A therapy quilt

Sandi from Piecemeal Quilts has submitted a beautiful quilt she's named Neapolitan Quilt.  This is a great story about how she used quilting as more than just a hobby.  Make sure to check out her blog, she so kindly has offered many quilt and block patterns available for free!  Here's her quilt story... 

In July 2008 I was out of work, out of money, and out of my mind. Out of my mind in the sense that I was dealing with anxiety and depression, and I couldn’t get my head around much of anything. I wasn’t sewing, wasn’t doing much of anything but sitting in a recliner and reading. I think I read about 50 books in 3 weeks. It wasn’t good. One day I decided it was time to change, so I gave myself a task, something that required attention to detail and focus, but had no real consequences if I failed. I decided to design and sew a complex quilt block. Using EQ6, I came up with a block that I named Anxiety.

It opened me up to the possibilities of quilting as therapy, and I pushed on to design the quilt above. It is a modified log cabin, with different widths for the cream and the pink strips. I added a half-rectangle triangle on the ends of the strips, popped the block into a quilt using EQ6, then started rotating blocks using the Serendipity tool. When this arrangement appeared, I thought I might be onto something. I printed it out and carried it around with me for a while. A week or so later I was at a local quilt shop (I was helping with her website and writing patterns for her to pick up a little extra money), and showed her the illustration. She liked it enough to offer me the fabric if I would write up a pattern! She gave me the fabric to make the sample quilt, and then she kept the sample until all of the kits that she made for it were sold.

I used a new line that had just arrived in her store – In the Pink II from Buggy Barn for Henry Glass. The fabric reminded me of Neapolitan ice cream, hence the name. I finished the blocks in just over two weeks, and finished the entire quilt in less than a month. (That’s possibly a record for me, since I am a terrible procrastinator.)

There were a few issues here and there (thread choices, anyone?), but looking back, I realize that this quilt is full of firsts for me. It’s my first original design, my first pieced back, my first pattern, my first quilt on public display (and it was on display in the vendor booth at a large quilt show, the Wisconsin Quilt Expo), my first experiment with free motion leaves, the first completed quilt I posted on this blog and the first quilt pattern I listed on Etsy.

I love this quilt. It isn’t huge – 63″ square – but it’s big enough to throw over a lap. Best of all, it’s MINE – mine from the conception to the reality.

Check out this post, she has images of some creative variations of this block.  Thanks Sandi!

linking at amylouwho

Kristie from OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder...

This is a sweet quilt from Kristie from OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder. Finally, I have found a name for my condition! I have OCD too!  Anyhow, her blog is super cute full of tons of cute tutorials. She is very talented. She is a little new to the blog world, so go on over and give her a big welcome! This is actually a sweet story...

I am so pleased with how this quilt came out, I seriously considered changing the name of one of my girls to Mckinley so that I can keep it. But, in the end, I can't think of a better home for this one. Mckinley was recently adopted by long term patients who I consider friends, after a long struggle with infertility. It is such a happy ending, and I am thrilled to do something for this beautiful new family!

I made the quilt using a Moda Hunky Dory charm pack, then framed each square in white to make it pop. The back is a solid of my favorite pattern from this series- the flowers are so vibrant and retro looking. I then bound it in the pink polka dot from the series. I also put in a white bar on which I hand embroidered Mckinley's name. To do so I printed a font and size on my computer, held it up to a window, and traced it onto the white sash. I then used 3 embroidery threads to stitch it up. Thanks to Amy at NanaCo for the advice! I extended the name stash to the edges, beyond the borders of the blocks, to add interest. I really like how it breaks up the quilt.

Next, I added a few shabby fabric flowers, with mismatched button centers, to add more texture and interest to the quilt. I love it! This idea was from Kathy at Magnolia Designs- she even lent me her Big Shot to cut the fabrics :-) They look even better all wrinkled up, once washed.

For quilting, I machine stitched 1/4 inch from all the borders. It really brings it all together!

