Blossoms and Butterflies...and Bumbletees

I finished up my Lottie Da quilt yesterday, and managed to get a few pictures between periods of rain.  I decided to name this one Blossoms and Butterflies.  The butterfly fabric is very subtle in the photo, but in person, it is so pretty.  I just didn't get a close up of it in photographing the quilt, but there is a picture of it below!  I just love the colors in these fabrics.  They're sweet without being too sugary, and they feel really fresh.

Most of the fabrics are Lottie Da, by Heather Bailey, but I did add a few other prints, including the chevron and polkadot.  I used all of the scraps in the backing (of course), and am totally in love with both sides of this quilt!

I knew as soon as I saw that cute lilac fabric that I wanted to use it for the binding!

I quilted this with a simple meander, although I did make it a little tighter than I normally do. And although you can't really get a sense of the scale with the pictures, I've been making my labels smaller as well.  I figure that with a baby quilt, I should keep the scale of the label consistent with the scale of the quilt.  Each strip is 4 inches finished, and the center square is 9 inches, so the finished quilt measures 49 inches square.

I made this quilt for the local shop that sells my quilts- Bumbletees Fabrics, and I'm so excited to introduce them as a sponsor!  

                                                             

Bumbletees is my local sewing studio that offers sewing classes, gifts made with fabric by local artists, applique clothing, and of course shelves filled with bolts of gorgeous, modern quilting fabric.  Lots of the fabrics I use in my quilts are from Bumbletees, since I'm in there at least once a week!  

I've loved getting to know the owners, Jan and Andrea.  They are super friendly, and they have wonderful customer service, and great prices!

Check out a few photos of the shop, and you'll see why I can't stay away!  And if you look closely, you'll see my quilts sprinkled here and there!

See what I mean?  Art, frames, pillows, bunting, tea towels, cute applique clothing- and FABRIC!  Is it any wonder that I'm in there all the time?

To kick off their sponsorship, Bumbletees Fabrics is offering a giveaway of five of the fat quarters in the Lottie Da line!

To enter the giveaway-

1.  Like Bumbletees Fabrics on facebook and leave a comment for me to let me know!

*For a second entry-

2.  Visit Bumbletees Fabrics and add them to your favorites list on etsy.  Be sure to let me know with a comment!

Mr. Random will pick a winner next Saturday, November 9th.  If you're a no-reply blogger or a Wordpress user, please be sure to leave your email address so that we can contact you and get your fabric all packaged up and sent to you ASAP!

Happy sewing and good luck!

  

Back At It

Oh my goodness, friends!  I had an appointment on Friday so I was off work, and I took that opportunity to pick up my sewing machine.  My dealer is about 30 minutes away, and they close before I can make it after school, so I was grateful for the chance to get there on a day other than Saturday.  I was without it for two looooong weeks, and I know I will waste no time getting a backup for the future.  I have learned my lesson the hard way.  I just love sewing too much!

I finished up one quilt this weekend and although I have a tutorial all planned for later in the week, I'll go ahead and give you a little peek-

And after that one was finished, last night, I worked on this one-

These are mostly Lottie Da fabrics by Heather Bailey, with a few others thrown in.  The shop that sells my quilts got this fabric line in a few weeks ago and asked if I would make a baby quilt that would really show it off.  They also asked if it would be possible to make the quilt with only fabrics they stock, which eliminated solids.

They also happened to ask for this quilt right after I took my machine in, which means it's been sitting on my to-do list for a couple of weeks already.  The Giant Log Cabin has kind of become my go-to pattern for a quick, easy quilt that can really show off beautiful fabrics.  Since the strips are four inches wide finished, even large patterns stay relatively intact.  Oddly enough, even though I've made three quilts in this pattern (because they are really fun to sew), none of them are at the shop, so I figured, why not?

I'm planning to get this one basted and finished up to deliver Saturday (hopefully), and I hope they love it!

