From K - Finished New Wave Quilt

Two years ago, when I had only just started quilting, I fell for Elizabeth Hartman's blog, Oh Fransson!, followed quickly by my love of her New Wave Quilt pattern. As a novice quilter with only three other quilts under my belt, I thought this was a good next step.

This quilt marked my first foray into quilting with a more modern design, and was the first time I ever tried free motion quilting. Simultaneously, it also happened to be the first time I had ever ordered fabric online (Fat Quarter Shop to be exact!).

While I'm not traditionally a crayola colour scheme kind of lady, I feel hard for the little owl prints! I think this is a timeless treasures line, thought the name escapes me.

The bundle I purchased came with a panel featuring various forest scenes, so I fussy cut them, framed them in gray and white, and then used them on the back.

This poor quilt has been sitting neglected in my fabric wardrobe for a few years, and recently had a wee run in with a metal drawer slide. After trimming down the bottom of the quilt to cut off the hole, I debated cutting some off the top as well to recenter the quilt back. In the end I decided the future recipient (who is 3 and ADORES both owls and the colour green) won't mind the back one bit so I left it as large as possible.

It's fun to look back at a quilt that challenged me in so many ways, but also really opened my eyes to a whole new world of modern quilting. While my colour palette has matured over the years, and my FMQ has improved, it gives me a lot of joy to pull this quilt out from storage, and to gift it to someone I know will love it.

From A - Frog Pond Quilt

This quilt started as part of my September square cutting marathon. After more than 5 weeks away from my sewing machine, I was desperate to start a few new projects and tried to pick some simple ones in the hopes that they wouldn't become long-term WIPs. This strategy was obviously a good one since a little more than 2 months later, I'm proud to say that this little baby quilt is done and off to its new home.

The pattern was really simple and quick to put together. In about a week of leisurely sewing, I had a completed top. I didn't do anything too fancy with the quilting, opting to stick with stitch-in-the-ditch and adding another quilting line in the middle of each round of sashing to highlight the patchwork squares.

I backed it using some Lotus Pond yardage I had originally picked up to make a crib sheet and used a AMH voile scrap to make it wide enough. The effect is simple but it adds a bit of interest to an otherwise plain backing. I also like that it adds some extra softness to the quilt. A little gaffer wrapped in this quilt might find a bit of comfort holding this soft strip voile up to his cheek.

The label is a leftover bit from the Red Letter Day quilt we made for my cousin's wedding in July. It's not a perfect match but I like how it echos the coraly pink in the binding.

Finished Quilt Stats:

• Quilt Name: Frog Pond

• Finished Size: Crib (45" x 45")

• Fabric: Lotus Pond by Rae Hoekstra

• Pattern: Storytime Squares Quilt a free pattern also by Rae Hoekstra

• Quilting: More Stitch-in-the-Ditch

Linking up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

From A - Finished Baby Love Quilt

Back in June, I was busy studying for a big exam and had almost no free time to sew or really do anything enjoyable. After a couple of weeks, I started going a little stir crazy and decided that I would let myself work on a baby quilt for a friend.

I spent an afternoon picking a fairly straightforward pattern and laying out a couple of charm packs and some scraps from my "light neutral" drawer. From then on, I let myself make one block per day until I had a finished quilt top.

Trying to avoid adding yet another WIP to the pile, I whipped up the world's simplest backing from stash and basted it in early September. I spent a few weeks trying to figure out howto quilt it before finally opting to stick with boring old Stitch-in-the-Ditch.

Although it's not too exciting I think the quilting actually highlights the blocks quite nicely. The quilting and scrappy low volume background prints minimize the secondary square-diamond-square pattern between the the blocks that I was trying to avoid. The Dream Wool batting I used gave this quilt just the right amount of puff.

I used a remnant strip of pink voile to make a bias tape label and bound it with another print of Acacia yardage that I was hording.

I think my favourite part of this quilt is the fact that the squirrel print on the back is perfectly centered and symmetrical on the back of the quilt. Definitely not planned but a welcome surprise after I trimmed up the quilt top.

Finished Quilt Stats:

• Quilt Name: Woodland Walk

• Finished Size: Crib (36" x 48")

• Fabric: Two Tula Pink Acacia charm packs and various low volume scraps.

