Tag Archives: quilting

It is not easy being green…

Posted in Finished Quilts by

First of all I want to thank everyone who reached out to me after my last post. I was scared to post about what was going on with me personally but you all made me feel so loved and supported… thank you… you may have even made my mum tear up a bit.

Now onto the business at hand… quilts.  Today I am sharing a recent Do Good Stitches finish.  This one was a simple block that chose for the Bee… you can see directions on making it here…

DGS green quilt

This quilt top came together quickly, once I had received all the blocks from my fellow DGS peeps…

green quilt detail 3

I want to use the palette I selected for this project again… but this time I want to just use the colors with no white…it is such a fresh color scheme and I want to really get the citron to pop.

CW_MoodBoardMonday_BluesGreens

On Pinteres I have a whole folder full of color schemes and I love taking inspiration for how other people put together palettes… particularly when I am having a color block (which is a quilters equivalent to writers block).

green quilt detail

I also find it easy to point my fellow quilting bee mates in the direction of a color palette when setting a block for them to make…. and so far the results have been spot on.

green quilt detail 4

I got a wonderful mix of colors back from my team and also a variety of tones… does anyone else use other peoples colour palettes?

green quilt detail 2

I had fallen a little behind with my Do Good Stitches finishes so this quilt got an all over stipple… thanks to my darling friend Sam Hunter… and a Martha Stewart sheet for the back…

quilt back

This quilt has already headed to the local PICU and is hopefully giving a warm Quilty hug to someone.

Quilt Details:

Block:  12 inch Double T block
Made by: DGS Hope Circle
Fabric:  Green, turquoise and citron scraps
Finished size:  48 x 60 inches

Need to get organized…

Posted in Finished Quilts by

I am in desperate need of a some organization… I have not posted anything for the last couple of weeks because I was not organized enough to get the photos up and posted.  I have about 5 quilts finished and photographed but I have not been able to get them sorted and corrected so that I can post.

So here comes the admission… I am not quite myself at the moment… and actually have not been for a little while.  You see it seems the knock to my head a the end of 2016 did a little more damage than originally thought.  I have not been able to read properly for a little while… my eyes and brain are not communicating the way they should be.  It means that blogging has been a much more of a task than it used to be… and I have been reluctant to do it.

The quilting though has been surprisingly easier than my Neuro-optometist thought it would be.  There is a lot to be said for muscle memory.  It seems all those years of mindlessly sewing has helped me continue working during this fun phase… though some of my paper piecing stitches have not followed the lines the way they should…

After keeping this under my belt of the last 6 months I thought I should come clean about the struggle.  I am seeing a large number of people with the word “neuro” in front of their title and things are getting better…slowly.  So I ask for your patience as I try and find a rhythm as my brain heals.

All that being said I do have a quilt to share this week… and it is one I LOVE…

finished solid star quilt

This quilt is another beauty that came out of a PMQG Charity Sew Day.    It took tons of brightly colored solid scraps as well as some cream/white scraps – I spent a lot of time with my Accuquilt cutter cutting 5 inch squares for this one!

quilt detail

The solids worked so nicely and I have become a bit of a solid fan for charity quilts…. though I do miss the novelty fun that comes from using prints…

solid stars quilting detail

The quilting on this piece is beyond amazing.  One of our talented long armers, Cindy Lund had a field day… each star is quilted with a different pattern and the sashing is free motioned.  The quilting really does make this quilt so much more special.

the pinkies

I mean it is beyond anything I had imagined when I handed the quilt over… I am always in awe of the work of our amazing long arm quilters… they do such an amazing job… and it is a job that I am not particularly fond of, which makes me even more grateful for their time and talents.

quilt back

As this is quite a large quilt I used a nice piece of wideback for the backing.    The backing  was donated by Elizabeth Hartman and is part of her widleback collection for Robert Kaufman.  I have a been so grateful for the wide back donation we got from Elizabeth… it has saved me piecing backs for so many of the larger quilts.

quilt detail 2

To finish the quilt off I made the unusual decision to bind in white… because the sashing was not added around the outside of the quilt a darker binding would have made the quilt a little imbalanced I think.

This beauty is labeled up and headed to Camp Erin.  We have a wonderful collection of quilts going to this cause this year.  I was thrilled to run across the documentary “One Last Hug” on HBO last month, which is about Camp Erin… it is always nice to know more about where the quilt are going and who they are helping.