Neapolitan Sundae

My parents came in town to visit this weekend, but I still managed to take a few hours to quilt and bind up this little baby quilt.  In fact, my mom had never seen me do FMQ, so it was kind of fun to show her how it's done (she does not sew at ALL)!

I made this quilt with my Giant Log Cabin tutorial, and it measures 47 inches square.  I love the fact that the smallish size made it a super quick finish.  And of course, now that it's done, I do like it better, and I think it will be perfect for a baby or little girl.

The weather has been so dreary today, so I had to do this photo shoot in about 5 minutes, which severely limited the creativity in my pics.  I'm just glad there was a tiny break in the rain that allowed me to get outside shots at all!

When I was trying to come up with a name for this quilt, my mom mentioned that she thought it looked like neapolitan ice cream with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry all together.  So, I have to credit her with the name- Neapolitan Sundae!  I didn't notice the stray thread on the label until just now (no kidding- a 5 minute photo session).

For the backing, I had a 1 yard piece of one of the Daisy Cottage fabrics, added some Kona Baby Pink and of course added all of the scraps from the top.  I used Kona Chocolate for the binding, and quilted with a meander in soft pink thread.

I don't know if anyone noticed the button on my sidebar (because I haven't mentioned it), but I opened an etsy shop last week.  I'm just running out of quilts to gift, and although I do donate some, I just thought, why not?  We'll just see how it goes!  So far, Grapefruit Fizz is the only quilt in the shop, and she's getting pretty lonely, so this one is going to join her!  I think I'm going to try to get a few more quilts in there before the Christmas shopping season really gets in full swing.  If you happen to have an etsy shop and have any pearls of wisdom to offer, I'm all ears!

Going Camping!

The third of the memory quilts from my grandfather's shirts is finished, and this one has a decidedly campy feel.  I'm pretty pleased with the final result!

These photos were taken in a brief break from the rain we've had all morning.  So, even though I envisioned a photo shoot in the woods with a camp chair and sleeping bag, I had to settle for quick photos taken in my backyard.  Oh well!

The quilting, backing and binding have been the same on each quilt.  I've been trying to use details like this to keep the set unified.  It is quilted with stippling, and the backing is Kona Coal with a chambray stripe.  The binding is Kona Rich Red.  I love how the red binding just sets the whole thing off.

I think the Kona Biscuit sashing really makes the quilt feel more woodsy, as well as the pattern.  It feels a little bit like a giant log cabin to me.

And, of course it has to get labeled (using my own method found HERE)!  I have just one more of these to finish, and the last one will have a preppy/nautical vibe.  I'm planning to do a plaid chevron quilt with navy and white thrown in.

Improv Pieced Backing- Sunning by the Pool

In the spirit of resourcefulness, (and since the top was made from leftovers as well), I decided to piece the backing for my Giant Log Cabin Quilt entirely from stash.  Since the whole attitude of this quilt has been "just grab and sew" I decided to try my hand at improvisational piecing.  This means I didn't touch my rotary cutter and I didn't measure anything during this process.  Check it out!

(Click HERE for the tutorial for the quilt top if you missed it!  Grab and sew is a beautiful thing!)

I'm pleased with the end result, but I must say, it was a bit harrowing!  When piecing the quilt top, I at least knew where I was going with it, and which direction I needed to sew.  This totally "willy-nilly" way of sewing is something that will take some getting used to.

Basting with this improv backing was also a little (okay, very) tricky, and I dislike basting on the best of days.  Since I was sewing some irregular pieces, my seams weren't 100% perfect (shhhh...don't tell the quilt police!) which made taping the back down without wrinkles a real pain in the behind.  I just kept plugging along though, pulling and smoothing in every direction.  If you've seen Finding Nemo, you'll understand what I mean when I say that "just keep smoothing...just keep smoothing" was running through my head.  All in all, the whole taping down the back ordeal took over an hour!

