Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Monthly Archives: February 2015


by 4 Comments

Turning Down the Volume

IMG_2264Here’s a quilt that’s a bit different for me, since I do like bright color.

2015-02-24 11.51.39I purchased this fat quarter bundle on a whim this fall.  The colors spoke to me.  The gray is pretty, but it overpowers the lights.  I added Kona Azure, but that was also very strong.  I knew I wanted to cut these up as little as possible, so I made 6″ HSTs with them.  I wanted to arrange them in  a random design across the quilt, but it looked terrible.

IMG_2271I finally added some more Azure and made this star.

IMG_2266And (surprise!) I quilted it with feathers.  I used aqua Bottom Line for all the quilting, top and bottom.  It is very restful and soothing, and I was sad when I had no more areas to quilt.

IMG_2267I backed this with an aqua cloud print.  A very successful little quilt.  38″ square.

IMG_2274The snow makes a beautiful backdrop for quilt photos, but enough is enough.  Four to six more inches tonight…  Stay warm and sew, everyone!


by 6 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 2/22/15

image

I didn’t have to look up the date today because it’s my son’s twenty-first birthday.  Wow!  I know he’s celebrating with friends at college, and we plan to see him next weekend.

Only completed the fireplace screen cover this week, and had to buy a half yard of home dec fabric for that.  I’ll take these numbers.

This week:  + .5 yards,  – 2.25 yards
This year:  + 26.5 yards,  – 38.75 yards
Net fabric destashed  in 2015:  12.25 yards

Keep warm and keep destashing!  I’m linking up to Patchwork Times.


by 6 Comments

Fireplace Screen Cover Finished

wind_dandelion3Greetings from the frozen and snowy lands.  Our snow is only up to Yuri’s belly (calling him Yuri Zhivago as he prowls around the Siberian landscape), but we have had some extreme cold.  t’s better today.  My upstairs studio is a place of relatively warm refuge.  Please remind me of this when I complain in July.

2014-10-22 18.57.39

Several years ago my DH and I bought this beautiful fireplace screen.  We live in the woods, and have leaf motifs on rugs, wallpaper, etc., so we thought it would look good most of the year.  Au contraire, ma soeur!  It looks great September through November, and stupid out of place the rest of the year.  After Pam (Hip to be a Square) made a hanging for her fireplace, I resolved to make a cover for our screen.

IMG_2249

Here is the winter side.  Kind of a whimsical and batik-y fire.  I backed the base fabric with Pellon fusible fleece.

IMG_2249closeI cut all the fabrics freehand and glue-sticked them in place.  I edge-stitched and quilted the logs with various black and brown Sulky threads.  I quilted the flames densely with Superior’s Rainbows in flame tones, and also used my new Fabric Mate markers.  (Question:  have any of you had success at permanently bonding the fleece to cotton fabric?  I have used it a few times, and only get a temporary bond with much effort.  Any suggestions?)

IMG_2252

The summer side could very loosely be called broderie perse, something I’ve loved since I was young.  There are no laboriously turned edges here, though.

IMG_2254 I cut these flowers from home dec fabric and edge-stitched them with invisible thread, and did just a little accent stitching with decorative thread.  I think it’s fresh and fun.  Working on it was a good antidote to the endless white outside!

I’m linking up to WIPs be Gone at A Quilting Reader’s Garden.


by 4 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 2/15/15

image

Brrr!  Writing this wearing a wool sweater, with a quilt on my lap.  I know I’m not in the coldest or anywhere near the snowiest part of North America, but Spring will still be very welcome!

This week I completed these two quilts, and didn’t buy any fabric.

This week:  + 0 yards,  – 13.75 yards
This year:  + 26 yards,  – 36.5 yards
Net fabric destashed  in 2015:  10.5 yards

Finally heading in the right direction!  Hope you are, too, but the year is still young.

I’m linking up to Patchwork Times.


by 7 Comments

Finishes: Disappearing Four Patch and Baby Rail Fence

IMG_2229This week I finished the D4P, and then made the scraps into a fun baby quilt.  Read more about the construction here.  I made this (these) to use some small pieces of fabrics.  I won an eclectic bundle back in August.  It had some quarter yards, some fat quarters, some were “Wee Wanders” by Sarah Jane.  I also had some floral remnants left from bundles I had purchased.  All were pretty small pieces.   I knew I wanted to do a color fade.  I looked at a few patterns, including Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, but I came back to the D4P.  I added some Phillip Jacobs prints, some delicious coral batik, and some dark coral grunge.

