Kitchen Windows Quilt from Let's Begin Sewing...

Beautiful quilt feature today of Rachel from Let's Begin Sewing... It is called Kitchen Windows a pattern from Elizabeth Hartman. She made this beauty for her mum!  Love the bright colors, so pretty!  Stop by Let's Begin Sewing... to see lots of fun quilt finishes, clothing and other fun projects!  Thanks Rachel for sharing :)

Completed one more quilt. This one is special as I made it for my mum. I really do hope she likes it. This is the biggest quilt I have made so far, completed it measures 85" x 85". I quilted it diagonally and it was difficult to maintain straight lines on a small sewing machine but somehow it worked out. This quilt has definitely made me a fan of linen fabric and I think you will see me use it a lot more often in my quilts. I used stripped binding for my quilt. This is the first time I have used stripes and it does frame the quilt quite nicely. The backing is Folksy Flannel from Anna Maria Horner. It's very good quality and gives a real snug feel to the quilt. I prewashed all my fabric for this quilt so it's got a nice fresh smell about it. Any way without further adieu..

Had to add a little hand stitched note!

Quilt for a princess from Stitched in Color

Did anyone watch the much anticipated wedding??  I recorded it.  Heather is probably dragging her feet somewhere right now...silly girl spent the night at my parents, ate Shepherd's Pie (what "commoners" would eat to celebrate) and got up early to watch the wedding with my dad.  Really I'm jealous and wished I lived near them so I could join too!!  Our daddy is from England so it's fun to get to do these things from time to time.


Rachel from Stitched in Color needs no introduction to must of us!  Her blog is inspiring and a really fun read.  Just check out this latest post where I spent probably AN HOUR reading others comments!!! I can hardly see my computer screen my eyes are fried.  I can't wait to feel free again (ie when Market is over) and can try out her Bottled Rainbow quilt-a-long.  In keeping with a royal theme, here is a quilt she made for her princess:


This picture (finally) brought to you by the inspiration of Quiltstory!

I can't believe I never got my act together and took a finished picture of this quilt!  When Heather and Megan of Quiltstory asked to feature Fairytale Patchwork, it was the push I needed to get it done.  So, welcome to Aria's room!

Do any of you remember this quilt?  I made it last summer for my daughter, inspired by my wildflower curtains (there in the background) and Heather Ross' simply stunning Far Far Away collection (FFA1 on double cotton gauze).  The Far Far Away unicorns had my heart on first glance, and Aria was starry eyed over the Princess and the Pea!



Combined with Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile and a few Good Folks, this stack of fabrics was sooo invitingly plush and silky.  Fabric heaven!  Still, I was a little nervous to cut into them, being so pricey and all, which is why I did a mock up of my quilt layout like this: 



The quilt design was inspired by Lauren's quilt for her daughter, Mira.  I added the occasional pieced block, to accommodate the tall pattern repeat of those picky princesses.  



And sashed the whole thing in natural linen (rather than white or pink), in hopes that the linen would temper the uber-girlishness of these fabrics.  Because, ya know, I'm hoping Aria will love this look for years to come!

Piecing this quilt top was a breeze, even with a near-shocking interruption, thanks to the large cuts and simple design.  And, I'm still such a fan of that approach!  Large cuts really allow my eyes to appreciate the fabrics. Simple is beautiful.  Simple is fast. Simple is fun.  Yeah for simple!!!

Fairytale Snapshots from atop my Dogwood Tree!

And then this new quilter was faced with the problem of quilting and binding this pretty young thing.  Gulp.  First off, I decided to skip binding.  This quilt already had a linen edge border and I wasn't keen on hand-sewing so much binding.  I did right sides together, sew, turn right side out and close up edge.  Quick and painless.  I'd do it again!

For quilting, I tried machine quilting straight diagonal lines.  Marked them with ruler-drawn lines, marked them with masking tape - nothing worked!  It may have been my lack of experience or it may have been the slippery fabrics, but I couldn't stitch straight lines on this for the life of me.  Frustrating and sad.

Though in retrospect, it was just not meant to be. Hand-quilting was the absolutely delicious alternative!

I started work with needle and pearl cotton thread. And, oh my, how I enjoyed hand quilting Aria's Fairytale Patchwork quilt!  The entire process was so relaxing and satisfying, especially experimenting with different quilting patterns.  Here are a few more.

This pattern, quilted diamonds, ended up being my favorite style for quilting on the Princess and the Pea blocks.  It looks especially nice on this Diamond Mine (from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks collection) block, which actually inspired the quilting pattern.

