Bloggers Quilt Festival - Bed Quilt Entry

This is a quilt you've seen before if you're a regular reader, but it's one of my favorites and so here it is again, being entered in the Bed Quilt Category of the Spring 2013 Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  This quilt is #13 in the Bed Quilt Category.

This toddler/small twin bed quilt was made for my youngest granddaughter last year, when I decided to make bed-size quilts for each of our six grandchildren.  I had purchased the flower fairy panel before she was born, after my son mentioned in passing that if the baby was a girl she would be needing a fairy quilt!

I participated in SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge last year and this quilt provided an opportunity to practice quilting many of the techniques and motifs learned, especially the Diane Gaudynski-style echoed feathers all around the borders.  I had a blast quilting the central panel with all sorts of meandering leaves and flowers, more feathers in the fairy wings, and the scalloped name quilted in the sky section.  The quilt is machine pieced and was quilted on my vintage 1942 Singer 15-91 machine, using Aurifil 50 wt. thread in top and bobbin for the majority of the quilt, and YLI silk 100 for the leaves in the smaller fairy panels.

Quilt Stats:
     Pattern generally follows one issued with Michael Miller's Flower Fairy and Fairy Frost line
     Finished Size is approximately 58 x 75 inches
     Quilt completed 2012

Linking up in the Bed Quilt Category at the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  I hope you'll join the fun and enter your favorite quilts (two entries are allowed this time), and then visit each of the other fabulous entries in this and all of the categories and nominate and vote for your favorites!

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge Retrospective

When I signed on for SewCalGal's 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge, I was wanting to get outside my comfort zone just a bit, having been a hand quilter for nearly 30 years, albeit intermittently rarely over the previous 10-12 years.  After retirement and getting back to quilting again I quickly realized the years had not treated my hands kindly as arthritis and occasional numbness in my fingertips made hand quilting much more difficult.  So, I decided to teach myself free motion quilting via a couple of books, and then thanks to the magic of the internet Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and Diane Gaudynski's and Patsy Thompson's blogs showed the possibilities of using a home machine to create beautiful quilting designs. Still, I knew that it would take more than just looking at blogs and books to motivate me to become a better free motion quilter.  I needed a plan, structure, a commitment - and SewCalGal came along at just the right time, with her ingenious idea of this challenge!  I can't thank you enough SewCalGal, for YOUR commitment to make better and happier free motion quilters out of a whole lot of newbies!   I hope the fruits of your brainchild have exceeded your wildest expectations, because it has done just that for us!

I actually managed to complete all twelve monthly challenges as well as 3 of the 4 bonus challenges as of this writing!  You can see a summary of the monthly challenges here. 

It was only because of the FMQ Challenge that I was able to have my most productive quilting year ever!  Motifs and inspiration from the monthly tutorials can be found in nearly all of the 2012 finished quilts summarized here, with the exception of the first one which was completed very early in January.

So, what did I gain from this FMQ Challenge?   Beyond the obvious gift of having access to some of the most talented and creative free motion quilting experts' guidance during our monthly tutorials, it is a new knowledge and confidence that I can, with lots of continuing practice and perseverance, learn this new skill!   I've learned what type of free motion quilting comes naturally to me, and what does not!  I've learned a LOT about fabrics, threads and needles and how they can work with you or against you if you're not careful!   I even learned to leave my comfort zone even further and venture into the addiction world of blogdom! 

Last, but definitely not least, the gift of friendships made through the FMQ Facebook Group hosted by SewCalGal has led to other new blog acquaintances, some of whom were also working on the Challenge.  They in turn have introduced me via their blog links to yet another group of quilty bloggers from across the globe who share their  expertise via blog posts and video tutorials!   A recent illustration:  I first became aware of Rhianon Taylor's gorgeous work and her blog called The Nifty Stitcher early in 2012 through the FMQ Facebook Group.  One of Rhianon's recent posts featured a sampler she created on beautiful pale blue satin quilted with a continuous line feather filler.   She was inspired to create this piece after seeing the blog and video of a quilter named Natasha who lives in Russia and who also creates her quilted masterpieces on a domestic sewing machine.  Rhianon's post included a link to Natasha's blog, and I must say I've watched the videos several times in the past couple of weeks trying to memorize her technique, as well as spending hours admiring her fabulous quilting posted on the blog.  I made my first attempt at replicating Natasha's method for the continuous line feathers on the outer borders of my Bonus Challenge #4 completed yesterday, shown below.