Quilt Details:

Quilt Block:  Traditional block known as African star or pinwheel star
Block size:  12 inch
Fabric:  Solid scraps with Kona white and Snow background.
Finished Size:  54″ x 68″

A little Friday Improv

Posted in Finished Quilts, Scrap quilts by

The quilt I am sharing today was made during one of our Guild’s Charity Sew Days.  For these sewing adventures I usually pick a block to make in advance, pull and cut all the fabric and do a couple of sample blocks.  There is quite a bit of prep work… but not on Improv days….

golden improv quilt 2

On Improv days I get to pull fabric but I do not have to cut anything….  I really like those days… and Improv log cabins are the best…

quilt detail 4

This quilt was inspired by some mustard metallic that had been donated to the program – some Mirror ball and some Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets.   I also had a stash of black and white scraps which needed using and a plan came together…

golden detail

There are some wonderful novelty prints in this quilt and some great fussy cutting.  That dog looking out put a smile on my face every time I see him…

quilt detail 5

The color scheme is gender neutral and I think a little more grown up than some of the brights I usually do… and I thought this would be a great quilt for an older kid.

golden improv quilt

The photo shoot for this quilt (and a few more I will share in the coming week) took place at a local garden. Mr Wombat was very patient and a real trooper as some of these quilts are quite big…

the struggle is real

And the wind did not always co operate with us… I finally gave us trying to get a decent shot of the back of the quilt… and went for a close up instead…

quilt back detail

The close up gives you a better look at the fabulous ostridges and their golden butts that are on the back.  This is actually part of a sheet set I bought at Macy’s… I have become obsessed with the Whimsy sheet sets Martha Stewart does as they are perfect for backing  kids quilts.

Quilt Details:

Block:  12 inch wonky log cabin
Fabric: black & white scraps with a smattering of mustard.
Size:  60 x 72 inches

The weather has finally co-operated…

Posted in Finished Quilts by

After some miserable weeks of rain here in Portland it has recently fined up enough for me to drag Mr Wombat out and about to photograph some quilts.  It used to be much easier when I hung the quilts on the back fence, but not as much fun.   The first of the recent quilts I am going to share is a Do Good Stitches finish….

double cross quilt

You might recognize the block as I shared the details for making the double plus block in November and if you are interested you can find the pattern here…

pinkies close up

It is a fun block and a real scrap buster…and my fellow Do Good peeps did a great job with their Double Pluses.   Mr Wombat was also on good pinkie form don’t you think?

double cross quilting

In true scrappy form it is full of fussy cut goodness and fun bright colors… and is wonderfully gender neutral I think.  I do love my charity quilts to be cheerful and worthy of a good game of I spy.  I was talking to a friend today about stashes and I realized where other people (aka. grown ups)  go for simple blenders, I will always go for a novelty print if I can.

double cross detail 4

The quilt was quilted and bound by one of the fabulous PMQG members.  Our Charity program receives quite a few quilts from different Do Good Circles (or Bees), and each one is sent to our local Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  Every month or so we send to the hospital between 15 to 30 quilts… some of them are panel quilts but most of them are beautiful handmade masterpieces.

double cross detail 5

I am constantly in awe of the people of my quilting community and the wonderful work they do.  I have always made charity quilts – it has been my passion/obsession for over 20 years… but I never expected so many people to jump in so enthusiastically and help out.  I am constantly speechless at the generosity I see.   There is such good in the world.

double cross detail 3

Quilt details:

Pattern:  12 inch Double Plus block
Fabric:  Scraps…nothing but scraps.
Quilt Size:  48 x 60 inches

It is time for another Bee Block….

Posted in Quilt patterns by

Ah yes it is that time again… I am setting another block for my fellow Do Good Stitches gang… and this month snuck up on me so I have resorted to a variation of an old faithful….the wonky star…

dgs wonky star

For this 12 inch block I used:

  • Fifteen (15) low volume 3 1/2 inch squares
  • One (1) black/dark grey 3 1/2 inch square
  • Eight (8) black grey triangles – I used scraps but you can cut a 3 inch square in half to make the triangles.

Step one is to make the star points:

To make the star points you will need 4 of your low volume squares and your triangle pieces.

step 1

 

Take one of the squares and sew a triangle onto one corner, making sure the pattern sides of your fabric are together and when the triangle is flipped it covers the corner of your square.

 

step 2

 

Next trim the excess low volume fabric from the corner and press the triangle over into place.

 

 

step 3

 

Then add another triangle of fabric to the other side of the square…. sew it down … trim the excess low volume fabric and press over.

 

 

step 4

 

Your next step is to trim your block back down to 3 1/2 inches square.

 

 

step 4a

 

The back of your block should look like this…. now repeat the process until you have 4 star point sections.

 

 

block layout

Step Two:

Lay out your block as illustrated….

sewing block together

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Three:

Sew the block together in rows… then sew the rows together to make a completed block.

 

 

 

 

 

What I love about this block is that has built in negative space which allows for you to stagger the stars layout when putting the quilt top together.  You can also make a couple of blocks that are just low volume squares (no star) to break up the layout of the quilt.

In the coming months I will have two different variations of this quilt to show you, as I also used this block recently at out Guild charity sew day.   For the sew day we used a rainbow of solids and a white star which gave us a really fun bright quilt.  If you want to see a work in progress shot of that quilt head over to my Instagram account.