What to Quilt Where

I've been away from quilting for a bit, being busy at work. I started a new assignment last week, and I've been too tired to sew!  Today I felt like getting back at it, so I did a bunch more quilting on this Denim with Hearts quilt. Until my helper friend showed up, that is. He came by to see what I was doing just as I was starting to take pictures, so he's in there, too.

The end is in sight for this quilt, and it just needs a few more lines to finish it up.  Interestingly enough, I was halfway across on these inside squares before I figured out how to shape the hearts nicely by freemotion. Rats. I'm not worried about it too much, though, since this is one of the "practice" quilts I had decided to work on a few months back.

I recently purchased Melody Crust's book, A Fine Line, see her link here. I really like her work.  She writes in this book about what to quilt where.  It has been very helpful for me, since this is one of my challenge areas.  One of her points is to mix straight lines with curvy lines, in contrast to the pattern of your piecing or applique, to create a nice balance.  It seems I was on the right track with this quilt, but decided to add a few more straight lines to give it a more finished look.

Linking up with The Needle and Thread Network, here,  Off the Wall Friday, here, FMQ Friday, here, and Patchwork Times, here.

Magnolia Progress

I've been stitching away, even though it has been warm and sunny outside. Valerie over at Pumpkin Patch Quilter did a review of Gutermann Silk Thread for hand applique, link here. I thought I would give it a try, and it turns out she's spot on. I had a dark and a light purple, and used the lighter one for this. Amazingly, it really  disappears into the edges, and it doesn't knot as much as cotton. I'm finding that even though I don't do needle turn applique very much, I really like it when I do. It is slow progress, though, and I'm hoping to have this part finished this week.

I still have to piece together all the blocks for the front of this quilt, but that part goes fairly quickly and I'm not worried about it as much.  What I have been wrestling with in my mind is how I will perfectly align the front and back borders when I get to the quilt sandwich part. This will be tricky, but I want it to be beautiful front and back.  Stay posted.

I'm linking up this time with The Needle and Thread Network, here, and Freshly Pieced, here.

Magnolia Quilt

Magnolia Quilt Fabrics

I'm a little behind in blogging. I've decided to go ahead and make a quilt for an upcoming wedding, so I was out shopping for just the right fabrics. I found five of the dusty purples I was looking for, along with a good number of greens and browns. The hardest part was finding just the right background ivory, but I did find one for the front and another one for the back, so that is most excellent. These dusty colours are not ones I usually work with, so I didn't have anything in my stash that would work. Most of my colours tend towards the bright and clear. Indeed, many of the purples in quilt stores now lean towards bright and clear. These five are all from the same line, and they are perfect.

Magnolia Quilt

I made a 9 degree ruler in three separate versions for a giant medallion style grandmother's fan for the back of the quilt. And I've cut out all the coloured pieces I'll need. Not much to see yet. I have to cut out the white patches, and I'll soon be getting on to my favourite part, the piecing and sewing. Now that I'm committed to this quilt, I'm very excited about it. I'm sure the bride will love it.

Sienna Loves Her Quilt

Quilt for Sienna
65 x 76"

I finished this quilt for Sienna just in the nick of time. Her birthday is this weekend, and I stayed up late last night getting the binding and label on it. I must say I am quite pleased with the results. All those bright colours have grown on me!

Quilt for Sienna
detail

I'd also have to say that this is the best quilt, technically speaking, that I have made so far. I took a lot of time to make sure all the blocks and borders were squared up, and the pieced back is square to the front. Yes, quite pleased.

And all that worry about it not being loved? All for nothing. Sienna's mom Anna had tears in her eyes when she saw it, so I'm thinking I nailed it.

Check out all the other great quilters with these links:  Richard and Tanya's blog, here, Freshly Pieced, here, and Judy's Patchwork Times, here.

After the Christmas Rush

I haven't posted for a while, and I know my sisters and friends are wondering . . . so here's an update! 

Like it always does, Christmas came and went very quickly. I was busy with work, family and friends, and a little bit of sewing. We love having all the lights and tree and decorations all around for those darkest days of the year. It's all so pretty and sparkle-y. A drive around the city to see the lights is a treat, too. We were even at an Orthodox Christmas party this past week. Our good friend has been very sick and in the hospital, so we've spent some time time there, too.

I have been still working on that Christmas quilt I started in November. The top went together very quickly, but after that, I got a little carried away with the quilting part of it. There is sure a lot of it. Can you see my stitches in the photo? Part of this was some practice for me, I did a lot of free-motion and thread-painting on it, and there is still a ways to go. I think to myself that I should be keeping this more simple, but it takes on a life of its own. Anyway, I like the way it's going, so I will keep plugging away at it.

I've also been working on some table runners that I started last year. On those, I did a lot of outline stitching and close stippling. This also felt like some practicing for my quilting, and I love adding these  around the house for Christmas. I was comparing the ones I'm working on this year to last year's ones, and I'm noticing a big difference in my quilting stitches. Last year, I did mostly straight lines, and a bit of stippling. I didn't know what else to do. This year, I've added to that some thread-painting, outline stitches, flowers, feathers, small bubbles, and other stitches. It may not be new to other people in the quilt world, but I am amazing myself all the time!  

My Latest Piece

I just finished a quilted piece, measuring 20 x 39". It is called Inner World. It is a representation of what my inner world looks like. I don't usually let this out, but here it is, vibrant and energetic.

I dug into my bits and pieces box, and just started cutting out shapes. These were glued onto the background, stitched around with invisible thread, and then quilted, using rayon and metallic threads. It is a radical departure for me from my piecing, and in actually finishing something!

I'm not sure I love it, but it is growing on me. And my plans are to do more in this technique.

Laptop Case

I decided before I went to Houston, that I wanted to take my laptop with me. Heavy, doesn't fit in my backpack, but it might be useful for looking up stuff in the hotel at night. It's fairly new, and I hadn't yet acquired a case for it. I had in mind a zippered colourful neoprene thing. That's what I had in mind. What I ended up with is colourful all right, but not zippered, not neoprene!  I looked around the house for another UFO I knew was somewhere. . . I found this.

I had this quilted piece around, one of the first things I made, before I knew anything about quilting.  Looking at it now, I didn't know how to do bindings or applique. It all seems pretty unorthadox now, but I really like the colours, and the second chakra design I worked with at the time.  And I didn't have much stash to work with!  My stash has improved immensely by now, and I probably wouldn't have stuck that turquoise on it.

Anyway, it didn't have any quilting on it, so I did some quick free-motion work to it, joined the corners together, added some velcro for a closure, and voila:  a brand new laptop case. And it makes good use of an old piece that wasn't seeing any action before.

More on Houston

 When I was in Houston, one of the quilt displays I saw was a selection of Texas Star Quilts.  It was an amazing display of a variety of pieced, appliqued and art quilts, mostly with a star or Texas theme. All were made in Texas by Texas residents.  Here you see the front and back covers of the book, Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986 - 2011, by Karoline Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes. Images reproduced here with written permission.

There were two previous books about earlier Texas quilts, and this third book represents the more recent history of quilts in Texas. It was a very impressive display. I think I've said this before, but to see the quilts in print is one thing, but to see them on display is quite another. You get to see the stitching and pieces up close, and get a real feel for the piece in person.

There was no photography allowed in this particular exhibit, so I bought the book. I am pleased to do so in any case, since it is the best representation of the show, and is a good memory keepsake of my trip to Houston.