Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Category Archives: Finishes


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A Finish on the Nautical Baby Quilt

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Here is the finished Nautical baby quilt.  I just love using my shed for photos, I think it looks so artsy.  The light is good there, too, as long as I don’t let the morning get away from me.

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I wish I had water around here for photographing.  I considered taking it over to our little reservoir and draping it over someone’s sailboat, but I refrained.

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Thank you to my friends who commented as I was working on this!  Sometimes I just don’t get back to you, but those are the times when I especially appreciate the encouragement.  This community is so great for that.  Yes, this was freeing and fun to work on, and I’m so glad to know it evokes sailing when you see it.  Here is another little quilt on the same theme that I really love.  It’s a wall hanging by Kat of Kat and Cat Quilts.  Wouldn’t both of these look great in the same nursery?

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The backing is an ABC print with the letters made from rope!

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I quilted it with Bottom Line (60 wt.) between all the blocks, then went back and did a grid of lines in bright yellow Sew Fine (30 wt.).  I liked the yellow thread.  It doesn’t have any sheen, which seemed appropriate for this quilt.

I wanted something “ropey” for the binding, but didn’t come up with anything, so I used more of the blue canvas print, and I’m happy with it.

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As always, I had plenty of help with both the quilting and the photography.

 

See more finishes at Finish It Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts.


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The Tulips are Finished!

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All done!  And successful.  I have to say that this is one of those quilts that I saw in my mind’s eye and was able to create the vision from fabric.  Yes, I got tired of looking at the pink, but it was the right choice.  I did use my design wall a lot, really changing around the position of the blocks, and enlisting input from the Twilters, but in the end I think it became a rich and inviting quilt.

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I think the two tulip prints worked together because they are the same scale and use different values of the same colors.

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The extra blocks and the rest of the lighter tulip fabric went on the back.  I did a really good job using up all of these two fabrics but for a few scraps.  My stash feels lighter.

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This is quilted in all the ditches with Bottom Line thread.  I did do the accent quilting with pale green King Tut, but I decided to mark it with wavy lines through every row of squares and quilt those lines with the walking foot.  I have two of these June Tailor rulers for various sizes of curves and scallops, and I use them a lot.

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Are you aware of how many shades of green fabric do not match this quilt?  I have two drawers of green fabric, and almost none of it was suitable for the binding.  I finally combined two pieces that look very similar, one darker than the other.  It doesn’t really look scrappy,  just shaded.

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I used a label cut with a little extra space at the bottom to write a message when I donate this quilt.  (Note to Universe:  no new disasters are needed just because I have a new quilt ready to donate.)

What did you finish this week?

I’m linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.


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Getting it Done in May and June

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Well, where did May go?  It’s always a busy month, with end of school stuff (not so much for me anymore, but my son did have to be moved home from college), birthdays, and holidays.  Still, I was thinking about reporting for the month about the 27th, and then…poof!  It was June.

 

May Goals

1. Finish Project Hope Online Quilt Show art quilt.

2. Make pair of pillow cases to coordinate w new queen quilt.

3. Make primary baby quilt

4. Scrap donation quilt. (orange and blue)

June Goals

1.  Make donation quilt (Tulips).

2.  Nautical baby quilt.

3.  Make pair of pillowcases (Nicey Jane).

4.  Piece top for SIL Christmas gift quilt.

 

Yes, I made all my May goals.  Considering that I’m retired, these were not lofty goals.  I prefer to make them very attainable, and feel the satisfaction of getting them done.  Without them I am sure I would wander around and do far less.  Plus, it gives me a place to write down new projects as they occur to me.  I know, some people track everything on spreadsheets, but that isn’t me.  My Goals page, my Flickr destashing group, Stash Reports, and my little calendar with the cat on the front are where I track my progress.  It’s working.

 

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In addition to the goals I wrote down, I also made the aqua and gray zig zag baby quilt, and a flag for To Boston With Love.  Have you seen the flags hanging?  Look at this video of 1500 of them hanging in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

 

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The most satisfying May goal was the Project Hope Online Quilt Show.  Go there and see more of these beautiful, thoughtful pieces.  Lots of good vibrations sent out to combat the hatred in the world.  Be inspired and add yours to this great project.

 

I’m linking up with Getting It Done at Patchwork Times.

 


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Finished Donation Quilt

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I finished up the blue and orange donation quilt yesterday.  I had a lot of fun quilting it with straight lines and feathers in orange thread (Superior Highlights, 40 wt.).   The textured blue fabric was weird and stretchy to piece together, but not too bad to quilt with the walking foot.  It has great cozy texture now that it’s washed up.