What fun!  No marking, no spine lines unless you really want them, you just start in one corner of your fabric and begin quilting feathers.  I love the way Natasha so effortlessly creates new branches wherever it seems appropriate, and keeps on going.  I definitely haven't mastered the branching off part yet!  I'm delighted to have this new (to me) method of quilting feathers to add to my arsenal of designs learned during the FMQ Challenge, and will keep practicing this technique every chance I get!  A direct link to Natasha's blog post containing the videos can be found here.

I'll be linking up with SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting Linky Party, and hope you will head on over there and see what others have created using the tutorials provided by so many wonderful and generous quilting experts!   And, it's not too late to check out these great tutorials for yourself if you didn't have a chance to participate last year.  Nearly all of the tutorials are still available for use and you can find them by clicking on the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge tab on SewCalGal's blog,  scrolling down to the chart containing the entire year's list of monthly tutorials, and then clicking on a highlighted month's link to be directed to that month's tutorial. 

Here's to a new year of quilting adventures!

Last of the grandson quilts ... for this year!

Well, it's the last day of 2012, and here is the last finish for the year.  This quilt, completed in late November, was made for our oldest grandson, now nearly 12 years old.  His was the most difficult thematically to design and choose fabrics.  There are precious few kid fabrics for a 'tween' and I never did find a single Lacrosse fabric, which is the only sport he is playing or interested in at the moment.  He does have a keen interest in art and architecture, so I decided on this pattern from the Spring/Summer 2011 edition of Quilt Sampler magazine since it reminded me of building blocks.  I tried to keep the fabric selection fairly geometric and modern, and fairly bright.

The photos are far from ideal, taken during our dreary and rainy late fall days.  These few captured the colors as best I could.

This is the first quilt I've ever free motion quilted with an overall stippling design throughout.  It seemed best for this one what with the busy patterns contained in the blocks.  I used the same variegated Aurifil 50 wt. thread on the top throughout, with a dark slate gray Aurifil in the bobbin.

The back is an overall bright print on black featuring all things New York State related since that is where he lives.

The outdoor shots were taken during a cold drizzle.   We didn't have any sunny days between the time I finished and when the quilt needed to be washed, wrapped up and mailed after Thanksgiving.

So, that's a wrap for this year!  This was a most productive year in my quilting life: for the first time ever, I was able to complete 9 quilts, plus each of the monthly tutorials presented in SewCalGal's 2012 FMQ Challenge.  With luck, perhaps 2013 will be as productive - I hope so!

Wishing you all a most blessed and joyful New Year!

Quilting Footballs

This quilt was made for our second grandson, now nearly nine years old.  He's the one whose dad took him out into the backyard and taught him to throw a perfect spiral pass at the age of two!  This kid lives and breathes football!  And other sports too.  The theme for his quilt was obvious from the start.  I spent several months rounding up miscellaneous fat quarters of sports related fabrics, and then adapted the size of a pattern I'd seen in the April 2012 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting called "Sticks and Bricks" to make this twin size quilt.

Free motion quilting this was fairly simple, with simple stippling in the blocks, wavy lines between the blocks and back & forth lines in the horizontal sashing.  The borders were the real challenge, and the most fun.  I made cardboard cereal-box templates of three different size football shapes and traced them randomly on all the borders.  Quilting a smooth line for the football shapes proved a bit difficult especially with the larger ones which required stopping the machine to reposition my hands, but the overall effect turned out well I think.  Footballs on mud-colored fabric - what could be better for a nine-year old boy?

This fellow seemed to think he needed to be included in all the photos!  I think he was hoping the quilt would fall off the line so he could roll around on it!

