Modern Quilt Guild Challenge - Finished Quilt

Woohoo! I finished my first MQG Challenge quilt.

This was my first time sewing with curves and my first quilt made without any rulers.

When I first got the fabric for this challenge, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. The soft green/grey colors aren't really my typical style. I've been really into Sherri Lynn Wood's book, the Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, so I decided to try one of the scores from her book.

I had a hard time deciding what to do, but I decided on the Layered Curves Score. I have never done curved piecing before, and it's something I've wanted to try for a long time! I bought a few shades of grey and white to go with the fabrics sent, and I also got a 1/2 yard of the triangles from the Cottage Garden line.

This top was so much fun to piece! I made the entire quilt without rulers (except for on the facing), so the blocks ended up all different shapes and sizes. They were fun to make, but I got a bit nervous about how they'd fit together.

I used a lot of steam, and filled in with strips when the blocks were different sizes. It wasn't as difficult (or as stressful) as I thought it would be, and I really enjoyed the process. I'm actually starting to prefer sewing without a ruler! Sherri Lynn Wood also has awesome instructions, which make a huge difference.



I quilted it with an off-centered spiral in variegated (white & grey) Aurifil thread. I was going to try something different with the quilting, but I think a spiral was the right way to go with this one. I tried spray basting for the first time, and it is a game changer! I never minded pin basting, but I do occasionally get small puckers on the back. I got some tips from a friend on spray basting, and I have converted! It worked out so well.

 

I love the variety in these blocks, and how all of the different shapes come together. I am really looking forward to my next improv pieced/ruler-free project!

 

I ended up doing a fairly simple pieced back, with some of the left over border pieces. I finished this quilt with a facing, instead of binding (another first!). I liked the look of the border I had added, and didn't want to add a solid binding.

 

 

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this one turned out. I'm not quite sure what to do with it now, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I also need to think of a name for it so I can make a label.

 

I've also learned a lot making it, and I'm really looking forward to doing more improv piecing. It was a lot of fun, and I liked not having to worry about measuring, piecing and cutting accurately!

 

 

Linking up with NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Crazy Mom Quilts. 





Blue Sky Finished Quilt

Happy Summer!

I finished my Blue Sky Quilt this week, and braved the heat and humidity today in order to get a few photos of it. This quilt was part of my 2015 Quarter 2 FAL List, and the first lap sized quilt I've finished in a while.

 

I ended up quilting it with my walking foot, and did wavy lines across the top. I used a polyester fusible batting for the first time (I won it at my local guild a few months ago). It had a much higher loft than I'm used to, so there was a lot more drag from my walking foot than usual. I plan on doing the same quilting on another quilt, but with lower loft batting. Hopefully I have more success next time.

 



I was glad that I was able to use a lot of the larger scraps on the back of the quilt. I like this fabric, from Ty Pennington's Impressions, but it's not really my style. I definitely prefer the brighter, bolder, more saturated colors. I think these colors, and the blue quilter's linen work well for a "man quilt" though.

I used the same fabric on the back as I used for the binding, along with a few scraps. I wanted something darker to go with the masculine feel. The fabric is from Kim Schaefer's Moonshadow. Lately, I've really been leaning towards using darker colors as a neutral, so this was a perfect stash addition.

My brother is currently at home in Colorado, enjoying a few weeks off before starting his second year of medical school. I'll be able to mail it to him in a couple of weeks. It's around 65 by 80 (I think), so it should be a good, large, lap sized quilt for him. I know he doesn't have a lot of free time to lounge on the sofa and watch TV, but hopefully he can use it to keep warm while studying :) I'm impressed by his dedication, he told me he usually spends 60+ hours a week in class and studying, and this is just his first year. I can't believe how much work he puts in, but he's happy and he enjoys it, so that's good to hear.

I hope everyone in the US is enjoying the first day of summer. I am so happy we have air conditioning. It is too hot to do anything outside, so I have plenty of time to stay in and quilt.

This week I'm linking with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and Crazy Mom Quilts because I finally have a finished quilt to share!!

Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap

Happy Sunday!

This year, I have participated in a few instagram mini quilt swaps. The latest, the Alison Glass mini quilt swap, is just wrapping up. I love Alison Glass' fabrics, and this was a great opportunity to use up some scraps from my Triangle Transparency quilt, and expand my stash a little bit.

My partner said she really liked Alison Glass' Sun Prints, especially Mercury. Her mosaic had some wonky log cabins in it, and a string quilt, so I decided to make a mini wonky string quilt for her:

The top came together very quickly, and was a lot of fun to make. I used freezer paper as my foundation, and tried to make it a little wonky. Next time, I'll try to make it a little wonkier.

