"think positive" quilt

I am a little behind on blogging about Christmas gifts made, and in fact I forgot to take photos of some altogether!  But today I will share my favourite, a quilt 2 years overdue.

I promised my sister and her husband a quilt when they were redecorating their t.v. room.  My sister is not much of a "quilty person", so I wanted her input on the design and colours. A year passed and I finally got a top made.  I decided on an improv cross/plus design, for several reasons- 1. their faith, 2. my sister is a chartered accountant, and 3. at the time, my sister and brother in law had been in the midst of a long, difficult struggle with infertility and adoption.  I called the top "think positive" and…again it sat in the closet for months.

And then- a baby.  A baby!  My sweet little niece. It all came out positive after all!   And then the top sat longer because, of course, a baby quilt took precedence :)

All of a sudden it was Christmas again.  Doh!  So I basted and did some wonky grid quilting, and did some of the WORST machine binding of my life (not sure what the heck happened there), but hey, done is better than perfect, right? And they seemed to like it regardless.

And seeing as it has been -30 degrees Celsius for much of December and January, I hear this has already been put to good use!

a quilt for the plaid baby

One of my favourite quilty friends, Kaelin of The Plaid Scottie, welcomed a beautiful and healthy baby girl, Merida, into the world this past week!  There are a group of us who chat daily on Facebook about quilting and basically every other issue known to man (and some I am sure no one else has ever dreamed up), and we have been excitedly awaiting this moment since the pee hit the stick ;)  Even before Merida was conceived, Kaelin had put her order in for the Coolbreeze sweater I showed you here.  But in addition to that, the group of us decided to, naturally, make her a quilt.

Angela quarterbacked the whole thing (and I pinched all the finished quilt pictures from her site, with her permission of course).  After much discussion we opted on a paper pieced square in a square block that could showcase our collections of cute and precious fabrics, perfect for an I Spy quilt!  Oh what fun watching this come together!

There were about 10 us making this quilt for Kaelin and her "plaid baby" as she is known to us; Angela, Cherie, Cara, Michelle, Kelly, Ali, Amy, Rene, Elena, Tracey and myself.  Merida's nursery theme is "The Fabulous Mr. Fox" so there is definitely and abundance of fox-themed fabrics present.  These are the blocks I contributed!

A big shout out to Angela for quilting and binding this baby to perfection!

We are all so thrilled for Kaelin, and wish her and her new little family all the best.  And we hope Merida inherits her mother's appreciation and love of good fabric!! I am sure this is a good start ;)

Bloggers Quilt Festival: Heartstrings

Well, I finished up another quilt and decided to enter it in the hand quilting category in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  Welcome to any newcomers via Amy's blog, hope you are enjoying the festival!

Unfortunately, this quilt has a sad story.  It was made for a co-worker and her husband who recently suffered a late miscarriage of their first baby.  They had been trying to get pregnant for ages.  They were devastated.  I felt helpless.  I made a quilt.

I called it Heartstrings because, the situation pulls at my heartstrings, and, it is literally a heart made out of strings.  I decided to do a colorful heart, representing hope and love, against a dark, blank background.

For the quilting, I used a rainbow of Perle cotton.  I chain stitched on the words "love lives forever in our hearts" and then did echo quilting around the heart perimeter in a variety of different stitches.  It is simple, but effective (I think!) against the grey.

On the back, a cozy flannel that has been in my stash since before I officially HAD a stash!  The binding is a grey polka dot from the LQS, hand stitched in place.

Simple, but I hope this quilt provides some comfort.  Thanks for visiting!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Spectacle quilt

It's that time again- the fall edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival has begun over at Amy's Creative Side.  I have mine listed in the baby quilt category! Can't wait to peruse the quilty goodness in Blogland!  Welcome to any newbies to my blog, and thanks for stopping by :)

A newly finished quilt to share with you today.  Isn't it funny that when fall hits and everything around me starts to wilt and die, I always seem to get a surge of creativity?  Lately I have been ON FIRE, people!  Sewing this and that, knitting my brains out, and a bunch of quilts coming together.  Lovin' it.  Just wish there were more hours in a day!

And I THINK this may be my new favoritest quilt of all time!!  (Yes, this is the part where I start to get all braggy.  But seriously.  Check this out. )

I can't think of a single thing I don't like on this quilt, or that I would do differently if I had the chance.  Which is rare for me (overanalyze much?).   I made this for a baby boy on his way into the world, but I am thinking that he may get a Gap gift certificate instead ;)  It all started with inspiration from this quilt, by Blue Elephant Stitches.  Now I am usually a girl who digs symmetry...total Type A personality, like to control everything, so on and so forth.  But that said, my favorite quilts to make, or look at, for that matter, are often the ones that have very little rhyme or reason.  

