Rectangle Blues

Have you all seen Quilt Scene?? So much great stuff in here!

I was lucky enough to have a quilt pattern published in it!

And the Modern Quilt Guild also got a nice mention!

I made this quilt a while ago... so nice to finally be able to blog about it! I used a lot of Moda Crossweaves in it.  They are so beautiful!  A couple more photos...

Want a copy of the magazine?  Just leave me a comment.  I'll pick a winner on Monday!

And it's back to the sewing machine for me... Hope you all have great weekends ahead of you!

A space quilt??

Yes!  A space quilt!  A while back, the designer for Etsy's amazing space themed conference room got in touch.  Would I like to make a space quilt to be hung in the room?  Needless to say, this was a daunting task.  But I love a challenge so I took it on. How to make a quilt that is a glimpse of "space" (as in outer space - this was not a theoretical space...it had to be outer space) yet also keep my aesthetic?  It was no easy task!

Think I managed ok?  Stars or spaceships?? It's up to you!  I was thinking stars (you know - like streaking by 'cause you're at warp speed, right??) but my husband though spaceships so I figured that's part of the idea - interpret it as you'd like.

And white binding!  Not something I've otherwise done but I thought it worked well to frame the dark blues and blacks... I used a lot of Quilters Linen in this.  Thought that it was nice for add texture but not a patterned fabric.

There's more photos of the finished conference room here!

Another Pillow

I got a new chair for my sewing room, so it needed a new pillow!

The set up is already encouraging good company!

Another magazine appearance!

A fun place mat pattern of mine is in:

Such a thrill!

They are super simple to sew up and really do make for a perfect gift!

Remember these?

Fabric changes make them so different!

Embracing Gray.

That's certainly what I did with this quilt, so that's what I'm calling it.  It's on our bed and staying there!  I love it and so does my husband.  Not girly at all this one... I really like the simple graphic nature of this quilt. I offset the columns a bit giving it an asymmetry that I'm loving.

The fabrics? Konas Medium Gray, Coal, Charcoal, and the RK Gray Quilters Linen (which I LOVE by the way) are all in there.  The background is Kona Ash.  And then the yellow is a Kona as well - it's Butterscotch.  The one patterned fabric is a Heather Baily print.

I pieced together a back with the remaining fabric.

It's already being enjoyed by everyone!

As a side note - thanks for all of your comments on straight line quilting. It's clearly a topic that a lot of people are thinking about.  Moving my quilting in different directions is something that I'm eager to do and I feel I might surrender to some long arm classes... I am tiring of stippling, and am not very attracted to many other simple free motion patterns.  Straight lines really appeal to me though and the options are endless, but impossible to achieve well on my machine.  I'm all about making quilts at home from start to finish, but at a certain point there are limitations... I just know the second I go and try long arming one of my quilts I'll be ruined and never want to quilt a quilt on my home machine again.  What to do? Oh the trials and tribulations of a quilting obsession!

Twin baby quilts

I finished up a pair of cute baby quilts for a commission.  For twins who are on the way!  I made a couple of pillow sleeves to go along with 'em too.

Why can't I ever coordinate photo taking with no fold lines in the quilts??

These were fun to sew up. I haven't been working with lots of white or these colors in awhile so it was fun to go back to them for a project!

On another note, a dear friend of mine is a finalist for the Dwell Room for Improvement contest. You don't have sign in or anything to vote for her, so please do! It just takes two quick clicks and a free living room make over could be hers so vote for her! Thank you, thank you!

Yellow Pop

I got this quilt top finished up! So simple and quick to make baby quilts!

Happy weekend to you all!!

And finished!

I know you all just saw this quilt top - but it's now finished!

I ended up binding it in black (this is my first use of black in a quilt ever) and I'm really happy with the outcome.

And of course I did another of my usual pieced backs:

I really enjoyed working in all neutrals, but now back to color!!

A finished Dots & Critters Baby Quilt!

So busy these days that this is my first finish of 2010. A cute and simple baby quilt for some friends who are expecting but don't know if it's a boy or a girl. Their first baby got this quilt, so the idea was that the quilts are different but still sort of match.

I had a great time drawing attention to all of the little critters with the quilting.

The back:

It's so much fun to put together baby quilts quickly. I might have to do that a couple more times before I tackle another bed quilt.

My last quilt of 2009

This will be the last quilt that I finish in 2009. How do I know? I have zero going right now. I'll need to remedy that soon. Been too busy with the holidays to get anything started recently. Meanwhile, the quilt!

It was my Christmas present for my father. All Kona solids this time around and I tried to go for colors he would like. Somehow I didn't think loads of solid white with bright fabrics involving polka dots and/or birds (kinda sums up a lot of the my stash...) was gonna fly for my father. And there's actually no white in this - the light color is a light grey - Ash.

Another shot of it.

This is the first time I've ever put a border on a quilt. I'll be honest. I didn't initially picture it with one but I just could. not. make. one. more. block. I love the results of all solids, but they don't make for exciting piecing. But I do really like the border in the end. And my father loved the quilt!

I did a very simple pieced back:

Can you believe that it's almost 2010?!?

Rectangles & Gray.

Wish I had a more exciting name for this quilt (edit: I've named it April Retangles!) because I'm so happy with how it came out.

I improv. pieced wonky rectangular blocks like I did with the Lantern Bloom quilt, using the gray to unify all the blocks. It's a lap quilt, measuring 48" x 59".

I love this quilt. I really really do.

I used some gray Kei dots on the very simple back.

And the binding is a stripe from Red Letter Day. I think it works really well.

Lantern Bloom quilt is finished!

