Little Island Quilting cute swap quilt finish...

Cute blog swap quilt finish from Little Island Quilting, she was in a Brit Quilt Swap. I really like this quilt, I am not normally drawn to green and grey as a combination, but this quilt makes me change my mind!  Her blog is fun, and check out her Flickr for some great inspiration!

I know it's not for everyone but I love hand quilting and with a quilt as small as a Brit Quilt Swap quilt, it really doesn't take that long to finish a quilt. Added to which I personally find it less fiddly hand quilting small areas than stopping and starting when doing it by machine.

To get the straight radiating lines 'marked' on to the quilt top without actually marking the top, I use a hera marker.

I've had mine a while and as you can see, it looks like a blunt, small rotary cutter. The links I've given above to current hera markers look different but they still do the same job; namely making a temporary crease along which you can quilt. I'm not sure they'd work for more complicated designs but for simple straight marking and then hand quilting I think they can't be beaten.

All in all, despite a few points not quite 100% matching up, I'm really pleased with how this quilt has turned out...

...and I hope...

...my partner...(!)

...likes it too.

Meanwhile, I just have to decide who's name to write on the label ;-)

Baby boy quilt from Heidi...

Heidi made this quilt, and found that it was therapeutic since she lost her little girl 2 years ago. She finished this little sweet quilt for her new little guy. Sweet colors, sweet baby. Make sure to visit Heidi's blog for more information and inspiration!

I finished little Button's quilt!!

I think Button is excited too!

I have only made one other quilt for one of my children, and that one sits with her memory box.  

This quilt was therapuetic in many ways.

  I bought the "if its a girl" and "if its a boy" quilt kits from Joann's.  

I planned to do them BEFORE he arrived, but I think there was fear.  

Fear that if I made a quilt, I would be coming home empty armed again.  

So demons where vanquished as I worked on it. Cutting went smoothly.  Placing the squares?  Not so much.  Too many mishaps to explain the amount of times my flannel fell and squares fell on the floor.

  I was very anxious about deciding on my quilting plan.  I let the quilt hang out in the studio for a while. 

The usual struggle in my head occurred!  Should I free-motion?  Should I do even lines.  Should I cross even lines to make small squares.  Should I try to make hearts in each large square?

Then I started to doodle. 

Don't you just love post-its?

I decided that I would meander, but cross my lines.  And every so often I would add a heart. 

My heart!

  I emphasized a few of the larger hearts by mimicking the pebble quilting effect.

I will be honest....I let my stitch lengths go a little long.  I have to practice getting them a bit shorter.  My new machine was a bit quick for me!

But I don't think Button cares!

Or maybe he wonders about my ability to quilt?

 

 

He should be.  

 Ewww......YUCK!

I was back in business!

Phew, Mom....That was a close one!

I'm so glad that I pushed through all the difficulties to finish it.
  It sure was worth it for this little guy!

Fabric Tuesday linky party!

 I have been an embroidery fool lately! I have often tried to think of the perfect craft that transports well that doesn't require too much brain power, I have found it! EMBROIDERY.  For a while I thought it was knitting, but you have to follow a pattern most of the time, and count, and that is too much when you are trying to watch a movie etc.  

Embroidery needs nothing! Just the initial set up, then pick out all the colors you may need, and you are good to go! I just put it in a ziplock (one day I will make a cute embroidery bag...hint hint Meg, good homemade Christmas gift)

Here is my fabric Tuesday project...

Here is a little woodland friends I am working on, almost done... Isn't the bunny sweet?

And I use my favorite new Havel's Sewing scissors Meg and I got from Market, I LOVE these scissors! Not only are they razor sharp, these ones have the curved tip for super close thread trimming.  And they are pink! I love them!

And now for the winner of the Canton Village Quilt Works giveaway...

 Barb said...

I love the Basics section of Canton Village. One can find geometrics like aboriginal dots, black and whites, or Kona solids easily with this link.

July 22, 2011 4:43 PM

On to Fabric Tuesday!  Follow the guidelines here, and have fun!

Log Cabins from Meg!

Welcome to week 4 of the Modern Rockin' Robin QAL!  I hope you're having fun seeing the different rows in the flickr group and with the other participating bloggers.  Click here for more information.

This week LOG CABINS!  I was really excited actually because I have never made any log cabin blocks.  And anytime I am stumped when working on a quilt or pattern our mom says, "How about a log cabin?!?"  She loves them.  Here's to you momma!!

Week 1: Rectangles

Week 2: Stars

Week 3: Houses

Week 4: Log Cabin

Week 5: Hexagons

This weeks row design is by Anne Marie from Gen X Quilters.

This is the row I deterred most from the original pattern.  And it has nothing to do with Anne Marie's design...I love hers!  I just decided I wanted to do something a little funkier with my quilt, and it helped me with my warm vs cool rules :)

I used the same widths as in the tutorial, I just pieced it together in the traditional log cabin way...ultimately the piecing went Right, Bottom, Left, Top.  For my rules one side is warm fabrics, the other cool. You can tell, right? 

