Boomerang quilt

I have another boomerang quilt to share. This one's pattern is from Jaybird Quilts. I loved her take in only solids so I decided to do all solids as well. I used Moda Blueberry Thicket bunch for this and added navy for the outside.

Once the quilt top was put together un-quilted, I realized it need custom quilting or the pattern was going to disappear.

So I took my knowledge of ruler work on a domestic which I've learned from Amy Johnson and got to work!

Some of these boomerangs were done free motion and some were straight lined.

This was definitely an exercise in patience! It took me a few weeks on my little Bernina, but I had Orange is the New Black to keep me entertained. I think I'm one of the last people to have watched that show! Haha!

But I'm glad I did it, and am thrilled with the results. And - my quilting skills definitely improved throughout the top! The back is one big wideback. It needed to be simple after the detail on the front!

I took this to the park for a photoshoot and the kids ran around like crazy while I took photos...

This one is definitely staying with me for the time being. It's going to be a while before I'm ready to part with this I think!

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Blueberry Boomerang

Pattern: Boomerang by JayBird Quilts

Fabrics: Blueberry Thicket Moda Bundle
Finished size: 56" by 72"

Finished: September 2016

Seagreen Clamshell and Octopus and Auction time!

My latest in the clamshell series is Mr. Octopus. I shifted to a sea-green color scheme for this one and again worked all from stash. I think I could make nautical quilts for the next 3 years and not run out of fabrics!

I'm also really perfecting my wavy free motion quilting! I might use it on everything going forward! There is a whole mixture of fabrics in here from Tula Pink's Neptune, to Heather Rosas Under The Sea as well as some fabrics with texture like prints.

The back is more of the Grunge print that I used as the 'sky' on the front and more of the green ocean color with my label pieced in.

And it's time again for the Circle of Life Auction at my work, Doylestown Health. The proceeds from this auction go to support our Cancer and Hospice programs. I've donated this quilt to the auction and bidding is held online. So if you've wanted one of my quilts and want to support a good cause at the same time, this is your opportunity! The link is here to view and bid.

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Clamshells and Octopus

Pattern: original design

Fabrics: stash
Finished size: didn't get final measurements. approx 50"x60"

Finished: September 2016

Clamshell and Whale

**This quilt is now for sale in my Etsy shop**

The next in my series of clamshell/wave quilts is Mr. Whale. For this one I went back to the coral color palate because I still had plenty of this fabric left to use.

Not much to say about this one. It's very similar to the last one, here's a close up of Mr. Whale and the quilting. It was again free motion on my domestic Bernina.

For the back I found lots of cool stash prints to use.

Here's a close up of the fabrics within the clamshell waves:

The binding is scrappy, made from the prints within the clamshells.

And my label is pieced in the back as usual.

If you know anyone who would like this quilt, it is listed in my Etsy shop.

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Clamshells and Whale

Pattern: original design

Fabrics: stash
Finished size: approx 50" by 60"

Finished: August 2016

Clamshell with Seahorse

**This quilt is now for sale in my Etsy shop**

After designing this Clamshell and Anchor quilt, I thought it might be fun to play with the idea in different colorways and see what I could come up with. The next few posts will be some of the results I've had with that experiment.

My first version is using a similar blue on blue color scheme with a cute little seahorse (they are one of my favorite sea creatures). Here's a close up of the little guy!

As you can see from the first photo, I was lucky enough to have this quilt chosen for a Philly MQG  Exhibition at the Mancuso quilt show. It hung next to Andrew Joslyn's modern quilt.

And I got the obligatory shot of me with the quilt!

Some details on it... here is a better shot of the fabrics used in the clams. This was all stash...surprise, I have a lot of nautical fabrics!

And this one is a better view of the quilting. I did this free motion on my little domestic Bernina.

The blue ocean fabric is a jaquard and the photo below shows the cool blue dots that are on it. I don't know enough about how this fabric is made, but the spots aren't printed, they are done with the weave somehow.

The back is more stash pieces put together with my label.