I hope Mckinley and her family enjoy the quilt!

LINKING AT AMYLOUWHO

Mama Mel Loves wedding quilt....

Melissa of Mama Mel Loves blog has some fun quilt projects going on over at her blog. Be sure to visit. This quilt is a fun idea for a wedding gift. What a great idea, and a thoughtful gift.

I began making quilts about a year ago, and I am now addicted to quilting. :) In December after making my 4th quilt, I decided to start a goal for 2010... making a quilt a month, for a total of at least 12 quilts for the year. Most of the quilts I have made have been for family or friends. I have told them my goal for the year, and many of them know that they will receive a quilt from me sometime this year. :) In January, as I was online searching for wedding gift ideas for my sister, I came across this website (http://www.allcrafts.net/myweddingquilt.htm), where the bride-to-be decided to use quilt signature blocks as her wedding guestbook, then quilted them together after the wedding, although the website doesn't show the completed project.

 I thought it was such a lovely, unique idea, that I immediately asked my sister if I could do this for her as her wedding gift. She thought it was cool also, so I began searching for fabric that suited her. She ended up choosing the fabric, Moda's Eden by Lila Tueller. Her wedding colors were pink and green, so the collection was pretty much perfect for her.

At the wedding, I set up a small table with a sign that had a generic image of the quilt-to-be, along with instructions, a plastic bag full of permanent fabric pens, and the signature blocks. Although not everyone participated, I was very happy with the number of guests who did! I also waited a while for some more family members to get their belated signature blocks delivered to me. I decided to omit the purples that were in the collection of fat quarters that I got, and used only the pinks, greens and yellows.

The white rectangles are the signature blocks from people who attended her wedding. I used Kona Snow for these. Each completed block is 13" square. I started cutting the fabric in February, started piecing in March, and finally completed the quilt in May. It shouldn't have taken me this long, but I was sick a couple of times during the process and had to put quilting on hold. The completed quilt is a twin size, the largest quilt I've made so far! I did an all-over meandering quilt with some occasional "sloppy hearts" mixed in. :) I quilted around the writing, since I wanted these blocks to stand out more. And on the back, I used more Kona Snow with some leftover Eden blocks pieced in for extra color.

 Not sure why this appears wrinkly... It really doesn't look like this in person. I presented the quilt to my sister and new brother-in-law all rolled up. I loved how it looked! My sister had mentioned she wanted a little bit of brown in the quilt, if possible, so I decided to make the binding a light brown that matches some of the outlines of the birds in the fabric. I also quilted using a tan colored thread. I wrapped the "quilt roll" using this cute twill tape I found on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/lillalotta). It says, "Happily Ever After" all over. So perfect! :)

Thank you so much for sharing my quilt story! :)
~Melissa (aka Mama Mel)

linking at amylouwho

Cluck Cluck Sew, Modern Chain Quilt...

Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew doesn't really need a introduction does she? Don't we all already know her and love her? Constant inspiration from her site. She has tons of tutorials and I vow to try everyone (one day). Be sure to visit her blog. This is her modern version of an Irish Chain Quilt. And I want it!!!

The inspiration for the Modern Chain quilt came from a traditional Irish chain quilt I saw in a magazine. The inspiration quilt was made with traditional americana fabrics that weren't my style, so I thought I should try a version with modern fabrics and using an easy strip piecing method.

It took some trial and error to figure out the strip piecing, but then went together so quickly after getting the measurements figured out. The fabrics are strips from about 18 different prints by different designers, I picked bright colors that would compliment eachother.

 The backing is one of my favorite backs yet, the fabric is from the Snorkel line by Cosmo Cricket. This was a fun quilt for me to make because it was neat to take a traditional pattern and make it modern.

Anyways, this is a fun quilt to make, I have about three more color schemes I want to make it in when I finally get more time (as if)!
Thanks for visiting and happy quilting! -Allison

And you can all buy this pattern at her shop here...