Applique circles quilt from mansells on the move..

Clare from mansells on the move blog, made this darling circle quilt for her baby. Love this quilt. Clare has all her quilt finishes here, there are some darling ones. She is a travelling Mama, currently in Scotland, her blog header and graphics are darling. Her blog is a fun read, so be sure to head over...

Applique circles quilt

Two quilts in two weeks? There's no stopping me!

This is the first of many quilts I'll be making for our baby who is due next month. I'm loving being able to work on small quilts AND keep them. Before I found out I was pregnant I'd run out of excuses to make a quilt in anything but a superking size for us, but they'll hopefully be lots of excuses to make mini quilts over the next few years.

This quilt is exactly a yard square and is intended to be used as a play mat with a baby gym. The fabric I used is from Moda's It's A Hoot range. I'm slowly learning that there tends to be a bit of a lag between me buying fabric and actually using it for a project, by which stage the yardage has often sold out.

I learned my lesson this time and bought two packs of charm squares and yardage as soon as I saw it on sale. I had a few reservations that the colours were a bit girlie (we don't know what we're having) but when mixed together I think it looks sufficiently unisex....

I had a new tool to play with when I did the binding for this quilt. Previously I have always used this method to finish attaching the binding. It produces great results, but is fiddlely to do. Then when I was searching youtube for quilting tutorial videos for my sister, I found this video which recommends using a binding tool to achieve exactly the same finish. After finally tracking a UK store down that sold them and waiting for the stock to arrive, I can confidently say I won't be going back to the old method!

I also bought myself a copy of Block Party- The Modern Quilting Bee. I have been wanting to get involved with or organise a quilting bee for ages and there are some great ideas and patterns in the book. I'm just trying to decide whether it would be insanity to start a bee with a new baby on the way, or whether it would actually be a rather nice manageable size quilting project - what do you think and would anyone be interested in joining the fun?

Put the Needle on the Record...

We have featured Val from Pink Please before, she sure whips up some darling projects. How much do you love this quilt? I don't even understand how people are making these things! I am going to check out her tutorial that she just has featured on Moda Bake Shop. One day I will make one of these things! Thanks Val!

This quilt was born when a good high school friend of mine, Liz, became pregnant with her first child, Vivian. Liz recently lost her father, who was an exceptional man, and I wanted to make her an extra special gift from the heart.  For her baby shower, I decided to make Baby Viv a little quilt.  Well, it started out as a quilt, and ended up more as a playmat. 

I've been trying to get more creative with naming my quilts. The name, "Put the Needle on the Record," was born because I had quilted it in a pattern that looks just like lines on a record.  I couldn't resist the "needle" pun either.

Baby Viv on her new playmat.

I was inspired to make this quilt by this picture.  I searched for a pattern on how to make it, but couldn't find one...so I made one up.  I was lucky enough to have my tutorial featured on Moda Bake Shop.  Head on over there if you have a special baby that needs a quilt just like this.  I've also included how to make a matching changing pad from the scraps of the playmat.  If you'd rather not cut into your stash, you can make both the playmat and changing pad with just one Jelly Roll of fabric!

I hope it brightens your day.

A little more to the story: 

Jenny of Sew Kind of Wonderful and I have been emailing back and forth about the name of this quilt. 

Jenny: "Isn't the name of your quilt in a song?  cause I'm singing something in my head!"

Val: "Yep!  I can't thik of who sings it...is it the Beastie Boys?

Jenny:  "Maybe...it was a fun rap in the early 90's."

Val:  (after googling it)  "PUMP UP THE VOLUME!!!  That's it!"

I. heart. google.  What did we do in critical situations like this before it existed?

~Val

Thanks to Quilt Story for featuring this blog post!

Prairie Points of Interest Quilt, so creative!

