Texas Pinwheels

I fell in love with no. 12 perle cotton during this project.

And I gained a new respect for the ease of quilting on a huge quilting frame (there were issues with quilting this with only a lap frame). Unfortunately -and for sometime- my large standing frame has been occupied. It has been a big enough of a hassle with a few projects, I have actually thought about investing in a second set of rails for my frame so my frame isn't dominated by queen-size quilts.

Oh and the bonus? My husband says he doesn't mind if I get another set of rails. He would prefer it actually to my initial idea of setting up an old-fashion quilt frame when I needed it using chairs, 3x3 and c-clamps.

Wedding Gift: The Arcadia Quilt

Who-hoo! This baby is done and shipped to the lovely newlyweds.

From Wedding Gift: Arcadia

I have to admit that in finishing this quilt, I found that I could have cared less about the front. It was the back, where you can see all the quilting, that I kept showing people. And the front became the afterthought.

From Wedding Gift: Arcadia

Detail

From Wedding Gift: Arcadia

Has anyone else had this happen? Where you are more excited about the 'back' of the quilt than the 'front'?

Quilt Details: Fabric: All prints are from the Arcadia line by Sanae; the solids are from Kona Cotton (bone on the back and slate for the binding); Front and Back are machine pieced; hand quilted with no. 12 perle cotton in ecru which --though it felt like longer-- took me about 3.5 months to complete

Finished 2011: Origami Quilt

I have great news!

My Origami Quilt is back from my long arm quilter aka my momma.



I gave my momma free-reign when it came to quilting the top. So I had no idea what the finished product would be until she shipped it back to me.

As soon as I got it, I called her to tell her how much I love the work she did.



I love the pale pink thread she used.

I love the simplicity of the cross-hatching she decided to do.

During our phone conversation -- okay after I finished squee-ing about the finished product -- I asked her why she did what she did. She told me simply, "I did exactly what I knew you would want. Something unexpected (the pale pink thread) and something simple (the cross-hatch); as well as wanting to highlight the pinwheels."

Wow. I mean, she will always be my favourite long-arm quilter but I have a feeling she will be my only long-arm quilter :)

Anyway...

Many of you asked me about quilting this fabric heavy block and here are choices my momma made:

1. The lightest batting she could find; to ensure that the weight of the quilt wasn't oppressive. I have to agree with her on that. The quilt she sent me is surprisingly light weight that even younger children adore it.

2. She elected not to quilt the pinwheels after seeing the final product; though she had been thinking that since first seeing the blocks during the construction of this quilt...



Ultimately, her decision was based on how much fabric is actually involved in the quilt at certain corners. At the middle of each pinwheel you are looking at 6-12 layers of fabric and batting and the backing.

That being said we both think it is possible to quilt the pinwheels but it may take several jeans-rated needles to do so and you would want to stay way from some of the seams.

On top of that, she said she didn't want to take away from all the hand-work I did to create the curves.

If you do decided to quilt the pinwheels, please let me know, I would love to hear about your experience with it.

3. If you decided to hand-quilt, I have learned that a large frame is the only way to go. The construction of lap frames can't always take the amount of fabric in the pinwheels. I'm constructing an old fashion frame that I can easily move around since my huge standing frame is occupied at the moment. When I get the Florida Version on the frame, I'll be sure to share pictures of my frame.

Last but not least, if you are in the DFW area, I will be teaching this block at the September Meeting of Sew Fresh at Cabbage Rose Quilting & Fabrics on Thursday, September 8.

This will be a hands-on tutorial. And though, we won't be able to sew the seams, you will leave with the confidence to get through the hard part of the block which is the folding! As well as see the quilt above, the Florida Quilt, the Polly Goes to Paris Quilt and one or two more quilt tops featuring this block.

The live-tutorial will feature how to make the Florida Quilt version. To do this you will need the following materials:

*straight pins
*at least 4-6" squares (this will be your back ground fabric)
*at least 4-5" squares (this will be your pinwheel fabric) -- Prior to arriving, please iron these squares using starch. It will make the folds easier but it is not a requirement :)

And that's it.

For everyone else, the hubby has promised to help me make videos of this tutorial in English and Spanish and possibly French. MGO and I have both started back with school but I'm hoping we can get these up by November.

I am also working on writing up patterns for the various quilts I make with this block for everyone's enjoyment. So please check back!

Another Broken Dishes Quilt

It took a while but this weekend, I finally got a beautiful day to shoot pictures and MGO was home during daylight hours to help me.

Without further ado, here is yet another Broken Dishes Quilt:



This quilt is different from my last version. Besides being a quilt that we decided to keep no matter what (mainly because MGO loves all the colours), I actually hand-pieced this baby when I was still doing the Fort Worth-Dallas commute sometime between the years 2005-2008.