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I have to admit that I like the back almost as much as I like the front.  These are orphan blocks from a double nine patch that I had made, and some from this quilt, when I discovered that too many nine patches would make it too busy.

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So much of the stash fabric I have and need to use is floral, and makes pretty feminine quilts.  I try to switch off by making every other donation quilt out of something a little more appealing to anyone, including men.  And, apparently, cats.  Lots of help.  This is headed to Moore, OK.

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You could have knocked me over with one of my own feathers yesterday when I answered the phone and it was Judy Laquidera from Patchwork Times!  I was sewing the binding to this quilt when she called.  She called several of us who had donated quilts for West, TX, to see if we minded if she sent them on to Moore.  They have all they need in West, and Judy knew of a truck with people she trusts going to Moore.  I told her I was fine with that, so I guess my pink and gray quilt will go there, too.

Doesn’t it seem like there’s been a lot of need this year?   I sorted some strings last night to start a new donation quilt for whatever comes next.  Don’t even want to think about that.

What have you finished this week?

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


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A Finished Baby Quilt, and a Back to Piece

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On my design wall I have the orphan blocks and taupey fabric I to use to piece the back to the blue and orange donation quilt.  I see one of the larger ones needs to be turned.   Returning to this after time off makes it a little better, though backings are still not my favorite.

 

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On Saturday I finished the aqua and gray HST baby quilt, and it makes me very happy.  I really enjoyed doing the quilting on it.

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The gray zigzags and the print feathers have an extra layer of batting under them for a gentle trapunto effect.

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The back is gray, white, and yellow.  The gray and yellow look brown in photos, but in person it’s a good match to the front.

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This quilt is 36″ x 42″, my favorite baby size, made from 168 3″ blocks.

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


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Color Spikes Quilt Finished

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This week I finished up this baby quilt.  The top went together very quickly, of course.  I spent much more time arranging the blocks (originally I thought all the blocks would have the color spikes, but that gave me secondary patterns.) than when I finally sewed them.  Then all the straight line quilting was tedious and time-consuming, but very worth it.  It gives it a great crinkly texture and saves it from being so plain.

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The object was to use this very bright print.  It looks like a hand dye, and like it’s crinkled, but it’s just a print.  A print that went with nothing.  I put it with two gray and white dotted fabrics.  I don’t have the selvage, but I think they were “Mix and Match Dots”, or something like that.

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I used the rest of the bright on the back.  Using the Fairy Frost and nearly the last of my Mirrored Dot is probably what started me into the new HST zigzag quilt.

 

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Hope you had a satisfying finish this week.

 

I’m linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, where I love Amanda Jean’s new finish.

 

 

 


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It Up Friday: Projects for Boston and Everywhere

Project%20HopeThis week I have two finishes, both sewn with thoughts of hope and peace for this troubled world in which we live.  I’m very pleased with the way my Project Hope Online Quilt Show contribution turned out.  We all know how hard it can be to translate a vision into fabric reality, but mine came very close.  I puttered around and put it off, but now that it’s finally finished, I like it.  See all the Project Hope quilts on Flickr.

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On the day that I mentally committed to joining this project, the background fabric presented itself to me.  I opened the door to my fabric closet, and out tumbled a little, beribboned pack of fat quarters that I could not remember seeing before.  I mean, a sign is a sign, right?

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Me:  When were we in Grantsville, MD?

DH:  Two years ago on the way to the Buffet concert.  There was a bridge…  We ate lunch there.

Me:  And there was a quilt shop there?

DH:  Yes!  In an old school building.

So then, yes, I did finally remember Four Seasons Stitchery and the little bundle of batiks I bought there.

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I sprayed bleach to create the ray of sunlight.  Then I fused fabrics down to create the flowers, and use various threads to “paint” them.  There is also a chalk pencil involved for some of the white shading.  I quilted the sunbeam with iridescent Sulky mylar thread, the “Hope” with Sulky white rayon and the iridescent, and the background with Superior poly monofilament.  The stamens are French knots.

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Enjoy the binding on this piece, because I will probably never do it again.  Fiddly!!

My flowers are charred and gray on the outside, but are opening in the ray of light to reveal their beautiful, hopeful interior.  Nature is always renewing itself, in spite of setbacks.  The binding is my reference to Jacquie’s work (Tall Grass Prairie Studio) here and here.  Her work is graphic and cathartic, but not very hopeful to me (these particular pieces).  So, my binding is blood red, but it does open to admit the sunlight.

