A Big Star Quilt

Last weekend, my dear high school friend JoAnn and I drove to Sew Blessed in Hahira, GA for a quilting class.  The two-hour drive was worth it; we each came away with a 25" star block.  An added bonus was getting to spend an entire day with JoAnn, talking sewing and quilting ALL DAY!




My block was done in shades of aqua, coral and red.  I LOVE it!  So much so, that I had a hard time donating it to be placed in a silent auction to benefit for Books for Sumter.   But a promise is a promise... and this baby quilt was the only one I could finish in time for last night's benefit!

Since the block was only 25" square, I added three borders to get it up to a baby quilt size, in this case 42" square.  I simply MUST start writing down names and makers of fabrics I purchase!  I have no idea where I got any of them, and no idea of the fabric lines from which they came.  None of them were purchased at the same time; they just happened to get stacked together in my stash cubes because of similar colors.  But man, am I pleased with how they look together!



The star itself was quilted in the ditch.  Then, I had the BEST TIME quilting the white Kona background with my walking foot!  I absolutely LOVE quilting with contrasting thread on solids!

It's really hard to see, but the three borders were quilted with the same aqua thread, with a meander/stipple, about an inch apart.  I used my midarm for that part.  Don't you just love the little bird print on the outer border???  I think it's just the right contrast to the floral print used in the middle border and binding.

The back is that same darling aqua and coral polka dot from the inner border.  I love that fabric so much that it was hard for me to cut into it!  But it's been in my stash for at least three years...  and I still have some left!

I sure hope this quilt brought in big bucks at the benefit, because I already miss it!


Lessons learned while making this quilt???  First, to trust my instincts when putting fabrics together for a quilt.  Even though I'm pretty sure each came from a different line, they really look great together (I think)!  Next, I tried out a machine binding tutorial from Pinterest... and it came out great!  I've been a bit of a purist when it comes to binding (must be hand stitched), but for a quilt that's going to get lots of use and washing, the machine binding makes sense.  Last lesson???  Don't make promises you may not want to keep!  I want this quilt baaack!
 

My First Batik Quilt

This Bali Pop precut has been in my stash for two years or more, just waiting to become a quilt...  I was scared to do anything with it because I'd never worked with batiks and I didn't know where to begin to select fabrics for borders, sashing and backing.  But finally I just dove in!

My initial plan was to do a jelly roll race quilt, but I chickened out, afraid it would be too "blah."  So then I started sewing strip sets of four, and then cut the strip sets into squares.  I got really brave with end pieces of the strip sets and made 16-patches.  (That's probably a little misleading; the blocks had 16 pieces in each, but they were far from square!)

Through lots of trial and error, I ended up with 8 blocks (each with 3 strip squares and one 16 patch), about 17" square.  You'll see that I set 5 of them on point and cut two more diagonally.  To finish out the center of square top, I cut the last block into four sections, again on the diagonal.  I used a green batik for sashing.  (Thank you, Linda at Sew Much Fun in Columbus, GA for your help selecting the fabrics!) Next came a border of gold batik.

There were still LOTS of very small scraps I couldn't bear to discard, so I paper-pieced them onto 2" wide adding machine tape to make another border.  That was really fun, and didn't take nearly as long as I imagined.  And I LOVE what it added to the quilt!  I finished off the top with an outer border of the green batik from the sashing.

This quilt has been quilted TWICE.  That's right; twice!   The first time I quilted it, I just wasn't happy with it; stitches were irregular in length and I had "eyelashes" where I took curves too quickly.  Of course, I didn't figure this out until it was finished...  I was so disappointed that I put it away, only to drag it back out this week.  I spent two days picking out the initial quilting. 

I'm happy to say that I'm quite pleased with my second attempt at quilting it, this time with a loose meander of Aurifil quilting thread in a lovely rust color.  Both solid borders have a "swirl" design quilted; I left the pieced border unquilted.  The binding is the same gold batik of the inner border.

In this photo you get a glimpse of the batik back, a beautiful multicolor of golds and greens and rusts.  I LOVE this fabric!  In fact, I have enough left to make myself a little unlined jacket!

So what did I learn from making this quilt???   LOTS!  First, if I'd ever actually use a pattern, I wouldn't spend so much time with trial and error.  Second, I have lots of work to do to come closer to a consistent 1/4" seam allowance.  This became quite evident in the so-called 16-patches.  Third, I LOVE batiks!!!  It was so crisp to sew on, and pressed just beautifully.  Best of all, there's no "wrong" side to batik, which was a blessing and ONE way I couldn't mess up!  The only downside to the batik is that the fabric is pretty pricey.  Counting the Bali Pop precut and the fabrics for borders, sashing, binding a backing, I have about $150 in fabric for this 66" square lap quilt.  And this one is actually MINE!!!

Sew Cute Tuesday

So this morning I'm reading through my posts from Bloglovin' and see the one from Blossom Hearts Quilts...  She invited us to share anything we've sewn in the past week. 

It's actually been a little longer than a week since I made bedding for Baby Jack, but since he's just been born, I just HAD to share it!  (I'm claiming Smitten Grandmother Syndrome if anyone objects!)

I made the crib sheets, bumpers, pillows, bedskirt and valance for Jack's nursery. 

My daughter in law made that darling mobile herself after seeing a similar one for $95 online. She purchased a $5 used mobile at a consignment sale and made her own felt animals to coordinate with the bedding.  All told, she has less than $10 in the mobile.  (She's all about saving a buck!)