This one was just like that.  I took some scraps in blues and greens out of the overflowing bin, cut them into triangles, and decided to use two tones of grey to piece them together randomly.  I used Kona-something (charcoal?) and Alexander Henry Heath.  I had no plan, just assembled the top row by row, and had so much fun in the process as I slashed and hacked and stitched away.

I knew the quilting should be unstructured as well, and decided on a wonky free flow grid, somewhat mimicking that in the Heath. I used a light blue cotton thread, which of course I ran out of half way through the vertical quilting.  Le sigh.

Well, as often is the case for me, unexpected mess ups stimulate creativity (i.e. being too lazy to go to the store to buy more matching thread, I came up with a Plan B).  So, I decided to add some turquoise and goldenrod thread lines to the grid to fill in the spaces, and a small segment of hand quilting as well.  In the end, I think this adds so much to the finished product, we are just going to pretend it was a product of genius instead of laziness, okay?

The binding- I used a Sunkissed Sweetwater texty print cut on the bias.  I am normally one for hand stitched binding, but have dabbled in machine sewn too, with little success.  But this time- total triumph!  I used a WALKING FOOT, people...geez, whey haven't I tried that before??  Made all the difference.  It turned out perfect.

Last but not least- the backing!  How fun is this?

What is it?  It's a piece of a sheet, bought at Winners (Canada's equivalent to TJ Maxx), made by Colin and Justin.  What can I say?  It makes me so happy. Perfect amount of funky fun for this quilt. And I have plenty left for another (or two!).

This quilt measures in at about 40" by 50".  Annnnnnd I think that's all I have to say about that.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Kristie :)

a quilt for a Christmas gift

Last Christmas, that is.

(just a wee bit behind)

I have the best parents ever.  And they have waited sooooo patiently for this!  Of all the people in my life, they are two of the most important.  So I guess the delay was partly that I wanted a quilt for them that I liked, and I knew THEY would like.  So I gifted them an unfinished quilt for Christmas last year. But as much as I liked the quilt, it just wasn't them.  Then I couldn't decide how to quilt it.  Then I hated the quilting. Then I was too lazy to pick out the quilting and do it again.  In short, I started to hate that darn quilt, and didn't want to send those bad vibes over to my folks' house.

So I finally got a fire under my arse and started over again.  My mom is not a girly-girl (and obviously, either is my dad), and their home is decorated mostly in taupes and navies.  I decided that Cara's free Urban Lattice quilt pattern was the perfect fit for them.

I made a few modifications- I did 10" blocks instead of 12", so it finishes at about 60' by 70". And I just cut the pieces with a homemade template and pieced them without the paper, because I got lazy after a few blocks.  Not totally perfect, but that is when you fall back on a parent's unconditional love ;)

I used linen as my base, which I love using for texture and also for the weight- it feels substantial to snuggle under, and softens with each washing.  I did my sashing in navy linen, and then used a variety of browns, navies and aquas from my stash for the top. The binding is hand stitched, a bias stripe from Riley Blake.

Did an all over stipple for quilting, because I love the crinkly effect, and honestly, I suck at straight line quilting.  I truly do.  And it just accentuates any imperfections in my piecing.  Truth.  So there you have it.

For the back, I did a big block.  Kinda like it.  But sewing 30" blocks on the bias was not my brightest idea.  All is well that ends well!

My Dad's birthday was yesterday, so that gave me the perfect opportunity (read: motivation, deadline) to give them the quilt.  They loved it, of course.  Because they are the best parents ever :)

Now it's time to work on my sister's Christmas quilt (gifted Christmas 2011....oops!).

A quilt for Ryker

A friend approached me to commission a quilt for her friend, who I haven't met.  She is pregnant with their second child, a boy they have already named Ryker.   However, they were recently given the devastating news that the fetus has a condition making it incompatible with life.  Instead of terminating the pregnancy, the couple has decided to carry the baby to term, hoping to maybe have a few hours to hold their son before he passes.

They call Ryker their little sunshine, so I decided to base the quilt top on sun and sunbeams.  The top is one big paper pieced block.  I had never paper pieced before, but I did a few practice blocks, then sketched this out on freezer paper, roughly using this free tutorial on Craftsy as a guide.  I gotta say, I see more paper piecing in my future!

