Only 146 blocks to go!

Splashes of Color Quilt

Many years ago I fell in love with the Splashes of Color quilt at allpeoplequilt.com – with a simple pattern of pastel batiks, it looked both soft and yummy! Perfect for sweet dreams. Over the next few months I made the quilt.

When it was finished, I was disappointed. It didn’t look like the quilt that I had fallen in love with. I put it away since I wasn’t ready to quilt it yet. I didn’t have a sewing machine that did FMQ and I was told not to hand-quilt it since batiks are dense and difficult to hand-quilt.

About a year ago I found the batik quilt top. With trepidation, I unfolded it and lay it over my bed. Wow! It was stunning! It may not have been the soft quilt I wanted but I love it! On my king sized bed I noticed that it almost fit. I showed it to my husband who liked it, so I decided to finish this quilt for our bed. At a retreat I made a few more rows so that I wouldn’t have to fight my husband for my share of the quilt as we slept!

I bought some Tula Pink fabric for the backing as well as king-size batting. I was now ready to sandwich this monster. One day when I had the house to myself, I removed all of the furniture from our kitchen eating space, vacuumed and then lay down the batting. It took the whole space!

It's the size of the kitchen eating area!

Chevy in the middle of the action!

It was a rather long and tedious process. I placed the quilt top on the batting, tapped the top to the floor, pinned it and then flipped it over. I did the same to the backing. When it was pinned to my satisfaction, I put the table back, sat down and basted the sandwich together.

I then quilted every block. This helped to stabilize the quilt and I was happy to see that I had done a good job of sandwiching the quilt since there was very little puckering.

I FMQ (free motion quilted) between the blocks using Superior Thread’s Bottom Line in both the bobbin and top. I wasn’t sure what thread to use for the actual FMQ of each block but decided to keep using the Bottom Line. It’s very fine and won’t take attention away from the quilt itself. Besides, every block has different colours – changing and deciding on the colours of the thread to use in each block would have been impossible.

Here are my criteria for choosing the quilting design in each of the 8 inch blocks:

• Not very small or dense so that the quilt remains supple;
• Simple enough to FMQ on my home machine (this is a king size quilt!);
• Experimentation, repetition and learning is encouraged; and
• It can be a stenciled pattern, a dot-to-dot pattern or anything else that fits the above criteria.

Since there are 169 blocks to FMQ (13 x 13) this will give me plenty of opportunity to practice these designs. Here is a sampling of the 23 blocks that I’ve done so far. The stencils are mostly from The Stencil Company while many of the FMQ comes from Angela Walters' Shape by Shape book. The marking on each block hasn't been ironed off yet.

An old fashion stencil, circa 1850

Dot-to-Dot Fan

More Dot-to-Dot quilting with echoing

Dot-to-Dot

The Stencil Company (Celtic Flower 7")

The Stencil Company (Continuous Teardrop 6")

The back of one block

What I learned:

• You won't get a soft pastel quilt if your fabrics are dark!
• Beware of those expectations. Allowing time to pass can help you change your perspective. 
• I have done some FMQ designs that really don't show well, but it's good practice and they are very lovely from the back (see the picture below).
• This is an excellent way of practicing my FMQ. The blocks are not perfect, but the overall effect will be stunning I'm sure.
• These blocks are very time consuming. I've put the quilt away for now so that I can work on other projects.
• Chevy wants to be included in the pictures - besides, pictures with animals are always popular!

The back of a couple of blocks based on Angela Walter's designs

 I will be linking to these Linky Parties. Come see what everyone else is doing! Free Motion Mavericks, Can I get a Whoop Whoop! Off the Wall Friday. I've also linked Chevy's picture to Pets on Quilts 2017. Check out the cute posts 😊

Only 146 blocks left to go!

Another Baby Quilt

Fox in a Box by Row House Creations

Last week I made a baby quilt. It was easy since I designed it to include the things I love; some colour, very few blocks made from foundation paper piecing and a lot of FMQ.

