Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Tag Archives: modern quilt


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Floral!

 

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Yuri is delighted with this latest finish, and so am I.  You can have your tiny calico prints.  These are my florals!

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This quilt is 54″ x 72″, 48 nine-inch blocks, so of course it pieced up in no time.  It’s related to this quilt from last year.  That has solid gray for relief, this does not.  Some people find it to be too much pattern.  I wouldn’t dress like this or anything, but it’s making my happy.  It was not windy for these photos; Yuri is behind the quilt, pushing out the bottom.

 

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Technically it holds together.  Mostly florals, good variety of scale.  Similar colors, but not completely matchy.  I love how the orange trucks and barns pop on the Madrona Road fabric.  Good value change.

 

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Without the cat, the quilting shows up well in this late evening light.  I added a second layer of batting under the light, feather quilted areas (Warm and White).  The feathers are done in a peach Living Colors, and the straight lines are old rose Bottom Line, both Superior.  The quilting took much longer than the piecing.

 

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I like this photo because it shows how much greener everything is than my last finish.  Finally!

 

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Lastly, I did take this photo of one of my Oriole friends.  They are a lot of fun to watch, but hard to catch with the camera.

Hope you are enjoying spring and having some finishes.  I’m linking up to Finish It Up Friday and Whoop Whoop Friday.

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Construction Related Finishes

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This week I finished this twin-sized quilt in colors I love.  It began with the scraps from one of the Construction Baby Quilts, supplemented with squares from my 3 1/2″ bin.  Then I added a bit from yardage to fill it out and have enough for the diagonal effect.  I’m very happy with the result.

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To my surprise, when I searched for backing fabric, I found a print on gray from the same line as the original fabric (“Under Construction” by Kanvas Color), and on sale!

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The quilting is in the ditch between every square, and then some diagonals across the quilt.  Yes, there is a bit of Mirror Ball Dot!

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Also, I found the perfect fabric for binding in my stash, orange with yellow stripes.  This reminds me that I’ve wanted to mention when I solve my quilt design problems:  as I go to sleep at night!  In this case, I planned to bind the quilt in a solid orange, but it was getting dark in my studio, so I thought I would wait for morning to choose the right fabric.  Then, as I was falling asleep, I remembered the perfect fabric for the binding.  Extraordinarily bright, I had passed it up many times on other projects.  Now, was it in the Orange drawer or the Stripes drawer?  The Orange, I thought.  And, in the morning, there it was!  Often when I find myself at a crossroads on a quilt (or a brick wall), I consciously think about it as I fall asleep.  More often than not, answers become clear to me, and they are usually the ones that make it into the quilts.  When do you do your best design work?

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Here’s my finish from last week.  The red, white, and black construction baby quilt caught the attention of a customer on Etsy, who special ordered one in solid navy.  It did turn out very nautical, didn’t it?  I quilted it all over with navy Bottom Line.  That meant that the thin dark thread also went over areas of red, white, and light blue.  I thought for a while about the thread color.  Other than possibly using smoke Monopoly, I couldn’t come up with anything I liked better.  I’m very happy with the way it came out, so I guess navy was fine.

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With all that navy, I had to be very diligent with a lint roller and careful to keep it away from everything until I could get it safely packaged to mail.  Whew!

 

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

 

 

 


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Chevron Strings Finished

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Late last week I finished up my baby-sized string quilt.  Then one day I dashed out between the snow and the sleet to take a few pictures.

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The blocks are 9 inches, pieced on paper.  The sherbet colors are all strings from my bins, but the cream floral was yardage.  It was a good use for  an older piece of fabric, and I had just enough.

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This was inspired by the batik backing I had left over from Disappearing Pinwheels.

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I stitched between all the blocks with the walking foot.  Then I flipped it over and quilted all the dragonflies, using white Sulky rayon in the bobbin. (Well, I skipped the side-view dragonflies, because I found they didn’t look like anything identifiable from the front.)  The Sulky isn’t very heavy, so the design on the front is subtle, but I like it that way.  It’s there if you look for it.

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I used a green with a variegated stripe for the binding.  No new techniques this time, except for a different layout for the string blocks.

Hope you are enjoying the satisfaction of finishing things this week.

I’m linking up with TGIFF and Whoop Whoop Friday.  (Please DO NOT go over to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, because *I* want to win her great giveaway!)

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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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A Pair of Finishes

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This week I finished this pair of special order quilts.  Both are made with the same fabrics and Kona Snow.  They will head off in the mail today to brighten a pair of loveseats in the customer’s living room.  Currently there are antique quilts there, and these will be a fresher and more washable alterative.

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These quilts are great small sizes (40″ x 60″, 40″ x 65″), so they were quick and fun to put together and to quilt.  Well, this triangle one cost me a day, but that was due to my own math challenges.  Yes, to make HST blocks, you add 7/8″  to the finished size of your desired block.  I will remember that now!  I’m happy with the straight line quilting, especially now that it’s washed and crinkly.  I quilted in all the ditches, and then 1/2″ away on both sides with the walking foot and white Bottom Line thread.