I recently moved from Missouri to Arizona.  My mom visited me in both places...and they are very different.  The funniest thing is each time she comes to visit she asks me things like, "What kinds of vegetation grows here?" "What's the story behind that non-remarkable landmark?"  Um...I have no idea!  I've since told her that she's welcome to go to the visitor's center whenever she wants!   Makes me giggle. :)  Well Helen from RobinStar Quilting wanted to make a quilt that represents where she lives.  I love how she put it together, so creative!!  You'll love this quilt, especially you Texans, y'all love your state :)

I have wanted to make a quilt that represents where I live in the

Texas Panhandle.  For a while I have had images of quilt designs

floating around in my head and I finally bought some fabric and got

inspired to come up with my "Prairie Points of Interest" quilt.   In

this design the center focus blocks represent the wild vegetation that

is naturally treeless, the flying geese are representative of the

Canadian Geese that migrate to this area over the winter (they are

everywhere, and I love it), the circles show the 'Playa Lakes' that

abound in the region, the stripes are the furrows of the countless

fields that are planted in corn, cotton, sunflowers, or wheat, and the

open spaces convey the feeling of openness that surrounds the high

plains.  I intended for it to have a modern feel to it and the

vertical quilting maintains that feeling.  I am really pleased with it

and proud of myself for doing it.  I even put a label on the back,

yeah!

 

Little Bluebell's LOVE Quilt

Hey all!  Welcome to Quilt Story :)  Today we're featuring Adrianne from Little Bluebell Love quilt.  And it is definitely one to LOVE :)  She's got a great list of finished quilts, it's fabulously listed so you can see the image of each quilt and then she has a link to each time she blogged about it.  Genius. :)  Great little quilting blog so make sure to stop by Little Bluebell.


This is "Love" and it is brought to you by the Beatles, late nights with my sewing machine, chocolate, and a vanilla latte or two.

Love's Story:
I have a long list of "want to do" quilts.

You know how it goes, you see a quilt you love, you're inspired and you add it to your "list".  You can't start it now.  You don't have the fabric you need.  You're in the middle of another project.  You just can't.  Not right now.

This quilt never made my list.  One day it all came together in my head.  The Love fabric, the appliqued circles, the scrappy border and white, lots of white.  I just went for it.  I started cutting, ironing and piecing.  It was liberating!!

Try it.  The very next time you have a quilt idea, just go for it!!

 

1. Love Heart, 2. Love Free Motion, 3. Love Finished, 4. Love Finished Back

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions on the previous "Love" post.  I went with aqua binding and free motion quilting, and I totally changed my mind on the backing fabric.  It was just too busy.  I may use the fabric to make some lounge pants from Amy Butler's book.  An appropriate pairing I think!  : )

-A

Castle Peeps Circle quilt from Splendorfalls...

This quilt comes to us from Mary Clair of the fabulous splendorfalls one of our block party winners. I really like how these circles really pop out against the black. Check our her website. Super cute projects like this pillow. And her sewing and quilt link is a fun look through... Just a bright cheery quilt for a Monday morning.

 It's finally done.  Phew.
This was one of those quilts that evolved into it's final form as opposed to executing a vision.  First it was going to be raw edge solid Castle Peeps circles.  Then it was appliqued solid Peeps circles.  Then it was back to raw edges again but I had already cut the solid circles, which now were too big since I wasn't going to applique them.  That's when I decided to quarter them and sew them back together.
I'm sure I'm not the only one this happens to?

  I bit the bullet and free motion quilted this one; all I can say is thank goodness it's hard to see black on black!  It was my first real free motion adventure outside some practice swatches.  I joked with my St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild friends that they weren't allowed to look at it up close.{wink}
It's more practical that perfect and I think that's okay.

I do think the overall quilt turned out pretty cute though!

Can anyone tell me why black fabric is such a fuzz magnet?  Seriously!  Didn't help with the raw edges either; I think I used an entire lint roller on this thing.

I used a cheerful green Kona for the binding and pieced in my practice appliqued circles for the back! 

My sister in law is the recipient of this quilt and I'm happy for her to have it.

What's YOUR story?

