Quilts for Orlando

By now, most people are keenly aware that a terrorist brazenly attacked the peaceful and innocent patrons of Pulse, a club in Orlando, Florida last weekend.  I really don’t feel that I have anything unique to add to the conversation that has naturally arisen online and in the media concerning this event.

I do feel that the best course of action is to sit politics aside (we probably should do this more often, but I digress…) and focus, instead, on our shared humanity and whatever compassionate response that each of us can offer.

The moderator of a quilt group that I am involved in, offered a unique way to be of service to others and also show compassion to those affected in a very tangible way.  I have known for many years that quilters and other crafters are some of the most caring and generous people around.  This project is a great way to give a tangible “hug” to those who need it most right now.

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is calling for quilt block and finished quilt submissions to be given to the survivors of the Orlando attack, the families of those who perished, and the police, ambulance, and hospital staffs who helped injured survivors.  For the complete blog post and specifics, click here.

As they are requesting both single blocks (10 inch square)  and finished quilts (48 x 60 inches up to twin size) it is possible for most quilters to be able to participate without an undue drain on time or finances.  The requested theme is Rainbow Hearts and they ask that each quilt and/or individual block have at least one heart motif in it.  I’d bet most of us quilters have enough scrap fabrics to applique a quick heart block (or 12) without having to dig through even a fraction of our scraps and stash.  Mix a hodge podge of those blocks together with lots of riotous prints and colors and you will have a rainbow of sorts.  With beauty coming from the combination of many different elements.

Kind of like the good ol’ U.S. of A.

What are YOU quilting lately?

Till next time,

 

 

 

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Nautical Baby Quilt

My first attempt at machine applique.

Once in a while, I get a chance to give a baby gift that fits in well with the theme that the parents and grandparents are doing the nursery in. This was one of those really fun times!

My friend Regina’s son, TJ, recently got married and is expecting a baby with his wife, Brittany.  We are all so excited for their little family and also for Regina and Terry to be grandparents for the first time.  Never have people been so excited to welcome a new baby into this world!  Their enthusiasm and love is absolutely contagious and it makes it such fun to make a special gift.

Anchor fabrics from the back and front of the quilt.

I had been stalking Regina’s Pinterest account for a while and knew that she had pinned lots of ideas for her grandson’s nursery.  I knew I wanted to make something for this baby, but couldn’t quite decide which direction to go in.  Fortunately, Regina and Brittany met me for lunch one day, a couple of weeks ago, and told me all about their nursery plans.  That certainly made it far easier to know exactly what kind of look and color scheme they were going for.  So, with about 2 weeks to spare, I started shopping for fabric.

The final decision was something in red, white, and blue with a nautical theme.  Regina mentioned anchors and I saw them in a few of her Pinterest posts, so that is what I started looking for in fabric.  Some fabrics I found had both navy and lighter blues in addition to the red and white.  While I liked those, for the front of the quilt, I wanted a very crisp, patriotic color scheme.  Having been born while my father was in the Navy, serving in Brunswick, Georgia, I love the nautical theme and knew exactly what I wanted to capture in fabric.

The completed quilt.

Eventually, I found a navy fabric with a white, anchor print, plain (crisp) white muslin, and a mottled true red.  Binding called out for a very tailored red and white stripe and for backing I found a busy, anchor print with both navy and light blues mixed in with red and white.

The top is made from 12 inch stripes (width of fabric) of the navy anchor print and white muslin fabrics.  On the lower right hand corner, I machine appliqued an anchor in place.  It was a bit nerve wrecking because I had always shied away from machine applique, but it turned out pretty well, I think.

I neglected to get a photo of the beautiful mom-to-be with the quilt, so I can’t share one here, but I am sure that as soon as I can, I will get one of the nursery and that precious baby boy in it!

All in all, the quilt seemed to be a big hit and matches several other items that were made for nursery, so it will be a good fit with the theme of the room.  The best part, though, will be welcoming a new little friend into the world.

I make lots of different things for baby gifts.  Do you have a go-to baby gift?

