Scrappy Bow Tie Baby

   Name:  Scrappy Bow Tie Baby

Design:  Inspired by Blue Elephant Stitches

Size:  39" by 39", blocks are 6"

Fabric: Stash fabrics and scraps

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white beside each square

So I saw this quilt on Jolene's blog, Blue Elephant Stitches.  I love so many of her quilts.  I had to make it.  I think the beauty of this one is in the variety of the background solids and not quite solids.  Lots of pale Kona solids in blue, pink and pale yellow with a dash of light grey dots and a few squares of an out of print Sweetwater fabric in a colour I remember they called pickle.  The bow ties are almost all scraps but I also used some leftover bits of  2 different Moda Candy packs.  This is a wonderful way to use those little 2.5" squares.  The binding is a floral print that does not read as baby at all but some how it works with this.  I truly believe the zing of orange and navy is important to this design.  So be brave if you try this quilt.   So much fun.  The quilting is simple.  Just Aurifil 50 wt in white around the seam lines.  The backing is a ditzy floral print that I have had for ages.  The flowers are pink, orange and turquoise with a bit of grey.  It totally works.  Light and soft.  There it is below when it fell out of grandmother hazelnut.

A Quiet Quilt

   Name:  Quiet

Design:  4" squares

Size:  36" by 44"

Fabric: Stash fabrics 

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white in cross hatch

I stitched this up the other day.  My buddy Cynthia came to sew and while she made a bazillion pouches, I made a baby quilt.  This one is very quiet.  I intentionally picked fabrics that were calm, mellow and low key.  This quilt is for the crib in the spare room at home.  Just right for when our grandbaby comes to visit.  The low key fabrics made it tricky to photograph but here it is on the barn wall.  And down below in the grandmother hazelnut tree behind the barn.  

The funny thing was, this quilt seemed to just come together because I was so busy chatting away with Cynthia, I did not notice I was making a quilt top!  Not only did I make the top, but the back and sandwiched the whole shebang too!  All in a day's work!

I used my go to baby quilt method of late.  Simple 4' squares in a variety of prints.  I used a Heather Ross print as the bouncing off point.  It has a wee froggie at a pond on a white background.  Very cute.  Quilted in cross hatch in Aurifil 50wt in white.  One thing that I did differently with this one is that instead if zig zagging the edge before applying the binding, I serged the edge.  Woo Hoo!  That was fun!

Scraps Springs Eternal

    Name: Scraps Springs Eternal

Design: Inspired by a quilt found on Pinterest by Kati Spencer and published in Scraps INc.

Size: 67" by 67"

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt ilight grey, irregular grid

Fabric:  Various prints in orange, nayvy, aqua, red, grey and white and sashed with Kona Ash

Binding and Backing: Kona Navy binding and backed with a thrifted sheet.

So I noticed a picture of a quilt on Pinterest by Kati Spencer and I was quite taken with it.  I wanted to use up a lot of my scrap strings.  That was the hope.  The hope that springs eternal was that I would really make a dent in the scrap supply.  I will say that I did use quite a pile of scrap strings.  These are randomly pieced strings of various widths and then trimmed to a 18" block.  I used 2.5" wide sashing in the Kona Ash.  And used a rail fence layout with the super sized blocks.  The scrappiness is toned down with a fixed colour palette rather than just letting it rip and mixing in all the colours.  The grey sashing also helps.  The navy solid binding made a nice frame.

I had this idea to do another irregular grid quilting and I decided to quilt from the back because the sheet I used for the backing had a small check pattern.  Bonus!  So I used Aurifil white in 50 wt on the top and Aurifil 50 wt in dove on the bobbin.  Then I went for it.  It turned out quite well.  I will not say that the grid is regular and I was not intending it for it to be.  It has a little wonk.  Enough so that Husband noticed it.  He is not a fan of the wonk.