The top piecing is really quilte simple, and my plan was to do some fancy free motion quilting along the beams to make it meaningful.  I used a nylon "invisible thread" for the first time, this one by Connecting Threads, and was really pleased with the result.  It blended well with all the bold colors here, letting the texture steal the show.

In the sunshine, I tried my hand at some curve-on-curve quilting.

In the orange, I did some "ribbon candy."

In the lighter blue beams, I quilted radiating waves, and put words in them.  I stitched in "Ryker", "you are my sunshine,"  "love lasts forever," and a simple heart.  The alternate navy beams are each a different pattern: a quilted plaid, a stipple, pebbles,  radiating circles and clamshells.  The result is a quilt filled with lots of lovely texture.

I used a DS plaid for the back and Joel Dewberry herringbone in navy for the binding, which was machine stitched in place (getting better at that).

I am hoping this quilt provides some comfort to Ryker's parents; something to hold when he is gone.

Linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

my new favourite quilt.

Okay, it is not so new.  I have been sleeping under this for a month or more now.

My favourite Anna Maria Horner Good Folks fabric.  Pieced with love on a weekend away in Atlanta, it will always remind me of that trip and bonding with my quilty friends.

Quilted by the amazing Krista in an all over loop pattern.  The texture is perfect on this monster sized quilt, a large king at 120" by 90".

Buttery voile on the back, so soft on the skin. It is the perfect weight for summer. I love how it welcomes me to bed every night.

My favourite. Now I just need to make me some matching pillowcases and shams :)

 

Blogger's Quilt Festival: a quilt for my niece

Welcome, Bloggers!  Hope you are enjoying the Festival, thanks for popping by!

I have a new niece!  You can read more about her story here.  She has stolen all of our hearts :)

This is a quilt that brings me so much joy.  I have been waiting to make it forever.  My sister is not a "pink" person, and, growing up, had her own room decorated in purple, blue and black.  So, I used those colors as inspiration for my niece's baby quilt.

I don't often use patterns, but this time opted to crack out one of the MANY quilting books I buy (but rarely use!) for a simple pattern.  I settled on Elizabeth Hartman's Fenced In, from her Practical Guide to Patchwork, and modified it to baby size.  Though a generous baby size...it finished up at about 50"x50'.

I used and assortment of fabrics from my stash, choosing light and dark purples, navy and aqua blues, a splash of pink, and some yarn dyed Essex linen in black as my base.  A new color palate for me, and I love how it turned out.

On the back, I made a patchwork heart, with the center being my label, with some words of love for my new sweet niece.

I quilted it with loopy hearts to add even more love!

My sister used the quilt in a newborn photoshoot with the amazing May Arason-Li.  If you are in the Winnipeg area, I highly recommend her!  She has taken photos of our family as well, and they are spectacular.  Here are a couple of my favourites :)

And another on my New Wave quilt, pattern, by coincidence, also by Elizabeth Hartman.

And who doesn't melt at the sight of baby toes and puppies??

 

Thanks again for stopping by, I am off to enjoy the Festival!

a noteworthy quilt

I received a surprise package in the mail from Sew Sisters in thanks for participating in their Kona challenge- remember the pregnant doll tutorial?  Included were some more Kona solids and a charm pack of Noteworthy by Sweetwater.

Now, normally when I get new fabric, it sits out on the kitchen counter awhile so I could look at it, then progresses to the desk in the craft room, eventually to be put away in the appropriate storage bin in the Closet of No Return. Then, much later, I find it, wondering why I have never USED it?

Not this time.

It was no sooner out of the envelope than I tore into it and sewed it into a patchwork baby quilt top.  Just. Like. That.  I kid you not, the top was sewn and pressed within 20 minutes.

While I was at it (and totally because I was too lazy to clean up and put away my machine),  I grabbed a scrap of batting, my 505 spray and a piece of perfectly coordinating Nicey Jane dots (rescued from The Closet) and basted that baby.  Continuing on, I decided to quilt it with some pretty free motion flowers, one in each square, to add a little something to the simple patchwork.

I especially love how the quilting looks against the backing.

The binding is a pink with loopy flowers as well, just made for this quilt.  This stuff is from my local Fabricland, and has been hanging in The Closet since my very first quilt, almost 3 years ago!  I attached it and finished hand sewing it on that night while catching up on trashy t.v.

So there you have it, the story of a quilt, made in less than a day, completely unplanned.  Noteworthy, I think :)