Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Tag Archives: Evening in the Garden


by 3 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 9/15/19

20190913_114644 (1).jpgSo, the fabric that came in.  Did you know that Fat Quarter Shop has its 12 lb. “Grab Bag” boxes again?  I stumbled on them unexpectedly (on sale), and I’ve wanted one for so long I just had to get one.  I know.  I know.  Well, some enhancement was part of the goal.  This is just a…big chunk of enhancement.  (Note:  Today I can’t find these Grab Bags.  I guess you’ll have to check back till they have them again.)

I was initially a little disappointed in this box.  I was looking for bright colors and bold prints, and it took awhile to find any.  Are reproduction calico prints really making a comeback lately?  I sure got a lot of them.  Also, I started sneezing non-stop as I went through the box.  Please tell me I’m not allergic to cotton!  I assume it was the finishes, so they all went right into the washer and dryer.

As I was folding them, I began to look upon the fabrics more favorably.  I got a ton of white-to-cream neutrals, a stack of black prints, various navys, greens, and grays that I really like, a little bit of Grunge, and a single piece of Kaffe!  Maybe a third of the fabrics were prints that I would never have chosen.  But that was the point of a grab bag, to give depth to my stash.  So.

One difference I noticed from several years ago is that there weren’t too many one-yard cuts.  There were lots of half yards, and lots of smaller pieces, even a broken layer cake.  I’m sure it will all be useful.

With all the smaller pieces of fabric, I can’t begin to measure it.  I’m just going to go with Fat Quarter Shop’s estimate and say twenty yards.  That’s bad enough!

PicMonkey Collage TransThe sewing!  It pales in comparison, but I did use four yards this week to make these wall hangings from printed panels.  Now you see where those little stars went!  Look for them soon in my Etsy shop.

 

This week: + 20 yards, – 4 yards

This year: + 74.5 yards, – 72.75 yards

Net destashed added in 2019: 1.75 yards

Ah, well, back behind the starting line.  I still have three and a half months left to destash this year!

Better luck to you!


by 3 Comments

Sports Baby Quilt #1

2019-06-16 12.34.37The sun came out for a while yesterday, so Yuri and I raced out to take some quilt photos.

 

2019-06-16 12.35.15I had a variety of sports fabric scraps left from some baby quilts I’ve made as gifts and commissions.  I planned to make one quilt, but it turned out I had enough for three.

 

2019-06-16 12.35.01Some of the fabrics were already cut in 6.5″ squares, and I wanted to keep the large prints visible, so I stuck with squares for this one.  I found the blue ombre semi-solid that I think adds interest to the alternate squares.

 

2019-06-09 16.42.48Since this turned into three quilts, I had the opportunity to assembly-line them a little, making all the bindings and labels at once, basting two at the same time, etc.

 

2019-06-16 12.39.38

2019-06-16 12.38.50And, yes, I had it checked for snuggliness.  It passed!

Stay tuned for the next two soon.

 

Find this for sale in my Etsy Shop.

 


by 4 Comments

Stellar II

 

 

2019-05-17 13.37.01This is the Supernova pattern again.  When I made this quilt, using the tutorial from Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Jaye said she thought I should make some variations.  Here’s one; you never know if I might try more.

 

2019-05-17 09.19.59

This floral fabric is too pretty to be called a stash dog, but it had been hanging around my stash for way too long.  Like, I have no idea how long.  Many years.  I bought this pretty ombre recently to use with it, so until I bound it, this was a two fabric quilt.

 

2019-05-06 12.51.15

Here’s the first layout.

 

2019-05-07 12.15.09

And the second.

 

2019-05-14 11.45.10-2

And I finally went to the top-to-bottom color wash layout.

 

2019-05-17 09.19.09

I quilted in the ditches from the center out with pink Bottom Line, and used a serpentine stitch in between in pink Sulky.  I used all light pink Bottom Line on the back and I can’t believe how well it blended with all the colors.  I guess it’s a thing that light pink does that, but I didn’t know.

 

2019-05-17 09.22.46

2019-05-17 09.24.52

I’m very happy with the way this turned out, and with my binding fabric.

 

2019-05-17 09.24.19

Yuri’s happy, too.  We hope you have some good finishes this week.

Confessions Of A Fabric Addict

We’re linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.


by 4 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 4/21/19

2019-04-21 13.11.56New fabric and a finish this week!

Among the new fabric are these pretty ombres.  You’ll have to stay tuned to see what I do with them.

2019-04-21 13.06.40My finish is this log cabin quilt that I made from all those blocks I’ve been piecing from strings for months.  These are twelve-inch blocks, and the quilt measures 72″ x 96″.   It’s for donation.

2019-04-21 13.07.05I settled on the straight furrows set for these blocks.  I first tried to set them as a barn raising (concentric diamonds), but I had played fast and loose with the values in the blocks, so it was hard to see the pattern.  This worked better.

2019-04-21 13.08.08I really like this background fabric.

2019-04-21 13.07.17The quilting is done with Superior’s Bottom Line in white on the back, and aqua Nature’s Colors and white Sulky on the front.

 

This week: + 10 yards, – 13.5 yards

This year: + 39.5 yards, – 47.25 yards

Net destashed added in 2019:  7.75 yards

2019-04-21 13.09.34
Happy Easter, and good luck using your stash!


by 5 Comments

WIP Wednesday: A Mystery

I’ve completed the second clue to Charlotte Hawke’s Handy Dandy Mystery Quilt. So far there are twelve of these blocks and eighty of the sashing strips. I love my maple seed background fabric, but it looks a little…wormy… up on the design wall.