 

I quilted it with my walking foot, I didn't really have a plan, just some zig-zags and echo quilting until I filled the entire space.

 



I backed the quilt with Mercury, my partner's favorite fabric.

This swap was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to receiving my package. I have one swap left, finishing next month, and I think I'll take a break after that. I have really enjoyed making mini quilts, and it has given me the opportunity to try new things, but I'm ready to do more sewing for me :)

Have you participated in any online swaps? What was your experience like?

This is another finish from my 2015 FAL list for the 2nd Quarter. I have two more finishes to share before the end of the month. I just need to get photos!

Triangle Transparency Blog Hop

Today is finally my turn to share my Triangle Transparency quilt with you!

Triangle Transparency is a pattern designed by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl. I love her quilts, and when she showed me this pattern, I could not wait to test it. The pattern looks so cool, and I was very excited to try it out!

 

 

Triangle Transparency is a 60x60 lap quilt, and it's a perfect pattern for basics, small scale prints and solids. After looking through the pattern, and reading a little more about transparency quilts (from Yvonne's introduction), I knew I wanted to make this with the new Alison Glass Sun Prints. I'd been coveting these fabrics since last fall, but was waiting for an excuse to buy them.
 

I was making this quilt with my husband in mind, so he had a hand in choosing the fabrics. He really likes the mercury print because it looks "space-y."  Because this is meant to be a "man quilt," I decided to go with a darker background and color scheme. I used Mercury in Charcoal for the background, Ink in Denim for color # 1, Mercury in Cobalt for color #2, and Grove in Teal for color #3. I love how the colors go together!

He also requested mustard colored flannel for the back--I don't know how or why he landed on mustard. I really love Shetland flannel, but I am really not sure about putting mustard flannel on the back of a dark blue and grey quilt. Luckily there is a black cross-weave, so the navy thread blends in better than I thought it would--I actually really like how the quilt looks from the back!

I straight line quilted it with my walking foot, with lines about 1 inch apart (I mostly eye-balled it, because I dislike marking quilts and measuring things. I'm surprised at how even the lines are).

The top itself is really simple to construct, and ideal for someone like me who enjoys making quilts with as few blocks as possible. I am a huge fan of simple designs, and geometric patterns, so this quilt pattern is definitely a winner in my book!

I found the pattern very easy to follow, and it's easy to assemble everything. The most time consuming part for me was pressing and trimming the HSTs (this is always the longest part of the process!). I really wanted everything to line up correctly, so I took my time and even used a brand new rotary cutter blade (shocking!). Now I'm wondering why I don't use a new blade for every project :)

I really like the different layout options with the quilt, and the effect of the triangles. It looks really simple, but changing around the fabrics a bit, or the orientation of the triangles, completely changes the quilt. It's also a great opportunity to play with transparency a bit. I would love to make another one by turning the blocks on point, and adding onto the corners. There are also so many color choices to chose from--it takes forever to narrow it down :)

I hope you've enjoyed all of my pictures of this quilt! It was a lot of fun to make. Thanks Yvonne for letting me test this awesome pattern!

If you haven't done so already, I hope you'll check out the rest of the blog hop posts, and Yvonne's wrap-up post on Friday. Renee and Judy, the other pattern testers, showed off their versions (and amazing quilting!) earlier this week:

• Sunday, April 5th – Introduction by Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
• Monday, April 6th – Renee @Quilts of a Feather
• Tuesday, April 7th – Judy @Quilt Paradigm
• Wednesday, April 8th – Kate @Thread Everywhere
• Friday, April 10th – Wrap-up by Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

The Triangle Transparency quilt pattern is currently available for sale in Yvonne's Craftsy, Etsy, and Payhip stores for $6 through Sunday, April 12th, which is a savings of 33% off of its regular price.

And because I enjoy outtakes, here's one of my husband last weekend--it's a little too windy here for quilt photos:
 

 

 
Linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Blue Sky Quilt Top

I finally have a finished quilt top to share! I also pieced the back ahead of time too.

Ever since I started quilting, I've wanted to make a flying geese quilt. My original plan was to make an entire top of 3x6 geese...but I normally don't have the patience for that kind of piecing. In the end, I decided to do geese of different sizes, and an improv pieced background.

This quilt is meant to go to my brother, so I pulled some of my more "masculine fabrics" for the geese. I don't really get to see my brother that often--he's at med school in Tennessee, and we always seem to visit home at different times. He's 25, and I'm sure he hasn't got any lap quilts in his apartment. I figured these colors were a pretty safe choice for him.

The fabrics came from the very first bundle I bought when I started quilting--from Ty Pennington. I was planning on using the bundle on a quilt for me--I used to be really drawn to the softer colors, but lately I've been into bright and bold, so they don't really suit me. I thought they would make a nice quilt for my brother though.

