Take Flight and a Giveaway!

Well my friends, what began in April is now coming to a close in July.  Though this is the thirteenth week of the Stash Statement blog hop, it feels like the time has slipped by so quickly.  Today's feature quilt is the Take Flight FREE bonus pattern.

I have actually made three different versions of this quilt, but the only one I've kept for myself is the one pictured above (actually the last version I made).  The other two have gone to friends who have lost loved ones.  Since each of these quilts has already had its own post, rather than recap the stories and photos of each quilt, you can visit the original posts to see the quilting, backing, and binding details.  I am including helpful links for you though!  To see the details of the quilt I kept for myself, check out the post HERE.

I love this blue, green, and teal version of the quilt.  It was made for a friend who lost her son as a toddler, and is a precious keepsake in his memory.  This was the second version of this pattern, and you can see the additional pictures for the Will's Wings quilt HERE.

My first version of the quilt is actually the one that graces the pattern cover, and it now belongs to a friend who lost her sister to cancer.  This quilt was actually debuted waaay back in January (see the snow on the foot bridge?), when Stash Statement first became available for preorder!

Though this pattern is not included in the book, when I made it, I knew I had to somehow make it available to my readers.  This pattern is exclusively available as a free bonus with the purchase of Stash Statement.  Since the pattern is written with improv terms from the book, it is intended as a supplement only, and will not ever be available as a stand-alone pattern.

If you purchase a signed copy of the book from my Etsy shop HERE, the pattern will be automatically emailed to you when the book ships.  Unfortunately, I don't have a way of knowing who has purchased books from somewhere else (Amazon, Connecting Threads, quilt shops, etc.) so things become a little trickier.

If you've purchased Stash Statement from another vendor and would like the bonus pattern, when you get it home, just snap a quick photo of yourself with your book and send it to me using the Email Me button on my right sidebar, letting me know where you purchased it.  Then, I'll happily send the pattern to you!

This hop is going out with a bang!  To finish off the blog hop, I am giving away TWO copies of Stash Statement, including the bonus pattern.  One US reader will win a hard copy, and an international reader will win a digital copy of the book.  To enter the giveaway, leave a single comment on this post to let me know your favorite quilt from the book (duplicate entries will be deleted).  Be sure to let me know if you're from the US or an international reader, and remember to leave your email address if you're a no-reply blogger!  I'll announce the winners at NTT on 7/25!

This week, Kelli Fannin at Seriously... I think it needs stitches and Paula at The Sassy Quilter are sharing their own versions of the Take Flight quilt, and each of them put a delightful twist on the pattern with wing and color placement.  You definitely don't want to miss them!

Also, Hilary at by Hilary Jordan has her College Prep project all ready.  You might remember that last week, we had a scheduling mix-up, but she is all ready to go now!

Just in case you missed any of the amazing projects from the hop, here's the full lineup, all in one place.  Debuting my book has been so much fun.  Thanks for all of the book release love, friends!

4/16- Grand Bazaar    Shelley @ Cora's Quilts

                                      Connie @ Freemotion by the River

4/23- Louvered  Lindsey @ Primrose Cottage Quilts 

                            Diann @ Little Penguin Quilts

4/30- Precarious  Jess @ Quilty Habit                       

                              Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts

                                                            

5/7- Beach Retreat  Sarah @ Sarah Goer Quilts                               

                                  Liz @ Savor Every Stitch 

                                                           

5/14- Fire Pit   Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts                                          

                         Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts

                                                            

5/21- Detour    Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts                         

                         Shelley @ The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts

                                                            

5/28- Murrina    Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl             

                            Leanne @ Devoted Quilter

                                                            

6/4- Scattered    Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal                      

                           Christine @ Triangles and Squares 

                                                            

6/11- Bloom Chicka Boom   Chris @ made by ChrissieD            

                                               Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty

                                                            

6/18- Regatta   Susan @ Quilt Fabrication                             

                          Debbie @ A Quilter's Table    

                                                            

6/25- Catch a Falling Star  Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework        

                                              Anja @ Anja Quilts

                                                            

7/2- College Prep   Hilary @ by Hilary Jordan                 

                                Lori @ Crossquilt

                                                            

7/9- Take Flight (free bonus pattern)  Kelli @ Seriously, I Think It Needs Stitches 

                                                             Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

 

Will's Wings and NTT

I finished my latest quilt, made with my Take Flight pattern, and I am SO proud of the way it turned out.

