Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Monthly Archives: March 2013


by Leave a comment

WIP Wednesday: Quilting Sultry

WIP Wed

Urbana-20130313-00736

Feels like I’ve been quilting this “Sultry” fabric quilt all week.  I like the look of straight line quilting, but it takes forever.  This seems even longer, because I thought I was finished with the lines, and then I added more.  Like, double.  I had a grid quilted that was twice as large, but kept comparing it with the way I want to quilt the borders, fairly densely, and there was a big discrepancy.  I think fairly even quilting is a good thing, where possible.  This will not be equally dense, but at least there will be twice as much as there was.  If I ever finish.

What are you working on?

I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.


by 2 Comments

Design Wall Monday: Sultry Quilt

IMG_1530

I finished the quilt top made from a broken layer cake of Moda’s Basic Grey “Sultry” plus some pink (Candy?) and Azure Kona.  The  border has some Kona Snow, some Grunge,  some kind of white-on-white from my stash and Sultry yardage.  This is honestly the only layer cake I’ve ever bought (in 2010), and I’m not in a hurry to buy more.  It was irresistibly beautiful in the shop, but really there are just too many prints and colorways to look good in most quilts.  There are some funky little 4-patch units in here left from my first attempt to use this fabric.  I have no idea where I was going with that, but I stuck them in here.  This came from a shop called Threadbear in Las Vegas, New Mexico.  It was a really great shop with tons of modern fabric, and I remember spending a lot of money there.  Unfortunately, I don’t find any information for them past 2011, so I’m afraid my purchases weren’t enough to keep them afloat.  Does anyone have any info about Threadbear?

IMG_1531

Here are fabrics I auditioned  for binding.  I chose this aqua and brown Alexander Henry print.  Wow, is it ever finely wovern and crisp!  Fun to work with, and I have just enough.

IMG_1532

I don’t usually mark the quilting design before I sandwich, but I felt like it this time.  I’ve really written all over this.  Thank goodness for Crayola Washable Markers.

What’s on you design wall?

I’m linking up with Design Wall Monday on Patchwork Times.


by 4 Comments

Sunday Stash Report and Marching Along 3/10/13

Urbana-20130117-00563

Stash Report

The navy, brown, and orange quilt did nice things for my numbers this week (12 yards for that!).  So much so, that I’m worried I’ll make my year’s goal of destashing 100 yards far too early and have nothing to live for.  I think I need to do some fabric shopping to prevent that.  And Hancock’s of Paducah is having a good sale….  They have wonderful batiks…

This week:  +0 yards,  -12 yards

YTD:  +21.75 yards,  -75.5 yards

Net stash used in 2013:  -53.75 yards

march-a-long-2013March-Along

We followers of The Scientific Quilter have been Marching Along this month, pledged to sew at least 15 minutes a day.  This has been an ideal week for me, since I’ve been home alone most of the week with very few outside commitments, so I’ve sewn every day for a few hours.  I finished piecing and quilting that navy and orange quilt (still need to find a box and mail it off).  Then I picked up the blocks for the Basic Grey “Sultry” quilt and finished assembling that top yesterday.  Thus I am really Marching Along on my Getting It Done goals for the month.  Sometimes in these gray days of winter it really does help to have all this external goading to keep moving along.  I’m sure spring will bring more personal inspiration and motivation!

March Goals

1.  Quilt navy, brown, and orange donation quilt.

2  Finish and quilt “Sultry” quilt.

3.  Finish and quilt pink and gray donation quilt.

4.  Finish queen quilt top for my bed.

How are you coming on all of your quilty goals?

Linking up to Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times, and to March-Along at The Scientific Quilter.


by 5 Comments

Finish it up Friday: Deep, dark donation quilt

IMG_1520

This is one of those quilts that is hard to photograph because of the contrast in the colors, but up close those rich, dark boxes are really very interesting, something someone can look at for a while.

IMG_1522

Some of the darks are brown and navy prints from the “Japan” line by Robert Kaufman.  I love them, but they never went with anything else.  The one with the gold overprinting is “Cultivated Cottons” from Andover.  There’s some “Madrona Road” orange in there, and a couple of In the Beginning fabrics I forgot to check before I cut up

IMG_1529

I’m happy with the way the back came out.  It’s very warm looking, with all those browns, but also very interesting.

IMG_1526IMG_1525The quilting…  I like what it did, but I wish it were a little more accurate.  It does give a lot of texture.  It also brings the aqua back into it and brightens it up.  I guess I am just used to using very fine, blending thread, so this looks pretty bold to me, but there it is.  All in all I’m happy with it.

I’m sending this off to Luanna’s 5000 quilts for Hurricane Sandy campaign.  I know it’s almost spring, but there’s still a lot of cold weather, and they keep running out of quilts.

I’m linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.


by 3 Comments

Kona Love

Sew Thinky

Moorefield-20130307-00708

I had to link up here today because this one doesn’t require much thinking, just reacting.  The truth is that I just like COLOR, so choosing my favorite Kona Solid is tough, but I’ve narrowed to down to Ash as my favorite neutral, and Azure as my favorite “color”.  I use this in a lot of quilts.  First, the name is delicious, and, second, it looks so good with the Ash!  I almost used it to bind my current quilt, with all it’s orange, aqua, and brown, but went with a print instead.  Kona is my solid of choice, not so much because I don’t like the others, but because I started with Kona and I thought I would keep things simple.  Ha!  But I do have the color chart and I guess it is easier to keep up on just one brand.

