Out to Sea

I had extra incentive to get this one finished up this week...  not only is it time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival but it was time for another Quilt Camp weekend in Scituate, the perfect backdrop for this nautical quilt.  

Last fall I fell in love with Stitched in Color's Penny Patch and decided it would be a great scrap buster.  I started with an Out to Sea fat quarter bundle and pulled all the rest from stash.  My original plan was just to make another lap quilt but then I decided to make it big enough for Audrey's bed so it grew...  and grew some more.

I went back and forth on quilting designs but in the end decided to keep it simple and just did straight-line quilting along the seam lines.   

 I scored enough of the sailing ship border print for the backing this summer at Marden's.  My genius friend Aimee had the brilliant suggestion to orient the top  border so that it will be right side up when turned down on a bed.

Thanks to my quilty peeps for all the quilt wrangling.  It's so awesome to have friends who will hazard gale force winds and trespassing for a photo shoot:-)

And a huge thank you to Amy for once again organizing the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!! I've entered this in the Large Quilts category.  Be sure to check out all of the amazing entries.

And I get to cross this one off my list for the 2015 Finish Along hosted by On the Windy Side.  Check out the rest of Q4 finishes. 

Quilt Stats:

Finished quilt is 78" x 84"

Pattern: Adapted from the Penny Patch QAL hosted by Stitched in Color

Fabrics:  Out to Sea by Sarah Jane, Stash

Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo

Thread: Aurifil 50wt. in Natural White (2021)

 

Thar She Blows!

Just in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival I finished this Preppy the Whale mini quilt.  I have to admit when I was asked to make this quilt I was unenthused...  been there, done that and grey?  How blah!

I pulled these fabrics and then it sat until guilt and the baby's impending arrival finally motivated me.  I don't know why I waited so long, once I actually started this went together in an afternoon.  Despite having 16 different sized pieces per block these whales go together quickly.

The quilting was also a breeze.  I love these wavy organic lines!

Orange isn't really my color but I thought it added the perfect pop for the binding.  Now that it's finished I'm a little sad to send it off but I know it will be a lovely addition to my friend's new nursery.

With my freshly polished toes for scale:-)

A huge thank you to Amy for once again organizing the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!  I've entered this in the Small Quilts category.  For a whale of a good time check out all the participants:-)

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 20" x 26"
Pattern: Preppy the Whale by the fabulous Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!
Fabrics: Kona Nautical, Just Color by Studio E, Sunkissed by Sweetwater, Little Apples by Aneela Hoey, Foxfield by Tula Pink, and Textures by Angela Walters.  Binding: DS Quilts.  Backing: Riley Blake Multi Houndstooth.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Cotton Select
Thread: Aurifil  Light Grey Green (2847)

Blogger's Quilt Festival:Gathered Ghastlies

I'm just dying to share my latest Ghastly creation for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I have been obsessed with this fabric line since it came out.  With each new release I add more to my collection so I have to keep coming up with creative ways to use it.

I've had this one in mind for a while...  it's sort of a mash up of my Cracking Up quilt and this Beachy Wave quilt.  I started with a simple strip pieced quilt using the fabric repeat to determine the width of the strips.

I pieced the strip quilt and quilted it using a simple broken glass pattern before adding the ruffles.

The ruffles are a little tricky.  I cut two strips 5" by the wof and joined them end to end then sewed them right sides together along the long side to make a really long tube.  When gathering I find it easiest to set my stitch length to the longest length and turn my top tension all the way up to the highest setting.  I sewed two rows of gathering stitches down either side of each ruffle.  The key for easier gathering is NOT to catch the seam allowance in your basting stitches.  I pinned each ruffle to my quilt adjusting them so the gathers were fairly even and then top stitched down the center of each ruffle using coordinating thread.

And I got to indulge my other obsession, Tula Pink!!!  The Absinthe colorway of NightShade coordinates perfectly with the Ghastlies:-)

It's the perfect addition to my absolutely Ghastly foyer:-)

My undying admiration goes to Amy for once again organizing the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!  I've entered this in the Small Quilts category.  The end is near, today is the last day to enter your quilt.  Don't be left behind!