Everything is always better with practice, and in the case of this quilt, that is definitely true.  The most difficult part of this quilt is free-motion quilting the feather pattern on the two wings.  It takes some patience and planning to make sure the two wings are even.  I was more successful this time around.  The feather quilting on the wings is more fluid on this quilt, and the two wings are as even as I think they can reasonably be.

The wings are a nice, crisp Kona White, and I quilted with Aurifil Dove Gray thread.  The Dove Gray isn't so dark that it sticks out, but it adds just enough awesome dimension.

I lucked out and found this fantastic print that pulls in all of the colors of the improv piecing, and with a stripe of Kona Chartreuse to widen it out, it is just perfect.

Even though the blue on the backing fabric is a darker shade, I opted for Kona Royal for the binding.  I thought a navy binding would be too dark against the front, and the Royal still blends really well.

I don't often make handwritten labels anymore (tutorial HERE).  Since getting my custom ribbon labels, it is just so easy to sew one of those into the binding of my quilts.  This quilt called for a special touch though, and my friend requested a particular name for the quilt.  This quilt is for a friend, and has a beautiful purpose.  My last post has the details, and you can read about it HERE.

I delivered the quilt yesterday evening, and my friend absolutely loved it.  It was an honor to make it for her!

Last week's party was amazing!  Check out this beautiful medallion quilt by The Lilac Cat-

This fun quilt is by Something Rosemarie.  Great colors and texture!

And finally, look at these amazing wonky triangles by Sarah at Quilt Moderne.  Love it!

Without further ado, let's get to it!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

A Quilt For Remembering

Several weeks ago, when I posted my first Take Flight quilt, my friend contacted me about making a very special quilt for her in memory of her angel baby, lost suddenly to a flu-like illness at the age of two.

She requested blues, greens, and aquas/teals in the background, because he loved the cartoon Blues Clues, and these colors always remind her of him.

Though this happened many years ago (he would be a teenager today), I know that neither the love a parent feels for a child, nor the pain from this kind of loss ever leaves a momma's heart. When we talked about the quilt, my friend said "My heart needs this quilt," and I am honored to make it for her in memory of her precious boy.

*ps- you can check out more information on my Take Flight pattern HERE.

Treasure Hunt

Since last week, it feels like I have been sewing nonstop around here.  This quilt using Bespoke Blooms fabric is the very last quilt that I had to finish before Christmas, and now that it's done and delivered, I can take it easy and just sew for fun.  I always try to have my Christmas to-do list finished with a couple of weeks to spare, because December is just so full!

The soft colors and prints in the fabrics create such a pretty wash of light and dark over the quilt, and you might notice that there are a few different pieces mixed in.  This quilt is a special gift for its recipient, containing small pieces of clothing from all four of her grandparents, both parents, her husband, and all three daughters.  Seeking out all of the snippets of clothing will be a special treasure hunt for her, so that's what I decided to name this quilt.

On the back I used all of the leftovers, rounded it out with strips of Kona Tarragon, and quilted with a gentle stipple.  Some of the clothing pieces contained cute embroidery, and I didn't want to quilt through those too much.  And of course, less dense quilting keeps the quilt nice and soft as well.  I decided to use Kona Silver for the binding.  I wanted to be sure that the quilt felt grown up, even with the softer colors, and the soft gray does the trick.

The back also contains a special dedication, with the recipient's name and date, as well as a quote from a favorite piece of literature.  It is placed at the top of the quilt, so that when she is covered up with the quilt and it is folded down, she will be able to read it.

This finished quilt measures 70" x 90" and though the soft colors are outside of the norm for me, they really work to give the quilt a timeless feel.  This quilt is sure to be treasured by her family for years, and I'm so glad I got to create such a personal keepsake for them.

A Family Keepsake and NTT

Happy March, and happy NTT, y'all!  We have been getting a taste of spring around here, and I am loving it!  This week, I've been working on a very special keepsake quilt, made with a couple of my mom's old chambray shirts.  These shirts were hand embroidered by my grandmother when my mom was a teen, and my mom actually helped stitch some of the designs!  As soon as I saw the shirts, I knew this quilt needed to be made with Anna Maria Horner fabrics!

I started by cutting the shirts into useable blocks.  Most blocks finished at either 4 or 6 inches, except for Holly Hobbie in the center, which is a full 12 inches, and the row of penguins, which is 3" x 12."  Once I cut and counted the embroidery squares, I used the AMH fabrics to fill in around them, making 25 different 12" blocks.  The randomness works so well with the fun, quirky designs, and makes it look like the embroidery really belongs there.

