Photo Finish: A Finished Quilt

Oh my gosh, so apparently I never blogged about my finished Polaroid quilt? Yikes! It has been done for a few months! And I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it. Can't emphasize that enough.

This was a bucket list quilt for me and I made most of the blocks myself plus a few sewn in from some quilty peeps on the East Coast (Hi Jen!). I used Kona Navy as the sashing and am quite chuffed about that decision, let me tell you.

Each "photo" is different and my kids can't stop looking at it when it is out and about. I need to find a way to put it into more regular rotation while still staying FAR AWAY FROM MY DUMB DOG (who eats quilts, if you're new here).

Here is Photo Finish (and did I mention I love it?):

Spunky Stack: A Finished Quilt

My younger daughter was in Junior Kindergarten this year and had an ECE (Early Childhood Educator) in her classroom along with her classroom teacher. My daughter has no idea which teacher has which role just that she loves them both and they encourage her and love her. So OF COURSE I needed to make a quilt not only for her teacher but also for Ms. S, her ECE.

I really liked the Stack Quilt pattern by Modern Handcraft and thought this would be a great opportunity to try it out. Then once I did my fabric pull...oh man, I was jazzed (I even cut two because I think I want to make another one with the same fabrics!)

And thank goodness that Cyrus also did a fabric inspection. Look at that Alison Glass! And the Tula! And the Lizzy House! And the Sarah Watts! 

The pattern is really well written and comes together quite quickly. I then added lots of white space at the top and did some simple straight line quilting. Here is Spunky Stack:

The backing is Lizzy House mini Pearl Bracelets (can you tell that I both love Lizzy House AND that Sew Sisters had this fabric on for $10.99/m??). I think this is the Aqua colour.

Ms. S LOVED her quilt and I hope she gets lots of love out of it. My daughter wrote the label for this one, too. Giving quilts to teachers seems super satisfying!

A Quilt for an Owl and a Flamingo of Tigers

After making my younger daughter a quilt for her doll, she insisted her owl, Oscar, also needed a quilt. Because of course he did.

 She was very particular, laying out all these HSTs that I had leftover from another quilt (that is almost finished and I should be able to post about soon!) and then handing me each HST in the order she thought I should sew it. 

 She occasionally stopped to test my pieces against her owl to make sure it was the exact size that she wanted it to be. Adorable but slow work.

 The finished results is somewhat adorable, though that binding does not really work for me. It was chosen by my daughter out of my scrap bind for bindings because it has owls on it. Of course.


On a different note, at the West End Modern Quilt Guild in March we learned about making art collage quilts from Tish, one of our awesome members. Our exchange for May is a mini quilt using this technique. I decided that a flamingo would be super graphic and easy to tell from a silhouette and got to work. And I am DELIGHTED with the results!

Rotary cutter for size

If you look carefully you will see some Tula, some Elizabeth Hartman and some strawberries from Alison Glass as well as some TIGERS! PINK TIGERS from an old Cotton+Steel print. SHUT UP ISN'T IT ADORABLE?! I hope that whomever the recipient is as in love with it as I am!

Rainbow Radiance: A Finished Quilt

When my scrap buckets were overflowing I decided to make several colour-block slabs and then make one gigantic scrappy quilt using those blocks. They were a blast to make and when I found myself lacking in some of the colours (beige and lavender in particular) my quilty friends jumped into action. If you check the lavender block there is some very precious Tula Pink Parisville from my friend C. That's friendship, people.

The plan because of the size and shape was to make the quilt an outdoor quilt, designed for the many picnics and play events my eldest daughter engages in all summer long. I chose a colourful and inexpensive thicker weight (and looser weave) fabric from Ikea as the backing and used (mostly) polyester thread to make the quilting stronger. I also did machine binding instead of hand binding (which I hate because it doesn't look as good as hand binding but it would make it much more secure for heavy play).

For the binding I used up bits of leftover binding from other quilts and it worked out perfectly!

Here is Rainbow Radiance:

I am tempted to take an individual picture of each block so you could revel in the gems in each and every colour block. It is a delight for me to remember each fabric and point out "There's Lotta! There's Lizzy House!"

