Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Tag Archives: superior threads


by 4 Comments

Finished Commission Quilt

IMG_2905(1)This quilt seemed to take forever, but it was really only about a week of sewing.  The customer started talking to me about it in early August.  We arrived at a design, then she chose all her fabrics, then sent the links to me,  I ordered the fabric, and then awaited it’s arrival.  I started sewing the first week in October, but stopped to do other projects while waiting for that last piece of fabric to arrive.  By that time, I had the back and binding made, so construction went smoothly.  These are big geese, ten-inch blocks!

IMG_2908Quilting took a little longer, because a lot of it was straight lines with the walking foot.  At 70″ x 90″, this was fairly large and took a lot of free-motion quilting after the lines, but after the Layer Cake Explosion, it was a breeze!  It’s all quilted, top and bottom, with Superior Threads Bottom Line in silver.

IMG_2909I should get this in the mail on Monday.  Whew!

I’m enjoying seeing your finishes this week!

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


by 5 Comments

The Baseball Quilt

image

Yuri and I are here to show you the finished Baseball Quilt.  This is for a sick friend who may need a little extra hug to get through till pitchers and catchers report.

image

The back has a Mets theme, if you can’t see it.

image

The big 8″ Drunkard’s Path blocks (I made templates from a cereal box!) went together very quickly.  Then came the quilting.  I used dark gray Bottom Line on the top and bottom for most of it.  I stitched in the ditch between all the blocks first, mostly to make sure the baseballs were anchored down.  Then I stippled all the background pieces, and outlined the baseballs.  Finally, I used one of my machine’s decorative stitches (Bernina #23) with red 30 wt. thread to make the stitching lines.  I had to stitch each line twice, once normally, then once in the mirror image.  They’re not as even as I would like, but I think they work.

image

And here’s Yuri to demonstrate the resulting snugglebility of the finished quilt.

image

image

image

Thanks for stopping by!


by 4 Comments

Spring Violets, Bloggers Quilt Festival, May 2015

spring-2015-BQF-Button-e1429716312925

wpid-26.jpg

I’m entering “Spring Violets” in the Home Machine Quilted category of this spring’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival over at Amy’s Creative Side.  This quilt measures 66″ x 84″.  The batting is Warm and White.  And, yes, that’s Yuri helping out.

wpid-29.jpg

I started this quilt as a stash buster, possibly for donation.  I had a lot of purples and greens that I wanted to use up, and I thought of a favorite block of mine, Windflower, which is a variation of Drunkard’s Path.

wpid-28.jpg

The flower centers are done with “Rainbows” by Superior Threads.  All the other stitching is with “Bottom Line”, also Superior.  The violets are quilted with “pebbles” and outlines.  I used three different background fillers in the green backgrounds around the flowers.  The borders have rings that mimic the “coffee rings” on the batik.

wpid-27.jpg

It ended up as a meticulous, lengthy project, especially the quilting, and I’m now too attached to it to part with it.  It makes me happy.

wpid-31.jpg

See all the entries at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival at Amy’s Creative Side.  Voting begins May 22!


by 4 Comments

Finish: Baby Geese 2

IMG_2288pYesterday I finished up another take on the geese, and I like it a lot.  You can see the Flea Market Fancy in it, but I also used up lots of old pinks from my stash, including a pink Jinny Beyer check that might be from the early nineties.

IMG_2289Since I was cutting yardage, sometimes small bits, I made these blocks 6″ finished, easy to cut and sew and calculate.  The quilt finishes at 36″ x 42″.

IMG_2297I used the walking foot with pale yellow Bottom Line by Superior to stitch between all the blocks to keep it square.  Then I switched to free motion and did a small stipple over all the background triangles.  I was worried that dense quilting might make it stiff, but its not at all, and the unquilted geese are especially soft and nice.  Warm and White batting.

IMG_2287I am in love with the rose batik I used for the back.

IMG_2299Stay tuned for version 3, which may be the last of the series!

wind_dandelion3Go to WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader’s Garden to see more finishes.


by 7 Comments

Geese Finish

2015-03-06 11.07.16I finished the Geese baby quilt (38″ x 44″) made with Kona Ash and the bright “boy” scraps.  I am really happy with the way it turned out.  I took these photos in the bright sun just to show the quilting.

IMG_2283The quilting is all done with gray Bottom Line by Superior.  I wanted it to just be texture and shadows, no additional color.  The horizontal and vertical lines are all done with the walking foot, then I did the diagonals and the echo quilting in free motion.  It was a little hard to distinguish the geese that are flying horizontally, so I echo quilted inside of them, and I like the result.

IMG_2276The scraps include whales, construction trucks,  baseball equipment, and Mickey Mouse.  I was cleaning out my 6 1/2″ squares, so I made 51/2″finished  blocks to make the most of the fabric.  I used the two-squares-and-a-rectangle method, and this very handy chart to calculate sizes.

2015-03-06 11.07.36This is only the second Flying Geese quilt I’ve ever made, and the other was long ago.  I loved how easily and precisely the blocks went together using this method.  Now I’m going to do another, busier one using pinks!

2015-03-06 11.08.18Can’t wait to see your finishes!  I’m linking up to Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

wpid-cooltext-whoop-whoop.png.png


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 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 9 Comments

Another Chevron Finish

IMG_2136Here’s the commissioned chevron quilt in the more dramatic colors.  It quilted up pretty quickly once the backing fabric arrived.  

IMG_2140

It’s perfect, isn’t it?  It will match the other bedding in the nursery.

IMG_2137

I don’t know if it’s obvious in the photos, but the extra batting under the feathers does make them stand out.  It’s all quilted with Superior’s Bottom Line thread, top and bottom.  The binding is a charcoal color.

IMG_2141

I know you’re missing Yuri in these shots, but he must have been chasing chipmunks, because he missed the whole thing.  Not like him, I know.

IMG_2144

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

 


by 5 Comments

Log Cabin Finish

2014-07-24 10.11.20

This warm, summery quilt was lots of fun to make, and it made a small dent in the string boxes.  It’s definitely a redo of this quilt, the one that was almost visible in Southern Weddings Magazine (Can’t see it?  Look behind the bride.)  Completely coincidentally, Southern Living Magazine contacted me this week to say that the wedding spread would be appearing in their upcoming issue.  No details yet.  Maybe there will  be a different shot that shows my quilt!

2014-07-24 10.08.43

This time I used 12″ blocks with no borders.  The other quilt also had more variety in the centers because I made them from a charm pack, and cut these from yardage.

2014-07-24 10.10.33

The back is very boring restful.

2014-07-24 10.09.21

I free-motion quilted a sun in every block with a sunny orange Masterpiece thread from Superior.  I really enjoyed doing them and I like the way they turned out.

IMG_2110

Hope you are having some fun summer finishes.  I’m linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.


by 7 Comments

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:

2014-03-18 08.40.06

2014-03-18 08.41.19

2014-03-18 08.40.28

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

And this is the other:

2014-03-18 08.42.37

2014-03-18 08.43.13

2014-03-18 08.42.49

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.

2014-03-18 08.45.58

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.

tgiff-button-blog