I was even able to use the pockets, collar lapels, and the ric-rac from the bottom hem of the shirt.  Not a single bit of stitching was wasted!

You can see that these shirts were well loved.  The airplane and heart blocks were on the sleeves, and the lines you see are almost threadbare from ironing creases in them.

My very favorite design is the row of penguins.  On the shirt, they were marching from shoulder to shoulder across the back, and I think they are so cute!

I quilted this one with an all over meander in yellow thread, like blue jeans!  These shirts were very worn, so I didn't want to stitch the delicate fabric to death, but I knew that it needed enough quilting to stabilize it a little bit.

Lots of AMH leftovers went into the backing, and the chartreuse binding finishes it off!  The finished quilt measures 60" square, and I love how it turned out (my mom and grandmother do too!).  There are a couple of photos of my mom as a teen wearing these shirts while out on a date with my dad, and that alone makes this quilt special.  It's nice to know that even now, though the shirts have long been worn out, this beautiful hand work will have a new life in this quilt.

If you have some special fabrics and want to make a Keepsake quilt, I put together a graphic showing the finished block measurements to help you out (remember to add seam allowance when you cut!).  I color coded each block size, so it is easy to see how they all fit together.

Time to check out the features from last week's party!  This scrappy rainbow beauty is from Simply, Sarah-

and just look at this fantastic paper-pieced mini by Lori at Crossquilt-

and this modern pillow by Made by Chrissie D is just too much fun!  (ps- she has a tutorial for it!)

I can't wait to see what you're all working on this week!  Show me what you've got!

You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Finishing a Set of Four

Since I quit teaching to quilt full time, I have made several memory quilts from clothing, and I have been dividing my time between "work" quilting and "hobby" quilting (quilting where the design and fabrics are mostly of my own choosing).  Memory quilts are so special to their recipients and each one has its own unique qualities, but I don't usually include them on here because I feel like there are only so many men's shirt quilts I can write about (in October alone, I made eight).  

This week however, I have been working on a set of four memory quilts that are a little different.  They are the first I have made from ladies' clothing, namely pajamas and a few blouses.  Since most memory quilts I've seen are masculine, I wanted to share them.

I took the photos of these four quilts yesterday after quilting, but before binding since we had another full day of rain today (which incidentally made for an interesting trick or treat experience).  Oh, and the breeze in the air is making the seams look crooked, but they aren't.  Admittedly though, some of the stripes and plaids are not completely straight, but that's inevitable when you're working with clothing and are trying to use every bit of fabric.  Straightening the print sometimes just wastes too much.

The trickiest part was making the limited fabric stretch into four quilts.  It took quite a bit of planning to ensure that I cut the clothing wisely.  Each quilt measures 48 inches square.

Also included in the box of clothing for these quilts were four embroidered pillow cases, and when I saw them, I knew I needed to find a way to incorporate that lovely hand work into a quilt without cutting it.  I made a giant log cabin quilt, which perfectly used the long, wide strips, and also made use of shorter pieces without them looking out of place.

There are four pieces of embroidery in this quilt, and most of them are small, simple flowers, but my favorite by far is this one.  Aren't the little birds so sweet?

The backings are identical on all four quilts.  I found this large pink polkadot fabric that is almost a spot-on match for one of the pajama fabrics (can't resist a good pun!), and Kona Candy Blue is just about perfect as well.

Although the photos don't show it, the binding I chose for these quilts is a pretty shade of buttery yellow, and I finished all four this morning before all of the Halloween hoopla tonight.  I can't wait to get these delivered!

Three Finished

Well, it made me a little bit crazy to have three WIP's going on at once, but I have to admit that since they were all similar, it went more quickly that I expected.  I know that three WIP's is nothing compared to some of you, but I usually only work on one quilt at a time!  From cutting the shirts to delivering the finished quilts to my friend, it took one week to get them done, and I just might be persuaded to work this way more often.

If you missed my last post, these quilts are made from the shirts of my friend's late husband.  The first two quilts are for her granddaughters, and are the most similar, both using HST's and measuring 48 inches square.

The third quilt is for my friend herself, and I made it a little bit bigger, measuring 54 x 57 inches.  She loved the fact that all of the logos and pockets are incorporated into hers.