However, I have a quilt that I've promised to make for my friend Sonya. Since I made her two other babies a quilt, I had to make one for the third child. I had seen a beautiful quilt at the show-and-tell part of our Guild meeting. I googled for a baby quilt with foxes and sure enough, found the pattern. It's a Row House Creations pattern, called Fox in a Box. Sonya loved it so I ordered it.

All the triangle and background pieces cut out

It took me a few months to find the right fabrics and then a day to cut the fabric. Cutting fabric for the whole project is not something I usually do. I generally cut my pieces as I go along but I knew that everything needed to be cut before I started.

I slowly worked on the piecing, but I didn't get far. It's a good thing that I took it with me at the quilting retreat. I was able to piece most of the various geese blocks there. Unfortunately I didn't work on it when I got back to home and reality.

The last two weeks have been incredibly productive (quilting wise - nothing else!), and after finishing a totally unplanned baby quilt, I started feeling very guilty about not finishing the Fox in the Box quilt. I think William will be one year old soon - it's past due!

The background is almost done - while Chevy supervises!

Here are the boxes, without borders or appliqué. There was no way Chevy was letting me take this picture without her. She wanted attention since I've been quilting too much!

Ready to sew on the appliqué

The next day, the foxes and tree are ready to be appliquéd. Some minor glitches in putting the foxes together, but it all worked out. Last night I finished appliquéing all of the pieces. It just needs to be sandwiched, basted and then FMQ. Should be ready in a week or so!

What I learned:

• When picking out a pattern, I need to work more to my strengths - that means less piecing and minimal appliqué. I hope I remember this when I'm caught up in the beauty of the quilt pattern!
• It turns out that I didn't place a couple of the large square-triangles in the right spots. My son noticed it right away, but only after it was all sewn together. I could call it creative design or rather a sign of my human imperfection. I can definitely live with that.
• I was very careful about cutting the appliqué pieces correctly, although they are on solid fabric, so it wouldn't have made a difference. What I wasn't careful about, however, was placing the fusible webbing on the correct side of the pieces. Oops! The placement of the foxes isn't the same as the pattern, but really, it worked out fine. This one I'll call a creative design :-)

I'll be joining up a few quilty parties. Check out what everyone is doing!
Design Board Monday, Fabric Tuesday, Freemotion by the River, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Main Crush Monday! Needle and Thread Thursday, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop! and Off the Wall Friday

A Beautiful Day Baby Quilt

I started last week, finished it last night, washed it, sewed on the label, took a few pictures and it was given this morning. That was the creation and life of my latest baby quilt. It has now moved on to another mother who will cherish it with her child.

I know that it sounds sappy, but my quilts, like my children, are a part of me. As joyful and sometimes cranky as a child. They are my creations. Some will grow old with me while others will leave the nest too early. The one thing that is consistent is that they will be appreciated where ever they are. It may be weird comparing quilts to my children, but as my two young adults grow older and eventually leave the nest, I will still be creating. The mother in me is very thankful for this.

A Beautiful Day

A Beautiful Day Baby Quilt

I wanted to make a modern baby quilt. I first thought of a wholecloth quilt, but I needed more colour. I decided on a flying geese block made with foundation paper piecing for the two strips. This required four blocks of foundation paper pieced flying geese. It was a great way to use my favourite scraps to add some colour. The fabric in the corner was perfect.

Free Motion Quilting (FMQ)

I needed something that would be appropriate for a baby or child, but that was gender neutral. I wanted triangles but also curves to provide contrast. I would have loved to have densely quilted the piece but it needed to be perfect for cuddling.

The FMQ curved strip of flying geese crosses the quilt

I drew a few sketches and finally decided on the curved strip of flying geese going across the quilt to divide the space.

The sun coming up in the lower part of the quilt

I love quilting suns. As much as I would have loved to leave the space inside the sun empty, I knew that it wasn't a practical idea. Too much space between the quilting creates bunching, which creates perfect conditions for rips. Not a good thing!

Through the shadows, you can see the moon behind a cloud

If there's a sun, then you need a moon! I FMQ the moon in grey while I used a variegated yellow thread for the rest of the quilt. It's subtle but I wanted to contrast the sun and moon. Again, I quilted within the moon - three swirls symbolizing mother, father and child.