This solid love is odd, because for the first thirty years that I quilted I used almost no solids.  Remember that in the late seventies, all quilting fabric was pretty tacky, and solid 100% cotton was almost nonexistent.  Using solids meant using cotton/polys or thin,  cheesy cottons. White seemed like the background for everything, and it was transparent, as well as boring.   Also, prints were just beginning to appear that “read” as solids, and those were cool to use.  Not that we could communicate about it much then, but I was in good company with my all-print quilts.

Urbana-20130307-00709

The fresh look of Modern Quilts finally brought me around to solids, and I was delighted to discover the great feel and opacity they have today.  A bit of solid appears in many of my quilts now.

A great place to collect colors is the solids bargain bin at Hancock’s of Paducah.  I had a great deal of fun this fall rummaging through it and pulling out a variety of colors, 1/4 yard to 3/4 yard.  So nice to touch them and see the colors in large pieces.   I need to go back.  I wonder if they stuff grab bags of them for online buyers?  If they don’t they should.

Find more solid love at Sew Thinky Thursday at Mommy’s Nap Time.


by 4 Comments

WIP Wednesday: Lightening it up with heavy quilting

Urbana-20130306-00698This is the view from my studio today.  The dogwood is really stacked with snow.

Urbana-20130306-00693

I’m almost finished quilting this donation quilt.  I have 2 1/2 sides of borders to finish.  I’m quilting it fairly heavily using Superior’s Brytes 30 wt. thread in “Atlantic” (1133).  It’s always a little intimidating to use a heavy, shiny, contrasting thread, since every little bauble shows.  I just have to get over myself.  Galloping horse, you know, watching The Waltons.  I am sure it will all scrunch together beautifully.  I do think the thread is brightening up these dark fabrics and picking up the aquas.

Urbana-20130306-00697

The stitching 1/4″ from the seams is done with the walking foot.  All the lines in the squares and on the border are free motion.  Some freer than others.  Hmmm.  But pretty good.

Urbana-20130306-00696

Thinking about binding, which I hope to get to today.  On the other hand, my DH has the driveway clear and is making noises about going out for lunch.  We’ll see.

Thanks to Heather at Based On A True Story for showing a picture of my QOV in her post today and linking to me.  That was a fun to surprise to see.

What are you working on?

WIP Wed

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.


by 4 Comments

Design Wall Monday: Piecing the back for the donation quilt

Urbana-20130303-00684

I finished piecing this quilt top and am very happy with it. The borders are a light brown basket weave print. It measures 60″ x 80″.
 

Urbana-20130302-00681

Now on the design wall is the backing. I’m piecing it from 12″ squares of varous brown prints, plus a black, white, orange print of monarch butterflies. I think it picks up on some of the oranges form the front, while still blending with the browns.

We have lots of snow predicted for this week, so looks like I’ll stay in and quilt!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday on Patchwork Times.


by 1 Comment

Sunday Stash Report: 3/2/13

Urbana-20130302-00678

Just a little bit of fabric came in this week, but even less went out.  These things happen.

I was proud of myself for taking my ConKerr Cancer pillowcases to the nearest drop off on February 28, helping to complete my goals for February “Getting It Done” at Patchwork Times.  (I also met that day with the very nice and appreciative lady who collects Project Linus blankets, and handed off eight baby quilts, so I did complete all my goals.)  Nothing like waiting till the last day of the month, but I DID it, and that’s what counts.  However, The Mason Jar, that took the pillowcases, IS a quilt shop, so what could I do?  I think it would have been very rude to leave without buying anything…especially when they gave me 10% off for dropping off ten pillowcases…  So I wasn’t rude, but I didn’t buy very much, either.  I bought two golden brown batiks to fill out my dwindling browns, and the end of a bolt of fabric with large dots.  When I asked the women at the cutting table what color they thought it was, the answer was, “Kind of a grayish, blackish, brownish color.  Taupe?”  So I have some taupe dots for a backing.  Hmmm.

This week:  +5.75 yards,  -3.25 yards (pink quiet quilt)

YTD:  +21.75 yards, -63.5 yards

Net Stash used in 2013:  -41.75 yards

Linking up to Sunday Stash Report on Patchwork Times.


by 4 Comments

Finished the Pink “Quiet Quilt”

IMG_1502

This week I finished up the second (last) baby quilt in my “almost low volume”  experiment.  I have wanted to use the black and white print of little girls with umbrellas for a long time, and I still have some left for a future project.

IMG_1506

I used some pink Kona solid, some random stash stuff, and some pieces from a broken layer cake of Basic Grey “Sultry” that’s been lying around for way to0 long.  I cut up the rest of that, and have some four and nine patch blocks made for another quilt.

 

 

IMG_1507This is a disappearing four patch, made with 5 1/2 ” patches.  The backing is a great pink and gray houndstooth stretch cordoroy that is SO soft.  I bound it with a sweet gray with pink rosebuds fabric.

 

 

IMG_1505I quilted a 1/4″ from all the seams, so it took awhile, but I think it looks great.

 

 

It washed up nice and soft, in spite of all the quilting.  This quilt did turn out very pastel and feminine, and I’m happy with it.

IMG_1509

What have you been finishing?

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts.