Cabbage Patch Quilt

I don’t know what it is about this quilt that reminds me of the Cabbage Patch Kids, but here we are. I love all these fabrics.  That was the last of my purple polka dots, it was a small bit I picked up from the remnants bin.  Last of my pink polka dot, too.   The green fabric is one of the first fabrics I purchased ages ago, like before I even had a sewing machine.

That back fabric is one of my favorites.  I have two yards of it left.  I may never cut into it again.  Ha!  Fabric hoarders unite!

Pieced and quilted by: Me
Size: 38 square
Batting: Quilter’s Dream Batting, Dream Cotton

A quilt for me, by me

Of the handful of quilts I’ve made, I’ve kept none. I have plenty of ideas of quilts I want to make, but making it and keeping it are two different things. So, I waited until it felt right. Once I saw this quilt on In Color Order, I knew that was what I wanted to make and keep.

Next came the fabric selection.  The inspiration is made from vintage sheets.  And it occurred to me that *I* have vintage sheets!  They would soft and comfy, and best of all – timeless. Perfect! They didn’t all look… good together. So I added in two modern day fabrics. I dare you to try and figure out which two. 😉

The linen in the valleys is another fabric I’ve had for a while. I don’t remember where it came from, but I’m always happy to have it.

Without further ado, I give you what I have named Star V Quilt.

The Front

The Back

My quilt holder upper. Such a good guy! 🙂

I haven’t decided how to label it yet. I have a couple of labels I got from Spoonflower. Or I could just Micron pen the info on it. We’ll see. Since she lives here I can tag her whenever I want to. Nicest feeling ever.

The difference a day makes

I finished my Madrona Road placemats last weekend. I had been wanting to photograph them on bright green grass, but when it snowed I thought that would be even better. And then the next day, the snow was pretty much gone save a few spots here and there. So, I took them out in the sunshine and photographed them on the bits of snow that were left.

Here’s what I’ve learned about my piecing style, as it stands right now. I’m not very good at improv. It seems like it would be quick and easy – oh! let me just sew this and this together and look at there! No. I have to think it through, sketch it out, make a plan. When my quilt guild got the fabric for the Modern Quilt Guild challenge, I settled on placemats fairly quickly. Initially I thought I would do a long strips kind of piecing. And somewhere in there I just started cutting up random pieces and putting them together. And then I thought about it. And then I over thought it some more. Then I was paralyzed by “OMG, what have I done? I have no plan, I’m just making this up and I have no idea if I’m near the end.”

Last weekend I was over seeing it sitting around my sewing room. I was going to finish those placemats by Sunday and that was that. And so I did. I used what was left over of the fabric to make the binding. Came across some navy fabric – perfect for the back! For the first time I tried free motion quilting (FMQ). I’m on the fence about it. I initially tried to do a square FMQ look. But I guess I’m more naturally inclined to go loopy. And so I went with the loopy. I thought it would be a good idea to do the other three in different quilting patterns so I could test my quilting quiltiness.

The second placemat was what I’m calling a lazy grid.

The third got a loopy loop pattern.

The fourth and final got a kind of inverted four corners thing.

That snow I talked about? Yeah, this happened Thursday

The next day? The hill looked like this

Looking forward to some warmer weather. And cicadas. Have you heard? We’re about to be swarmed by them. I can’t wait.

Heart + Throb

I cut out the squares for this a million years ago. Well, more like two months. It seems like forever. This past Sunday, my quilt guild had its sewing day* and I finally had the motivation to sew it all together.

This is what I finished Sunday.

Originally, I had planned on this being part of a quilt back. Kind of just an off center surprise. But once it was done I realized this needed to be a quilt front, for sure. Before we all packed up for the day, I cut wide stripes of white to frame it and then some other color? Or do I do a smaller patchwork of two rows as a frame around the white? Or!! So many choices.

For now, I’m leaving it up there on my design wall. One day, it’ll tell me what it wants to be. I’m in no hurry and I don’t like to rush and then regret.

So, while Heart + Throb (yes, that’s what I’m calling it) is working on what it wants to be, I’m moving onto cutting my next quilt. It’s called Chevron and On. I discovered it in Quilty. Quilty is a quilting magazine. I wanted to dog ear every page.

