Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Tag Archives: Evening in the Garden


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March-A-Long

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March is winding down, so I wanted to file my report for March-A-Long, #marchalong, hosted by Darla at The Scientific Quilter.  I’m pleased to say that I’ve done very well this year at sewing daily.  The cold weather may deserve some of the credit.  Staying in to sew was most inviting.  So far, I’ve only missed sewing one day, and I did put out a quilty blog post that day, so that counts.

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These pillow cover tops are cut from a vintage tablecloth.  I was waiting for backing fabric, which has arrived, so I should get them made.

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While waiting, I cut up my scraps from one of the construction baby quilts into 3 1/2″ squares and pulled many more from my scrap bins.  This was my first layout.  It felt harsh, and like a checkerboard.

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I cut some more squares from Kona Ash and some pale yellow prints to soften it up.  The finished quilt will be twin sized, but this gives the idea.  I like this much better.

Hope you are doing something quilty every day.

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I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, and March-A-Long at The Scientific Quilter.


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Sunday Stash Report 3/23/14

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Some new fabric was added this week, but can you blame me?  I need these luscious solids  from Fabric Shack!  Actually, I did need a gray for a project, and it’s silly to pay for shipping on two yards of fabric, right?  Even though they have really low shipping.

And I finished another baby quilt, all from stash.

This week:  +11 yards,  -2.5 yards
YTD:  +44.25 yards,  -65 yards
Net stash used 2014:  -20.75 yards

Hope you’re sewing your stash.  I’m linking up to Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.


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Constructing Some Baby Quilts

Between Christmas and New Years I found three pieces of great kids’ construction fabric on deep sale at eQuilter, and I couldn’t resist.  I kept the patchwork to a minimum so I wouldn’t spoil these wonderful prints.

Here’s one:

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The very orange accent quilting was with Superior’s New Brites (30wt.)

And this is the other:

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The new thing I learned to do on these was to make a binding with a flange, all one piece, finished by machine.  It was easy to do, and I love the effect.  It took about twice as long as a regular binding, but was a lot quicker than finishing by hand (as if I do that!).  I thought these simple quilts could use the extra detail.  I lost the link that was shared on Twitter, but here’s one very similar.   Nadine of DreamWeavers Quilts shared a link to a tutorial at Fresh Off the Frame.  I cut my accent strip 1 3/4″ wide.   I also had better results trimming the seam allowance after I joined the two colors together.  It pressed and handled better for me.  By the second one I felt like a pro.  I’ll definitely use this again.

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I had a lot of fun with these two little quilts.  They’re for sale in my Etsy shop.

Hope you’re enjoying your finishes!  I’m linking up to TGIFF.

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Strings

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This week I finished two construction-themed baby quilts (pictures coming!), and started a project making throw pillow covers from a vintage tablecloth.  That stalled because I didn’t have the fabric I wanted for the backs, so I ordered some (sorry, Stash!).  While waiting for that, I started some string blocks using the trimmings of dragonfly batik from the back of the Pinwheels.  Yes, some of the pansy fabric got in there, too.  This will be another baby quilt, with the blocks set to make zig zags.  I have enough of the batik left for the backing, too.  Yum!

Hope your projects are progressing nicely.
I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday http://www.freshlypieced.com/2014/03/wip-wednesday-stacking-cutting-stitching.html?m=1 at Freshly Pieced.


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Sunday Stash Report: 3/16/14

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It was a good week for the Stash numbers.  I used 9.5 yards (all from stash!) on the Disappearing Pinwheel quilt, and no fabric was purchased.

This week:  +0 yards,  -9.5 yards
YTD:  +30.25 yards,  -62.5 yards
Net stash used 2014:  -32.25 yards

Hope you were able to sew yesterday for National Quilting Day, and that your Stash is diminishing nicely.

I’m linking up with Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.


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Pinwheel Finish

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I finished the Disappearing Pinwheel quilt this weekend.  This was a quilt-along we did on Twitter, during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Sew-In, using a tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I think A.J. talked us into it.  Not sure.  See other Twilters’ versions here.  I made it entirely from stash, so for that reason alone it was a good project.  Those aren’t wrinkles, they are shadows from bare tree branches.

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If the last project was Cotton Candy, then this is Orange Sherbet.  I used six (I think)  different large floral prints and a light orange blender fabric.  Also, I transposed the center pinwheels, though I hadn’t planned to originally, so they don’t contrast much.  With all the bias, it was a bit wonky and wavy and puffy, so I quilted it all over with feathers.  There are feather circles in every circular area, hearts and designs in the diamonds created by the corner triangles, and continuously around the border.