The quilted strip and border

I quilted in the ditch around the flying geese and then continued the pattern across the strip. I used on-point squares in the outer border, with a little curl inside them.

The back of the quilt is great, although the picture doesn't to it justice.

The back of the quilt

What I learned:

• I'm not sure if it's because I designed it or if it's because it was a baby quilt, but A Beautiful Day was truly a labour of love. 
• This was the first time that I've FMQ on a larger scale - it's much more difficult! I found it hard to keep the longer lines flowing and straight. I have to work on stopping and starting at the same point. Too many times I created a little hiccup between stopping and starting.
• The larger scale also means being more careful about stitch size. It had to remember to  significantly speed up the needle when my hands moved faster.
•  The difficulty in quilting on a larger scale is my lack of practice on larger pieces. I almost always practice my FMQ on smaller pieces, which means smaller scale. 
• It was also difficult to find the "juste milieu" - the middle ground between too much quilting and not enough. I learned this from fixing the quilt my mother made for my son. If there isn't enough quilting, the fabric will bunch up, get caught and rip. 
• The on-point squares in the outer border are too large. Since I quilted these last, I should have trimmed the quilt before quilting these.

I hope that you have a lovely St. Jean Baptiste Day, perfect for both quilting and blogging!

I was able to access Photoshop - so here's a better picture.

A Beautiful Day Quilt for a special mother and baby

I've linked this post to some fun linky parties. Please check them out!
Free Motion Mavericks, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, Off the Wall Friday, Midweek Makers, Oh Scrap!, Cooking Up Quilts, MOP Monday and Freemotion by the River.

My First Swap

I've been avoiding them for years but I finally succumbed to a swap through my guild, the Common Thread Quilt Guild. In the excitement of the moment I just forgot that I don't do swaps. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea, but I know myself - it'll mean another deadline, agonizing over what to make, is it good enough, will she like it, etc. At least this swap is in person, so I don't have to mail it. That would have added another layer of anxiety.

I really tried to plan ahead and minimize the agony of the decision and the deadline. Two months ago I went to Quilty Pleasures, our local quilt shop where the recipient of my project works, and asked her colleagues what she might like. They gave me a great idea and I got fabric that is typically "her" as well as a pattern.

A runner for the guild swap

I knew that the pattern would be challenging for me since I have less and less patience with instructions. That's why I planned to make two Sew Together Bags - one for me to practice on and the other for the swap. I brought everything to the retreat, thinking I would at least get mine done, since she was also attending the retreat.

You may recall from my post that it didn't go so well. Every piece of fabric I cut was wrong. It's a good thing that the fabric was for my own bag, or it would have been a complete disaster! On the way home from the retreat, my girlfriend offered to bring me a couple of patterns for a runner. I gratefully accepted.

Details of the hexagon 

Here it is! I'm not sure which magazine the runner is from. I did have difficulty with one of the pattern templates - it was too small, but I took out my graph paper and drafted a new one.

The block was interesting since the middle hexagon is actually appliquéd to the outer edges of the hexagon. The pattern suggested using stabilizer and glue but since I liked appliquéing orange peels so much, I just used freezer paper and basted them. It's ironic to think that I used to skip most of the basting required when I used to sew clothes!

I stitched-in-the-ditch using Bottom Line thread and then FMQ a six-petal flower in the middle of each hexagon. Nothing fancy since it's quite busy.

After making the runner and placing it on my living room table, I'm very happy with it. Hopefully the person who receives it will also like it!

Update

Fabric Play

Our swap exchange was last night - and it turns out that my secret sister, Sherrill, also had my name!!!! Apparently the colours I used go with her decor - so the table runner will look good on her living room table.

Two Christmases ago, Sherrill was my secret sister and I gave her a copy of the book, Fabric Play by Deanne Moore. When Sherrill got my name for this swap, she decided that she wanted to make one of the quilts from the book.