Also linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 40" x 68"
Fabrics:  from the Ghastlies collections by Alexander Henry, Heath. Backing: Absinthe Spider Blooms from Nightshade by Tula Pink.  Binding: Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander.
Batting:  Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo
Thread:  King Tut Rosetta Stone 978, Aurifil Victorian Rose(2445)

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Meet Murray the Whale

It's that time of year again... time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I've been on a bit of a nautical kick this year and preppy has always been my thing so the minute I saw Oh, Fransson!'s Preppy the Whale pattern I knew I had to make one.  As luck would have it Elizabeth was looking for pattern testers and I begged offered to help.

I wanted to make a single block to test the pattern before committing to cutting all my fabrics.  This pink whale was inspired by the Vineyard Vines logo.  I named him Murray in honor of Shep & Ian, the brothers who founded Vineyard Vines.  He was so cute I knew I had to put him in his own quilt.  What could be preppier than stripes and a kelly green binding?

I used the thicker 12 wt. Aurifil thread to quilt this.  I love the extra definition it adds!!!

Of course I couldn't resist the chance to take a trip to Martha's Vineyard for a photo shoot!

A huge thank you to Amy for once again organizing the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!  I've entered this in the Small Quilts category.  For a whale of a good time check out all the participants:-)

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 42" x 52"
Pattern: Based on Preppy the Whale by the fabulous Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!
Fabrics: Kona Nautical and Carnation, Bella Solids White.  Binding: Bella Solids Kelly.  Backing: Riley Blake large gingham in Navy
Batting: Quilter's Dream Wool
Thread: Aurifil  50wt and 12wt in White (2024) and Very Dark Navy (2785)

And Then I Improvised...

 

The awesome Erin of Daley by the Yard asked me to do an improv piecing demo at her grand re-opening next weekend.  If you've seen my quilts you know that tiny little pieces and perfect points are more my style so I figured I'd better practice a bit first.

Neptune is one of my most favorite and maniacally hoarded fabric collections so it was perfect for having random little bits to sew together.  I just pulled everything out of my scrap bag and started sewing it together until I had a panel the right size for my anchor applique.

I also had some jelly roll strips left from my Zig Zag quilts that I pieced together for a border.

I thought it would be easier to do reverse applique on the anchor rather than trying to turn under seam allowances with pieced seams...  that may not have been true:-)  A little glue and a lot of patience and I got all the edges turned under.  I layered the quilt with the backing and batting and then quilted around the anchor to hold the edges in place.

For the rest of the quilting I used the Bernina wavy stitch (#4) with a stitch length of 4.  I found I had to adjust the tension way down to around 1 1/2 but with a little fiddling it was perfect.  It was pretty tedious but a couple of movies helped pass the time.  Thank goodness for Netflix!!!

I've entered this in the Applique category at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Hop on over there to check out all the other fabulous quilts!!!

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 42" x 52"
Fabrics: Neptune by Tula Pink, Cotton Couture in Fog, FSDS Cosmic Blue for binding.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread: Aurifil 2845

Ghastly Games

I don't know which is more inspiring...  seeing all the fabulous new fabrics making their debut at Quilt Market or seeing all the absolutely amazing Blogger's Quilt Festival quilts!  Either way, I just want to barricade myself in my studio and quilt my brains out:-)

I had the idea for this quilt last year but never got a chance to make it and it's been haunting me ever since.  As soon as October rolled around I started having all sorts of Ghastly thoughts:-)  I pulled out my stash and immediately got to it.

There are tons of great tutorials on how to make a circle quilt out there.  Mine is loosely based on this Liberty Mini (which I'm totally going to make someday) by Purl Soho.  I used the Easy Circle Cut ruler to cut my circles out of sheer fusible interfacing (Pellon 906F) then pinned this to my printed fabric so the fusible side is facing the right side of the fabric.  Stitch around the circle using a 1/4" seam allowance and then trim your circle using pinking sheers so you don't have to worry about clipping the curves.  Make a small slit in the fusible and turn the circle right side out.  DO NOT IRON!!!