Scrappy Stars Around the Corner, 2016

It occurs to me that some of my readers may not be totally sure about the meaning of “mystery quilt”. In my experience, it involves one person designing a quilt, then giving us the directions bit by bit, and we don’t know what the pieces will make until the final reveal. (Some quilters are better guessers than I am!)

Surrounded by Scraps, 2017

Some designers select the colors, too, or suggest them. Charlotte is a dedicated scrap quilter, so her designs are meant to be made with a variety of scraps in any color, with just “light”, “medium”, or “dark” to go by.

Scrapitude, 2014

Some designers give a new direction every week. Charlotte gives us the cutting directions in November, then, starting in January, we get a new clue every month about which squares and triangles to sew together. It takes longer, but can be easier to manage.

Srap in a Box, 2015

Summer Stars Over Fawn Lake, 2018

This is probably my scrapiest quilt yet. I have trouble letting go and just throwing everything together. In the past I’ve stuck with certain colors or themes. We’ll see how this turns out!

Looking for the next clue in March!


by 2 Comments

Panel Quilts

Here are the official results of my summer/fall immersion in using printed panels to inspire quilts. (I have one more panel, designed to be placemats. That can wait for the new year.)

I truly don’t remember what started me on this journey, but it led to me finding these panels on sale at eQuilter.

The last one, with the cardinals, was the simplest. I just left the panel alone and added borders. On the others, I either added patchwork or cut apart and framed the blocks.

The top three are baby quilts, and the bottom three are throw-sized. I think my favorite is the one with the baby animals. The Moon baby quilt has already sold in my Etsy shop, and the others are available there.

This wasn’t among my goals for this year, but at least the Moon quilt is low volume, so that counts!

Thanks for playing along.


by 4 Comments

The Last Christmas Quilt

2018-11-03 15.45.44

Well, no, not the last ever, just for this fall.  Aren’t the colors here beautiful, both quilt and woods?  No filter, just the light by the end of my photo shoot.

2018-11-03 15.43.05

Here are the real colors from just a few minutes earlier.  I managed to erase my photo of the back, but it’s black with fewer snowflakes than the inner border fabric.  And I finally remembered to use black batting!  It’s Quilter’s Dream Poly.  It was thin and flat like cotton, so it was very easy to use.  Now that it’s washed, it’s lighter than cotton, with just a little more loft, and probably warmer.  I would use it again.

2018-11-03 15.43.23

The metalic thread is Superior’s Glitter, and it sewed like a charm.

2018-11-03 15.43.30

2018-11-03 15.47.35

This is the last of my panels (I have one more for placemats that I’ll probably make next year.) and the one to which I did the least.  I left it intact and just added two borders.

2018-11-03 15.44.22

This quilt finished at 49″ x 63″.  I originally had the outer border a little wider, but someone cut the backing a little short, so…

2018-11-03 15.46.51

Have a great week!


by 1 Comment

Butterfly Finish

2018-10-14 13.45.22 (1)

The quilt is finished and the baby isn’t even a week old!

2018-10-14 13.45.54 (1)I used this tutorial from Missouri Star, but I made the blocks 9″, instead of 12″.  Or, more accurately, I made them 9.75 x 9″, instead of 13 x 12″ in the original quilt.  I hate rectangle blocks!  But these were very easy, and I only needed ten of them.  Jenny used 2.5″ strips.  I used 2″ strips, and it was perfect for using up some leftovers from another project.  My solid blocks used 5″ squares, so they would be perfect for a charm pack.

2018-10-14 13.45.48 (1)I quilted between all the blocks, and then used pink Fantastico to quilt wavy diagonal lines, some of them with butterflies.

2018-10-14 13.45.30 (1)

2018-10-14 13.46.26 (1)

2018-10-14 13.46.46 (1)

And this one counts toward my low-volume goal!


by 2 Comments

Blue Christmas Finish

Here is the latest of my quilts from the pile of panels I purchased this summer. I was aware that I had almost no blue Christmas scraps to use with it, so I purchased some tree yardage for the side borders, and a charm pack of blue and silver batiks, which became the stars. It finished about 50″ by 65″.

Unlike a pieced quilt, this had a large center with no seams to hide any “foundation” quilting to keep things square. Instead, I machine basted a roughly 12″ grid of Dissolve Extra thread on top.

The stars are quilted with gray Bottom Line, the buildings and sleigh with black BL, and the sky and border with navy and white Fantastico.

I really like the way the quilting in the sky looks. I made sort of flame shapes from the center out. Close to the center, the thread hardly shows, but the white parts begin to show up in the dark edges of the sky.

I backed this with a blue batik with silver metallic snowflakes.

And, yes, it’s been tested for snuggliness.

Good luck on your finishes!


by 6 Comments

Friday Finish: A Country Christmas

2018-09-26 12.40.48 (1)And here’s another of my “quilts from panels” series.  This fabric really struck me as fresh and wintery.  The panel and border are “Holiday Wishes” by Henry Glass.  The red and green are also Henry Glass fabrics, but from other collections.  And the gray is Kona.  It was 50″ x 65″ before washing.

2018-09-26 12.43.08 (1)And I love, love the unrelated glittery tree print (Robert Kaufman) that I found for the back.

All of the quilting is with white Bottom Line, except for the red and green on the border, which is Magnifico and Fantastico.

2018-09-23 14.30.38Each block has a large snowflake quilted on it, surrounded by strippling.  This was almost totally ineffective.  Next time I would use a very heavy thread/yarn to do a snowflake outline in couching or bobbin work.

2018-09-26 12.41.27 (1)The gray border turned out much better.

2018-09-26 12.42.49 (1)

I think it turned out to be very fun and festive.

2018-09-26 12.44.07 (1)

Look for this soon in my Etsy shop.