I'm really happy with this little guy and hope you enjoy seeing a few variations of this quilt in the future!

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Clamshells and Seahorse

Pattern: original design

Fabrics: stash
Finished size: 58" by 70"

Finished: August 2016

Prism quilt and a free motion experiment

 

My most recent quilt finish is one that has been waiting in my sewing room for a few years. I very rarely remake a quilt that someone else has made, but this one caught my eye and for some reason I really wanted to make it just like the sample. This is the Prism quilt by Zen Chic which uses her fabric line Prism as well. 

The piecing was all done by paper-piecing which was actually quite fun. And satisfying since all the points lined up so nicely.  But when I was done, I was totally stumped on how to quilt all that white space. My generous friend Denise agreed to let me use her long arm for this one. So I started marking out the lines I wanted to quilt on this.

 Here it is in progress on the longarm.

I did a combination of ruler work and free motion within the lines. It's in no way perfect, but as it's my first attempt at this kind of work, I'm pretty proud of the results.

I deliberately chose a variegated thread that blended with the background fabric just in case my quilting was atrocious! But that made it really hard to photograph the actual quilting.

It was really fun to work this way and of course not be shoving this through my 5" throat space on my Bernina!

I used the fun dotty print from the line for the binding.

And the back is a solid piece of fabric that I got from my LQS that matched well. I don't remember the name of it, but it has a subtle pattern on it (again, to mask the quilting if it turned out terrible!). I have since added my label.

Overall, I'm so happy with how this turned out and I hope to get to do more of this work in the future!

 

 

 

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Prism

Pattern:Prism

Fabrics: Zen Chic, Kona Cotton
Finished size: 73" by 73"

Finished: April 2016

My christmas quilt - a bee quilt with lessons

Last year I joined the Bee Hive quilting bee run by Blossom Heart Quilts and got put in a wonderful hive of women. We got along so great last year we decided to keep going this year!  More about that later though. My month to bee queen was August and I decided to make a Christmas quilt since I still don't have one. I chose the Ripples Block in red, green and black.  And I'm so thrilled with how this came out! Though it wasn't without drama.

I decided since this was a quilt I would bring out once a year that I wanted to so some special quilting on it. I have also been taking  Amy Johnson's Craftsy class "Quilting With Rulers on a Home Machine" and wanted to try out my new skills. By the way, the class is wonderful! I loved it so much I'm taking her 2nd class. And here are the results!

I even used a sparkly thread for those stars. It was very finicky to work with, but the sparkle it adds was totally worth it. It was very hard to photograph and capture it, but I tried...

The drama came in when I washed it. When the quilt came out, it had bled ALL over. This was despite having about 6 Color Catchers in the wash with it.

 This is one small area, but the entire thing looked like this. I literally stood in my laundry room and cried! All the work my bee mates and put into it and all the work I had done quilting and it was a MESS! Then I hit up the internet.  People recommended a product called Synthropol which is apparently sold in quilt shops. However, it was Sunday evening so that wasn't going to happen.  A friend from my guild told me that Blue Dawn has the same chemical make up as Synthropol and what it does is keep the dies in the water from adhering to your fabric.  So I got out a big plastic bin and filled it with water, Dawn, my quilt and a bunch of color catchers. I let it soak overnight and in the morning, dumped out the pink water and pulled out the color catchers which were dark pink.   I soaked it again all day and this time the water ran clear.  I let the quilt line dry and to my immense relief it looks SO much better!

There are a couple of small spots, but for the most part, you'd have to be looking for them to see them.  And the lesson I've learned going forward... add 1 cup of white vinegar to your wash load with a fresh quilt. It will also keep the dyes from sticking to your quilt!

So back to the photos. Here are some more close ups of my quilting...

 The back still needs its label (i have it ready!)

And the binding is a fun polka dot.

Many thanks to the ladies in my bee hive. They did tremendous work! I almost hate to put it away until Christmas!!

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Christmas Ripple

Pattern: Ripple Block

Fabrics: scrappy
Finished size: 48" x 60"

Finished: April 2016