I also made the quilt for Jack's room and posted about it earlier...  here's the link to that post.  http://punkinquilts.blogspot.com/2013/11/baby-jacks-farm-mural-quilt.html.  And here's the quilt.  It turned out so heavy that we decided to hang it on the wall for now; it might crush Baby Jack!

 

Thanks, Blossom Heart Quilts for hosting!  This is my first attempt at a link-up; sure hope I did it right!

A Quilt for Susan

Here's another charm square quilt; this was for my wonderful sister-in-law, Susan.  It's a late Christmas gift.  While it looks Christmas-y, it's really not... she just happens to use these colors in her greatroom.

The 81 charm squares were from three different packs.  They weren't coordinating or matching packs; the colors just worked well together.  The three borders are Susan Winget fabrics, again not from the same lines as the charm packs, but working well together.

 

I did my first "orange peel" quilting on the squares themselves and quilted swirls on the gold border.

 

 

I tried my hand at quilting feathers for the first time on the outer border.  I followed a great tutorial from Natalia Bonner's book Beginner's Guide to Free-Motion Quilting.  I purposely used a variegated thread that blended in well with the green fabric.  My mama didn't raise a dummy; I knew I should camouflage my first efforts with the feathers!  Actually, though, I think they turned out pretty well for my first attempt.  (oh, and the tute for the orange peel came from the same book, but she called it Double Arcs.)

 

It will be really hard to give this one away; I have the same colors in my greatroom!

A Charm Square Quilt for Weston

Our great nephew, Weston, is five and is really into making things... so I thought this construction-themed charm pack would make a great little nap quilt for him.

To make the charm pack go further, I added rows of 5" black Kona between each row of charm squares. 

I quilted diagonal lines in red across each row to create a grid.

I LOVE pieced backs!  In this case, it was out of necessity; I had to "make do" with what was in my stash...  it was late at night and I wasn't going out!  The back is cobalt Kona and a candy stripe red and white.  The binding is black and white chevron; I really like how it turned out!

Catching up

It's been AGES since I've posted!  With the holidays and the birth of our first grandchild, blogging has been low on my list of priorities.  Now, though, things are settling back into a normal rhythm, whatever that is...

Here's the last tshirt quilt I finished just before Christmas.  It was a commission by my friend Donna, for her son Greg.  It is by far the biggest tshirt quilt I've done, measuring a whopping 100"x90" (nearly king size!)  I had to take it down to our church to baste it; there's not that much empty floor space in my house.

Greg's shirts came from his high school and college days.  My favorite block is on the far right column, third one down.  Several shirts only had pocket logos, so I appliqued eight of them onto one of the shirt backs. 

 

 

 

I used a tiny gray chevron for sashing and a coordinating geometric print for the back.  It is quilted in a large meander with a charcoal gray cotton thread.

A FEW TSHIRT QUILTS

A FEW TSHIRT QUILTS

In this post I will share a few of the several tshirt quilts I've done in my brief career as a quilter.  I've come to love doing them because they seem to bring such joy to the recipients.  Each person is so pleased to have special memories of happy times captured in a warm, comfy quilt.

Keith's Quilt is one of the first commissions I took.  Keith and his wife Donna were colleagues of mine in the local school district for many years.  His shirts chronicle his undergrad years, his coaching years, and special events during his years as a school administrator. 

A few of the shirts had only a screen print on the chest pocket area, so I incorporated a column for them in the center of the quilt.  Sashing for Keith's quilt was done in black Panther Paw print, while the backing was a deep royal blue geometric print.  I did the quilting on my Viking Topaz 30 with royal blue meanders.  I am pretty sure he was happy with it because his wife has commissioned me to do one for their son now!


Here is my daughter Cathleen's quilt.  It chronicles her high school and college years.  This on was a bit of a challenge because I failed to tell her NOT to cut the shirts apart before bringing them to me.  As a result, I began with a hodgepodge of sizes and shapes!  Cathleen did the layout through her artistic eyes and I must say, it does make for a very visually interesting quilt...  but piecing it was a real bugger!  Cathleen did a good bit of the piecing herself.

Sashing was done with a mustard polka dot; the border is black chevron.  We backed it with gray chevron and quilted it on my Topaz with a gray meander.  This was definitely not one of my favorite tshirt quilts because I desire symmetry and order, but it was right up my daughter's eclectic alley!

This is my most recent finish, a commission done in trade for a photo session for our soon-to-arrive first grandchild, Baby Jack.  The tshirts are Ansleigh's; her husband David is a very talented photographer. 

Ansleigh's memory tshirts included several supporting precious little Creed, who lost his battle with cancer, along with some from her high school years, her undergrad years, her bachelorette party weekend and some post-high school softball playing days.

Ansleigh selected a black and white color scheme for sashing and backing.  The sashing is polka dots while the back is a gorgeous black and white damask.  Quilting was done with black Aurifil on my new Viking Platinum 16 midarm.

One word of caution if you plan to try a tshirt quilt:  be sure to stabilize the shirts prior to cutting them into squares.  My lesson learned on Cathleen's quilt was related....  because I failed to ask her to bring the shirts to me intact, she "gave me a head start" by cutting out designs from her shirts. We were thus left with very little surrounding fabric. Getting those pieces stabilized without having an adhesive-covered ironing board was a real challenge.  But hey, this blog is about lessons learned, so there ya go!