Once all my circles were made I assembled the checkerboard background, basted it, and quilted 1/4" on either side of the seam lines.  Once I arranged the circles the way I wanted I fused them to the quilted top and then quilted around each circle.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson but I used this leftover binding from my Ghastly Coffin quilt without measuring it first...  it was THAT close but I made it:-)

I was totally inspired by the fabulous presentation by The Story of Kat at our October BMQG meeting on hand-embroidered quilt labels.  My text is a little too tight and I definitely need to work on my stitches but I'm learning to embrace imperfection.

This perfectly captures my vision but those Ghastlies may still be haunting me;-)

Go find your inspiration at the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 40" x 40"
Fabrics: The Ghastlies, Ghastly Family Reunion, and A Ghastly Night by Alexander Henry, Onyx Grunge by Basic Grey, Fairy Frost Glow White by Michael Miller
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread: King Tut 978, Rosetta Stone

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Christy's Garden

It's hard to believe it's time for another Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Choosing a quilt to share made me realize how little quilting I've done this year but it gives me another chance to show off Christy's Garden, one of my absolute favorite projects.

I had the idea to make this quilt with the 26 kids in Audrey's 6th grade class as a gift for their teacher when they graduated from elementary school.  Hexagons seemed appropriate since they have 6 sides;-)

  

Over the course of the spring we scheduled several sessions for the kids to come over after school and work on their project.

I precut the hexagons and let the kids pick which fabric to use for their flower.  Each person had to make at least one printed petal and a solid yellow center which they signed.  For many of them this was a challenge but focused on the goal of making something special for their teacher they stuck with it and persevered.  Almost everyone made all 7 hexagons for their flower and many of the kids went on to stitch them together.

Once the kids had finished their flowers I invited the parents over to help me with assembling all the flowers together (or at least keep me company while I did it:-)  Our school is very focused on community and this truly was a project that embraced that philosophy.  

With graduation rapidly approaching I quilted this and got the binding on so the kids could present it to their teacher.  They were all so excited to point out each of their flowers and tell her about making it.  The best part is when I'm volunteering at the junior high and see the kids from this class they all stop to talk to me and several have asked if we can make another quilt.  The next generation of quilters is here!!!

Tips for making a quilt with kids:

1. Start early, it will take longer than you think!!!
2. Have all of your materials ready in advance.  I bought paper hexagon templates and precut all of the  fabrics.  It also helps to have pre-threaded needles with knotted ends for kids to use to tack down their hexagons.  They'll have plenty of chances to learn to thread a needle and it'll let you quickly get everyone started making their flower.  I also gave each kid a binder clip to hold their first side down.
3. If possible, start by teaching a small group first.  I did our first session with just Audrey's close friends.  That way they were able to help the kids who were struggling and needed some extra help.
4. Schedule frequent short sessions rather than long marathons.  We scheduled two hour sessions but had lost most of the kids after the first hour.  Snack breaks help:-)
5. Enlist help from other parents.  Even if they say they've never sewed in their life they can help thread needles and keep the kids focused.  I "encouraged" each Mom who showed up to make at least one flower also.  After all, if their child did it they certainly could manage;-)
6. Stay organized.  I gave each person a ziplock bag with their name on it to keep all their supplies in one place.  Rather than sending pieces home and risking them never coming back I kept everything and scheduled more sessions.  Also keep a class list to check off who has made their flowers and also to make sure that all the finished flowers make it in to the final quilt.

Be sure to check out more awesome quilts at the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 53" x 65"
Pattern: Based on Hexy MF by the fabulous Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey
Fabrics: Avignon by Emily Taylor and stash.
Background: Happy-Go-Lucky by Bonnie & Camille
Backing: City Weekend by Oliver + S
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread: Aurifil 2600