The quilt back was pieced with a long row of leftover blocks, breaking up the overall soccer ball motif of the backing fabric.

Close shot of the back.

So, with this year quickly drawing to a close, there's only one more 2012 finish left to show you, hopefully before the new year arrives.  Olie and I bid you adieu!

Because every boy needs the cover of a superhero sometimes ...

Next up in my parade of grandchildren's quilts is this one for a six-year-old aspiring superhero!  Super-fun to make, I only wish I'd been able to locate a greater variety of superhero fabrics at the time.    This one was completed after our rainy fall season had begun, here it is draped over towels on our wet deck rail.

The August FMQ Challenge tutorial by Wendy Sheppard was a little overall motif she called Jester's Hat, and it was absolutely perfect for this quilt!  The Jesters appear in each of the theme blocks as well as the dark blue border.  This was my first experiment using a variegated thread for quilting, and I think it worked well against the dark background.

I loved the way the gold/yellow background fabric popped with the outline quilting:

A bit of the back:

Quilted with Aurifil 50 wt. for both top and bobbin, with a low loft poly batting.  This quilt was totally fun to make, and was yet another great practice piece for the FMQ skills we learned during SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge this year!

Catkin's Misadventure

It all started out so innocently.  I saw a magazine ad featuring Julie Paschkis' Catkin fabric collection, and knew this would make a perfect quilt for our youngest grandson who is now 4 1/2 years old.  There was a free pattern online for a Catkin Trip Around the World quilt, about 60 inches square.  Well, I was making twin-size quilts for each of the grandkids this year, so I figured how hard would it be to convert a square pattern to a rectangle to bring it closer to the desired finished size.  I decided to add two additional rows of log cabin blocks, above and below the original "around the world" square area.   Things were going along pretty well I thought as I laid out the pieced blocks on the floor.

Then, my spatial dyslexia kicked in, big time, and we ended up with this:

Now, mind you, I took photos of every step along the way, spread out the top once more when it was completely pieced and bordered, then layered it up and pinned it, took more photos, and NEVER saw this glaring error until I had already begun the FMQ!  Arrrrgh!  Although it was still at a point where I 'could' take it apart and reinsert the offending blocks, there had been enough stretching or distortion of the fabric the first time around to tell me that unstitching, repinning and restitching was definitely going to cause huge problems.  So, onward through the FMQ we continued, and rather than a "Catkin Trip Around the World" we now have "Trip Interrupted" or "Catkin Scales the Pyramids" - take your pick, LOL!   I'm sure Nathaniel will love it anyway, especially with his favorite trains rolling along across the back.

It's difficult to see the quilting on any of the photographs.  Basically, I outlined each and every one of the cats, did a continuous curve on the multi-color squares of the log cabin blocks and an easy meander across the black portions.    His name is quilted in a special secret place that only he and I know.  And we know these kitties won't run away when he tries to pet them!  Here are a couple close-up shots:

Did I not say spring and seed catalogs in my post just yesterday?  Not half an hour after posting that, the mailperson delivered the first of the seed catalogs from Territorial Seed Co.  Spring, however, did not arrive simultaneously - 38 degrees this morning.  Still, no snow, for which I'm grateful!

Yesterday's mail also brought this sweet fat quarter bundle from Barbara at Cat Patches.  She's hosting her popular NewFO Challenge again this year, and seems I was a winner just for signing up!  I totally love these prints, with their swirls and flowers - perfect for free motion quilting inspiration.

I'm thinking a summer bag or two from these delicious fabrics.  Thanks so much Barbara!  You can find out more information about the 2013 NewFO Challenge right here or by clicking on the cute button with the kittie & his quilter located on the right sidebar of this post.

With that, Catkin and I bid you adieu.  Three more 2012 finishes left to show you before the year draws to a close.

Another girl's fairy quilt

This was the second flower fairy quilt completed this year, made for our youngest granddaughter, now nearly two years old.  Her dad was the inspiration for these quilts, when he called to say their expected baby would be a girl, he added "she's going to need a fairy quilt."   I had just seen some of Michael Miller's gorgeous flower fairy panels and fairy frost fabrics and was only too happy to oblige!