My very own lap quilt :-)

The book is all about using different fabrics to get different looks for the same quilt. If you click on the link for the book at Martingale, look at the fourth quilt image in the preview- you wouldn't even recognize the "Your Own Way" quilt.

Although I've gotten lovely quilty gifts from friends, I've never gotten a quilt. I'm so thrilled. It will be used and cherished.

I've linked to the following parties. Come see what's happening! Linky Tuesday with Freemotion by the River, Main Crush Monday with Cooking Up Quilts, Free Motion Mavericks with Muv, Off the Wall Friday with Nina-Marie, Monday Making with Love Laugh Quilt and MOP Monday.

Needle Felting Play Day

I learned to needle felt this weekend when I attended my first play day with the Out of the Box Fibre Artists. I learn a new technique, met some great people and best of all, I got to play!

Needle felting is very forgiving, which is something I look for in a technique (as in life!). It doesn't look like you imagined? Add more here and there, or just pull it apart.

In the morning we were introduced to the tools and materials used in needle felting. We each got two needles and a thick piece of foam to work on. We then chose materials to work on, different types of felt - synthetic, wool and other natural fabrics such linen to felt on.

My first felted piece - a car-shaped cloud

I have a couple of ideas for some future quilting art pieces, so for my first try, I felted a car-shaped cloud. The wool roving will be perfect for making big fluffy clouds.

Of course, I just had to try my hand at making a landscape. That's why I mentioned the pulling apart! I had fun making it, and I did like some of the effects that I could do for the water, but take my word for it - it wasn't worth keeping.

After lunch I looked at what other participants were creating. Since we had been asked to bring a memento to work with, I saw many beautiful projects that incorporated jewelry of all kinds.

I knew that I wouldn't be keeping my landscape, so I made a felt piece using various felt pieces, hand-made paper, wool roving, tea-dyed cheese cloth, silk fibres, a feather pin and beads.

"The Feather" is a keeper! 

I  started by felting some wool rovings onto the cheese cloth and the grey felt. I knew that I wanted to use the hand-made paper, so I used colours that would compliment it. It's really amazing what a little bit of wool roving will do. I mixed a couple of the different colours and needle-punched them into the background.

I had brought some silk fibres that I wanted to incorporate into something. I just couched them onto the piece and added the beads. I didn't think about it at the time, but I guess that the nests go well with the feather and the airy cheesecloth.

Details of the felting on the cheese cloth with beads, silk fibres and feather

I basted the paper to the bottom felt piece, sewing the together where it wouldn't show.  I then added the side beads and felted around them so that they look like they're in a nest.

The next day at home, I looked at my landscape again, pulled it apart and then made this cute flower on a piece of linen.

Beads in a nest of wool

I had to make a flower :-)

What I learned:

• Playing is fun and if it's done without expectations, it's not a big deal to pull a piece apart (think Lego!)
• When I create, I try not to think too much about what I'm doing. I may start out with an idea, but then I follow my instinct since the results are often better than listening to my overthinking mind.
• I'm going to have to do some research on how to incorporate needle felting into my landscape quilt art. I know that it'll make amazing clouds but I'll have to figure out the rest.
• I really like the results of my needle felting play day. The one drawback to making "The Feather" is that it won't look finished until it's framed. That's one step that I can gladly do without!
• I doubt that I will get addicted to needle felting, but it's a great technique to add to my quilting.

I've done a little bit of research. If you're interested, here is a good, very basic tutorial on needle felting: "The Basics: How to Needle Felt (or Dry Felt)"by TLC Inspirations. Here is something a little more interesting to quilters who might want to embellishing with felting "Needle Felting Embellishments and Applique" by the National Quilters Circle.

You may also want to check out Felted Skies Studios. They sell landscape kits and have tutorials on YouTube. After watching parts of their tutorials, I figured out what went wrong with my landscape.

• I was using too much wool roving - it really doesn't have to be thick, and it's best to add more as you go along.
• You also have to think 3D - the background like water and sky can be thinner while the elements such as trees can be thicker and lay on top of the backing.