• Pattern: Baby Love by Camille Roskelley in her book Simply Retro (with an extra row of blocks since I'm not a fan of square quilts).

• Quilting: Ol' Faithful Stitch-in-the-Ditch

Our lobster-dog wishes you a safe and happy Halloween!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

From A - WIP Wednesday

I have amassed a huge stack of WIPs over the years. For every type of craft I have ever tried, there are at least a couple of unfinished projects waiting in the wings. I'm not really sure why this has become such a recurring pattern since I love the feeling of finishing a project, sending it off to its new home and watching people enjoy it for years to come.

Most of my quilts end up getting stalled after they are basted and ready to quilt. Currently, I have at least 6 quilts that are just waiting to be quilted and bound. I can't quite explain it but there is definitely something about the process of choosing a quilting design and forcing the quilt sandwich through my machine that makes me cast a project aside faster than you can say "new fabric."

Three of these almost finished quilts are taking up some prime real estate on our living room couch. I'm going to try and tackle them this weekend since two are baby quilts that should really get mailed off before the intended recipients start walking.

That said, there is a good chance I'll get distracted by this little number somewhere along the way. That is the Spring Quakers pattern by Rosewood Manor that I started just about a year ago.

Most of my slow and steady progress on this project happens when I am supposed to working on something else. Those beautiful hand-dyed Valdani flosses with their perfectly saturated colours are irresistible when facing something I "should" be doing.

Do you have some long-forgotten WIP skeletons in your closet? At what stage do you usually get bogged down? Any tricks for "breaking the cycle?" Please do tell!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

From K - Finished Directions Quilt

I recently decided it was high time I started to finish up some of the UFOs that have been slowly piling up in my craft room. My Directions Baby Quilt top seemed like the perfect opportunity to practice some FMQ so I whipped up a back and began stitching.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I started by stitching an orange peel design on the half square triangles to give the quilt some motion, and then later added pebbles along the sashing just for fun.

I used 100% of the materials for this quilt from my stash, and it was a fun challenge.

For the quilt back I pieced a few gender neutral prints together.

When choosing binding, I didn't have enough of any one print to work, so I added three prints that complimented the backing.

This project reminded me how fast and fun making baby quilts are.

I think I need to make a habit of making these types of stash busting, no rules, baby quilts in the future.

 

From K - Simply Style on the Design Wall

A new quilt popped up on my design wall this weekend and I'm excited to show a few process shots of how it's coming together.

64 HSTs in a rainbow of colours makes playing around with a layout so much fun.

To speed up the process of making a stack of HSTs for this quilt top, I used my fancy new Fons & Porter 1/4" ruler and a pack of Simply Style charm squares by V & Co.

I'm still playing around with the final layout but for now I'm really happy with the direction that this quilt is taking.

 

I took a mini hiatus from quilting over the past two months while I was caught up in sewing cat dresses and knitting all the things. This is the perfect project to get me back in the quilting game.

From A - Kitten Dress

It's no secret that Kelsey and I love Lizzy House's fabric. A quick look at our stashes will reveal that we have at least a few prints from every collection. It'll be no surprise to you to hear that when Lizzy announced the Catnap dress contest in January, it took us all of five minutes to pick fabric and plan our entries.

I opted to make a dress for Kelsey's almost 2 year-old niece out of the Purrfectly Happy print in Raspberry using Made by Rae's super cute Geranium Dress pattern. I opted for view B with it's sweet cap sleeves and pleated skirt and added the notched neckline for fun. I used a piece of the Cat's Cradle print in Lemon to line the bodice and a few random Pearl Snap Source snaps I had kicking around to finish everything off.

As usual Rae's patterns are wonderful to make. The instructions are clear and there are tons of small details that make the finished product look "properly" finished. It's such a great feeling when something you make is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.

Since I didn't have enough snaps in the same colour to finish this dress, I opted instead for an ombre effect, moving from a pale, almost white pink at the top to a hot pink near the bottom. I think after this project I am a snap convert. They look so clean and finished and are SO much easier to add to a garment than buttons and button holes. I also think that they'll make this dress a little easier to get in and out of for a certain busy 2-year-old.

Sadly no modeled shots of this one since my sweet little model is probably dragging her favourite baby doll around the house up in Canada while I enjoy the sun here in California.

Since her second birthday is coming up in the next month, I popped this little number in the mail earlier this week so that she will have it her for her actual birthday (with plenty of time to spare, for once)!