This one, completed in March, provided a perfect opportunity to practice the first three months' tutorials from SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge, with Frances Moore's leaf motif, Ann Fahl's meandering loops and flowers, and multitudes of feathers both within the borders and the panel, courtesy of Diane Gaudynski's excellent tutorial.   A few detail photos:

 

I especially liked this sparkly, fun polka dot fabric used in the top and bottom panels, providing a bit of glittery accent, since the fairy frost fabric was only used sparsely in this quilt.  The soft peachy-pink border fabric was found at a local yard sale, as were the large central panel and the smaller side panels - lucky finds!

This was much fun to make and to quilt, especially the feather practice!  Quilting for both fairy quilts was accomplished on my 1942 Singer 15-91 machine, using Aurifil 50 wt in both top and bobbin, with the exception of the small fairy panels shown above, for which I experimented with YLI silk 100 wt. thread.

I arose this morning in time to see a beautiful pale orange full moon setting in the western sky.  It appears we're about to have several days' reprieve from the seemingly endless rain and fog this month.  In a day or two the garden catalogs will begin arriving in the mail, and we can begin seeing the daylight hours increasing once again!   The robins will be back in a week or two to eat all the pyracantha berries next to the front deck.  Can spring be far behind?

Shea's Quilt

I hope everyone enjoyed a Christmas holiday blessed with the cozy warmth of family and friends nearby.  We spent a quiet day at home, much time on the phone with family and friends in other parts of the country.   My foot is recovering well from the surgery last week, though I won't be able to put weight on it for at least a couple more weeks.  The walker is my new constant companion, but preferable to crutches for sure!  We managed to cook our favorite Polish holiday dinner, simple country fare of golabke with our favorite mushroom sauce and some of the pierogi my sister and I made a couple weeks ago.  My sister also gifted us with a homemade cherry pie before leaving for sunny (she hoped) California for the holidays, so that rounded out our holiday feast.

Now that the gifts have all been opened, I can share more of my 2012 quilt finishes.  Here is the first quilt completed after signing up for SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge.  Our January tutorial by Frances Moore featured a great leaf design which seemed perfect for this little girl's Flower Fairy quilt.  The leaf design covers most of the quilt, with some very primitive border quilting designs added in.  This was my third-ever FMQ'd finish!   I neglected to record the final measurements but it is around 60 x 70 inches.   It should be a perfect size for a toddler bed or a small twin size and was made for our oldest granddaughter, now 3 1/2 years old.  

The colors are a bit washed out in the photos taken outdoors last June, and are a bit more true here in these close-ups.

Overall I was very happy with the way this turned out, and although all of the many quilting errors were glaringly apparent while under the needle, now nearly a year later I don't remember any of them LOL!

Over the next week or two I'll share the other five quilts completed during the year, one for each of our grandchildren.   

No FMQ practice this week as I've decided to spend my recuperation time attempting to complete the hand quilting on a queen size quilt that was started nearly 16 years ago!  At this point it's probably the oldest UFO still awaiting a finish, now that the 30-year-old Christmas ornament has reached its new home!

Until next time, hope your quilting holidays are full of joy!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Nominations

It's November 1, a chilly rainy, windy day here in the Yamhill Valley.  What better day to brew a fresh cup of green tea and spend some time reviewing the 628(!) beautiful entries in the Fall 2012 Bloggers Quilt Festival, going on right now at Amy's Creative Side.  Just click the link to the right of this post to go to her page containing the links to each entry.   Grab a pencil and a big sheet of paper to make notes on your favorites, because nominations begin today.

Nominations and voting are open to all, even if you haven't entered a quilt.  You can click here to go directly to the nomination form. 

My little teddy bear toddler quilt, entered under the scrap quilt or baby quilt categories, is #127, should you choose to honor me with a nomination and/or vote.