I ended up getting it decently smooth-not smooth by my usual standards, but sometimes you have to realize your limitations.  So, I decided to quilt in squares radiating out from the center of the quilt.  I have found that to be one of the best quilting patterns to outwit the puckers that always try to make their way onto my quilt when my backing isn't completely perfect- and it worked!  Victory over puckers, those little devils!

After all of that, look what I managed to do on the binding-

Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug I guess.  I cannot believe I did that!  Seriously!  How did that happen?  I swear I cut my strips in the same direction.  Too bad I didn't even notice it until the binding was completely on the quilt, while I was outside taking pictures.  

Let this be a cautionary tale- if you're using a directional print for the binding, always make sure it's going the same direction in each binding strip!  (it's best to recognize this before the quilt is finished) 

I decided to call this one Sunning by the Pool.  The oranges remind me of umbrellas and beach towels against the clear blue water of a swimming pool.

By the way, I did succeed in my goal of making a quilt from start to finish only using things I had on hand!  Maybe that means I tend overbuy fabric for my projects?  hmmm...  Still that's definitely a win for me, and after the backing and binding fiascos, I'll take it!

Giant Log Cabin Quilt Tutorial

Last week, I made Ring Around the Rosy, my first Giant Log Cabin quilt, and it was so fast, I turned right around and made another one!  This time though, I took pictures along the way so I could share the method with you.

I love quilts with lots of fabric variety, but that means that I have lots of fabric leftover sometimes.  That was certainly the case here.  You'll probably recognize these fabrics as the same that were in wild thing's birthday quilt, Sailing at Sunset.  They were already cut and just sitting in my fabric cabinet, but I left them there until after giving wild thing his quilt, so I wouldn't spoil the surprise.  Now that he has his quilt, this fabric was fair game!

I've seen Giant Log Cabin quilts before, but this is a little different, in that I'm using different fabrics to make up each "log strip" rather than one continuous fabric.  For me, this means that I get to use a much wider variety of fabric, and the look is more random, which I love.

Start by cutting a single square, any size you want.  For this quilt, I cut my square at 6.5 inches, but for Ring Around the Rosy I was using fat eighths, so I used a 9 inch square.  Cut the rest of your fabrics at a uniform width and arrange by color for easy grabbing.

In both of my Giant Log Cabin Quilts, I used 4.5 inch strips.  Fat eighths work great here because you can just cut them in half lengthwise!    The strips can be varying lengths.  Keep in mind that this log cabin design is really just a piecing method, and if you choose shorter pieces, as I did here, it won't look as much like a traditional log cabin block.  That's okay by me!  I happen to love the look either way- sometimes you just have to use what you've got in your stash!

Begin piecing your strips around your center square in a spiral, log cabin style.

When you sew a piece that is longer than your block, just trim it off- simple!

When you get to a side that is longer than any single strip, just quickly grab and piece a few together.  Just take a look at the fabrics they will be against, and try to choose contrasting ones.  Don't stress too much about it, the quilt will look great as long as there's some variety!

Keep on sewing around and around, and watch your quilt top form in minutes!  Now, inevitably you'll piece a few strips together and they won't quite be long enough.  Oops!

No big deal!  Just add another piece and keep on going!  Sew to each side until you reach your desired quilt size.  Just be sure that you have equal strips all around the center square, or it won't be centered.

There are lots of variations so you can make it your own!  Here are a few-

*start with a rectangle instead of a square if you want a rectangular quilt

*vary the width of the strips- this would be a cool use for a jelly roll!

*vary the width of the strips from layer to layer

*vary the size of the center square, or make the center square a pieced block

*vary the fabrics, but make each layer with fabrics in the same color family

*purposely add strips unequally around the center for a modern, off-centered square

This quilt is so speedy and so forgiving, it's easy to adapt to whatever fabric you happen to have on hand!  This is a fun, no-stress quilt!

Have quilty fun!

Ring Around the Rosy

Fair warning!  This is a photo-heavy post because I am in love with this quilt and could not stop taking pictures of it!