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The string quilt wasn’t really strings, but 1 1/2″ strips cut from yardage.  I quilted it in the ditches with Bottom Line, and then added huge leaves with white Sulkey rayon thread.  I didn’t count, but I think there about 32 leaves all over the quilt.

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All and all, a fun project to brighten this oppressive winter.

Can’t wait to see what you’ve finished.

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


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Log Cabin Finish

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This quilt has been a while in the making, but it’s all finished now.  I completed the blocks in the middle of July, 2013, and put the top together sometime this winter.  Then I quilted it during the Quilts of Valor Sew-In and Sports Ball Sew-In this past weekend.  Monday I added a bright blue binding that I think is perfect.

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This quilt is all made from stash.  The red “chimneys” are 2 1/2″ and 3 1/2″ patches from my bins.  The “logs” are all strings, except for the wolf and owl fabric.  This seemed like a good use for it, except that their eyes do stare at you!

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This is being donated to Quilts of Valor, so I was planning a quick job on the quilting.  I stabilized it by quilting in the ditch between all the blocks using Bottom Line thread.

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Then I marked a wavy line down either side of the columns and rows of blocks (I think straight lines would have looked odd on these really wonky cabins), and switched to a medium blue Masterpiece thread so the stitches would show more.  I used the walking foot, thinking I would sew on the marking and a line on either side.  I found I wanted to add one more line in each area (24 extra trips across the quilt), and that came close to catching every strip of fabric in at least a bit of quilting.

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The plan was to quilt a star outline in each red patch, but, again, that didn’t seem like enough, so I stippled around all thirty-five of them.  I’m really happy with the effect.  It has enough quilting, and the waves make a nice effect as they undulate across the surface.

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As always, I enjoyed sewing with the #Twilters and others who joined us for Super Bowl weekend.  The QOV Sew-In was very quiet by comparison, at least on Twitter.  Maybe Facebook and Instagram were more chatty.  I also got the idea folks were sewing in groups, so they had plenty of live company.  Maybe they got more done than those of us who sew with one hand and tweet with the other all day!  I won a prize from QOV, so I’m not complaining.

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This will be heading off to Heather as soon as I get finished looking at it hanging over my stair railing!

What have you finished?  I’m linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.


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Pink and Green Cabins

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I finished this quilt and finally found a pleasant day for photographing it.

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It’s a big throw, 60″ x 82″.  I blogged more about making it here. 

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I know fabric is fabric, and the last inch costs the same as the first, but somehow a quilt made entirely out of strings seems like a dividend.

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I quilted it with diagonal lines using the walking foot.  I used pink and green Superior “Living Colors” and “Nature’s Colors” threads.

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I’d love to see what you’ve finished.

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


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Getting It Done in October and November

Yes, I am sewing more than I was at the end of summer.  But there is gardening, and canning, and…things.  I guess from here on in, we’ll be talking holidays.  For instance, I will be gone a week in November.  And December, well.  I think winter, January thru March, is the most productive sewing time of the year.  But I do know that setting these goals every month has made me as productive as possible.  I really keep them in front of me and try to achieve them, just to share them with all of you.  And not look like too much of a wuss.

October Goals

1. Piece and quilt Oh My Stars throw quilt for shop. (almost finished piecing…backing and batting are pieced…)

2. Piece and quilt OMS throw quilt for myself. ( Pieced and partially quilted.)

3. Step 2 of Scrapitude Mystery Quilt

4. Several Xmas wall hangings for shop

November Goals

1. Finish quilting my throw quilt from the Oh My Stars quiltalong.

2.  Finish piecing and quilting OMS throw for my shop,

3.  Finish piecing scrappy red, blue, gray cabin top (Quilt of Valor?)

4.  Piece aqua and gray chevron lap quilt for shop.

5. Step 3 of Scrapitude Mystery Quilt

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In my defense, the Christmas wall hangings were paper pieced, and took a while.  Also, I threw in a little impromptu wall  hanging this  week for my friend who just opened a new bread and vintage clothing shop. (Yeah, breads and threads…!  And she follows The Grateful Dead).  It was very experimental, new materials, bobbin work, tulle, etc.  And, I’m rather proud of it.   So it’s not all just leaf drives and composting here.  I am sewing…

How are you doing with your goals?  It’s okay if you’re a little behind.  🙂

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


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Two Finishes

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Here are two little baby quilts I finished yesterday.  Both are aqua and gray, very popular colors.

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I finally got these log cabin blocks oriented correctly.  You might have said something after Wednesday’s post, or did you think it was something artsy I was doing?  I found two to fix after that post, but I didn’t see the last block till I had it sandwiched.  Fortunately, it was in a corner, so it wasn’t too bad to un-sew and re-sew.  If you spot a problem now, please don’t tell me.

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This one with the chevrons was more of a minty aqua, and hard to photograph.  I like it, though, and I had fun doing the feathers.  I even remembered to add extra batting to the gray areas when I sandwiched it, so the feathers pop more.  The odd triangles are seersucker, and the texture is  great.

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I like the flying geese backing.

These are smaller than I usually make, 30″ x 36″, which I still think is a useful size.  Usually, mine are around 36″ x 42″.  What do you think is the ideal size for a baby quilt?

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

 

 


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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.