Enjoy the Festival!  I'm nearly halfway through all the entries, and looking forward to seeing all the rest!  Good luck to all of you who entered this twice-yearly extravaganza of quilting fun!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Time!

It's that magical time of year when we all get to feast our eyes on literally hundreds of gorgeous quilts, visit as many quilters' blogs as humanly possible during the week, find a few minutes to write a quick post and enter our own works of art, and generally enjoy one of the largest and well organized online quilt shows out there!  All this, and we get the opportunity to vote for our favorites and help select the winners of this fun extravaganza!  Sponsored by Amy's Creative Side, you too can join the fun by clicking on the Bloggers Quilt Festival link just to the right of this post.

So, without further ado, here is my entry for the festival.  This quilt was also shown in a previous post earlier this summer, but since nearly all of my 2012 finishes are intended as holiday gifts, they can't be unveiled just yet.

Two years ago when I retired, a friend and coworker (and now my up-the-hill neighbor) was in the middle of a major destash effort, and I was the lucky recipient of several boxes of great vintage fabrics, from fat quarters to multiple yard pieces - PLUS two big boxes of quilting books and magazines - now THAT is a retirement gift!

So, with all these great fabrics, including some vintage 1980s and 90s Cranston prints from my own stash, and a cute little teddy bear family panel print I'd picked up along the way, early this spring I began this fun little scrappy quilt.  Intended more for a toddler age child rather than a newborn, the finished quilt measures 50x62 inches.

The back is from Wilmington's Fun on the Farm line and is undoubtedly the "newest" fabric used in the quilt.

As some of you know, I collect vintage Singer sewing machines and use them regularly in my quilting endeavors.  This quilt was pieced on "Casey Jones," a black 1950s Singer 301, and ditch quilting around all the little squares was done on a 1960s Singer 401a outfitted with vintage walking foot.  A 1942 Singer 15-91 did the free motion outline quilting within the teddy bear panels.  Just as I was about to begin the borders, a birthday gift from my sweet husband arrived - a brand new Janome Horizon, so very tentatively I began practicing a few simple free motion designs in the borders with my new wonder machine!

 

The Stats:
Scrappy Toddler Quilt
Finished size:  50 x 62 inches
Machine pieced by me
Domestic machine quilted by me
Categories:  Scrap, home machine quilted, baby

A big thanks to Amy's Creative Side for holding this Bloggers Quilt Festival once again!  For tons of inspiration and a chance to enter your own creation and vote for your favorites, head on over here!

Toddler Quilt Finished

This was a fun project begun early this year with no particular goal in mind other than to make a dent in some of the accumulated fat quarters and other scraps in my stash.  Happy to report that no new fabric was purchased in the making of this little toddler quilt, completed just last Friday, thanks to an additional incentive to get 'er done and link up to Amy's Creative Side One Thing, One Week Challenge!  This one has no current destination in mind, thinking I'll keep it for awhile in hopes of a grandbaby visit before they outgrow the toddler stage (all our grandchildren live on the opposite coast and we generally travel there for visits).  Without further ado, some pics:

Several machines were played with  used during the making of this quilt!  Piecing was done on my 1950s Singer 301.   All the little squares and picture panel borders were quilted in the ditch on the vintage 1960 Singer 401 with walking foot; and free motion outline quilting was done within the picture panels on the old 1942 Singer 15-91.   Then the new Janome arrived, and the borders were free motion quilted as practice with my new machine.  Completed quilt measures 50x62 inches, has a thin lightweight poly batting, and was quilted with Aurifil Mako 50 thread.

Backing fabric is a print from Wilmington's Fun on the Farm line.

Close-up of some of the border free motion designs. 

The sweet little bear panel prints are from a line called Counting my Blessings - sorry, not enough of the selvedge left to tell me the manufacturer.

We finally had a warm, sunny weekend, so Saturday morning we rigged a makeshift line and photographed all of the year's finishes to date except for daughter's summer quilt which has already gone to its new home.  We do need to work on a better arrangement for hanging the quilts outside, especially when the queen-size ones are completed.  Another day, another project ...