Finished 2012: Kaleidoscope Quilt

Most of my projects are years in the making for whatever reason. This is that exception to the rule. From start to finish, this project took less than 12 months: from winning the lovely Aviary 2 fabric from the Lovely Mab to the finished quilt top to the finished product...


Front

And


Back

Hand-quilted using no. 12 perle cotton in black and ecru, I kept it simple (yet dense) with an echo pattern through the larger shapes the pattern made; however, the number of lines of echo quilting vary from shape to shape. Sometimes three, sometimes four, sometimes five, and maybe one or two with six.

Now off to my current quilting project to see if I can have it down by the March meeting of FWMQG.

ETA: I've decided to link up with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

Up next....

For my next quilting project, I am going to tackle this quilt top...



Like the Jack-in-the-Box Quilt this quilt top has been lingering for several years. The final top you see above, is after I ripped the blocks apart twice. I'm ready to have this quilt do something other than hang in my closet half-done.

Unfortunately, it will probably be several months before it is finished because of how I decided to quilt it. When you see the final product, you will see for yourself that I may have lost my mind 0:)

Look Maw....

No frame!



Now off to launder and attach a binding!

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.

A Series of Quilt Tops

Though work got in the way of me posting, I was able to piece a few quilt tops together.

This one was planned...



For a friend who is expecting their second child. I've been hemming-and-hawing over the quilting for this. I have tossed around quilting in letters and numbers to go with the fabric as well as a medallion pattern in the big square with straight lines through the 'borders'. If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment; I'm still looking for /the/ idea.

This one had it's plan completely changed...



I started out with the plan to make this into a twin-size quilt; however, I found myself realizing that this called out to be a wall-hanging. Since wall hangings aren't really my thing -nor is it my husband's-, I asked him what he thought. I was surprised when he agreed that it needed to be a wall hanging. Unfortunately, I don't have a quilting idea for it at all. I'm completely open to any suggestions. Feel free to comment away :)

And this one I found in a box, unfinished in strips...



I remember making the blocks -um- a couple of years ago but I don't know why I never finished it and instead tucked it away in a box. In a moment of serendipity, I found it again when I was in a finishing mood. It only took me thirty minutes to 'finish' this quilt top which makes me wonder even more why it had sat unfinished for so long.

Besides the fact I actually lost it for a couple of years :)

Speaking of me in a 'finishing' mood....



For the past year, I had the fabric cut and ready to go; I just hadn't touched it outside one or two squares. Just a little of a week ago, I found myself moving the pile of fabric yet again and decided that it needed to stop. I just needed to finish this project. So I stitched and cut. And stitched and cut. And stitched and cut some more.

It's safe to say, I won't be doing a flying geese pattern anytime soon :)

The funny thing is that I'm in a piecing mood now. I've already pulled out two stacks of fabric from our guest bedroom where I store my fabric and have left them on my cutting table.

That way, I won't feel guilty for piecing another quilt, when I have all these quilt tops



hanging in the closet waiting to be quilted :)

A Rare Treat: A Modern Quilt from Me

I haven't done much quilting this week as I volunteered to act as a seamstress for our Properties Master. Sadly, the work is finished, but I can't show you all pictures quite yet --especially the one I'm tempted to ask for at the end of the run.

Until then, how about the rare treat I alluded too...

A modern quilt from me :)



Though I appreciate modern quilts and their makers, most of my inspiration comes from the patterns found in the Kansas City Star and the various aesthetics of the quilters in my family -especially my momma's Grandma Sue (as soon as I get my hands on a digital photo of her, I'll share images of her work --at least the ones that are in my possession).

My Modern Coins is made from two charm packs from Tula Pink and some Kona Espresso which may very well be my favourite neutral. I don't know really what inspired this quilt, but I do know who.

One of my beloved partners in crime :)

Over the course of last winter and early this spring, my friend went through a rough patch in trying to find a new apartment in DC. With her being as Southern as myself (though I regretfully admit that she is not only a Tennessee fan but an Ole Miss one too which makes my LSU heart shudder), I thought a house-warming gift to celebrate her new apartment would be in order.

And what better than this quilt with it's bright colours (and lots of pink which I just associate with her) and clean lines.

Deciding on the quilting pattern proved to be a bit tricky. I really wasn't sure how to compliment the patchwork and the fabric with the quilting. Until one day it hit me.



I used various colours of no. 5 perle cotton, most of which I found in my stash with the only purchase being the chocolate coloured perle cotton in the wide stripes. With that decision made, I thought that anything too complicated with the stitching would be too much. So I hand-quilted a single line of echo quilting in each large square and then using masking tape, laid out the straight lines across the solid stripes.



Detail


Though something completely different from what I usually do, I have to say in the end, it still screams me as a quilter. Which is what really matters in the end, right?

Origami Pinwheel Quilt Top & Giveaway

And for the picture you all have been waiting for....





Okay, so it's picture(s) :)

I don't have the exact measurements of the quilt but I think it is somewhere between a double and queen-size quilt top; with each 'square' measuring about 9in x 9in.



I have also made plans to make another one of these in the next month with a different line of fabric. The reason being is that I have been asked about machine quilting this pattern and I realised I don't have an answer or even what I would consider a valid suggestion due to the thickness of the fabric in the pinwheels.

So the plan for the month of July is that I will hand-quilt/do-my-own-thing on one version of this quilt, and my momma will machine quilt the other. That way I can let you know how the quilting process worked both ways.

Lastly (and possibly more importantly), it is giveaway time!

Several of you asked me what line of fabric I used and to be honest, I couldn't remember because I probably started on the blocks at least a year if not two years ago. I hated not being able to answer your questions so I did some research and I found the line!

The pinwheel fabric is from Basic Grey's Sultry line (the background fabric is muslin). Now Basic Grey doesn't know I'm doing this but...

I'm giving away four charm packs from this line so you can make an Origami Pinwheel Quilt too from this beautiful collections of pinks, greens, and browns.



All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below. I will close entries on Monday (May 16, 2011) by 9am and will post the winner that afternoon. And if you blog about this giveaway, post the link to your blog or your tweet in the comments for an extra entry.

This giveaway is open to every in the States and Internationally.

Hope all of you have a great weekend!

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.

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.

Random Finished Quilt: Charm Patch -- Update

Here are some outdoor pictures that I was able to grab today (before spring leaves North Texas this week)...

Front



Back

After seeing this photo, I realised that the other photos just didn't do the quilt justice -- at all.

Random Finished Quilt: Charm Patch

I realised late last week that I hadn't blogged about this quilt that I finished in December. It's one of the few quilts I have made in the past several years that wasn't made for a wedding or a baby gift from the get go. The front was an experiment with sashing/in-laid borders with left over squares from a larger project.



When my home re-modeling job caused me to take down my sewing area, I pulled out this top to quilt because the width of it is under 45 inches and therefore I wouldn't have to sew together a backing.



I know the backing is a Kona Cotton solid, but I'm not entirely sure what specific colour it is. To quilt it, I used my favourite no. 8 perle cotton (platinum) as well my favourite Welsh pattern -the wine glass.

This is one of three quilts I'll be blogging in the next week. There is one other quilt I forgot about and I finished the "Broken Fiestaware" quilt. I'm hoping to get some outdoor photos tomorrow while it's still pretty in North Texas before winter stops by.