The funny thing is that whenever I am ready to take photos of a finished quilt, I pick up the quilt and the camera and start heading outside.  Webster, our dog, understands what this means and gets all excited.  He loves taking pictures of quilts.  He is always close by in the background, approving the shoot.  This time, I got him to sit in front of the quilt.  He is a little wonky.  He has dysplasia but that doesn't stop him from being a really great photo-dog and able quilt photo assistant!

On the pea plant support fence.

And the back.

Close up with a bit of wonk.

Summer is here and so the quilt finishes begin

     Name:  Happiness

Design:  4" squares

Size:  36" by 44"

Fabric: Stash fabrics 

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white in cross hatch

I made another one of these baby girl quilts just to have on hand.  It seems they always find a home before too long.  I had cut almost enough squares when I made the first one so had enough to make a second similar baby girl quilt to put into the stack.  Just a nice little quilt with a mix of modern and even a bit of vintage fabric for fun. I am on holidays now so be prepared for lots of finishes in between all the blueberry picking!

So 4" squares in a mix of prints and solids.  Quilted in cross hatch in Aurifil 50 wt in white. My go to.  Happiness

I threw it on the lawn beside the dahlias that we grow in the veggie garden.  The sun was too bright and over exposed the quilt but the dahlias are looking mighty fine!

Another baby quilt

   Name:  It's a Boy!

Design:  4" squares

Size:  36" by 44"

Fabric: Stash fabrics 

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white in cross hatch

So I started and finished this last weekend.  It doesn't take long to put together a super cute baby quilt when I have so many pre-cut 4" squares.  I keep them all sorted by colour in a plastic shoe box.  Having this ready to go supply with lots of solids, low volume options and background prints like my favourite Michael Miller Kiss Dot in fog makes it easy to add in a feature print and have a baby quilt ready to go in no time.  This one is for a staff member who is having a first baby and it's a boy!  

I backed it in a lovely flannelette and bound it in the Michael Miller Kiss Dots.  Cross hatch quilting in Aurifil 50 wt in white.  Super cute and cozy.  I am pretty sure I have said this before but I don't mark the quilting, I just drive.  Once you get used to aiming corner to corner in the blocks, there is really no need to mark. Just like driving a car, people!  I also made the binding before I finished the quilting.  This is something that Latifah Saafir told us she does when I was at her trunk show.  I usually get the quilt finished and quilted before I make final decisions about the binding and then make the binding.  But this time I had it all ready to go.  What a great feeling it was to have it there and ready!  Seems like such a small thing but I am going to do that more often.

Have a super day. I have 3 more days left with kids at school and then the wind down begins for summer holdiays. No grandbaby yet but it could be any day!

Wish upon a star

   Name: Wish Upon A Star

Design: Wonky stars

Size: 53" by 62"

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white, irregualr grid

Fabric:  Various prints in blue  and low volume and white background fabrics

Binding and Backing: Pieced back in blues and dark blue floral binding all from the stash.

I finished this one on the weekend.  It is a commission quilt destined to be a retirement gift.  I was asked to make a lap quilt in blues.  And here it is.  Scrappy blue wonky stars.  4" squares.  I used a mixture of low volume and white background fabrics and then put it altogether.  I quilted the dickens out of it in Aurifil 50 wt in white.  I used an irregular grid and I am smitten.  It is something that Latifah Safir does.  I was inspired.  It gives great texture!

The back is pieced because I am trying to use up stuff that is lingering.
All done and ready to deliver.  And I might add that it is done before my self imposed deadline!

I Spy for School

    Quilt stats

Name:  I Spy for School

Design:  224-4" squares with 4" border

Size:  56" by 63"

Fabric: I Spy Scraps and stash fabrics, binding is Timeless Treasures Clown Strip in black

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white

Backing:  OOP Ikea sheeting

My school has a carnival coming up and I had the bright idea that I should donate an I Spy quilt for the raffle.  The good news is that I do keep pre-cut I Spy 4" squares all set to go but the bad news is that no matter how organized I think I am, I never have enough different squares and I end up having to cut more variety.  Nevertheless, it here it is all finished.  We had a really rainy weekend so I was able to catch up on my quilting.  I was able to throw this up on the clothesline for some pictures when the rain stopped.  We even had a bit of sun this afternoon but look at the stormy clouds!  