**Please visit our revised submissions tab for full SIMPLE details**

We've realized that our submissions page has intimidated a lot of people and maybe turned some away from submitting a quilt!  And we say boo to that :)  We are so excited and interested in featuring many many quilts on this site, and we need your help!

What to submit? A quilt!  It can be any size, theme, colors, etc.  We want modern quilts to traditional using all kinds of fabrics.  They can be simple or ornate. 

Who to submit to? Heather and Megan, sisters who run this little bloggy and Fresh Poppy Design.  E-mail us at myquiltstory{at}gmail{dot}com.  Or to be really simple, click on that monster green circle button on our sidebar that says "contact us".

How do I submit? Email us a link to a post on your blog OR send us a little write-up and pictures.  Don't have a blog?  No problem.  You can just email us the pictures and a story.

Why should I submit?  Let's just be honest, we all love recognition for things we've created with our own two hands!  Secondly, it's a great way to promote your own blog or shop and gain more followers.

What's in a story?  Of course some quilts have amazing stories.  Sad and inspirational stories, quilts made for babies and friends, quilts made to represent something.  However those aren't the only stories we feature!  We choose fabrics for a reason, we choose which pattern or design for a reason, we choose why we're making it for a reason.  Those are all things we as quilters are interested in reading!

Get great photos! The number one thing we look for is good photos.  Even if you don't have a great camera, take your quilt outside and get some great shots...avoid direct sunlight and use nature to show it off. 

How do I get featured?  We realize that there are quilters with all kinds of taste and personalities, so we love to keep this blog diverse and show all kinds inspiration.  We are not too picky, promise :)

What do we ask? All we ask in return for featuring your quilt and site is that you mention us.  We LOVE to see our buttons on your sidebar and we LOVE to see posts that you link to us.  We appreciate you taking the time to help us get our blog out there too!

Thank you!  We just want to say a thank you to all those who have submitted and will submit.  We appreciate the support you give this blog by reading, following, using our buttons and participating in Fabric Tuesday!  We've been so excited to watch it grow and shape into a blog that we think is resourceful and inspiring!  Thank you.

Boring? Wouldn't this be a really boring post if there wasn't a picture of a quilt?  I agree.

Here is a darling quilt that my mom made for my little boy Sawyer 3 years ago.  She let me choose the fabrics and she put it all together.

I really really love this backing.

We even added his sweet little hand print. I believe he was 6 months old.

I also love this blue striped border...it's perfect!  It is only 1 inch wide too, eek!

My mommy has made both of my boys quilts at their birth.  They are so sweet and I know will be treasured forever, by at least me.  After all they are boys.

To sum up, and solidify this as the longest. post. ever.

....make sure to check out Fresh Poppy Design today.  I posted my Halloween runner that I made from this stash!

Let's see some submissions :)

A Bubbly Quilt From Jo

When I saw this Bubbly Quilt from Jo of Jo's Country Junction...it spoke to me.  I LOVE polka dots, and this quilt definitely satisfies that thirst!  I love the bright colors against the white, it is such a happy quilt!  I'll let Jo tell you the rest...but make sure to check out her cute blog, she completes lots of projects and is a fun read.

I finished my bubbly quilt...finally.

 

The quilt started from a left over pile of scraps, my Accuquilt Go!, and my circle die.  

The quilt is made using raw edge appliqué. I really had never thought about using this technique until I saw a fun quilt Crazy Mom, Amanda Jean made called Ticker Tape.  

It was LOTS of fun and hope to make another quilt some time in the future. You can see the circles are just laid on top of the fabric and sewn down in a circular pattern. Then on the background fabric, I did a simple stipple type pattern.
 
Fun and EASY!

The binding is scrappy.

 

It's fun to see what can be made with left overs from my Schnibble quilts.  

Kalissa and Gracie think the quilt is their quilt. Kalissa has begged for the last few Schnibble quilts that I've made so I am caving in and letting her have the quilt....I figure it has all the fabric she "loved". If you want to see more details on how I made the quilt, Kalissa helped me make a little video.... You can watch it here.