TooGoodToBeThrough

Better Late than Never?

Thanks to the double latte I had this evening, I'm posting a couple of pictures of my last finish, Patchwork Puzzle.  Week after week of wetter than usual Portland weather made it almost impossible to photograph the quilt, so with its birthday gift date approaching (late May), I had to settle for a few closeups. 

I had a terrible time deciding which overall quilting pattern to choose and settled on a simple floral/leaf design.  I vetoed anything with stars, because the quilt has so many star blocks, and I nixed traditional feathers because they didn't seem quite right either.  Something about this quilt has a 'southwest' look to me and for a second I considered a Native American mosaic of Kokopelli/bear/eagle feather symbols, but decided against it just as quickly.

The backing fabric looks terribly drab in this picture, but it has a bit of every color used on the front of the quilt, and I was thrilled to find it.

I have one more gift quilt to make for a friend's new granddaughter.  I bought several bright fat quarters and pulled a couple of fabrics from my meager stash to make a New Wave quilt.  I got it about 80% finished and decided it just wasn't the quilt I wanted to make for this baby girl.  Instead, I'm going to use Thimble Blossoms' Picnic Rollup pattern with Bliss fabric for the top, minus the ties and rock pockets, of course.  I think it'll be sweet.

 
Me,
Jane

A Patchwork Finish

I started Patchwork Puzzle (from Batiks and Beyond by Laurie Shifrin) early last summer, made one each of the two blocks that make up the pattern, and then put it all away when other activities -- having nothing to do with sewing -- took priority.

 
 
Earlier this month, I set a goal to finish Patchwork Puzzle by the end of the month, and I did!

Cue the flying pig!

There wasn't a minute of sunshine today, so it was too dark in the house to photograph the whole quilt.  Maybe that will change by the time (mid April, with luck) I get it back from the quilter.  And maybe it won't.  This is Portland, after all.

Me,
Jane

When Pigs Fly

I've decided my blog theme for 2011 will be When Pigs Fly. 

For more months than I care to admit, the only thing new in my sewing room that resembled a quilt was this box of Kleenex.

 
My last finish of 2010 was a throw-size quilt made for a friend's son's August wedding.  The blue-and-green color scheme was a special request, and the newlyweds were very happy with their gift.  This is the second quilt I've made (both gifts) using the pattern Twilight Hopscotch from Kim Diehl's book, Simple Comforts.  I like the pattern so much, I might have to make a third one and keep it!

 
Barely visible in this picture, I used a white-on-white striped print for the majority of the background and a very fine white dot print to make the four-patch blocks in the lattice segments.  I thought the subtle stripe was a nice contrast with the large floral batik in the stars and gave the quilt more of a 'his and hers' look.

Fast forward to February 2011, and my first finish of the new year is this colorful baby quilt for a friend's new granddaughter.  The fabric is Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister Designs, and the pattern is by Me and My Sister, too.

The fabrics are so bright, I decided to back the quilt with a sweet print called Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman.  It had the pink, orange, blue, and green that coordinated with the front, but in much more subtle shades.  I stipple quilted this one myself using my Bernina Stitch Regulator, and I have to say it's not half bad for my first attempt.  I learned a valuable lesson with this quilt:  it's not a good idea to use a fabric with objects in ordered columns and rows -- like Remix -- for the back of a quilt because it requires perfect alignment of the backing, which was hard to do on my hands and knees on the kitchen floor. 

Next up is this quilt -- eleven blocks done, nine to go.  Look for flying pigs by the end of the month!

Me,
Jane

Less is More

The idea had crossed my mind to use the floral batik for the stars and the newest dark fabric for the outer border, but it wasn't until I read Jackie's comment in which she mentioned the same thing that I thought I better give that idea further consideration.  The main reason I hesitated to make floral stars was that I thought they'd be lost against the busy light-blue background fabric.  Solution:  don't use the busy light-blue background fabric!  So I laid out a block puzzle-style (no sewing) on some cream-on-cream tiny dot fabric I had to see how it looked, and I love it!  

I don't have enough of the cream background fabric to finish the quilt, so I'll stop by my local Fabric Depot with my 40% off coupon tonight to look for more of the dots or something else that will work just as well.  And I may swap out the dark green large corner blocks with something more subtle.  But I think I'm there, which makes working on a quilt so much more fun.

Thank you, Jackie (no blog?)!  And to Wendy, too, who suggested going with a scrappy look for the stars -- I adore scrappy quilts, but for this particular project I wanted the floral batik to take center stage.  And thanks to my BFF Jane (no blog), who suffers through my endless self-doubting when it comes to this hobby we both enjoy.  She has to listen, or I won't let her borrow my walking foot.  Ha!

Me,
Jane

A Wild Goose Chase

That's how I'd describe my quest to find a better 'star' fabric for my current project. 