Till next time,

Chemistry Quilt

Warning, this is a picture heavy post.  You have been warned! 🙂

The finished quilt, along with a few other gifts received by my friends.

The backing and binding are Periodic Table of Elements themed.

 

I don’t know about you, but this is the only truly “chemistry” or “science” themed quilt that I am aware of.  It took some hunting skills, but once I found the mid-century reproduction atomic prints, I knew I could pull this off!  With the “geek chic” style that is coming of age (an appreciation of intellect, go figure), it was fun to round out this little fabric collection.

At first, I was concerned that the overall effect would be a bit somber for welcoming a little bundle of joy, but once I got it all put together, it really worked.  Of course the brightly colored liquid in the various flasks do help to lighten the mood, overall.

The best part is that when I finished the project and mailed it off to the Mommy and Daddy to be, they loved it!  He is a high level chemist and she is a nurse.  They asked for a chemistry or science vibe, and I think I pulled it off.  Love my geeky friends!

What have YOU been quilting lately?

Till next time,

Whew! A Finish!

Embroidery by Judy Purdy; photo by Jan Hatchett

It has been a whirlwind month.  About two weeks before the big day, my baby brother announced that he was getting married!  Since we had already met and fell in love with our new family member, and my new sister-in-love, we were very excited, but under the gun for the wedding gift.  As quilters, we like to make, you guessed it, quilts and it was going to be very, very tough to get one made in two weeks for the wedding.

Center block of the quilt holds the label.

And, honestly, we didn’t make it.  Even after Mom and I sat at the dining room table with two sewing machines and sewed like fiends, we didn’t make the deadline.  They were married on February 4th and we gifted them with their quilt on February 22nd, after they had come down to celebrate my brother’s birthday with us.  We put the last stitch in it on February 19th and washed and dried it on the following day.  Not too bad, all things considering.

I may have been a little gung-ho to get this done (out of fear of it languishing around for years, unfinished), as Dad dubbed our work area as “Jan’s sweat shop.”  Ahem.  Nuff said.

As the bride didn’t indicate any favorite colors and we couldn’t be too bold and ask outright (it would ruin the surprise), we took an “anything goes” palette of scraps in all colors.  I used an “organic, improvisational, modern” approach.  I have since learned that those terms mean, essentially, “wonky, but cool.”  In order to save time, we densely quilted the blocks onto the batting as we made them, adding the backing on separately.

Completed quilt top.

It was an interesting way to finish a quilt and it was quite efficient in some ways.  In retrospect, I would have added backing to each block and joined them Quilt as You Go style with sashing strips.   My sewing machine just couldn’t handle the stress of sewing through the intersections and the free arm was just short enough to prevent me from quilting the back on “in the ditch” as originally planned.  Hence, we tied the back on, Appalachian style.

It does kind of work as I tend to quilt my quilts and my Mom tends to tie hers.  This one is a unique hybrid of both techniques.

But, I wish the quilting went through to the back.  Live and learn.  It was quick and simple.  I love the end result.

And the best part is that my brother and his gorgeous wife love it, too!

And this is why it was all worth it! Ain’t they cute???

The worst part was wanting to tell this quilt’s story, the new technique and all while I was making it and knowing that it would blow the surprise if someone told them what we were working on.  I am horrible at the discretion part of this gifting stuff!

What are you working on lately?

Till next time,

 

Almost Christmas Quilt

My Christmas Flimsy!

Okay, it’s just a flimsy (unfinished quilt top) but I did manage to squeeze in time to piece it all together in the hectic Christmas season.  I have always said that I would make a Christmas quilt one of these days, but haven’t ever actually done it.

I fell in love with these Christmas fabrics at one of our local-ish quilt stores and picked up 8 fat quarters and a bit of extra for a creamy background and red inner border.  It’s a great snuggle size and not so overtly holiday that it can’t be used a bit over the winter also.  Gotta love that!