This is the backing. I was worried about the brown that was in this print but I find this picture reassuring because you really don't notice the brown.

This shows you the binding a little bit more. It is colourful and perfect.

Doesn't it look perfect for a summer picnic?

Here is the thicker weave that is the backing fabric.

I opted to not use batting for the first time ever. The backing is thick and heavy already so I wanted it to not get too heavy and I thought it would dry more easily when it gets damp in the grass. I feel mixed about the end result. It is already VERY heavy as a quilt but the batting would have prevented the colour of the backing from being seen through the lighter colours. It also would have kept the stitches more even.

I also opted to quilt each block with a different pattern, some free motion and some with the walking foot. The size and weight of this quilt made that a giant pain many times but I powered through. I'm happier with some blocks than others in terms of quilting. It adds an interesting texture to the quilt for sure.

I am also glad that I have another WIP off my list!

Pineapples: A Finished Quilt

I finished a quilt for my mother-in-law using the pattern Pineapple Farm by Elizabeth Hartman. I showed her the pattern before I checked out complicated it would be and...guys, don't do that. Check how much you're committing to before it is too late! It was complex and time consuming but my mother-in-law is worth it so I persevered.  

The end result is pretty awesome, and she definitely loves the quilt, but I can't pretty much promise I will never make another one of these ones!

Here is Pineapples:

There was a fresh layer of (spring) snow when I took the pictures which worked out for me because quilts look great on the white background!

I did a crosshatch quilting at varying widths.

My little helper was very useful holding up the quilt. This is the quilt in totality. Warm, mostly red colours as per my MIL's request.

I LOVE this backing I found on extreme clearance at Sew Sisters (I think it was $4.99/m!). I used the backing fabric for the binding as well. It reminds me of the inside of a pineapple.

She sure added cuteness to the photo shoot.

I'm really happy with the end results and I am glad my MIL is too. It will be appreciated and loved which makes all the hours of work worth it!

Linking to Finish it Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Festive Forest: A Finished Quilt

I am not one for seasonal quilts (I think they should be able to be used year round) and I am not one for traditional Christmas colours (our colours are dark blue, turquoise and silver) but when I saw that Violet Craft was releasing a green, red, white and gold version of Brambleberry Ridge it just spoke to me. I used a tutorial that was free (see my previous blog entry on the process). I ended up being quite delighted with the end result and my daughters were using it before I even finished the binding. Maybe it can spend the non-Christmas season in the basement?

I didn't finish until after Christmas (because who has time to sew down some binding in the middle of the chaos that is multiple Christmas events?) but it was still within the time my Christmas tree was up so I consider that a win!

Here is Festive Forest:

It sure looks pretty against the white snow! There are two blocks that are actually made up of four mini trees. I love the variation it adds.

My husband hates the wonky nature of the improv trees, but what does he know? ;)

I didn't have quite enough of this pretty red print from Brambleberry Ridge (I guessed on the yardage when I bought it which is typical me) so I put in a pit of this Laurie Wisbrun red fabric that I had in my stash.

I used this loopy pattern to quilt it because it was quite fast and because my initial plan did NOT work out. I just went with it. I quite like it!

And there is my first finish of 2018! Hopefully many more to go!

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!

2017 Year in Review: 16 Quilts

As 2017 winds down and I revisit what I finished this last year, I always find myself quite surprised because how DO I find the time on top of a full time job and two small kids (not to mention all that TV I watch- ha!).

I finished 14 quilts in 2017  (I just noticed I forgot Molasses! So,15 quilts! Oh my gosh, edit 3- Open Window got missed too! I suck!), but I will have probably 3 January finishes because I am so close with a few. Before I focus on my 2018 goals (in another post) here are my 2017 quilt finishes:

I also made a chubby charmer bag for my mom, a bunch of lined drawstring bags and worked on numerous other quilts. And I joined a quilt guild for the first time! Check out @wemqg on Instagram!