This quilt is a wedding gift for a young couple.  Other than requesting blues and greens, they wanted to leave the rest up to me.  The border fabric is a Hoffman batik called Gerbera and was my inspiration for the other fabrics.  I love the background fabric and corner squares, but after making a couple of stars with the swirl print fabric, I thought the contrast was a little too harsh with the border fabric. 

So I packed up my border fabric and a couple of the swirly star blocks I'd finished and off I went to four (or was it twenty-four?) stores to find a fabric I liked better.  It didn't take long to realize I was looking for a very unusual shade of blue.  But finally, there it was, a gray-navy-blue-teal-mossy-green batik in a subtle print that I was sure would be the perfect fabric for my stars.  

Or was it?

Now I'm thinking it's too dark and not so perfect after all. 

I think I need to make a couple more stars in the new fabric before I make a final decision. 

Opinions welcome!

Me,
Jane
 

Patchwork Puzzle

My long-time, faithful doggy sitter, who just celebrated a milestone birthday, often tells me how much she enjoys whichever quilting project I have strewn across my sewing room.  So she was thrilled when I told her I wanted to make her a throw-size quilt for her birthday.  The question was:  which pattern?  We decided I would gather up my pattern books and magazines, and she would thumb through them and mark her favorites with a little Post-it.  I would then choose one of the patterns without telling her which one so it would be a surprise. 

The pattern I chose -- one of more than a dozen that she tagged -- is called Patchwork Puzzle from the book Batiks and Beyond by Laurie Shifrin.  I happen to love the colors used in the sample quilt, and I know they'll work beautifully in my friend's home, so I decided to copy the look.  It's something I rarely do, but I have to admit it made fabric shopping a breeze! 

Here are two finished blocks -- the photograph makes the fabrics look quite a bit brighter than they actually are.  The fabric's all cut, most of the four-patches are sewn, and it looks like I'll have this one ready for quilting in no time! 

Me,
Jane

Charmed, I'm Sure

Charmed Whirligigs is back from the quilter already, and I finished the binding last night.  I love this pattern!  So simple, and the effect is playful and lighthearted.  I think it would work with any combination of colorful fabrics, but I especially love the look of it in Moda's Cherish Nature.  With the Gulf disaster weighing on my heart and mind so much lately, "Cherish Nature" has become my new mantra. 

Keeping with the nature theme, I chose Buzzing Around for the quilting pattern.  The quilter had suggested a turquoise-to-brown variegated thread, but I didn't want anything to compete with the fabrics and chose a pale sage green. 

This quilt is a wedding gift, but seeing how well the greens in the fabric match the vintage lamp on the sideboard in my sewing room makes me think I might have to make another one for me.

I haven't been a fan of precuts -- jellyrolls, honey buns, layer cakes, etc. -- until now.  Their 'dander' is downright annoying, but nothing a quick once-over with the brush attachment of the vacuum can't tame.  One of my favorite parts of using charm packs for this particular pattern is there were no leftovers, except a little of the Kona solid, a bit of the border fabrics and, of course, trimmings from the backing. 

I think this quilt has a picnic blanket feel, so I'm planning to make a set of cloth napkins in one of the lighter fabrics from this line and gift wrap the quilt and napkins in a colorful woven tote.

Me,
Jane

What the...?

Oh, I know I'm not the first quilter who has mis-sewn border or binding strips together.  But four pieces in a row?  This is not good. 

Despite my obvious lack of attention to detail this morning, I managed to finish Charmed Whirligigs today and deliver it to the quilter this afternoon.  I hadn't worked with charm packs before and enjoyed using them for this simple quilt pattern.  

I love a mitered corner, even though it didn't have a lot of impact with this subtle chocolate brown print. 

A quick pressing before heading to the quilters, and I was out the door.

I didn't have anyone or occasion in mind when I started the quilt in early April, but when I received an invitation to the wedding of a childhood friend's daughter, and saw that the color of their stationery was almost a perfect match for the bitter green in the fabric, I decided it would be their wedding gift.   

I sure hope they enjoy it!

Me,
Jane
 
 

Ready. Set. Go.

My last quilt, Twilight Hopscotch, was finished in late March, had nearly 1,000 pieces and took only six days to piece because it was a gift for a birthday that was fast approaching.  

In contrast, this is all I have to show for my current quilt, Charmed Whirligigs, which I started a month ago.  Love the easy pattern, love the fabric, got the time, just need the motivation.

Time to set a schedule:  Memorial Day.  Pieced and quilted.  Ready, set, go!

Me,
Jane

Twilight Hopscotch

Oh, happy day!  Twilight Hopscotch (quilt No. 8) is finished and ready for birthday gifting Friday evening.  I hope the recipient loves this quilt half as much as I do.   It was a joy to make -- even with all the fabric anguish I put myself through. 

Green is the recipient's favorite color, and I used as much as I could without making it all green.   

Now I'm ready to start my next project, a Charmed Whirligigs pattern using Cherish Nature by Deb Strain for Moda.  I love the greens and spicy blues in this collection and can't wait to get started.

That's all for now.

Me,
Jane