I had planned on a grey or navy background to go with the more muted colors. Unfortunately, I ran out of those colors. I had 3 yards of this indigo quilters linen on hand, and in the spirit of sewing my stash, I went for it. I am pretty happy with how the blue turned out. I was worried it would be too blue, or too bright, but I like it. 

The finished top is about 70 x 85, I think, so it should be a good size for him.

For the back, I used the left over fat quarters to make a column, then added some kona ash. The black fabric is actually a print (you can't really tell from the photo) from Kim Schaefer for Andover. I have plans for a quilt with a darker background, so this was a nice stash addition.

I have been trying this year to use up as much of my stash as possible, especially those fabrics I don't really love. I find it challenging to fit those fabrics into my projects--especially as they don't really go with the rest of my stash. I'm happy I was able to use a lot of those fabrics on this quilt. The only fabric I bought was the black print on the back. I have a feeling I'll have to go shopping for binding fabric, but I'll worry about that once I finish quilting.

How do you find motivation to use your unloved fabric?

Happy Saturday!

This week I am linking with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, and NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

She's a Rainbow - Finished Mini

This March, my local quilting group, the South Florida Modern Quilters, was invited to hang quilts in a special exhibit in the Broward Quilt Expo. I'm not quite ready to start submitting my quilts to shows, but I thought it would be fun to participate in the exhibit with the rest of the group.

I decided to make a mini for the exhibit, as all of the other quilts I've made are being used, and I didn't want to send any of them away for the month.

This was inspired by the Fiesta Wall Hanging in Quilting Modern. I used the same process and measurements, but made it a rainbow. This is my first quilty project from a book, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

My strips were from AMH's True Colors.

The finished enter panel was a bit fiddly. I pressed my seams to the side, but I think this made it a little stretchy. It was hard to keep it stable (and square) when quilting. I don't know if pressing my seams open would have made it a little easier, or if I just needed more starch....any tips?

I did matchstick quilting with a guterman variegated green thread, and used Kona Emerald and Grass for the borders. I can't remember which gray I used. I do like the green with the rainbow. I could turn it into a St. Patrick's Day themed quilt, but I don't really do holiday decorations, so I won't :)

 

 

I had a lot of fun doing the strip piecing, and I really like making this mini. I can't wait to get it back and hang it on my wall. Has any one else tried this, or any other quilts from Quilting Modern? What was your favorite?

 

Linking this week with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story,  NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and the Weekly Inspiration Linky Party at Nini and The Sea 

 

This is #4 on my 2015 FAL list, nearly halfway there! I don't think I'll make it through all 9 this quarter, but it's nice to have goals!

Finished Supernova Swap Quilt

YAY!!!

I finally finished putting my supernova swap quilt together: 

My partner Amy and I swapped 5 blocks over 5 months to put this quilt together for the Supernova Friendship swap (organized by Stephanie of Late Night Quilter and Sandra of One million stitches -- based on a Quilt-Along from Lee at Freshly Pieced.)

I tried to get some nice, sunny photos on the coast this morning, but it was a little to windy and sunny.



We both used a bundle of AE Nathan's Quiltology, along with our own scraps to make the blocks. Our color theme was aqua, blue, green, orange and gray. It's hard to tell in the photos, but we used Lizzy House's pearl bracelet in sandbox for the background fabric. I'm glad we went with the sandbox, it looks great against the bright colors we used without being too stark.

I hand quilted around and inside each block segment using black perle cotton. I was a little nervous using black thread against such a light background, but I think it really pops! I think any other color would have gotten lost, and there's no point in spending 3 months hand quilting something if it's not going to show up!

 

You can really see the hand quilting on the scrappy back. I bound this with a Denyse Schmidt print I got at Joann's. I went back and forth on the binding a lot, I was afraid this was too light, but I think the coral and blue does fit perfectly with the colors in our blocks.  

 

 



I loved the process of making this quilt, and the bright colors make me so happy! I have been enjoying looking at everyone else's finished quilts, and I can't wait to see how my partner Amy's quilt turns out!

Because we swapped for 5 months, and the top only requires 9 blocks, I did have an extra block which I turned into a cushion.

I'll be linking up my finished quilt on the Supernova Swap Flickr group.

This is also one of my finishes for Q1 of the 2015 FAL. I've actually finished 5/9 of my projects, but haven't posted the rest of them. Better get on it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story,  NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and the Weekly Inspiration Linky Party at Nini and The Sea

Harvest - My Modern Maples Quilt is Finished!