IMG_2232IMG_2231

I stitched in the ditch between blocks, then quilted large roses and stylized flowers all over, using Bottom Line in Blush.

IMG_2241

For the baby quilt, I left out the darker fabrics, and paired it with a yummy Martha Negley strawberry, raspberry, meringue print.

IMG_2245IMG_2240I liked the spirograph-style flowers so well that I put them all over this quilt, as well as wavy lines, using a variegated pink Sulky thread.  I ran all the stitching edge to edge, so there were no slippery ends to bury.

IMG_2235

IMG_2242

Hope those of you in colder areas are staying warm and catching up on your sewing.

IMG_2237

IMG_2247I’m linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, and WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader’s Garden.  Hey, Angie!


by 6 Comments

Sunday Stash and Piggy Bank Update

image

Stash

Nothing in and nothing out this week.  I finished the D4P top and pieced the back, so I plan to sandwich and begin quilting it today.  Its all from stash so that will be a good thing when its finished.

This week:  + 0 yards,  – 0 yards
This year:  + 26 yards,  – 22.75 yards
Net fabric destashed added in 2015:  3.25 yards

image

Challenge Update

Time to check in on the Second Annual Piggy Bank Challenge at Val’s Quilting Studio.

My bank pitcher is about half full, so I’m encouraged.  I know it looks like all dollar bills, but there are really a lot of coins hiding in there, too.  I’ve been emptying change and ones from my wallet whenever it gets too fat or at the end of the month.  So far, I still think I’ll spend it on a Craftsy class when we count it out in July.

I’m linking up to Patchwork Times, and leaving a comment at Val’s Quilting Studio.


by 5 Comments

D4P in Progress

image

image

I could never make this Disappearing Four Patch quilt without a design wall, or at least a floor, and my knees are very glad that it’s a wall.  I’ve been making a few more blocks each day and moving them around a lot.  Today I’ll make two more of the darkest blocks, and I think I’m there!

image

As I’ve pieced these, I’ve not only used my new leaders and enders project, but I’ve webbed the patches, rather than snipping the connecting threads between sections.  I’ve heard about this before (Bonnie shows this when assembling blocks in a quilt), but never tried it.  Doing the blocks this way kept the patches correctly oriented and saved me a lot of time putting pieces back where they should be.  And between the two techniques, I have eliminated the thready mess I usually have going on when piecing!

How do you quilt your D4P quilts?  I’m pondering.  I may not have to mark this one, but here are some great ideas for marking from Nadine at Fabric Bias (formerly DreamWeavers Quilts).

Hope you’re making all the progress you wish!  I’m linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.


by 5 Comments

Sunday Stash and Goals Report

No new fabric came in this week.  I was in a quilt shop, but it was to drop off donations, and they didn’t have the one fabric I needed, so I was very good.  I finished this Quilt of Valor, so that’s ten and a half yards out.

This week:  + 0 yards,  – 10.5 yards
This year:  + 26 yards,  – 22.75 yards
Net fabric destashed added in 2015:  3.25 yards

Certainly headed in the right direction!

2015-01-14 17.57.37

I did pretty well on the January Goals, completing four of the six.  All the snow has been helpful, but when the weather was better we went out a lot, so I didn’t sew nearly every day.

January Goals

1.  Sew a Quilt of Valor from stash.  Yes!  This one.

2.  Order supplies for surface decoration on quilts.  Yes, I ordered paints and markers.

3.  Design and make a winter-themed art quilt.  Um, well, I’ve pulled some fabrics.

4.  Deliver quilts I’ve designated for donation.  Yes!

5.  Audit Jenny Beyer BOM Craftsy Class.  Not yet.

6. Complete Step One on Charlotte’s Scrap in a Box Mystery Quilt.  Yes!  Here.

February Goals

1.  Design and make winter-themed art quilt.

2.   Audit Jenny Beyer BOM Craftsy Class.

3.  Complete Step Two on Charlotte’s Scrap in a Box Mystery Quilt.

4.  Piece and quilt Disappearing Four Patch with floral fabrics.

5.  Make cover for fireplace screen.

Yesterday I pulled fabrics, cut, and did the preliminary piecing on the D4P quilt, so I have a good start on that.  Our snowstorm fizzled out here, but I’m still taking it as a Sew Day!

Hope you are making the progress you wish.  I’m linking up to Patchwork Times.