In the photo, it is just laying across a queen sized bed and it covers the top from the pillows to the end of the bed.  I imagine it wouldn’t be too terrible to expand it into a bed sized quilt, just adding to this central star, border, and brick edging (it doesn’t show up terribly well in the photos).

A quilting friend (Hi, Carol!) graciously offered to let me use her long arm to finish it and it just may prove to be the perfect size project to learn on.  Now, to just have time to get around to it!

Have you ever long armed a quilt before?  Please share your tips below!

Till next time,

Christmas Quilt

While I did work on a Christmas quilt for myself this year, I got it pieced, but not quilted.  My friend, Beverly (who doesn’t have a blog) made this adorable Santa wall hanging for a quilt rack in her breakfast nook.  She started with a cute little panel from our local-ish quilt store (nothing is really very local to us) and finished it out beautifully!  I just love him!

I am kicking myself for not getting one of these panels for myself.  Maybe I can find something similar for next year.  I have a real soft spot for the chubby guy in the red velvet at Christmas.

Look at that sweet face!

I know that my Christmas reveals are really late this year and I apologize.  We have had some medical excitement in the extended family and we only recently held the last of our family celebrations this past week.  It’s been a crazy start to the year, but so worth it that everyone is healing and enjoying being together.

What crafts did you make for the holidays?

Till next time,

 

Quilts for the Bucket List, Part 2

It never ceases to amaze me the quantity of absolutely amazing, different quilts that can be made.  The choices alone for one quilt can be mind boggling, so it’s crazy to know that there are dozens of variations on almost every idea possible that all can make wonderful quilts.  Add in fabric choices and finishing designs and options and it’s crazy!  Wonderful, but crazy!

But, here are 5 more quilts that I am drawn to (lately) that I NEED to make…one of these days.

6.  Scrappy Bear Paw in Red and White.  This particular one is pictured in a discussion about quilting patterns at the Statler Stitcher blog.  The original post can be found here.  There is something that really draws me to two color quilts.  I love the reds and white, indigo blues and white, and black and white versions.  You can vary up the fabrics to get your variety and textures while still having a controlled color way and a stunning quilt.

7.  Lone Star.  Yes, please.  From my early quilting days of looking (and drooling) over books and patterns and fabrics for inspiration, this always seemed to be the ultimate star pattern, one that was WAY beyond my beginner skills.  It doesn’t look quite as hard now, but it’s still one to be dreamed of.  I adore the Amish black and brights in this one, but I find it lovely in many other color ways, also.  Choices, choices.  The original post is here.  Scroll down until it jumps off the page at you.

8.  Mariner’s Compass.  I am truly not even worthy of consideration in the skill set that it would take to create a masterpiece such as the one featured in this blog post.  The Compass itself is the center portion with the additional work to showcase it.  Stunning.  Simply STUNNING.  This definitely would require hand piecing to achieve this level of perfection.

9.  Apple Cores.  This is always a great choice for a scrappy quilt.  There is something endearing about the gentle curves.  It looks like so much more than simple straight piecing, but is, I am told, still a beginner friendly project.  I think I would like to do a hand pieced (maybe even English Paper Pieced version of it in riotous, mismatched fabrics).  It might be a good project to carry along on a trip.

10.  Storm at Sea.  This is another one of those classics that is better off with simple, slow, hand piecing.  This example is classic.  The colors of the sea in a quilt with definite movement.  This pattern is one that can look totally different by changing up the color placement in the blocks.  It’s amazing how different they can look.

In case you missed, part 1 of this article, you can read it here.

What quilts or other projects are on your bucket list?

Till next time,

 

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Slow Sunday Stitching 3

Hello friends,

This week, I haven’t worked a single stitch on the quilt.  The wonderful (steal of a deal, many years ago) lamp that sits just behind and beside my rocking chair has blown its ballast.  Hubby will have to order a new part for it, so with the holidays impending, it will be a week or more before we can get back into full quilting mode.  Sigh.  I do realize that I am very, very lucky to have a handy hubby as opposed to spending money on a new lamp.