Success! I finally managed to steal a few hours during the daytime this week to take pictures of my finished maple leaf quilt. I have been calling this one November Rain, because I thought I'd finish in November...ha! I'm now calling it Harvest, but it's not labeled, so I guess I can call it whatever I want.  

 

 

Last October was my month to be Queen Bee for the New Quilt Bloggers Bee (we all met during Plum and June's New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop). I asked the group to make modern maples blocks finishing at 12 or 18 inches, so I could add additional gray to fill in areas and wouldn't have to worry about everything lining up as much.

 

 

It took a couple months for me to figure out how to piece everything together. The plan was to piece them together with some plain gray solids to even things up. I ended up with 9 big blocks, and 13 small blocks, so I couldn't exactly split up the top into quadrants and piece them together that way.

 

 

I cut up some graph paper, and played with the pieces until I came up with a layout which I thought was fairly balanced (I love puzzles!). It took a while to get it all together, but now I feel like I'm practically an expert with y-seams! At least they don't make me nervous any more.

 



I quilted it with wavy horizontal lines every couple of inches or so. I didn't measure anything, but just filled in the spaces until it looked like there was enough quilting.

 

 

For the binding I used some Cotton and Steel basics, leftover from a couple of the blocks I made on the top. I used mammoth flannel for the back, and I really love it! It is super soft, and I think the plaid fits in with the fall-theme on the front of the quilt. My husband has requested that I use flannel to back all future quilts.

 

We've gotten a lot of use out of this for the last few weeks--it is "cold" here in Hollywood, and we need quilts to stay warm in this 60 degree weather. It's not quite bed-sized (around 80 x 80) but it works as an extra layer of warmth on our bed, or the sofa. I was glad to finish it while the weather here is still cool.

 

 

As you can see, my wavy quilting had a bit of an influence on the plaid backing, and the nice straight lines of plaid are a little wavy now. Oh well--this was made for snuggling under!

 

 

 

This is definitely my new favorite quilt. I loved the variety of blocks, and having different sizes to work with made things a lot easier for me--I am realizing more and more that I'm much more comfortable with improv style piecing.

 

A big thank you to the ladies who helped piece this quilt--My first bee has been a success! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I have. I can't wait to see everyone else's finished quilts.

 

Blocks pieced by:

 

Pam @ Sewing Wilde

Lin @ Lin's Quilts

Debbie @ Quilting Makes my Heart Sing

Jill @ Pie Lady Quilts

Stephanie @ Late Night Quilter

Christina @ Wips and Tuts

Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs

Afton @ Quilting Mod

 

Also, this is my first posted finish for the 2015 FAL. 

This week I'm linking up with  NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and the Weekly Inspiration Linky Party at Nini and The Sea

Colorado Beauty - Finished and Posted!

Woohoo!! I finally uploaded all of the pictures I took in December, and I now have a finish to share.

I finished my Colorful Colorado/Colorado Beauty quilt just in time for Christmas, and took these on the way to the post office. (I haven't actually settled on a name)

I wrote about my process, and design for this quilt here.

 
It was quite windy, and my husband is a little bit short, so it was touch to get a good photo of the quilt this way. If you look at it this way (which is sideways if you look at my original plan) you can see the Twin Peaks in the blue HSTs. I grew up in Longmont, so Long's Peak and Mt Meeker are the most noticeable part of the horizon.

 
This was a decent sized quilt, so it was hard to get a good horizontal photo of it. I hope you can see from these pictures the "map" of Colorado, with the desert, mountains and plains. I am so proud of this quilt, and I really love how it turned out. I'm glad it went to a good home, but I am thinking about making another similar quilt.

 
I did straight line quilting, 1/4 inch from all of the borders between the background and the different colors. The lines are about 4-5 inches apart. I wanted to do less quilting on this one, as I wanted it to stay nice and soft.

I did a small amount of hand quilting, just in the center Colorado Beauty block (or Denver on my map).

Denver.

I used an orange Juliana Horner print for most of the back. I also used up most of my extra scrappy blocks. You can't really tell in the pictures, but I did a scrappy binding, with solid navy, green and yellow.

 



This one was a little hard to let go of, but I'm glad it went to a good home where it will be loved :)

This was a great quilt to finish 2014 with--I feel like it was a great way to combine a lot of the things I love into a special quilt for a good friend, and my favorite place. I got to use a lot of my scraps (I'm shocked by how many I've accumulated in the last 9 months!). I also think it's a good representation of me as a quilter. I really enjoyed the process here--playing with scraps, and coming up with an original design, and I am so happy with the result. It turned out much better than I had pictured it. I can't believe how far I've come since my first quilt back in April!

This week I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story,  NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and the Weekly Inspiration Linky Party at Nini and The Sea