Here it is in all its super colorful glory.  I should note that the dark color is a chocolate brown, not black as it looks in the photos.

This quilt is a commission and the Lantern Bloom fabric was requested.   This flickr photo, along with the colors in the fabrics inspired the quilt.

It's such a uniquely pretty fabric collection that I didn't think it could be mixed with other lines so I turned to solids. Purple & bright yellow aren't my usual comfort zone, but I'm glad the fabric pushed me to stretch.   I think it's "me" in it's improv. wonkiness yet it doesn't look like all of my other quilts.  No white!

Here it is on a queen sized bed - so you can see how big it is!

I quilted it by stitching right next to the ditch. You can see the quilting on the back and I like how the rectangles overlap all the piecing on the back.

I found it a lot harder to stitch in the ditch than to stipple a quilt this big. Straight lines are "easier" than free motion, but when you stipple you can organize how you move through your quilt in a way that's much more manageable for me.  But I did it! I'm definitely stippling my next quilt. It's been too long!

The finished hexagon quilt! Finally!!

I went back and looked, and the first photo I have of the beginnings of this quilt is from July 24th.  And today is September 28th.  Two months it took me to make this quilt.  For me, that is a long time.  Now it would be one thing if I'd done a ton of sewing otherwise, but I kinda haven't.  The odd quilting bee block here or there, but otherwise?  Not much sewing!  Lesson I've learned?  Don't start a huge quilt when you're going to be working a lot.  Tackle smaller quilts and that way it's easier to get a project finished and feel that needed sense of accomplishment! But anyhow - the quilt!

It's 80" by 88" - a full sized quilt, but it's on a queen sized bed in the above photo. 

Some details...

The pebble quilting, which I'll never do on a quilt this big again (it took SO long!) really works on this simple pattern. I love it. Especially after the wash and crinkle...

Love how the deer pop since I've otherwise used smaller scale prints.

I used the Wonderland polka dots for the binding.

The back - sorry for a kinda dark photo. The brown reads darker in this photo than it actually is.

It's actually more like this:

I love this quilt.  I do. But it was a huge project to get it all finished.  No more hexagons or pebble quilting for me for a long time. Improv piecing and stippling, here I come!

It's for sale in my shop.

Monday morning.

My coffee is brewing so I'm taking the time to show you my latest finished quilt. The red & aqua is all done!

It's much like my usual quilts - lots of white and wonky log cabins and as a result, I love it!

One of my usual pieced backs:

I used some of the precious Paint by Number birds fabric. It's too beautiful to hoard! It needs to be put in quilts.

It's 40" x 50" and for sale in my shop!

Hexagon quilt is finished!

All done!

It measures 40" x 40" - perfect for a baby quilt.

I used the 4.5" template from here. After sewing together the columns of hexagons, I off set them so that the color hexagons would be surrounded in white half hexagons.

Then, being inspired by this and this, I gave "pebble" quilting a shot. I'm super happy with the results!

I think that it works well on a really simple quilt pattern, like this one, but would overwhelm a quilt top that is more involved. I do love it though and I'm certain to do it more on other quilts that I think it'll work on.

Boy does it use a lot of thread... 11 bobbins for this little baby quilt!

Another one finished!

This is my 15th quilt of the year!  It's based on the "What a Bunch of Squares" Denyse Schmidt patten.

How long will it be before there isn't any Mingle in every quilt I make?? A long time I think.

Ducks!

My Block Party Quilt

The quilt that I made with all of the women involved in Block Party, a virtual quilting bee, is finished and it's beautiful!

Each and every block in this quilt is perfect.

Right?? I'm so lucky this is mine.

If you click through to this photo on flickr, you can see a collage with a photo of each block and link to who made them. That's one batch of seriously talented ladies! I'm thrilled to be doing this bee with all of them.

Here's the pieced back I put together based on all the fabric I had left.

Permit me to show you some more pretty pictures of it!

I genuinely love this quilt so much and the fact that it was made with help from so many of the wonderful people I've gotten to know though this amazing online quilting/blogging community makes me love it even more.

It measures 75" x 75" and it's going to live with me on my couch.  All the time.  Have I mentioned that I love it??

Funky Wonky Squares Quilt!

Clearly I'm not the most creative at coming up with quilt names... oh well - I guess this says it all!

All finished! I love it. Love love love it. I think it's so youthful and funky and just fun!

For the back I did a simple strip of patchwork - mostly solids with a pop of pattern! The patterned fabric is the circles from Mingle. Man am I ever obsessed with those right now... I think I bought them in every colorway!

And the chocolate brown binding adds a nice frame to it.

It's listed in my shop!

The girliest of girly baby quilts!

I finished up the super girly baby quilt. I love it!

That photo isn't so great but you can see the design... Here's one with colors that are truer...

It's been so long since I've finished a quilt. This little one makes me happy!

The back with a bit more of the amazing Far, Far Away... so cute!

I usually go with a solid binding, but I occasionally like a small scale print one... I think this one came out well!

Happy Monday everyone!  For me, this is the last week on my job... I will miss the paychecks but I can't wait for all of the soon to arrive sewing time!

Two Baby Coin Quilts

All done with these coin quilts that I made simultaneously.  I enjoyed making them at the same time.  Since they are this small (34" x 46") it didn't feel like it took too long.

I really love so many of the fun fabrics in these!

I didn't intend to do different backs, but after mistakenly I sewed the strip of patterned fabric upside down on the girl quilt, I thought, why not?!?

And some simple solid bindings. I have found that I really love solid bindings as a nice simple frame to the louder coin strips.

Up next, two more baby quilts, also made at the same time!