I don't know if I can pick a favourite for this year, but I know I love and use the (only) one I kept (upper left corner) which was a result of a mini charm swap done last year. I also love the triangles (bottom right) that I made for my goddaughter (and it is HUGE). Finally, the one done not only by me but by a collection of caring quilty people to send to Quebec after the horrific mosque shooting to remind the survivors they are home has such a lovely sentiment. 

I think I remembered them all! Can't wait to dive into dozens more next year!

Which of my 2017 quilts do you most feel drawn to?

QB Travelling Quilt

I have the privilege of having not one but two quilty friends who are always up for sewing days and shop hops. And when I suggested to them that we try a "travelling quilt" they both jumped on board! It is cost effective because we all live close together (zero postage!) and C and I have extensive stashes so we didn't need to purchase a thing (A is a buy-with-purpose quilter- I know, I don't get it either- but she ordered a beautiful bundle for hers!).

We each make the first "foundation" block and choose two words to represent our vision for the quilt. Mine are "decadent geometry" and I pulled a bunch of super saturated fabrics based on some colours in this Katy Jones limited edition print from Art Gallery Fabrics. The teal, navy and deep pink just delight me for some reason.

The fabric pull with the pattern for the foundation block.

I went with half of one of these pillow fronts from Love Quilting magazine. 

This is my favourite quilting magazine and it is, unfortunately, very expensive because it is a UK import. My hubby paid for two years subscription but I told him not to renew...I can choose if I want to buy it from the local bookstore.

The cutting was actually a bit of a pain in the butt, but I was like where it was going when I finished cutting all the templates and laying it out.

I could see it coming together.

And here is the finished result!

My foundation quilt block.

Decadent Geometry will come back to me two more times before being finished by one of the other two ladies in January 2018. We have a spreadsheet and a list of rules and I am soooooo excited to give this a try. It pushes us all out of our comfort zones in the best way!

I'm sure you'll see peeks into  #QBtravellingquilt as I work on the other two. I wonder what we will all end up with in January!!

16 in 2016

As 2016 winds down- which many people are happy about- I wanted to complete my annual wrap up of the quilts I completed. In 2016, marked mostly for me by me starting an awesome new job in September which resulted in less sewing time- I completed 16 quilts. Of those 16 I kept two.

Starting at top left and rotating clockwise, finishing in centre: Sweet Pepper Jelly, Quilt of Belonging, Thank You Stephanie, Little Eye, Tumbi, Canadian Wilderness, Welcome to Canada, AeroPlus

Starting in top left and rotating clockwise, finishing in centre: Midnight at the Museum, Force Field, Bearss, Diamond in the Sky, Bunnies, Glisten, In the Garden, Fishy Friends

I've definitely upped by paper piecing game this year and had lots of fun mixing and matching from my stash. I went on a six month fast from buying fabric (along with my friend C) and really didn't suffer too badly from it. I made enough flying geese between In the Garden and Force Field to last me at least until 2018. And I now have Sweet Pepper Jelly as my go-to quilt for the car and my youngest daughter has her Little Eye quilt to drag around and have picnics on almost daily. Definitely a successful year!

I think Little Eye ended up being my overall favourite from this year because I drooled over the inspiration quilt for so long and then finally made one! I love how it turned out.

I made other things, too, in 2016. Pillows and pillowcases and Halloween bags and Sew Together bags. But the quilts are where my heart truly lies.

What was your favourite finish of 2016?

Fishy Friends: A Finished Quilt

I started a new job in September, teaching at a brand new school with many new co-workers. One of these new colleagues has become a treasured friend already, and though I did not know her when she had her son, I knew within the first few times meeting her that I would be making him a quilt.

Her husband is an avid fisherman, and when she told me the story of how she really wanted to order HBO for their TV package and she lost out when he ordered the Fishing Network instead, I knew which fabric from my stash to pull out!

This fabric is not my favourite, honestly, but my husband saw it on my Pinterest board and ordered it for me before the days of me sending him direct links to the fabric bundles I want. Turns out it was a good call because these fabrics, combined with some special Alison Glass, Tula Pink and other bits from my stash, are a lovely little combo for this little boy.

