Music in the Air

My poor keyboard spends way too much time collecting dust, so I wanted to whip up something rainbow-y and musical to help protect it.  I started by trying to work up some music notes, but they just weren't feeling quite right.  In the end I found myself liking the simpler designs, and the final pattern mimics the black keys on a keyboard by grouping the colored fabrics into alternating twos and threes.

The quilting was done on my long arm and the pattern is called modern stars revisited - it reminds me of notes on a staff.  I like how it ended up musical, but a bit abstract.

The backing is Robert Kaufman All That Jazz with one stripe of color to separate the extra piece of fabric needed to make the back long enough.

This runner finishes at 10.5 x 52".

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

Celtic Knots - A Finish

One last Christmas finish, running a little late.  Good thing I'll have another opportunity to see this quilt on it's way soon!

There are three different designs quilted into this piece - a Celtic twist pattern in the border, a Celtic knot pattern in the dark diamonds, and stitch in the ditch done around the pieced knots.  That design is easiest to see from the back.













I learned that trying to center a design on the back is more complicated than I thought it would be.  Despite pinning the edges of the back where the top should lie, the large knot is a little off center. But the design didn't run off the edge, so I'm still happy with how it turned out.

I had debated using the blue to wrap it up, but I think the cream frames it nicely and adds an extra little pop!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

Rainbow Batiks - A Finish!

My rainbow batik top is finished! Now I just have to figure out what to call it.  Rainbow Trails perhaps?

I had originally planned on using a wide back but when I found this batik it was meant to be - despite needing a seam.  It reminds me of fall leaves!

This was my first time using a scrappy binding.  Picking a binding thread to go with all the different fabrics was hard, but I think it came out pretty well.  I may have to see about stitching up my old binding odds and ends that are laying around!

Linking up with Finish it up and Fabric Frenzy Fridays.

A Neutral Finish

I had been holding on to these log cabins until I felt comfortable enough to try quilting a block by block design on my long arm.  I really wanted to showcase the diagonal stripes on this quilt, and here they are!

The tans seemed to want to wash out a bit, despite trying to get a picture in both the sun and the shade, but the sun did help to show off the quilting!  The dark side of the cabins were done with a stitch in the ditch style pattern and the light sides were done with a pattern called Swan Triangle.  The patterns even went together in such a way that the square in the center pops out on the back!

Now all it needs is a name and it's ready to leave the nest!

Linking up with Fabric Frenzy and Finish it Up Fridays.

Several Small Finishes!

I've been continuing to work on binding pieces that have come off of my long arm.  First I finished the set of potholders from my last post and put them right into use!

Next up was putting the finishing touches on a Christmas table runner.  It's done a bit early for the holidays, but that's certainly fine by me! I'm just really excited to have decorations to use in our new home!

I really love the colors on this piece.  The grey and the red seem a little more wintery than holiday specific to me, and I am looking forward to getting all the use out of this that I can!

The back is a little busy but I wanted it to be darker than the front.  The idea is that it will be more forgiving during use than the light colors of the top... as long as I remember to turn it over!  It was inspired by the center present in Lorna's Boxes-n-Bows table runner.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

Woodland Sampler - A Finish!

Twenty-nine months from the first stitch, my woodland sampler has drawn to a close.  This is my very first cross-stitch finish!  Next up is looking for a frame so that I can hang it up on my sewing room wall.

The way that this sampler was partitioned into small sections worked well for me.  Most of the pieces may not have been finished on the one month timetable intended, but having small goals to mark progress along the way kept me from getting overwhelmed and helped me towards the finish!

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching.

Atoms and Oranges - A Finish!

When approaching the end of Atoms and Oranges, I wasn't sure how I wanted to set up the last few circles for quilting.  I've had mixed results clearing my fabric of various types of chalk and pencil marks; especially the colored marks, which I would have needed to use on the white sashing.  I thought about how I had used masking tape to line up the corners of the diamonds and wondered whether I might be able to do something similar here.  And then it hit me: what is a lint roller except a big wide piece of masking tape?

So I carefully peeled a sheet off of a lint roller, lightly traced my circle onto the back of it (trying to avoid sticking it to my cutting mat), cut the sheet along my traced line (occasionally stopping to remove tape from my scissors), and stuck that bad boy right at the first sashing crossroads.  It worked like a charm!

With this little trick in my pocket I cruised right through the last bit of quilting, and am now pleased to present a finished Atoms and Oranges!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Fabric Friday, and Finish it up Friday.

Field Of Hearts - A Finish!

