Gretchen Quilt finished

I am not sure if it is considered cheating or not, but because the majority of my quilts are kids size, the task of finishing them is not as daunting/labor intensive as an adult size quilt. I must admit I do like the fact I can try an idea or color scheme out with out too much commitment. With the gretchen quilt I wanted to try two things I had not done before – the pattern, which is a very traditional quilt pattern and the orange/blue color scheme. Here is the results….

I must admit I am really pleased with how this quilt turned out. The colours pop and the pattern looks complex but is really quite easy. I blogged about this quilt block a couple of weeks ago, and included a couple of links to the pattern. You can click here to find it if you are interested. I went the paper piecing route and the only annoying thing was using the tweezers to remove the bits of paper wedged where eight corners meet. I did learn a valuable lesson with this – if possible remove as much of the paper corners before you sew the blocks together. I really does minimize the tweezer work and save time in the end.

I did simple straight line quilting, following the lines of the block and then stitched around the center of the square. I am still traumatized by the stipple quilting I did recently and think straight lines are still the go for the next couple of quilts. In my quilting defence (i) there is no stitching in the ditch and (2) I think the quilting compliments the piecing.

When it came time to put the back together I found in my stash the most perfect backing fabric….Ed Emberley’s Giraffes from his Happy Drawing collection.

I love this print and will have to track down some more, as I used it all on the backing. The design is fabulous and very boy appropriate.

For the binding I choose a solid navy/denim cotton which seemed to work really well. I hand stitch all my binding and the little bit of stretch in the fabric made it easy to work with.

Now I am heading back to my pink & yellow quilt. After posting my work in progress this week, my niece has claimed the quilt as hers, so I am trying to get it finished fast.

25Jan2013

Low volume Log cabin finished

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt patterns, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

Late last night, while watching fabulously trashy TV, I finally finished up my low volume log cabin quilt. I am thrilled with the end result, even though I doubted myself a few times during the process.

This is my second low volume quilt. My first one was made up of simple square blocks, this one I decided to do a log cabin block. My previous post can be found here and here. I love the log cabin block and was inspired to use this traditional pattern by Susan Beal’s wonderful book Modern Log Cabin Quilting. This pattern allowed me to really (a) raid my scraps and (b) include an amazing number of fabrics.

For this quilt I did use a paper piecing pattern and you can find a similar one here thanks to quilterscache.com. For non paper piercers Connecting Threads has a great log cabin tutorial (with videos and all) which can be found here.

My two low volume quilts have been a challenge for me. As you can tell from my other quilts I love colour and contrast and with low volume I was well and truly out of my comfort zone. What was not a challenge, this time, was the quilting. I decided to just run vertical lines down the quilt, using the block’s lines as a guide for my walking foot. It was a lot quilting/stitching (more tthan I usually do), but the end result is what makes me really love this quilt. I can not wait to see how it puckers after washing!

I used a single fabric print for the backing – a charming Kaffe Fassett floral which worked nicely withe the gentle tone of the front of the quilt. I finished the quilt with some scrappy grey binding, just the right colour to bring the whole thing together.

18Jan2013

Wonky Star Quilt finished

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

I finally finished my wonky star quilt. I had blogged about finishing the top a month or so ago and it has taken me a while to actually get it quilted. I am really pleased with how it turned out. It is a true scrap quilt using different colour bits and pieces for the stars as well as scraps of tone on tone whites for the background.

I ummed and ahhed about how to quilt it. I started doing a loopy quilting pattern but did not like it so unpicked it all and started again. I ended up quilting stars all over – no set pattern just big and little stars all over. I really do have to work on my quilting skills. I get bored with this part of the process and I must admit I get a little sloppy.

I backed the quilt with a wonderful Alexander Henry fabric that just really worked with the colours I used. I framed the fabric I had with a white border which I think works okay. I love the fabric but probably could have found another way to make it work. I have just discovered Elizabeth Hartman’s FREE Craftsy course on quilt backs which has got me thinking about other ways to back my quilts. It is a great course and you can find it here.

I have now washed the quilt and it is ready for delivery to Project Linus. I post wash all my quilts before I deliver them to PL. I do love the feel and look of the quilt when it has been washed, all soft and puckered. Are you a post or pre washer?

4Jan2013

Flower Garden quilt finished

Posted in Finished Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

If have finally finished my Flower Garden quilt. The quilt may look familiar as I use the unfinished quilt top to as my blog header, but here it is all completed….

There is an element of crazy to this quilt. I really wanted to just use all my bright floral fabrics in one simple quilt. The end result is loud, crazy, fun and bright. I LOVE IT.

I kept the quilting simple and straight and made the back from left over fabric, scraps and fat quarters. The back is almost as fun as the front!

This quilt is also bound for Project Linus and I know without a doubt that some kid is going to love it as much as I do.

14Dec2012

Flower quilt finished

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilts by wombatquilts

I have just finished binding my flower quilt. I previously blogged about my struggle to quilt this sucker, but now that it is all done I am sure it was worth the grief. What do you think?

Here is some of the details:

I also love the back of this quilt. For the back I made one big block, reflecting all the blocks that I had made for the front. It is the first time I have done this but it will not be the last. It is a great back.

This is also the first quilt that I have used my new quilt labels on. I found a great etsy store (here jennifersjewels.etsy.com) that made them for me and now I just have to get into the habit of adding them to my quilts.