I kept the backing and binding the same for all three quilts.  The Kona Navy is the perfect frame for the shirts, and the chambray backing with the stripe of scraps fits the feel of the quilts perfectly!  Some of the shirts had a thicker woven texture, so I quilted these with a wide stipple so that the quilt would drape nicely without being too stiff.

I'm so glad I was able to make these quilts for her and her granddaughters.  She absolutely loved them, and I know they'll be treasured for many, many years to come.

The Many Faces of Plaid

Over the last year or so, my grandfather, who has Alzheimer's has been rapidly declining and following some health scares, the difficult decision was made this spring to put him in a nursing home.  At the beginning of the summer, my grandmother asked if I would make four quilts from his shirts- one for each of their four sons as a keepsake of their father.

To know my grandfather (we call him PaPa) is to know that his clothing of choice for years has been a plaid western shirt, dark jeans, and boots.  So, when I went to pick out shirts, I had several closets from which to choose.

The challenge for me with these quilts was for each quilt to take on a little bit of the personality of each of the recipients.  I wanted the quilts to each have its own flair, but still look unified as a set.  Plaids are really cool that way.  They can take on so many different moods, and are used in so many different environments.

You can visit the original blog post with more photos by clicking on the links below!

I made the quilts in birth order, so as the oldest, my Dad's quilt was the first.  It's called Western Kaleidoscope, and I think the Kona Parchment and Kona Coal really help add to the western flair.  Although my Dad is really an All-American kind of guy, he does enjoy his jeans and boots from time to time.

The second quilt is for my Uncle Bryan and is called Bricks and Mortar.  The Kona Iron, chambray and red gives this quilt a blue-collar, auto mechanic feel, which suits him very well since he enjoys working on cars.

The third quilt is for my Uncle Bruce.  Going Camping has Kona Biscuit sashing which gives it a very outdoorsy look.  I could see this quilt being used around a campfire or by a lake.  My Uncle Bruce isn't super outdoorsy, but I remember as a kid, our families would go out riding four wheelers in the woods. And since I'm not outdoorsy myself, that's as close to campy as I get!

My Uncle Mike is the youngest brother, and he likes to be a sharp dresser and a jet setter.  Preppy Plaid Chevrons is for him.  I just knew that he needed a quilt with a preppy flair, and I thought that a chevron pattern with Kona Navy and Kona White would be perfect.  I think it's a great way to show off the plaids in keeping with that look.

As much as I wanted each quilt to have a different personality, I also wanted the four of them to be unified as a set.  So, I kept a few things consistent-

*Size- are all roughly 60 x 60

*Backing- all are backed with Kona Coal with a chambray stripe through the middle

*Binding- all are bound in Kona Rich Red

*Quilting- all are stippled with dark gray thread that blends into the backing

*Labels- the labels on each quilt have the same wording, with slight changes to my Dad's

Of course, keep in mind that assigning quilts with such distinct looks to each person is a bit like a caricature.  Their individual personalities and styles could never be summed up with the style of a single quilt, but I do hope they each like the one I've made for them and treasure them as a keepsake of the Daddy they knew.

Preppy Plaid Chevrons

I am finished with the fourth (and final) memory quilt- Preppy Plaid Chevrons!  And I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.  If I could have gone to the coast to take beautiful photos near sailboats and blue water I would have, but alas, living in Tennessee that is not really an option.

The thing about a chevron quilt is that you don't need a ton of fabric variety, but you do need a decent amount of each fabric.  I only used nine of the shirts on this one, and I added the navy and white.  The chevrons took the entire back panel from each shirt (which is what was left).  Since that only gave me about 48 inches in width, I needed the navy stripes on either side to make the size more consistent with the other three memory quilts- about 60 x 60 in.

Although I wasn't sure how I would like the navy stripes, I'm really pleased with them!  I'm glad I chose to add them to the sides only though, so the dark fabric doesn't frame the chevrons too much.

As with Western Kaleidoscope, Bricks and Mortar, and Going Camping, Preppy Plaid Chevrons has a Kona Coal backing with a chambray stripe, Kona Rich Red binding, and is quilted with stippling in a coal gray thread.  I hope these little touches help the differing styles still feel like a set.

The other consistent feature of all four quilts is the wording of the labels.  My dad's is slightly different, of course, but the basic wording is the same.

I really hope these quilts will be treasured by my dad and uncles, and I hope that each son loves the mood of the plaid I've chosen for him.  I'm planning another post soon with all four quilts to wrap up this chapter in my quilting.  I think it will be really neat to see all of them together!