I will probably be using needle felting on my of my next art quilt projects - so come back to see it!

I've linked this post to the following Linky parties. Check them out!
Linky Tuesday with Freemotion by the River, Let's Bee Social with Sew Fresh Quilts, Design Board Monday at Bits n' Bobs, Main Crush Monday with Cooking Up Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday with My Quilt Infatuation, Off the Wall Friday with Nina Marie, Fabric Frenzy Friday at Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Lessons Learned Linky with Quilting Mod.

Quilting in the Bush

The view from our sewing room

I've spent the last four days quilting in the bush, at a retreat with friends. It's been fabulous. It's only about an hour from home. I took 3 vacation days and am spending 5 days quilting. In that time, I prepared one meal. We each make one of the meals for Thursday to Saturday. On Sunday we eat leftovers and then leave in the early afternoon.

Some of the ladies are energetic and take daily walks - not easy since the area is full of hills. It's also black fly season - and I'm considered a delicacy, so I've mostly stayed indoors except for a few photo shoots and to put my feet into the river:-)

Wednesday
My first day was productive. I finished a batik lap quilt top that I had started a year ago, and I put the sashing and borders on my Applique Inside the Lines UFO.

Batik Lap Quilt Top

I was so impressed with the first batik lap quilt I made that I bought more Charm Packs to make some quick gifts. I couldn't understand why I didn't have enough charm squares (5") to make this quilt until I read my original blog post - it takes 3 packages and I only bought 2! I was able to add more squares from my stash. Hopefully they will behave when the quilt gets washed since you can't pre-wash pre-cuts.

For this quilt, I used 2 packages of North Country Trail Batiks Charm Pack by Holly Taylor for Moda.

North Country Trail
Batiks Charm Pack 

The Leaves project is from the book, Applique Inside the Lines by Carol Armstrong. I've actually written about this project in a couple of posts. In the March 2014 post, I wrote about embroidering the first red leaf at work during my lunch break. I finished the last of the three leaves in June 2014 while embroidering in the car on a road trip...and the finished leaves sat in a pretty project bag until this week.

When I looked in my stash for sashing and border fabric, I quickly decided on a beautiful batik of green, blue, gold and red in a cathedral windows print. Unfortunately this image doesn't do it justice. I hope that the final picture when it's done (not 4 years from now!) will be better.

The Leaves with sashing and a border

Thursday
It spent part of the morning making lunch and then tried to start on a Sew Together Bag. I was obviously not in the right head-space because every piece of fabric I cut was wrong! You may know that I really don't like measuring and following a pattern, so I can't say that I was surprised but I am better at it some days that others.

Background of the landscape art quilt

Finally I broke down and started a new landscape art quilt. I was really hoping to only work on WIPs this week, but everything I brought require measuring and following instructions. Fortunately I had brought a dozen solid Kona fat quarters with me. I decided to cut strips, between 1 and 2 inches and see what I could do. While looking at the results one of my retreat buddies suggested that the dark brown could be a dock. That's when the project fell into place.

Here's what it looks like after a couple of days of playing with it. I've only pieced the bottom section, but this will be the background to the landscape art quilt, very loosely based on the view from our quilting room.

I will piece all of the strips together and then add fabric details to the background. There's not much of a sky in the picture but since it's one of my favourite parts of a landscape art quilt, I decided to add one. I have a lot of time to change my mind about all of this, but this is the first rough sketch.

Inspiration for my next Landscape Art Quilt

Fox in a Box

Friday
It took me 2 days to finally start relaxing. I worked on another WIP (Work in Progress). This is for my good friend Sonya's third child. I've posted about Alexandre's quilt but I can't find any mention of Charlotte's quilt. I'll show all three once I finish this one. I've almost finished piecing the flying geese blocks. I still have a way to go but I'm now encouraged to finish it - so there's hope that William will get it before his first birthday, maybe!