I used some Ikea sheeting for the back.  I still have a wee stash of Ikea sheeting in a few different prints but Ikea doesn't seem to be carrying any sheeting weight prints anymore or at least that I can find.  Boo hiss!  I quilted either side of all the blocks in Aurifil 50 weight in white and bound in Clown stripe in black by Timeless treasures.  Bright and happy.  Hopefully it will raise lots of money!

In the breeze

   Name: In the Breeze

Design: St. Louis 16 Patch (tutorial at Sew with Sass)

Size: 56" by 68"

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in off white, cross hatch on the light coloured squares 

Fabric:  Various prints in orange, blue and green and low volume background fabrics

Binding and Backing:  Turquoise Moda Marbles from forever ago and the back was put together by one of the FVMQG members from donated fabric.

 So this is the last of the quilts I made for the Syrian Refugee families that have settled in our area.  My quilt guild, the Fraser Valley Modern Guild has made at least 40 or more quilts. We will have a final tally at our next meeting.  It is pretty awesome.  And many of the quilters are making quilts for a new hospice home as well.  Never mind all the burn camp pillowcases we are churning out.  It is pretty amazing to be part of such a giving group.

Back to the quilt.  I finished it yesterday.  I quilted it just on the lighter coloured squares with a cross hatch.  I keep wanting to say hashtag for some reason.  Anyway, the quilting shows up very nicely on the back.  I did not mark the lines at all as I find you can aim for the corner and your lines stay really straight.  I was really conflicted about the binding.  I kept auditioning various prints and nothing spoke to me and then I realized that this turquoise Moda Marbles fabric that I have had FOR-ever was the thing.  I just love it!  and I machine stitched the binding.  EEEK.  It turned out pretty well.  This is my second machine stitched binding so I am now convinced that it does get better!  I just used straight stitch.  I confess that I did have to do over a few spots but not too shabby!

It was sunny and quite breezy when I took the pictures so I really wanted to get a picture of the quilt in flight.  With the glorious azaleas in the background too.  If you have not made a ST. Louis 16 patch before, give it a try.  The tutorial is here.  Just a fabulous way to mix up a bunch of prints and get a quilt top very quickly which makes it my go to for a donation quilt.  Happy Mother's Day!

Grandbaby quilt number two

 Name: Number Two

Design: Inspired by a quilt that I pinned

Size: 36" by 45"

Fabric:  Medium grey Free 

spirit solid and Kona white

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white, 2 rows either side of the vertical block seams

Binding and Backing:  Kona buttercup for the binding, and an Alexander Henry Owl print, with Deer from Moda..

 I finished this one last night.  It is for our grand boy to be.  I was inspired by a quilt I found on pinterest some time ago.  Simple simple HST construction.  I used the magic 8 method of making 8 HSTs at a time and I trimmed them to 5".  Pretty much that easy.  The yellow binding finishes it so perfectly.  I quilted it with Aurifil 50 wt in white, double row, on either side of the vertical block seams, playing up the vertical nature of the design.  Backed with owls and deer for fun.  Ready for snuggles.

Donation Quilt finish

   Name: Denyse Schmidt-y

Design: St. Louis 16 Patch (tutorial at Sew with Sass)

Size: 56" by 68"

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white on either side of each square

Binding and Backing:  Blue and white print from the stash and backed with an Ikea sheeting

My guild has been working away at making quilts for Syrian refugees that have arrived in our community.  I think we are up to 36 or 37 quilts with this one.  I started piecing it at a sew in and finished it during spring break.  I called it Denyse-Schmidt-y because I used a fat quarter of a Denyse Schmidt original Katie Jump Rope print that someone donated for the refugee quilts.  My quilting buddy Darling and recognized it right away as being "Denyse Schmidt-y."  And it was. So the wee brown print with green and blue dots, third block down on the left side.  Yep.

This quilt was made with the intention of working for a guy.  Greens, browns and blues.  Quilted following the squares in Aurifil 50 wt in white.  All ready to wrap someone in warmth.  