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Also finished is my flag for To Boston With Love.  See others at their page on Flickr.

I’m linking up with Finish It Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts.


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Finish It Up Friday: Flower to go with Elephant

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This little quilt with the floral fabric and flower and leaf quilting took very little time to make.  This was great and sad, because I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of making this, especially the lucious colors, and I wanted to keep gazing at it forever.

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Don’t you love these spontaneous little quilts where you just pull fabric madly from your stash, cut with abandon (partly because it’s such a small project), and have it mostly pieced  before you have time to second-guess yourself?  These are my favorites.  It also felt good to work on something small after the queen quilt.

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When I made Elephant, I was throwing some stash fabrics together to put a bright, boy’s quilt in my shop, but I decided to keep it.  While I worked on other projects, I kept my eyes open for more feminine stash fabrics that might do for the girl’s quilt.  My first grouping was too pink and floral, though I still want to use those fabrics together soon (for one thing, they’re still grouped in a basket under my cutting table…).  When I found this aqua print, I knew I had a companion quilt that would coordinate with Elephant without being matchy matchy or sickly sweet.

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The cabins are Kona Salmon, Coffee, and Azure, with a green Grunge.  The solids aren’t dead matches to the print, but they work.  The sashing is an off-white grunge.  Every block has a quilted flower in the center (Sulky white rayon), and the sashing is quilted with leafy vines.  I know, leaves again, but I love to quilt them almost as much as feathers.

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My twin great niece and nephew aren’t due till August, but these little quilts just happened and they feel right.

Of course, my studio is a mess because all the pulled fabric is still out (but I did cut up and put away all the scraps!), plus I have a pile of orphan blocks I want to use on the back of the new scrap quilt I’ve started, plus someone contacted me about making a baseball baby quilt, so that fabric is out…  It looks…creative!

I’m linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.  Go there to see lots of finishes!

 

 


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Getting it Done for April and May

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Where did April go?  I don’t know, but I did plug away at my goals and I met them!  I do think part of my problem is that I am not as lazy (well…) as I am forgetful.  And distractable.  I just don’t notice that things aren’t done until someone visits my  house… or shows their project that I meant to do.  So having four goals that I can keep on my brain is really helping, and I do feel satisfied marking them off.

One slight problem is that I liked the primary (Elephant) baby quilt so well that I saved it to give as a gift for an anticipated great-nephew.  It isn’t really a problem, but I do have to put it back on my list if I want one for the shop.  And I was so inspired that I made a coordinating quilt for the great-niece, so that’s all done.  Early!

April Goals

1. Make 4-5 spring wall hangings for Etsy shop

2. Quilt and bind queen bed quilt

3. Make floral baby quilt

4. Make primary baby quilt

May Goals

1. Finish Project Hope Online Quilt Show art quilt.

2.  Make a pair of pillow cases to coordinate with new queen quilt

3.  Primary baby quilt (yeah, I know, again!)

4.  Scrap donation quilt.

 

How are you doing on your goals?  It’s hard with spring here, but sew when you can!

 

I’m linking up with Getting it Done on Patchwork Times.  It’s not too late to jump in and join us!

 

 


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Finish It Up Friday: Nicey Jane!

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Yes, Nicey Jane is all finished and bound and ready for our bed as soon as warm weather truly arrives and we can put away the down comforter. I’m fairly happy with how it turned out. The colors are certainly perfect in our bedroom.

 

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Yes, I have a light green bed and raspberry night stands. Doesn’t everyone?  I’d say it was the quilter color thing, but actually my DH picked out the nightstand color and painted them and a vintage dresser.  The walls are light green, too.  I rubbed glaze into existing tropical leaf wallpaper.

 

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The wool batting.  Hmmm.  It did shrink some, which is all right.  The quilting isn’t as poofy as I was hoping, but it’s fine.  Bearding!  Wow.  All over, both sides, really a lot.  If you see any in the photos, it’s after I spent quite a while with the lint brush.  I guess it will resolve over time?  I’m very glad I used white batting with fairly light colored fabric.  It would be a disaster on a dark quilt.

 

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In the end this wasn’t nearly as much work as I built it up to be and put off finishing. It was unwieldy, especially the last day when I had joined the two halves and had to drag the whole thing around. It fit under my machine harp okay, but every rearrangement was cumbersome and hard on my shoulders. The binding seemed to go on forever. I am glad that I had enough of the bright pink to bind it. It’s perfect.

 

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I’m linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.