Here's another fun one.  I only used this star pattern on a few unicorn blocks, as I came to the idea a bit late in the game.  I like how it works with the layout of the print!

And, a simple pattern.  It creates a clean-lined, understated effect that works on almost any block.

I've been asked how long the hand quilting takes.  Let me start by saying that 95% of the time, I was stitching while watching a show with my husband.  So, given frequent breaks to watch the screen and an overall level of comfortable distraction, each block took me about 45 minutes to complete.  I would begin a block by marking my stitch lines with a chaco pen, and then carefully centering the block in my quilting frame.   On the few occasions that I stitched sans TV, the work came along much faster.

All too soon, I had completed all 26 blocks.   The overall effect is fairly random, since I varied the quilting patterns enough so that no 2 touching blocks share the same pattern.  I reasoned that this sparse quilting pattern was "enough" since I had used a repurposed blanket for batting, which wasn't going to fall apart or bunch up within the quilt.  



But I'm not perfect, and it wasn't enough.  If you were reading Stitched in Color in December, you may remember my confession post, Sew Imperfect.   Here's what happened...



Weak Seams.  I had to wash Aria's Fairytale Patchwork Quilt recently for the 3rd or so time.  One of the children found a hole in the quilt top along the seam soon thereafter.  When I went to repair it, I noticed that several (and one was too many) of the seams were coming open.  Only the Far Far Away gauze and Little Folks voile were effected.  The sturdier quilting cotton seams showed no wear.  It's not as if the stitches actually came undone.  Instead the fabric frayed away.  What did I do wrong?  I wonder if a 1/4" seam allowance was not generous enough or if the fact that I only sparingly hand-quilted it just didn't give it enough strength to withstand normal pulling.  Ugh.  So, my solution was to zigzag quilt around most of the gauze and voile squares to close up opening seams and reinforce the others.  I'll confess, that was not a happy sewing morning.

Your kind comments on that post included so many suggestions for working with delicate fabrics like voile, including using interfacing and a wider seam allowance.  If I were to do it again, I might go that route, but I'm more likely to just avoid quilting with voile in the future.  Not that I think it's unwise or impossible, just that I'd rather save voile for projects that capitalize on it's lovely, drapey, silky properties such as clothes-making or a simple flannel-backed baby blanket a la Anna Maria Horner.  

Since the December incident, Fairytale Patchwork has held up beautifully and it's been enjoyed everyday.  I made Aria a matching pillowcase too!  It's such a privilege to be able to make these beautiful things for my daughter and so rewarding to express my love and creativity in this kind of tangible, practical way. 

I bet you know exactly what I mean!



Thank-you, Quiltstory, for prompting me to share my journey with this project! 

Red Pepper Quilts...modern flying geese...

We are sure you have heard of a little blog called Red Pepper Quilts...there Rita has an adorable quilt tutorial, binding tutorial and so many of her own finished quilts for us all to admire!  She makes amazing quilts and sells alot of them, and her patterns, at her etsy shop. Be sure to check them out. This flying geese quilt really caught our eye...Thanks Rita!

Hi Heather and Megan,

I love the binding on this quilt. I cannot go past a dot fabric, and particularly love how it looks as a binding. I was in no doubt that this quilt needed a black binding to frame it, and trialled different striped fabrics but settled on the dotty fabric without disappointment.



Thank you for your request to feature my Modern Flying Geese Quilt on QuiltStory, I would love to have this quilt featured.

Inspired by the book that lives on my bedside table - Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects, as well as by the wonderful Flying Geese Quilts seen on Flickr, I wanted to created my own skein of flying geese.

I have always dreaded making Flying Geese units but this time I used the "Easy Star & Geese Ruler" by Kimberly Einmo which, although it meant working with bias edges, gave me the control I need to make Flying Geese unit of consistent size.

I have used several different linen and linen blend fabrics in this quilt, all very similar in color but varying in texture and weight, to add variety and interest. In choosing fabrics I have limited the number of fabrics and only worked with red/pink, orange, black and grey fabrics. I also ensured that there was a mix of large and small scale fabrics, adding solid fabrics as a feature.

I have also made a very fresh and modern version of the same Flying Geese Quilt:

I so enjoyed piecing and quilting these Flying Geese Quilts that I then wrote a comprehensive quilt pattern, which includes tips for selecting fabrics as well as many basic patchwork and quilting hints. You can find the Modern Flying Geese Quilt Pattern in my Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/knitknat

We just love Rita's take on Flying Geese units.  I could sit and admire her finished quilts all day long (and have)!  Thanks again Rita, we are so flattered you let us share your work!