Because we decided to keep this quilt for ourselves, I splurged on the no. 5 perle cotton I used for this quilt. Instead of using Finca, Anchor, or DMC like I usually do, I visited my local thread shop The French Knot and purchased over-dyed no. 5 perle cotton for Weeks Dye Works which costs about $5.00/20 yard skein. Though my pocketbook winced, I couldn't deny that the choice of this thread made the the fabric pop.



I certainly don't remember this quilt being this bright before I started quilting on it --especially the blues and oranges that really pop now.

The quilting is very simple with different colour threads echoing each triangle that is required for the Broken Dishes pattern:



I also added a little quilting to around the edge of the border using only the threads I had left because I knew I wouldn't be using the thread again on an upcoming project with all the baby quilts/wedding gifts/graduation gifts I need to finish.



P.S. Keep checking back here, I will be having a little give-away as soon as USPS delivers a special package of fabric :)

Update: I linked up with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday this week as well.

My Curtain Call Dress 2011

Every year my department hosts an end-of-the-year banquet. The students all get dolled up as we celebrate and recognize our graduating seniors.

Last year was the first year I attended and I felt that I was so, so, so under-dressed for the occasion that this year I was determined to wear a cute cocktail dress this year.

And here it is...



I finished it at 5:15pm on Saturday for a 6pm Curtain Call the same night.

Whoops.

When I blogged about it here, I seriously didn't think I would cut it that close. However, I ended up having to redraft the skirt twice on Saturday because I wasn't thinking when MGO made the first mock-up and again, when I made the second mock-up. We made both mock-ups on 120" muslin which is perfect for a large circular skirt; and a problem if your final fabric is 45" wide.

Major whoops (okay, I really said a lot of cusswords but you get the point).

So it took five hours to re-draft the skirt to include two seams so I could cut the skirt from the 45in fabric and two seams that lined up with existing seams in the bodice.

All in all, after a lot of tantrums and more than a few choice words, I love my new dress. It was surprisingly comfortable and I can't wait to wear it again.

Oh and my puppy approves of it too :)

Random Finished Quilt: The Charlie Brown Quilt

It's done.

It's done.

It's done.

Oh, my god; it's done!

After almost ten months of quilting this baby off and on, I have finally finished it. To say that I'm excited, might be the understatement of the year.


Front

Made from Moda fabrics in my stash (please know my stash has been growing since 2000; I think these were purchased around 2005/2006 when I first moved to North Texas) with Kona Espresso and Bella Solid in Goldenrod(binding).



For his version of the classic 'Streak of Lightening' quilting pattern, I used Anna Maria Horner's Folk Dance Quilt pattern, which can be found on this page here.



Oh, and did I mention the 22 skeins of Anchor Perle Cotton No. 5 in colour 311, in which I handquilted this baby.





I doubt this baby will ever leave my house unless someone out right asks for it.

And I adore them.

Very, very much.

Update: I decided to link up with QuiltStory's Fabric Tuesday again.

Finished Quilt: Lady of the Lake

Update: I decided to link this project to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

This has been a three-year project and I'm proud to say "It's Finished!"



I started piecing all the HSTs required for this particular pattern my first semester I worked for my current University (Fall 2008). The fabrics are from two different Tula Pink Lines, Nest and Flutterby

Last year, my momma bought a long-arm quilting machine. When it came time to visit her and my daddy later that summer, we put this quilt on her machine (simply because I didn't want to hand-quilt this queen-sized quilt). I know -- it's machine quilted. Still not my preferred method to quilt, but I survived.



This also is the first quilt I have made with me and my husband in mind. I hope he's excited about the new quilt for our bed as I am about finishing it.

Random Finished Quilt: Broken Fiestaware

If you are like me with ice and snow on the ground then some bright colours wouldn't be amiss:



I'm linking up with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday this week to share the bright colours and dreams of summer.

Detail of the front


Back -- the orange, the turquoise, and the lime green are all from Kona. I'm sorry that I don't know which exact colours they are. They came from my stash.




Detail of the back -- so you can see the bright yellow no.5 perle cotton that I used to hand-quilt the throw.

Scarfs Going Into The Mail This Week

My life has been a bit mad since just before Christmas. And though I finished these around Christmas (one is a Christmas gift), I'm just getting them into the mail.

Without further ado...

The belated Christmas gift -- This is a really easy self-fringing scarf made using only one stitch. It's a great beginner scarf if you are interested in hooking and just getting started.



And the just 'cuz gift for a friend of mine who is going through a rough time.





This pattern is from Stich N'Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. The Happy Hooker is the book I recommend to everyone who is interested in starting to crochet or wanting to relearn. The best thing about the book is that there is a similar pattern inside it for the earlier scarf. I have to admit, the scarf above is based on a scarf my co-worker wears and that I adore; but there is a pattern in the book is almost identical to what I made above.