Log Cabin Challenge

The Covered in Threads guild challenge for 2014 was a log cabin quilt. I love log cabin quilts but I don't particularly love making them. They always seem to take longer to construct than I think they should!

I decided to make an off center block and after laying them out a few ways, I went with this following pattern because I felt like it gave this traditional block a circular effect.

 Here's the finished product.

I used a circular pattern to quilt it.

I brought this quilt to our winter retreat for show and tell. 

 I wasn't the only one. A few others had finished their log cabins for show and tell too!

The 2015 challenge is a tessellation quilt. Several of us had to look up the meaning of tessellation.

Triple Rail Fence

Another baby quilt! I've done several this year but I think this is the last one for a while. Of course, I always think that but I'm always wrong. Which is just fine with me because I LOVE making baby quilts!

This quilt is for my dear, dear friends from Lafayette. They are having baby #2, a little brother for Reed. For Reed's quilt, they asked for something in brights which I did but I wasn't sold on the random star pattern I chose. So for this quilt, I went with a contemporary twist on a class pattern. Enter the triple rail fence....

The quilt I made in the requested aquas, oranges, and grays was inspired by a few pinned items from Pinterest:

By Red Papper Quilts, taken from Flickr

Pattern can by purchased from her Etsy shop

By Liz Taylor of LizTaylorHandmade

I needed this to be scrappy and I thought I had plenty of orange, aqua, and gray scraps. But my gray scraps were mostly solids, I didn't have nearly as much aqua as I thought, and my orange scraps were mostly used up making a log cabin quilt for the 2014 Covered in Threads Challenge. (More on that at a later date.) This meant I was forced to buy fabric. Poor me! :)

I needed variety of fabric to achieve the scrappy look and of course I ended up with too much fabric. Which isn't normally a problem except that I cut all that fabric in to two inch strips. Doh! I wasn't sure what to do with all the leftover strips. (I only used about half of the cut strips for my front.) The situation got me thinking... how could I use the leftover strips on the back? Hmmmm....

I love how the back turned out (almost has much as I love the front!). It's pretty kick ass...

If I do say so myself.

The Polack has been challenging me to make a two sided quilt and with this quilt, I can check that project off the list. (Bonus!)

Now we just need to find some time to get this quilt to it's intended. They are due any day now!

Runt Rowe

I know I've said it before but it bears repeating... I love making quilts for people who appreciate the blood (sometimes), sweat (figuratively), and tears (hopefully not) that go in to each individual work of art. I had made a baby quilt for the Rowe family a few years back. They were so appreciative that when I found out they were expecting baby #2, I immediately asked if I could make a second quilt for them.

I always want some sort of guidance in terms of color scheme and/or pattern/style when I'm giving away a quilt. They asked for something in their color scheme - pink and green with gray. Since they loved Ryleigh's quilt, I wanted to choose a pattern that was similar in style.

I created several gray blocks with green and pink "sticks" in them. I wasn't sure about the layout so I tried two different options:

I ended up going with option 2 and I'm happy with the end result. I especially love that I used scraps for this entire project. I didn't have to buy anything for it. I even pieced batting leftover from another project.

Baby 2 will be arriving sometime in the next few weeks and I can't wait to hear how much Ryleigh enjoys being a big sister.

Paintbox Quilt

I have always loved the Paintbox Quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh! Fransson. But I had never thought gsdgabout doing it until a few years ago when a friend said she was making one. She had been collecting solids for the project and offered to share some cuts with me. It was what I needed to get started.

Here is Elizabeth's version:

Isn't it so pretty?! I worked on putting blocks together of the course of about 2 years. Every time I added a new shade of a solid to my stash, I cut some strips for this quilt. 

When I went to lay it out, I was shocked at how big it was. I had trouble finding space in my house for the layout. The layout was tough... I wanted the colors to flow from one shade to another. I played and played around until I found a layout I liked. 

Here is the finished top:

Figuring out how to quilt it was another challenge. I ended up coming up with a pattern that I made up. I did geometric angles and filled them in as I went.

It took a long time.

A really long time.

A really, really long time.