Most quilt magazines aren’t my cup of tea. Think of quilts as a room in a house – if the carpet is an ugly burgundy and the walls are painted a horrid peach color and there’s a boob light, it’s hard to look past that to the room itself. Quilt patterns are the room, fabric choices are paint, carpet and bad lighting. A quilt done in white and blue flowers in a fabric that evokes memories of the 70s or 80s and you’re going to scrunch your nose up. But make that same quilt pattern in an updated fabric and I bet you love it and cannot believe it’s the same pattern. Most quilting magazines I’ve flipped through have some great patterns, but I just can’t get past the fabric choices.

*I cannot even relay into words the joy that sitting in a room full of women with similar interests brings me while we plan/sew/cut/quilt our projects and chat. Finding something you love to do is amazing. Finding people who share your love of said thing is amazing to the upteenth power.

Row 1, Column A

As most quilt plans do, this one started with a spreadsheet.

I knew had a jelly roll (heyo!) of maroon and orange. I knew I didn’t want to recreate the wheel and wanted to leave them in their pre-cut state. That left me a couple of options. I went with a brick like effect.

So, I unrolled the jelly goodness and got to counting. I had just enough of each color to alternate colors and make the size lap quilt I was aiming for. Perfect! I got to piecing.

Then I put the columns together. It went pretty by quickly after that.

Did I mention that the mister even helped piece a section? He totally did! This is the Pieced by Dan section*…

I had picked up a decent sized creamy white remnant when I picked up my other supplies. I laid the quilt sandwich out on my bed. This is the only large space that was not occupied by a certain furry puppy. I used Dream Green. It’s made of recycled bottles, that’s awesome. Yay saving the Earth!

After I unkinked my back (oy!) I got to the actual quilting part. I still had my old machine at the time and wasn’t sure how much it was going to let me do with all that thickness so I figured basic was best. I liked the idea of through the rectangles so it appeared to be patchwork. Not too shabby, for my first machine quilting (the first quilt I made got hand-tied). You can’t really tell on the front, but I alternated the lines with maroon and orange. It looks pretty cool on the creamy back.

And of course Doppler had to test it out. He approved.

*This was a gift for his mom, that’s why he helped. He’s not suddenly becoming Mister Martha.

Pinwheels and something

Pinwheels and chevron? Pinwheels and zig zags? Round the Christmas Tree? Yeah, that sounds good.

Here is the making of Round the Christmas Tree.

And the final product…

I cannot even explain how happy I am with this lap quilt. It finished to 40 x 49. The perfect size for the person it is for. And I hope she loves it… when she gets it next month. That’s right, I’m not sending it to her until after my April quilt guild meeting. I can’t not take it for show and tell! 😉

Quilt Shop Adventure

This past weekend the mister and I were in Richmond. After brunch with friends Sunday we hit up Quilting Adventures at Willow Lawn.

When I moved to Richmond, I was crafty but I only dreamed of sewing. So, while I loved Joann Fabrics and Hancock, quilt shops weren’t really on my radar. I knew QA was there, but it didn’t seem like a place I needed to visit. I so wish I hadn’t listened to myself. I can only imagine a trip to QA would have turned me onto quilting earlier.

The store is very well organized, very well stocked and the staff is sooo friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. QA has fabrics I’ve only seen online (and drooled over). They have Japanese fabrics, kid fabrics, Kona solids, flannels, reproductions, the latest quilting fabrics, notions and supplies and patterns. There were quilt samples and their patterns on display. There were precut kits and patterns for purses and other small projects. They had zippers and batting and all the fat quarters you could ever want. Each section of fabric had its own corresponding fat quarter supply. It’s how a quilt shop should be laid out, in my opinion.

Can you tell I really liked the place? Not sure that was coming through.

Not only do they have all these awesome things, but they have a good sized class area in the back. And a customer loyalty program. And rewards for not using plastic bags.

So, let’s get to the goods.  I picked up a bunch of fat quarters and a Micron pen.  I look forward to going back next time I’m in RVA.