"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!

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!).

not my normal style....

I am a firm believer that if you are making a quilt as a gift, you need to make it to suit the recipient's style, not just make what YOU like and then pass it off on them.  I try to really consider the person's tastes, style and color presences....really, who wants to do all the work and have a "meh" reaction?

So, when it came time to make a quilt for my mother-in-law, I followed the same principles.  She is an amazing woman, not to mention a very talented crafter herself, who can sew, knit, crochet and has now taken up some quilting!  She celebrated her 60th birthday this week, so I decided a quilt was in order.

Being more of a traditional type of lady, I opted to try a log cabin pattern, from a jelly roll quilt book (can't recall which one at the moment).  I loved the inclusion of the little stars at the junctions between blocks!  The fabric choices is where I really left my comfort zone.  My in-laws' home has a lot of browns and earthy tones, not colors I gravitate to normally.   My MIL loved the colors....to be honest, not my favorites.  But, it's not for me!  Make for the recipient, right??

The back is just a taupe sheet, which is very calming as the top is quite bright.  For quilting, I did swirls again, like on my retro Christmas quilt...might be my new favorite?

The quilt has been gifted and was appreciated :) On to the next project!

Christmas quilt

It is that hectic time of year, where we crafters play elf and try to make things for all the people we love.

I am in that group, of course, but this year, I took a little time to make something just for me and my family.  It's been awhile coming!  Two years ago, I bought a kit for this quilt from Amy at Diary of a Quilter.  she recently made another herself, which you can see here.  Last year I started piecing it, and this year, I finally finished it.  And it was worth the wait.

A simple pattern, but so cheery.  It makes me smile.

I quilted it with swirls, my first time venturing out into this kind of FMQ, and after a wee issue (well, a third of the back was a mangled mess and had to be ripped out), I got my groove and I love the result.  Perfect match for this quilt, me thinks!

I look forward to pulling this one out for many Christmases to come for my family to enjoy.

And one last fun shot- my reflection in my house window as I was walking through the yard, "wearing" the quilt after finishing photographing in the snow :)

And this quilt is my Friday Felicity!  Have a great weekend, friends! And take time to give someone you love a hug...especially your kids, after the terrible tragedy this morning in Connecticut.  May our kids never experience such horrible violence.

Ghastlies quilt is finished!

It's done!  Muahahahahaaaaaa!  (Did that sound evil?)

This quilt has to be the most "unnecessary" quilt I have ever made.  And the most fun!  It all just fell into place so instinctively, and I enjoyed every minute of the process.  Let's face it, normally I utter more than a few curse words in the quilt-making process,  but this one was smooth sailing!

Truth be told, I don't even really like Halloween.  But when I was introduced to Alexander Henry's The Ghastlies while at Sewing Summit last fall, I loved it, and bought a half hard with no particular plans.  I started making some wonky blocks with it last fall, inspired by Thumbelina's quilt.  I thought I would just make a wall hanging, but as the blocks accumulated, I ended up with more than enough for a quilt, especially once adding the wonky border- this thing finished at 65 by 75 inches!

Once the top was made, I instantly had visions of quilting it with a large, sprawling spiderweb. The epicentre is to the top left of the quilt (you can click on the photo to enlarge and see the quilting better).  I used a thick Aurafil thread in a yellow-orange shade so that the quilting is quite pronounced.

 I used the same thread to topstitch the binding for continuity.

I even love the back- found this perfect spiderweb fabric at Fabricland on clearance for $3.50/meter.  Score!

It was Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday, and we headed out to rural Manitoba to have dinner with The Hubs' family.  This "Haunted House" is just down the road from their farm....all perfectly rusted and falling down!  Even the day was grey and rainy and desolate...perfect for photographing a Ghastly quilt.  I have to give a shout-out to The Hubs for climbing over barbed-wire fences, avoiding the multiple cow patties, and patiently holding this up in the rain while I gleefully took photos!

Wishing you a SPOOKTACULAR day!

Shared at Quilt Story and linked up to A Ghastly Gathering at alidiza, which runs until October 28!

"the July post": 3 finished quilts!

Wham! Betcha weren't expecting THAT after my long radio silence, eh? Haven't made it to the blog (or visited many of my faves in a bit....hello, friends!) but I did manage to pound out a few quilts in the last few weeks, and have 2 more on the brink! Instead of separating them into individual posts, I thought I would bypass the foreplay and just do one Kristie-style rambling post with the three of them, and call it a month ;)

Quilt 1: laid my granny to rest


Finally finished off my granny square quilt, and I must say, as many have before me who have made this, I love it. It was made entirely by stash and scrap fabrics, including the backing and batting, so it was fun to resurrect some favorites from quilts gone by. I have never really made a block quilt before, believe it or not, and it went quickly....a block here or there when I had a spare moment, and suddenly there was a big enough stack for the top with what felt like no effort.


At first I wasn't keen on the backing fabric (from the Bell Bottom line by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit), but in the end I think it is the perfect cheery match for the top. The orange binding, just from my local Fabricland and in my stash since my first quilt, was the perfect frame.


This quilt has travelled a distance! Twenty years ago, I did an exchange trip to Japan with a girl named Wakako (embarrassing photo was shown here). We have kept in touch over the years, and she visited and stayed with us for a week in early July, along with her husband and 2 children! We shared a frantic week that surely included every landmark in and around Winnipeg, and I think my favorite part was watching our children bond, despite not speaking more than a word or two of eachother's languages. Wakako's birthday was on the last day of her visit, so I gave her this quilt as a birthday/good bye gift. I got the response any quilter would dream of- happy tears and an exclamation that this was the best birthday gift she had ever received! Can't ask for more than that :)




Quilt 2: Children at Play quilt


I started this quilt way back, intending it to be a double sized quilt for on our guest bed. But, even though I loved each and every fabric and the pattern, I wasn't feeling it all together. Then I added borders and loved it even less. I decided to put it away for a bit until I determined where to go from there.

I found it again when cleaning out the guest/craft room in preparation for Wakako's visit. Then a lightning bolt struck- Last But Not Least is finishing up with our wonderful babysitter this summer before heading off to Kindergarten in the fall, and what could be more perfect as a thank you gift than a quilt containing Children at Play fabrics?? Upon inspecting it, I was clear that the borders had to go, so I picked them off, then recut the cute red floral fabric to use as a binding- much better.


I backed it with my favourite grey dot fabric, and quilted it in a soft stipple, my favourite, to get a nice crinkled effect. Voila! And now I love it. The End.



Quilt 3: a wonky baby quilt


Baby quilts are always a favourite for me as they come together so quickly and they celebrate something so special! I decided Esther Mae needed a quilt to go along with her Sunshine hoop.


Her mother is not a fan of pink, so I opted for some pretty blues, yellows and greys, made in a random wonky pattern using Kate's stack and slice tutorial. I opted to flip one block horizontally just to add some interest. I quilted it in a wonky, random, organic grid to match the style of the quilt and I love it.


On the back, I framed a strip of the wonky blocks on either side with my favourite grey dot once again. I applied some black fabric paint to stamps to personalize the quilt with her name on the back. I love the back as much as the front.


Then I did some hand stitched binding in one of my favourite fabrics of all time, from Hunky Dory...have to use it up sometime!



So that is a tale of three quilts. Now, I am off to enjoy summer skies before the snow flies (hey, that rhymes!). I will pop in again with some more projects eventually, in the mean time, take care :)