Hope this whets your appetite, Kelsey has a big dress reveal planned for tomorrow. It's a stunner so stay tuned!

From A - Handmade Holiday

Sometime around December 5th, I became consumed with the idea that I would make handmade Christmas gifts for almost everyone I knew. I figured in the 20 days that were left before the big day, I could weave 7 scarves, tat half a dozen snowflakes, knit some hats, finish four quilts, make 3 baby gifts, and a tree skirt.

You can probably guess how that turned out.

The first scarf is still on the loom and only half finished. the other 6 still look like this.

After a false start, the first tatted snowflake doesn't look much like a snowflake.

That said, I did manage to finish the three hats and by finish I mean that they were still damp from blocking when I wrapped them up. A Jul hat for my sister-in-law (actually a much deeper shade of purple), a silk-lined New York Skyline hat for my brother-in-law (didn't get a finished shot of this one), and a Hurricane hat in Malabrigo for my mom.

To my great relief, the Posy quilt re-do is finally finished and has been gifted to its itty-bitty recipient. Sorry for the crappy photo but it is identical to the first version except that this one washed and crinkled like a champ using Warm and White batting instead of turning itself into a floor mat like the last one.

Sticking to my shop the stash mantra, I also pulled some fabric for another flannel voile baby blanket. I used a yard of Valorie Wells flannel in Marrakech and a yard of Amy Butler voile in Peacock Feathers. The blanket satin binding is from Fabricland. I can say that having a walking foot to attach the blanket satin made a big difference.

There are at least four more of these to come as I brace myself for the second round of friend babies scheduled to arrive later this year.

I also finished the top half a tree skirt using the Tinsel Treeskirt pattern from Issue 11 of Fat Quarterly using only stash at about 3:00 a.m. two days before Christmas. Shortly thereafter, I realized there was no way that I was going to enjoy Christmas and get this finished so it's heading into the long-term planning box for next year.

If you are going to attempt this one, be warned that the cutting instructions for the center panel are off by 1/2". I was too tired to notice until the pieces wouldn't fit together. Fortunately, my commitment to quilting perfection is pretty dull at 3:00 a.m. and I managed to fudge things enough to make it work.

Partial success and a head-start for next year. I'll take it!

From K - Mermaid Triangle Quilt Top

A started this quilt back in September and am a bit ashamed of how long it's been sitting around on my design wall. Last month in my desperate need to finish this baby I even polled the audience for arrangement suggestions. In the end it was pretty much a 50/50 split so I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone with this one by simply doing a random arrangement.

Random is easier said then done. At least for my A-type ways....

I couldn't help myself though when I decided my eye needed a place to land in all the randomness, so I added a subtle purple hexagon.

The hexagon on its own isn't very easy to spot but I'm hoping that if I quilt it differently than the rest of the quilt, it will really make it pop.

I'm typing this out with very sore shoulders. I was able to quilt 1/3 of it yesterday and I'm back at it again today. Swirly swirly swirly. 4 days left until Christmas! Tell me I'm not the only one with unrealistic finishing goals this holiday season!

p.s. If you're wondering why I have prenamed this quilt my Mermaid Triangle Quilt, just wait until you see the back *eek!

From A - Basting Party

No not the turkey kind. The quilting kind. Managed to get two quilts basted today and I can't think of a better way to celebrate U.S. Thanksgiving when there is no family nearby.

First up, the Posy baby quilt re-do.

And next, the White Star quilt top I finished back in March.

It took me three tries to get the star quilt basted without giant lumps in the backing fabric. We were dangerously close to the point where professional intervention would be required. Fortunately I managed to overcome the issue by resorting to some James Bond style basting techniques that would make any of my quilt teachers blush with shame.

I was going to attempt a third but I think I need a mental health break from basting. Do any of you have any tips for basting on carpet? I am really missing our old hardwood floors, the bathroom floor was not nearly as cozy.

Wishing all of our American friends a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

From A - Nearly Wordless Wednesday

A series of WiPs in my ongoing obsession with Fall.

On my ironing board, wool and Liberty. My two great loves destined to become a lap duvet.

On the go, a Halloween themed cross stitch.

In my sewing machine, Posy baby quilt do-over.

What's on your list?

 

Linking up to WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.