What I've learned

• I know that I can measure, cut and follow instructions - but my ability to do so is much better when I'm well rested.
• It would seem that I can't stay away from creating new landscape art quilts. Next time I go to a retreat, I'll make sure to pack for one!
• Thursday night I couldn't sleep, so I came down and sewed a bunch of scraps together. It was very relaxing and I slept well after that (and a peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich).
• It's been great to be able to spend time writing this post. Now it's time to get back to my projects.

Do you get a chance to get away to quilt with buddies? Tell us about it in the comments section.

Check out the many quilty projects: Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, Main Crush Monday, Freemotion by the River, Let's Bee Social and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

Art Quilt Practice Pieces

After last week's whirlwind (a guild quilt show and the Art with Fabric blog hop) I didn't think I'd want to quilt for a few weeks. Well, I stayed away from my quilting for 3 whole days! However, the two little projects I made were pressure-free playing using new techniques or materials.

So far, I've participated in 3 of the Colour Me Positive 2016 Weekly Journal Challenge, by creating mini art quilts that are mostly words with free motion quilting (FMQ). I love seeing everyone's art work on the dedicated Facebook page. The pieces are fun and use all types of art journalling techniques. I didn't even know that this existed until joining them!

Week 18 of the Colour Me Positive Challenge - Healing Art (13" x 7.5")

Since I'm also using words in these quilts, I'm now learning to write again with Joanne Sharpe's Whimsical Writing books and videos. Between all of these resources, I've learned about all kinds of neat writing, drawing and art products that are easily adapted to fabric. That's why I couldn't wait to start playing with stamps, markers and stencils.

Week 18 - Healing Art

Details of the tree - coloured and thread painted

I started this piece using the tree stencil and then went a little nuts with some of my daughter's stamps.

I took out my permanent markers and coloured the tree and outlined some of the butterflies and flowers. Since the green of the tree was too intense, I toned it down with some thread painting in browns and darker green.

I then added the "Healing Art" using some cool grungy alphabet stamps. The letters didn't stand out enough so I experimented with my new markers and played around with a colourless blender. Wow! I love the effect it has on the letters - I even used them on the tops of the tulips. It makes them look like water colours. I then added metallic thread through the bobbin and did a little bit of FMQ

As with all of my art, the hardest part is knowing when to stop. I looked at the piece from the perspective of the art theory I've been learning.
Does the piece have:

• a focus point; 
• contrast; 
• balance; and 
• flow?

I think that the answer is yes. However, since the techniques used on this piece include FMQ, stencils, markers and stamps, I though that I should add appliqué to the mix. That's when I dug into my scrap stash and found two cools cats! Nothing says mellow like cats hanging around :-)

Week 9 - Live like a grownup, play like a child

At the quilt show last weekend, my daughter bought me a couple of hand dyed cheese cloth by local fibre artist Linda Palaisy.

Fantaisie 2 -my creation for Week 9 (6.5" x  9")

The colours were so lovely I could just taste them! I couldn't wait to try making something fun and whimsical, so here it is - Fantaisie 2, a fibre collage.

I attached the cheese cloth to a blue cotton to lighten it up. In my stash I found three different fabrics - the hollyhock, the faeries and half meter of fabric that had butterflies, hummingbirds and these great borders.

Fantaisie 2 - close up

I attached the fabric using thread painting. It was flimsy and difficult to sew, so I used a minimum of stitching and then quilted it. Since it's just a fun little piece, I decided to leave the borders as is, without binding. I was hoping to use the same technique I had used for Woven Landscape  - to just fold the backing between the batting and the borders, but it didn't work out. Those are the drawbacks to just forging ahead without planning!

What I learned:

• I should stop when I'm tired - that's when challenges happen.
• Challenges are not important when playing. Fix it, or just move on :-)
• To colour or write on cloth, just iron the cloth to freezer paper to make it more stable.
• The Fantaisie 2 piece is dark, but I think that the borders lighten it up and give it contrast.
• I love the look that the cheese cloth adds to the piece.
• In case you're wondering, yes, week 9 should come before week 18, but we're encouraged to add our pieces whenever they're ready. 

I will be linking up to the following parties - check them out!
Oh Scrap!  Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Free Motion Mavericks, Off the Wall Friday, and Freemotion by the River