Washi Tape

  Name: Washi Tape

Design: Inspired by Modern Stripes by Frozen Knickers

Size: 52" by 56"

Fabric:  Scraps people, just scraps, even the whites!

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white, lots of straight lines in both directions

Binding and Backing:  A print of Innocent Crush, Anna Maria Horner and a vintage sheet for the back

I started this one during spring break as a concentrated effort to use up some more scraps.  I had pinned a quilt called Modern Stripes by Frozen Knickers and I got the pattern and then didn't really follow it but the inspiration was there for sure.  Lots and lots of 1.5" strips.  I followed a controlled scrappy colour palette with a variety of white scraps.  And I kept going until I got tired of playing with 1.5" strips.  This is a throw quilt, people, not a big one.  That tells you I got tired of strips and decided not to go big! 

Backed with a vintage sheet and bound in Innocent Crush.  Quilted with lots of horizontal straight lines and a few vertical ones in Aurifil 50 wt in white.  Done.  Washi tape.  For obvious reasons.  

 

Inspired Broken Diamonds Mini

 Name: Inpsired Broken Diamonds Mini

Design:  Inspired by Broken Diamonds by Kati from the Blue Chair

Size: 12" by 12"

Fabric:  Kona Scraps and Kona White scraps

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white, 

Binding and Backing:  Kona Medium grey binding and backed with IKEA Britten numbers

My guild is swapping mini quilts with the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild.  I had no idea what to make because the swap specified a 12" by 12" mini.  I usually make BIG quilts so a mini this tiny was a bit of a stretch.  A few of my quilts are part of a guild trunk show at the moment including this one, Inspired Broken Diamonds.    I made Inspired Broken Diamonds after seeing Kati's quilt, Broken Diamonds.  She did not have a pattern for the quilt at that time so I just went for it and came up with my own.  Kati has since published a pattern called Wonky Cabins and provides instructions on how to make the broken diamonds blocks in the pattern.  Seeing my quilt in the trunk show was one of those light bulb moments. Hello, people.  Let's mini size it!  It seemed like a good idea.  The little diamonds are make by foundation piecing string blocks.  You need 2 identical quarter string blocks for half of the diamond and another 2 identical but different quarter string blocks for the other half.  That way no two diamonds are the same.  Kind of cool.  The smallest diamond in this 12" by 12" mini is finished at 1.5" and the biggest finishes at 3.5".  Just a little fussy.  Let me just say that pulling the paper off such tiny blocks was not fun.  But it looks pretty awesome.  I used scraps of Kona solids, Kona white and used Kona Medium grey for the binding.  The quilting is dense straight line, 1/4" apart with Auriful 50 wt in white.  Just snazzy.  

On the barn wall  and a close up.

Before quilting, on the ironing board and with my trusty stitch ripper for scale.  

And my original biggie sized Inspired Broken Diamonds from February 2013. Just a little bigger at 64" by 74".

Woodland Baby

    Name:  Woodland Baby

Design:  6" squares

Size:  39" by 44"

Fabric: Hello Bear by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery, and some stash fabrics

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white on either side of each block

Well.  This is the first of several baby quilts for our grand baby boy to be.  Most exciting.  Our daughter has decided on a woodland theme and this lovely Art Gallery line called Hello Bear was just the ticket.  I added in some Zen Chic dots and the teepees from the scrap box and we were set to go.  The result is a soft and drapey quilt, just perfect for our wee grand boy.  I quilted 1/4" from either side of the block with my favourite Aurifil 50 wt in white.  The binding is from the Hello Bear line as well, the turquoise arrows.  I fussy cut the animals.  Just so darn cute.

And I hung the quilt for pictures next to the big woods that have not yet woken up from the winter and inside the rose arbor where our daughter and her husband married last May.  Just saying.  Lots of pictures because it was breezy and that was fun.  Have a look.  And if you are still with me at the end, you will see a gratuitous cat shot with Lucy, the quilting cat helping out.