Making Lemonade...Pink that is!

 Name:  Pink Lemonade

Design: Mine

Block:  Kaleidoscope Block from Quilter's Cache

Size:  approx  41" by 49"

Fabric:  Kona Ash, 

Backing:  a pink print from my stash

Binding: Kona Pomegranate

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 40 wt in Pink  2415

I was going to call this quilt Oopsie-Baby because of how it came to be but then someone commented yesterday when I was talking about making lemonade with "oops" blocks that this was Pink Lemonade.  Pink Lemonade it is!  And yes, this one came about because of template printing issues creating blocks that were too big for my bee partner.  

As "oops" blocks go, I will definitely mark this one done as a most happy accident.  I think it totally works!  

The Kona Ash offsets the bright scrappy blocks really well.  And don't even get me started on the binding.  I love it!  

I usually leave baby quilts lightly quilted but this one begged for lots of quilting.  Straight lines about 1/2" apart all the way across in a fabulous Aurifil 40 wt in pink... number 2415 to be precise.    I love straight line quilting.  

Done and now in inventory waiting for a baby that needs a quilt.  Linking up tomorrow with Amanda Jean for finish it up Friday.

Work in Progress Wednesday... Making Lemonade

Well.  On the weekend I started to make lemonade.   I was trying to make the best of a bad situation.  I mentioned the other day that in attempting to make blocks for my January That Stash Bee, many of us struggled with the template.  Insert gnashing of teeth and general frustration.  I ended up with 2 and half supersize blocks along with the two that I sent off to my bee mate.  Even with a lot of fiddling and printing, my blocks turned out a bit on the small size.  The colours are gorgeous and the blocks were so lovely even as supersized blocks that I decided to make lemonade from my lemons.  I finished the third large block and added a whole bunch of Kona Ash and make a baby quilt.  

And it feels good.  All quilted up in a lovely light pink Aurifil 40 wt.  I auditioned several fabrics for binding before settling on Kona Pomegranate.  Now that is a lovely intense pink.

Linking up with Lee for Work in Progress Wednesday!  

Modern Mini... Are we there yet?

 Name:  Are we there yet?

Design: Mine

Size:  approx  26" by 30"

Fabric:  Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush, Kona solids... Curry and Cerise,

 Robert Kaufman linen cotton blend, Stof basics text print in ivory

Backing:  stash fabrics

Binding:  Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 40 wt ivory

I have spoken before about my lovely Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild and how we are playing a big role in the Creative Stitches Show in Abbotsford in March.  We are hosting a Modern Mini Challenge for the guild as part of the show as a way of demonstrating what modern quilting looks like.  Guild members have been selecting modern quilting themes out of a basket and then getting busy.  Since I am the guild challenge coordinator, I got busy fast so I could have a sample.  I selected alternate grid work as a modern quilting theme but when I started working, I also had expansive negative space, use of solids, bright, colourful prints as well.  I quilted it heavily with straight lines in an ivory Aurifil 40 wt and increased the length of the stitches a bit.  The stitches pop on the linen.  We decided to go a little bigger than a typical mini to showcase the modern quilting themes.  So here it is.  A modern mini.  I called it Are We There Yet? because I am really excited about the Creative Stitches show!

De-stash!

We had a grand de-stash at our Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Thursday.  I took copious quantities of assorted crafty stuff to share and came home with a conservative pile of goodies.  I added much to my purple stash, added some other fabrics and a boat load of a really lovely home decor weight fabric.

I also came away with a fair collection of I Spy fabrics including some hockey prints.  I did not have any hockey prints!  And I was ever so well behaved this morning because I actually chopped up all the smaller pieces into 4" squares right away!

Cynthia shared some of the BOLT of vintage home decor weight fabric with me that she found on a thrifty adventure and Steam Trunk Cathy shared this crazy vegetable fabric and some Joe Boxer "Good to the Core" apple fabric with me.  It will probably become a picnic table cloth at some point.

I also won a charm pack!  Yahoo!  I have been on quite the winning steak of late.

Evidence of my good behaviour and good scrap management.

A Friday Finish on a Thursday...

 Quilt stats

Name:  Vintage Pinkness 

Design:  Mine, Economy blocks, 5.5"

Size:  38" by 48"

Fabric:  assorted stash fabric and scraps, Kona Baby Pink, pink stripe flannelette backing

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white

This is a baby quilt for a gift for one of our son's fiance's friends.  The baby is not yet born but the family knows she is a girl and her name will be Scarlet.  I was asked to make the quilt and was given free rein but the thought was that it should include some red.  Okay.  So this is what happened.  I started making Red Pepper Quilt's Economy blocks even before the big craze happened.  I am just so on it with trends!  Giggle.  But I alternated the blocks with solids in the palest of pinks.  Each block has a little whimsical square and I added a really sweet small scale pink print from Lecien for the border.  I just don't remember what it is called.  I have had it for quite awhile.  The binding is from Kate Spain's Christmas line.

And I quilted on either side of the blocks in Aurifil 50 wt in white and then added diagonals in each direction.  The diagonals really finished it perfectly.  The quilting has transformed this little quilt.  It went from being okay to being OKAY!  after the quilting.

First finish of the new year.  Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it up Friday.  And now I am off to guild.  De-stash night and I have a lot of stuff to get rid of!  So exciting!!!!

Working, working...

I popped these wee blocks in the mail the other day.  They are destined for a baby quilt project.  So fun.  And Economy blocks are all the rage right now.  These ones finished at 5.5" and were paper pieced using the tutorial and template available from Rita at Red Pepper Quilts.  Paper piecing these makes really accurate blocks!

I have also been working on the mini quilt for the Creative Stitches Challenge for my guild.  The modern quilting theme that my mini will demonstrate is alternate grid work but in making it, I have also used solids, ample use of negative space and bright, bold colours.  So there you go!

Here is a sneak peak of my mini as I was quilting it.

Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network and Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.

Another pillow...

This is a pillow I made for our clever son's lovely fiancée for Christmas.  Yes, people, you read it right, fiancée!!!  There is going to be a wedding!    Back to the pillow though, this is is a pattern from a book I won at quilt guild.   The pattern is for a quilt but I made a pillow.  It is very stained glass looking.  I used some scraps and some lovely linen/cotton blend for the sashing and the back.

And a little closer...

 and the back... which has a lapped zipper.

I was unsure what colour thread to use so I stuck a few tiny scraps on my test chunk of fabric plus batting.  I decided to use a lovely Aurifil 30 wt... 2315 was the colour.  It is a light yellow gold.  Yum.  I quilted it with lots of straight lines and quilted the bit on the back too.  The pillow was a big one.  About 22" square.  It made me happy.