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I marked a little for the hearts, but that was it.  This quilt was a bit large and heavy to drag around under the machine, so my feathers aren’t perfect, but it was good practice, and it really tamed the top.  I’m amazed at how flat and square it turned out.

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One of my favorite parts is the backing.  It’s an amazing dragonfly batik, thick and soft, and dyed like rainbow sherbet.  The orange Bottom Line thread I used in the top and bottom blended nicely in some places and showed more in other spots.

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I don’t think I would make this pattern again, but it did come together pretty quickly.  It was fun seeing how the blocks were turning out as we were working together.

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See lots of other finishes at Whoop Whoop Friday, and TGIFF, which is at Quilt Matters today.


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Scrapitude is Finished!

Last fall, Sandy‘s friend, Charlotte, started a mystery quilt named Scrapitude with their guild.  Sandy asked to post the steps on her blog, and the rest is history.  Her readers and many of us on Twitter (#Twilters)  grabbed our scraps and got started cutting.  This was my first mystery quilt, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew that Charlotte does beautiful work with scraps.  I had trouble letting go of control of colors, and I didn’t completely, but this is the scrappiest thing I’ve made.  And it turned out pretty well.

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I started with these.

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They looked like this all cut up.  I decided to use several shell pinks for the background pieces.

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From those pieces we made these blocks.

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And now I have this quilt (80″ square).  Yes, it’s very pink.  I think the colors work really well together, but I hadn’t realized it would be quite so …pink.  It is cheery and fun to look at, with all the different fabrics.  It will live in my guest room, so people will get it in small doses.

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I stitched the stars in the ditch, with an orange peel in the centers, using an “old rose” colored Bottom Line thread.  I quilted the whole pink background with an unmarked orange peel motif in pale pink.  I had a lot of fun with that part, and I really like the texture.

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The back is shell pink and olive batik.

It was lots of fun to sew these with everyone else, but the best part is seeing how differently they are all turning out.  Keep checking this Flickr group to see the progress.

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I’m linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

 


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Progress on the Disappearing Pinwheel

WIP Wed

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Yesterday I sewed together all the Disappearing Pinwheel blocks for the center of the quilt.  There were lots of points to match, and I found myself forced to use pins.  There was also a lot of wonkiness due to all the bias.  It will be fine, but if I ever made another I would make my own pinwheels first, in an evenly divisible size, rather than use the technique shown here.  But I like the fabrics together.

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I also sewed 88 scrappy HSTs for the outer border.  This is already pretty large, and I ran out of orange fabric, so it’s not getting much of a border.

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I am going to use all this peachy tone-on-tone space for some feathers.  I was studying up last night from these three books, including my Christmas gift, Fabulous Feathers and Fillers by Sue Nichols.  This book has useful information on designing and drafting feathers, but isn’t exactly what I thought it would be.  She makes beautiful feathers, on a home machine, but they are very tight and regular, and she marks them all first.  I’m looking for something more organic and freehand.  Karen McTavish’s are like that, although she’s using a long arm, as does Judy Woodworth.  I seem to make mine in a different direction than they do.  I don’t know if that’s important, but I’m going to think about it.

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

 


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Sunday Stash Report: 3/2/14

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Good morning from snowy Ohio!  It is beautiful watching the falling snow and the cardinals, etc., at the feeder.  Probably won’t be going anywhere for a day or so, but that’s more sewing time, right?

Good numbers this week!  I finished the Scrapitude quilt (pictures later. I hurried and took some before Snowpocalypse decended again!)  I especially like this finish because the top is made entirely from scraps and oddball background fabric out of the stash.  I did buy the backing, some weeks ago.

This week:  +0 yards,  -10.5 yards
YTD:  +30.25 yards,  -53 yards
Net stash used 2014:  -22.75

Hoping you are staying warm, sewing a lot, and using your stash.

I’m linking up to Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times


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Progress on Scrapitude

WIP Wed

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Here is a portion of the finished Scrapitude quilt top.  It’s about 80″ square, so it’s hard to get a picture of all of it.  I’m happy with results.  The background is several shell pink fabrics, which give it a warm look.  See more results from various quiltmakers at the Flickr page.

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I have about 3/4 of the quilting finished, and I like it a lot.  I’m especially enjoying the orange peel/overlapping circle motif I’m doing in the background.  It’s very relaxing to do.

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