This year has proven difficult for blogging, but I'm still lurking around and I finally have a finished picture of my Field of Hearts quilt to share!  The last stitch was put into this quilt in mid-March - just in time to send it across state lines with a dear friend visiting from it's final destination.  Thank goodness I didn't have to trust it to UPS!

Field Of Hearts - 59x72

110 pieced hearts went into the quilt top and many more loopy hearts were added when it was quilted.  I tried to squeeze in all the love and good wishes I could fit on this one.  I hope to have a received report any day now, but I'm sure she's going to love it!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

Card Tricks Complete!

My card tricks are all finished!  Hip hip hooray!

A pair of tricks!

     

A view of the back.

They finished at eight inches square and were constructed with two layers of cotton batting.

I think they turned out fairly well.  More practice is needed for sure, but not too shabby for a first attempt!

In other first attempt news, one of the local quilt stores had a class on using a Nolting long arm machine this weekend.  I think I liked it better than quilting on my little machine.  I found she was certainly more intuitive for free-motion!

The store owner had 15(!) quilts still to finish before Christmas, so it may take a while to get some more practice in, but I'm already planning to come back in the new year to try again!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

Rainbow Baby Quilt - A Finish

The last stitch has been put in my rainbow baby quilt.

The last pin pulled to finish off the binding.

Photographs have been taken for posterity, with crazy morning light (of course).  I enjoyed walking past and admiring it hanging on my wall while I was going about my morning.

And the hand off has been accomplished.  I'm so glad it's done and off to it's new home!

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching.

Autumn Rose

I finished before the wedding!  That was very exciting.

The last stitch on the binding was put in Friday morning, and the label was attached in the hotel room the morning of the wedding.  I really need to stop running so late on quilts one of these days!

Unfortunately the weather was pretty disgusting the day of the wedding so my pictures are pretty dark, but they get the job done.

Despite it's slightly rocky beginnings, I ended up loving this quilt so much.  The quilting was simply gorgeous and exactly what I was hoping for.  I think I'm going to have to make a quilt for the hubby and me and have it custom quilted.

I had contemplated binding it in the border fabric but when it turned out that I didn't have enough, green was it!  I think it worked pretty well and gave a little bit of interest to the edges.

I have already heard from the happy couple that they loved it.  What a relief!

Stats -
Autumn Rose
Size: 86 x 98
Finished: September 2014

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

June Charity

I completed my blocks in June!  (Which is more than I can say for my June cross-stitch box.).

I loved the colors in the June palette and, if I can be honest, I've been looking for an excuse to use these colors for some time now.  And the best part of these blocks is that my husband really liked the colors too.  So as soon as I decide whether to keep the stripe or go more neutral, I'll be headed off to the quilt store to get more slate blue - a fat quarter doesn't make that much background!

So proud!  All my stripes go the same way.

The next question is whether I will be brave enough to try using the tiny triangle pieces I cut off!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Rubber Duckies!

With the hand quilting section of the Blogger's Quilt Festival brought back, I wanted to come out and wave my flag of support.  Many thanks to Karen for bringing the loss and reinstatement to my attention and to Amy for keeping the hand quilting section open for all of us.

I have made a baby quilt for many of my coworkers' first babies since I started working at my current company.  There was only one miss, and that's because no one told me they were expecting!  Silly people.

This was one in a series of three quilts with this fabric (It's amazing how little fabric you actually need for a baby quilt!), but the quilting on this one is my favorite.

I started by sketching a picture of the two ducks splashing each other (from the blue duck fabric) and added some free hand waves.  Then I enlarged my design to fill the center square, cut it out, traced it, and quilted it in light blue Gutterman thread.  I love these little duckies.  They are so playful!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and Fabric Frenzy.

A Quilt Comes Home

As a quilter I expect to be a giver; I don't expect my quilts to come back to me.

This past week I had a quilt come home.

My grandma passed away last week after a good long run.  It was not unexpected, but it was still hard.  So today I dedicate this post to my grandma and "Raindrops and Roses".

It's ironic that this quilt got it's name from the song "My Favorite Things" because by the time I finished it, it definitely was not one of my favorite things.  I made the same cutting error on about 200 pieces, despite saying the correct measurement over and over.  Four and three quarters is not the same as four and three eighths, oddly enough!  And that was just the beginning...

I finished this quilt in 2008.  My quilting stitches are a lot smaller now than they were then.  And this is the only quilt that I have made that doesn't have borders! 

Despite my best efforts to get my Grandma to understand that quilts were made for using, I suspect this quilt ended up as a show piece of sorts.  I hope she enjoyed it anyway.

Linking up to Lets Bee Social.