As for actual hand stitching, I have done a little bit.  I sewed some trim and buttons on some homemade fabric Christmas ornaments.  They turned out very cute, but, unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of them.  I plan to use them as little gifts, or as gift tags.  The best part is when they are fun to actually make and you smile while you stitch!  That is success in my book!

I worked on some star ornaments that are being hand sewn together.  They are a little wonky, but cute and cheerful.  In the photo, the one on the left is partially sewn (it’s really kind of tough to not sew through all of the layers with every stitch and only catch the top fabrics).  The ones on the right are just pinned down.  I have no idea why I purchased these fabrics.  I got them on super sale (I found the receipt) at my LQS.  I don’t think I had a particular project in mind for them at the time.  So, this made for a rather frugal way to use up some bright, holiday fabrics into ornaments.

My biggest project is getting some things ready for Christmas projects.  Some are for gifts and some are for my home, but I spent a fair bit of time getting some dresden plate blocks ready for hand applique over the holiday weekend.  The only hand applique that I have ever done has been the raw edge, blanket stitched version.  I have never done any where the edge is turned under and the stitches are hidden before.  This could be interesting!

I like to do some hand work while watching movies or binge watching on Netflix and this appears to be a good weekend for that.  So, next week, I may have even more progress to show for my hand sewing.

Of course, I am linking up again at Slow Stitching Sundays at Kathy’s Quilts.

If you missed my other Slow Stitching Sunday posts:  #1 is here and #2 is here.

What wonderful projects are YOU working on?

Till next time,

 

Disappearing 4 Patch Baby Quilt

Washed, dried, and ready to deliver!

It is just too stinking much fun to make baby items and my favorite baby item to make is a cuddly quilt.  I have crocheted sets and quilted sets.  I love doing them both.  This time, I was able to make a baby quilt for a lovely family at church who is expecting a baby girl any time now.

This is my first real experience with any of the “disappearing” block ideas, but it really is an interesting technique to learn.  I can see this block being very versatile in various sizes and in a wide range of fabric goodies, from depression reproductions, to civil war, to red, white, and blues, to a good ol’ scrappy one.  It’s geometric without being plain and stodgy.  These fabrics just made me smile at their bright colors as I worked.

I used white muslin and a charm pack of 5 inch squares that I picked up.  The backing and binding are made from a purple muslin that feels just a tad heavier than the white muslin.  All in all, it came together pretty well.

This is the first time I have tried to use “organic” quilting, which is basically machine quilting unstructured wavy lines across the quilt top.  I didn’t mark anything and just kind of followed the lines of the piecing, working my way around pins as I went.  I like how it turned out, even if I did have to frog out (rip-it!  rip-it!) 3 rows and try again.  On the whole, it was rather easy once I got the hang of being fluid with it.  My youngest son thinks that the quilting looks like waves across the quilt top and that makes me like the idea of doing it on a predominately blue quilt some time.

I really think that this pattern and quilting style will be useful on many future projects.

What have YOU been working on lately?

Till next time,

Sneak Peek

I just love having projects to work on! In fact, I often have many going at once with a long term project interrupted a few times for quicker gifts and projects along the way.

I also have a love/hate thing with Christmas crafting. I simply adore all the projects and fun things I can make, but I feel like I must keep them all a secret until after the holiday, for fear a recipient might see them on my blog. So, this year, I have a new plan. I am just showing everything I am working on. Some will be for me, some for gifts, some just for fun. No one will know until Christmas if any of it may be headed their way.

And, as usual, I am keeping an online log of ideas that just might be useful one of these years. Who knows, one of these fun items may become gifts one of these years. Hopefully, this will keep me from forgetting good ideas and keep you full of new ideas to try also.

This is my latest fun project!  I am attempting a dresden block…or two…or three.  Love these rich, Autumn fabrics.  These are from a Moda layer cake, but I didn’t keep the wrapping, so I am unsure of the name.  I am certain that these blocks would be fabulous in any fabric combination.

What projects have you got in the works?

Till next time,