Quilt infatuation strikes again, and Ring Around the Rosy is finished!  Wild thing had a friend over to spend the night last night and they stayed up late and woke up early.  Which means I did too.  Good thing I had a project while they played!  Who am I kidding?  We all know I would have happily sacrificed sleep to get this quilt done anyway.  :)

Here is one thing I've noticed over my last several quilts- pieced backings can make basting more of a pain than it already is.  Maybe it's because all of the seams leave lots of room for error?  That's my best guess.  And this back has lots of pieces.  So many that I consider this quilt reversible.

The back-

Anyway, I did manage to finally get all of the wrinkles out of the backing and get it taped down.  The rest was easy peasy.  Even though I despise crawling around on the floor, my results are never as good if I baste other ways, so I guess I'll just continue to deal with it.

This morning I woke up and sprinted to the finish.  I wasn't under any sort of deadline, and had no other reason than my complete adoration of these fabrics and this quilt!  (that, and we were stuck at home for practically the whole day waiting for the washing machine repair guy)

The backing is a soft Tiffany blue with just a little monochromatic print- just a shade lighter than the blue in the fabric line; and the binding is Kona Tarragon.  In retrospect, I may have chosen a more vibrant binding.  Here's a close up of both (and the label).  You can see the cute orange polkadot fabric I added to the backing in the label.

When photographing the quilt, I realized that the colors in the Marmalade fabric line are the exact colors of the old Pyrex primary bowls, and I couldn't resist bringing my set outside and putting them with the quilt.  First the boots with the Western Kaleidoscope quilt, now this?  This cheesiness has got to stop!

And here are a few more pictures because... did I mention that I love this quilt so much that I couldn't stop photographing it?  By the way- the finished quilt measures 64 inches square, so it's a nice size for snuggling.

I decided to call it Ring Around the Rosy because of course, the fabric is just full of roses, and it is sewn in a spiral around the center square.  As I mentioned in my last post, I am choosing to completely ignore the fact that this song is actually about the Plague (of course my husband pointed that out to me. Nice, honey.)

I am planning to sell this quilt, but it will have to go to someone who I know will love it as much as I do!

Marmalade Quilt WIP

After all of the manliness of the Western Kaleidoscope and Bricks and Mortar memory quilts, I was ready for a girly-girl fix and fast.  My Marmalade fat eighth bundle fit the bill nicely and I was so excited to cut into it that I actually pressed it while drinking my coffee this morning.  That never happens.  I am a coffee before anything else kinda girl, but I have literally been drooling over this fabric for months.  Months, I tell you.

Non-quilters don't really get it when quilters describe fabric as yummy or  delicious (and I know I'm not the only one).  I know I've been the recipient of more than a few befuddled looks when I've chosen to use these words where fabric is concerned.  But y'all- there is just no other way to say it.  This fabric is delicious!   I just want to love on it- and if I could eat it, I would!

I decided to cut a single square from one of the largest print fat eighths for the center of the quilt.  The rest, I cut in half lengthwise (super easy cutting- score!).  I ordered them into color piles, and just went to town at my machine.  I sewed in a spiral, and basically made a giant log cabin block measuring 64 inches square.  I think it's a great "bang for your buck" pattern- really quick and easy, but looks great.

I pieced the back from leftover strips and also added some Kona Tarragon (which will also be my binding) and some cool orange polkadot fabric strips.  The blue isn't showing up well in the pictures, but it's the same awesome shade of Tiffany blue in the Marmalade fabric.  Come to think of it, the color quality of this picture leaves a lot to be desired, but that's what happens when I finish something at night and my unfortunate lack of patience takes over.

I basted it this evening (basting- ugh) and can't wait to get it quilted and bound.  The lighting is making the backing look more loose than it really is.  It's actually pretty tight.

I'm calling it Ring Around the Rosy- which I know is really a song about the plague, but I'm choosing to ignore that and instead focus on all of the memories I have singing this as a child and spinning myself into a dizzy oblivion.