I went with a simple tumbler block using 5" squares. Her son is just barely one, so he is still pretty little, and I made a fairly little quilt to match!

There are fish...and lures and seaweed and narwhals!

I did straight-line quilting, stopping to pivot at each "bend" so that the quilting echoes those tumbler lines.

The back is mostly a blue with a green polka dot with a little bit of green narwhals and a touch of under the sea print from Lewis and Irene.

This quilt will be given to her at the end of the month, right before we leave for Winter break. I hope she loves it and her son gets lots of use out of it!
(I kind of also hope she cries!)

Force Field: A Finished Quilt

Within my one group of friends there are 13 children, all within a 9 year span. Since I started sewing I have slowly been making my way through each of the children, making them each a quilt. When I started making quilts there were 8 less children! 

This quilt, Force Field, is the very last of the quilts for the children in that "family" of friends. He is 11-years-old and joined our family late when his mom married one of our group. It is hard to make quilts for tween boys, let me tell you, but fortunately he likes Star Wars (and Harry Potter but I couldn't make that work) so I decided to go with a Star Wars quilt. I used a free pattern called Banners from Fox Favourites on Craftsy and it was, at times, a bit tedious to make all those little flags, but look how cute it is!!

(The wind was blowing and my husband was getting irritated so these are the best pictures I got).

Force Field!

I used a lot of Star Wars fabrics by Camelot that I picked up some time ago for this very purpose and found that some Carolyn Friedlander from my stash as well as the ever-present Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets worked perfectly with this quilt. There's even a guest appearance by Riley Blake chevrons!

For the first time in maybe ever I used a non-Kona solid. Gasp! This solid was a better match and was available at a local-ish craft store so my friend A told me to just go for it. Forgive me, Robert Kaufman!

The back is all one fabric, picked up for me by A at a discount fabric store she was at one day. What did quilt buddies do before days of texts?

Very thematic.

The little boy...who is not so little...will receive his quilt this Christmas when this group gets all together and I hope he loves it!

Bearss: A Finished Quilt (and not a typo!)

Some lovely friends of my husband's, whom I've met on a couple of occasions, recently had a baby. They chose not to find out the baby's sex which drives me crazy as a quilter, but I figured something out!

I used some fabric from Birch Organics (the bears) to dictate the colour scheme of the whole quilt.

Here is Bearss (named for a lime tree!):

Bearss is gender neutral and sunny!

I made this very simply with 5x5" blocks and 5x10" blocks, alternating. I love how bright this quilt is!

I just went with straight-line echoing of each seam, which was simple and effective on this sort of quilt.

I piecing a back with this big swatch of grey I had as well as leftover bits from the front. For the binding I used a grey and snow white fabric I've had sitting around for ages that worked with the softness of this quilt's colour scheme (no stark whites).

Mom and Dad were super touched and recognized the special nature of a handmade item. Their baby girl (!) will be sure to get lots of use out of it! (At least I hope!)

Diamond in the Sky: A Finished Quilt

I have made quilts for every child in a particular group of friends. As I was finishing the last quilt for the group, I realized that there was one child I was forgetting. The thing is, this little boy didn't get to be born. Tragically he would not have made it to full term, and even if he did he would never survive birth. When our friends decided to end the suffering early, it was hard. But I didn't want him to be forgotten or not spoken of. I asked the mom if I could make something for him or, if she would prefer, make a quilt and donate it to another child. She asked me to make a small quilt and to somehow incorporate stars, with the quilt being added to a memory box

 

Here is Diamond in the Sky, a small little quilt in memory of a tiny baby.

I opted for wonky stars and a collection of mostly Lizzy House fabric. I even backed it in a Constellation fabric. I also used a subtle Cotton+Steel plus fabric in a very light grey instead of my go-to Kona White.

Backing in blues and greys

Constellations within a star!

The stars are wonky but sweet, and both parents really loved it. They also asked me to add a star to their older child's quilt from me, so I did my first ever applique (and forgot to take a picture) of a wonky star using more Lizzy House Constellations.

Children who are lost are not ever forgotten, and I was glad that the parents trusted me to do this small task for them.