Common Ground

One last look backwards before starting to create for the new year...

The last piece that I finished in 2013 was this wall hanging.  I'm very proud of this piece.  It was an interesting challenge to construct a quilt from a non-quilter's pattern and very meaningful to be able to make this for my niece.  In addition, it is the first piece that I managed to make mostly from my stash!

Common Ground
24 x 24"
Machine pieced, Hand quilted.

I may have attached the sleeve in a hotel room the evening before we flew out of town.  Excellent conditions to work on my first sleeve in at least eight years.  When I had to un-stitch part to fix it, that small little hotel room was not a very nice place to be.  I think my husband may be a saint.

Linking up to Let's Bee Social.

Christmas Gifts - Round 1

I managed to finish quite a few projects for Christmas.  First up are some surprise finishes for my husband!  First I made him a throw pillow.

The front is a panel that I put small borders on in order to make it the right size.  The back is a simple envelope construction.

He suspected I was up to something, but I still managed to (mostly) surprise him.  I couldn't make so many people something hand made without making something for him!

Then I threw together some nerdy pillowcases!  The body fabric is all sorts of mathematical terms and figures.  I found this fabric just before Thanksgiving at The City Quilter in New York City when I had almost given up finding something suitable.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.

Finding Gold

Back when I revealed Secret Garden I had mentioned another mystery quilt that had rockier beginnings.  Today I'd like to share this quilt with you in all its finished glory.

I give you "Finding Gold".
Finished Size: 66 x 82.
Machine Quilted.

It was my first mystery weekend and I had been looking forward to finally being out of school and able to go away on retreat with my mom.  Unfortunately, that weekend I was feeling poorly.  But because of that I was working slower than everyone else and I watched as one quilter after another wasn't thrilled with their finished product.



 I brought my pieces home and let them languish in my closet for a couple of years, but I was determined to make this quilt into something.  I wasn't letting my hard work on 192 triangles amount to nothing!  So I pulled them out, started playing with layouts, and bought some gold to make the quilt a little more rounded.  (A solely pink and purple quilt means a lot more pink than I am comfortable with.)

Finally I came up with a design I was happy with.  And now, after a trip to the quilter and a bit of binding, it's off on a new journey.

I gifted this quilt to a coworker friend of mine to raffle off for Relay for Life.  She is one of two event coordinators for my area.  I hope this quilt will help her fundraising efforts.  Relay for life happens in early June, so I have to wait a while to see how it does.

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday.

Silver Lining

Slightly too long for my curtain rod to hold up

I have a big finish this week.

I managed to actually start working towards Christmas early this year, instead of just saying I would (Finally!), and I've been doing really well at crushing out my crafty Christmas list.  It's nice to be almost finished.

This quilt was pieced in one weekend back in May.  I was away on retreat and my long arm quilter was near by, so I wanted to drop it off before the weekend ended.  Talk about motivation!

The blue fabric is somewhat directional and looks like rain (at least I think so), so the blue rail fence pieces were cut in two directions to keep the rain falling in the right direction.

With the fabric looking like rain, and the quilt headed for desert country, I wanted the name to be related to rain.  When I started auditioning names, it ended up not being about the rain itself, but what comes with it.  So, without further ado, I give you...

Blue binding to finish off the edges

Silver Lining.
Finished Size: 85 x 94.
Machine Quilted.

Quilting Pattern

When I was taking pictures, I realized that I like my quilt backs to be more interesting.  The back on Silver Lining is all blue, and it seems to go on forever!

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.

A Black Tie Affair

Well this is it, I have finally finished the quilt that debuted in my first blog post!  It's only been sitting for four months quilted and waiting for binding.  Not that I procrastinate or anything...

The civil war reproduction type fabric used for the sashing is definitely out of my normal range so I went with a more modern looking fabric for the binding to liven it up a little.

I call it Black Tie Affair for two reasons...  One: because of the penguins wearing their little suits and two: because most people who saw it commented that they had never seen an elegant penguin quilt before.

I sent it out to be long arm quilted and, to be completely honest, I was a little disappointed in how it came out.  Partly I think it's just more densely quilted than I like and partly I think the quilter and I weren't in sync when I dropped it off.  I came away feeling like the quilter was a bit uncomfortable doing what I asked for and wondering if I made a mistake.  I think that interaction colored my opinion of the result.  Everyone else really likes it, so I'm working on letting it grow on me.

As of right now this quilt is without a home.  Its intended recipients are no longer engaged, so it has to wait until I find someone else who will appreciate all the penguins.  I'm not sure I've met them yet!

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.