But I love how it turned out. You can see some of the quilting on this photo of the back: 

Taa-daa... the final project! I took photos from a few different angles so you could see the different blocks. Don't mind Freddy who is sitting in his favorite spot.

I definitely gaze fondly at this quilt when I'm hanging out in my bedroom doing laundry, watching tv, or prepping for the class at I teach. I'll see a block and I think "I love that block - it's my favorite!" And then I'll see another block and think, "Oh wait, THAT'S my favorite!" I definitely can't decided; they are all unique. (It sounds like I'm talking about my children.)

Here are some blocks that I wanted to highlight:

 

 

 

For more Paintbox inspiration, visit this Flickr page!

Bar Keep T-Shirt Quilt

So the buyer of the Diabetes T-shirt quilt commissioned me to do another project for her. She is a bartender and when working, she wears t-shirts that are appropriate for the bar setting. She's must be pretty well known for her t-shirts because she even has customers that give her shirts to wear.

I got a kick out of some of the shirts. You'll have to zoom in to read some of them. I really enjoy t-shirt quilts more than I thought I would. I love the design process. My one problem with this quilt is that once I put the top together, it wasn't as big as I wanted.

I solved that problem by adding a piano key border. I think the end result was great.

Most importantly, I had another satisfied customer.

Whale of a Good Time

Jenn and Aaron weren't the only ones being celebrated at the recent Lake George gathering. My brother and his wife are expecting their first baby in August. Kathryn sent me a few pins of quilts featuring whales and anchors and I was able to duplicate one pretty easily:

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the quilt before wrapping it up. But here's a photo of Jake and Kathryn opening the gift.

And Kathryn was kind enough to send me a photo of the quilt, ready to go, in the nursery. I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET MY NEPHEW!!

Updated to add.... the other day, I saw this fabric at Jo-Ann's. I almost want to redo Kathryn's quilt just so I can add this to it!

Diabetes T-Shirt Quilt

Well look-ie there, it's another t-shirt. This was a commission project that I made for someone who had collected t-shirts from several diabetes awareness events.

I met with the owner when she handed off the t-shirts to me and I asked for her thoughts on what she wanted. She shared this photo of another quilt that she saw on Pinterest and she asked for something similar with blues, using the front and back of the shirts.

 

I have to say, I LOVED making this t-shirt quilt. I started by cutting down the shirts and then measuring the graphic of each shirt.

Then I drew a diagram to figure out where everything would go.

It was a challenge to keep the front and backs of the t-shirt together while factoring in the colors of each shirt. Most of the shirts were gray and white so I wanted to spread out the colors. Cutting the shirts was nerve racking. I would double and triple check the measurements before cutting them. I was paranoid about cutting one too small and throwing off my whole diagram.

I loved putting together the blocks.

And here is the finished project. I was able to utilize all the shirts and make them fit. I'm so pleased with the outcome.

Flower Buds

Another finish for 2014. I'm on a roll! I can't take much credit for this quilt though. It's a baby quilt for my husband's cousin's daughter who is expecting in August. (Did you catch that one?) My mother-in-law pieced and appliqued the top. I layered and quilted it and attached the binding.

This lovely quilt is going in the mail tomorrow, just in time for the baby shower (which I can't attend) that is being held in Detroit.

Michigan Blue

I'm in love with this quilt. It was tough to give away but fortunately, it was for a good cause.

My cousin, Aaron, and his lovely fiance, Jenn, are getting married in August so of course, I wanted to make them a lovely creation. I asked Jenn to pick out a color scheme and pattern. She definitely gravitated toward squares within squars. As for colors, she said that they liked blues.

I had purchased a fat bundle of awesome Lotta Jansdotter Glimma fabric during a visit to Crimson Tate in the fall so this project was the perfect excuse to cut in to the bundle.

The teal and gold mixed in with the blue reminded me Lake George in the summer. (My grandparents had a home on Lake George and my cousin Aaron and I spent many weekends together at Lake George.)

Here's a photo on progress. I added several of my own scraps to make this a a bigger quilt.

 Here are some photos of Aaron and Jenn at their wedding shower. It was held at Lake George on Independence Day weekend. (Check out the blue and red quilt used to hold the presents. I made that quilt - Anchor's Away - for another family member.)