I also made the outer border wonky.

Besides getting to try something new on each row, my favorite part about this QAL is that I chose to use scraps!!  I have so many of my favorite fabrics in here, and some of them were down to itty bitty pieces...I thought I may not find a way to use them.

Again, if you'd like to join the Quilt Along you can find out a little more here, check out the flickr group.

If you want to check out the other bloggers participating and see their blocks see
AnneMarie from GenXQuilters
Jen from ReannaLily Designs
Melissa from Lilac Lane
Lisa Marie from That Crazy Quilty Girl

Click here for the full tutorial on today's Block by Gen X Quilters!

Shattered Rainbow Quilt by ShapeMoth

I love rainbow quilts, you?  I just really love COLOR.  This quilt is so fabulous, I'm excited to share it with you!  Kirie from Shape Moth was inspired by a graphic to make this gorgeous piece.  On her blog Kirie shares her wonderful handiwork, free paper pieced patterns (see her sidebar) and even has a Tutorial Tuesday (where she teaches YOU!)...make sure to see stop by and see her after you read her feature :)
 
I think about 3 weeks ago I saw this graphic made by Andy Gilmore:

source

I was fascinated by the colour combination on this one. There is some order in this mess ;) So... I bought 4 charm packs of Kona cotton (dark, pastel, dusty and classic) to make it. After I finished what I previously planned, I thought the quilt would make a great picknick blanket.

And here it is: 'Shattered rainbow' quilt :D

I've sewn some emerald and candy green border and some more half-squares around. I used those charm squares which I had left. I really used almost all of those 4 charm packs. I'm only left with few blue ones, about 10 red and some brown squares...

I sewn the back, I quilted it (on my tiny machine) in diagonal lines, binded half by machine half by hand (on the back) and I'm proud of myself :D:D:D (although it looks crincled and wrincled...). My 'Shattered Rainbow' quilt is missing a label only.

Here it is (there's not much more to say to it ;) ):





The back:





Summary


Pattern: center part of the front based on graphic designed by A. Gilmore, the rest, me

Fabric: 4 charm packs of Kona cotton (classic, pastel, dusty and dark), 2y of Kona cotton Emerald, 1,5y Kona cotton candy green, 0,5y Kona cotton black, 8 layer cake squares of Bella solid

Quilting: me, diagonal lines

Thread: Madeira Aerofil 120

Giveaway from Canton Village!

We're happy today to introduce you to a place we like to shop and one of our newest sponsors; Canton Village Quilt Works!

Jackie is the woman behind this truly one-stop shop.  She is an award winning quilter and really knows her stuff!  Back to one-stop shopping.  From choosing a pattern, picking the fabrics and even having it quilted you don't even have to open another browser :) 

Jackie even offers a really cool service.  You can send her some fabrics or scraps along with an online form and she will cut you specific pieces and shapes from her Accuquilt!  How cool is that??

Okay, do you want to win some gorgeous fabric??

You can win this yummy stack of 9 fat quarters of Art Gallery Oval Elements.

Here's how:

leave a separate comment for each

1. Visit Canton Village and tell me your favorite thing!

2. Like the Canton Village facebook page

3. Sign-up for their newsletter

4. Follow their blog

 This giveaway will run through Monday July 25th and the winner announced Tuesday July 26th.

The Undercover Crafter shares wonky stars!

Hollie from The Undercover Crafter is very talented! She's been creating practically her whole life.  Check out her Quatreflowers Quilt, so pretty!  If you'd like more eye candy see her flickr.  Make sure to say hi and see her blog...but check out these wonky stars first!

Look what I just pulled out of the wash...

My first commission is complete. Isn't it delicious? I really had such a fun time making this quilt for Nancy. Her brother recently welcomed a beautiful little boy into the world and this is her gift to her new little nephew. And I'm warning you now, I went a little overboard on the pictures.

The original plan for the back was plain Robin's Egg Kona but I was just a tad shy on the yardage so I decided to add large squares of each of the fabrics from the stars on the front to help extend the width of the Kona solid. And I'm really glad I did. I think it added a lot to the back and showcases all the fabrics really well.

I want to thank everyone who gave their input on both the layout and the quilting of this quilt. I loved all of the feedback. In the end Nancy won the Great Layout Debate (the quilt is for her after all) so the Central Park Zoo squares run diagonal through the middle and the subsequent rows are more orderly. As for the quilting, which sparked a little debate, I went with Natalie full force on this one. I favored Option #3 and then not only echo quilted around each star but I also echoed each long seam on either side.

I really love the patterns the quilting created. And I think on the next wonky star quilt (because I am sure there is another in my future) I may play more with echoing the stars both on the inside and out.

I think the binding may be my favorite part of the quilt, though. I think the orange dots provide the perfect amount of contrast and color to the quilt. I really am dying to run back to my LQS to pick up some more yardage for my stash. I think it makes a terrific binding.

Alas, I think completing this quilt brings my Wonky Star Madness to an (temporary) end. I hope Nancy is pleased with the final outcome and this quilt provides her nephew with years of warmth and comfort.