Quilt for Sweetie

Earlier this summer, right around the fourth of July, I started to get the itch to make another quilt.  This time a shirt stripe box quilt.  Or some riff on that idea.

I sourced fabrics from three different shops because no one seemed to have all of what I was looking for.  So annoying, because don't they know it's all about me? I mean, come on people!

And if I were a better blogger I would have posted daily with my progress.  With lovely snaps and witty commentary.  My lovely pile of fabrics.  Little pieces and blocks along the way. Ha! 

But unlike a hundred other projects I've begun this year.  I finished it!  How utterly astonishing is that?

We (me and the sweetie) went to Fisherman's Terminal to take a few snaps on a hazy morning in August.

This is a working terminal.  Not too many pleasure boats here.  It was very nice of the heron to pose for me.

And the back of the quilt.  A smidge less busy than the front.

I used a combination of linen, ticking, shirting, dress, and quilting fabrics on the front. 

I took over the floor in the sweetie's office laying this out for the better part of a month.  He carefully tiptoed around it as it grew larger and larger.

And looking at it everyday, he decided he liked this one and asked if it could be his.  Not one of the pile of all purpose quilts lying around the house for anyone to use.  His.

Of course!  It is just the right size to wrap up in to sit at the computer, read a book, or take a little snooze.

Ta dah...the sweetie's quilt.  And wasn't it nice of him to hold it over his head until the blood drained from his arms for the countless photos I took!  You betcha.

Paul's Quilt

I began this quilt shortly after Christmas. The batiks were purchased the day after Christmas at Eshter's Fabrics on Bainbridge Island.  Love this shop!

I had wanted to work with the Dresden Plate pattern, but something really fun.  Not too girlie.  Not overly traditional. So I used a black batik as the background fabric.

And I had this crazy idea for the back using some of the extra 'blades' from the front.  I love how saturated the colors are.

I used a wool batting.  I wanted this to be a super toasty warm quilt as it was going to a very special person.

It is a "lap/take a nap with room to tuck in" blanket.

I am especially fond of the back.  Seems like a party!

Because it always is!



Graduation Gift

I was one of four children growing up.  When the oldest of my two brothers was nearing graduation my mom asked what he would like.  He said an Izod quilt.  This was back in 1983 and Izod was a big deal in high school, along with Sperry Top Siders and Levis Straight Leg 501 jeans.  Izod was the 'it' clothing item when we were in high school.  At one point three of us were in high school at once.  Rough time for mom.

So she made a quilt.  Appliquing hand made alligators.  We all thought it was pretty cool.  My brah wanted a thick batting which was a pain to work with.  I don't even know if they make that stuff any longer.  So the project started, then sat.  And sat.  And sat.  For 28 years.

So my brah is a bit of a teaser.  And when the opportunity arose he would kid my mom, "... yeah, and when am I gonna get my graduation gift?'  Versions of this went on for years.  Zingers, but always with a smile.

When we surprized my mom on her birthday this year, it came up again.  So she and I conspired to finish the quilt.  Living life with no regrets.  It had been moved a gazillion times and at one point it was damaged by water (life can be complicated sometimes).  It had mildewed beyond salvage.  All that work - gone.  The plan was that Mom would remake the top and I would quilt it.  It wouldn't seem like such a large undertaking that way.

We had the perfect venue to give him the quilt.  In June we were all planning to get together to celebrate milestone wedding anniversaries, a graduation, fathers day, and some birthdays.  Big doings.  The entire family.

Mom remade the quilt top, and I made the back and quilting.  Lots of mailing back and forth, photos, and emails to work out the details.  Then Mom made a pillow of the left over scraps.  My brah birthday was in April and she had promised him a present which she had not yet delivered.

So the big day arrives.  Mom gives him the pillow.  It was super cute.  And almost on cue he starts to raz her about the quilt.  She askes him if he even remembers what it looks like.  He says no.  She goes back to the house and brings out a brown paper grocery bag.  She hands it to him.  He opens it.  And for a brief moment... before the teasing begins again... he's quiet.  We got him! 

It was a hot, muggy day in the mid-west.  The kind of stickiness that happens before it rains.  He wiped his eyes.  It was hot and  very sticky.  I wiped mine too.

P.S.  On the drive home, his youngest daughter borrowed the quilt.  He has not been able to get it back.  Each day he askes, "Dani, can I have my quilt back?"  Each day she has replied, "Tomorrow daddy."

City Tracks Quilt - Finished!

I am so pleased to be able to share my finished City Tracks quilt with you.  This is based on a quilt of the same name in a book called City Quilts by Cherri House.  Stunning book.  Seriously.  Check out her blog and book here. 

Her version of the quilt was in reds and purples with black bands.  It was stunning.  I went in a different direction choosing blues and green with pops of yellow and black. 

There was a break in the rain this afternoon so the Sweetie and I head over to a place near the UW.  We met up with the Kidlet and one of his friends who is also on Spring Break.  They graciously agreed to help with the shoot.  (Seriously, two 20 year guys holding a quilt in a very public place.  They might be seen by someone they knew, doing something uncool.  I was unspeakably grateful for their assistance!)  The location used to be a hot tub place that has gone out of business.  Now it has become an ever changing canvas for spray can based art.  

On the front I used solids from Free Spirit.  They  were all lined up in a row at one of my favorite stores - The Quilting Loft.  I just had to have them.  These pictures were taken in a break from the rain so it was kind of a grey day.  In the sun, this baby glows.  Who'da thunk blue would be that bright?  I am in love with the colors. 

The pieced strip on the back is from left over ends from cutting the blocks for the front.  The quilting almost gives it a plaid flannel effect which from a distance is pretty cool.  I almost like the back better than the front.  There is something minimalist about it that speaks to me.

I quilted with two variegated threads.  One was blue based and the other was a bluish/green.  On the front, you can hardly tell I used variegated thread, much less two.  On the back it is high contrast, but I could have gotten away with only one.  You have to be really, really, really close to notice.  Hey, but if you never try anything new, you never learn anything new.  No biggie.

The quilting pattern is a little off balance on the front, which works for me.  It seems to balance out the stripe in each square.  It wasn't my original plan.  One the first pass, the unquilted area in the center seemed too big - even though the batting instructions indicated stitching could be 8" apart.   How would it hold up to many visits through the washing machine?   I added two more lines of quilting in each direction for each square.  Ahh, much better.

I used Kyoto bamboo blend for the batting.  My first time using this.  It is a 50/50 Bamboo Cotton blend  Super soft but I had fuzzies everywhere.  (Super dooper soft.  Super easy to work with.)  Even after a trip through the wash there were fuzzies.  I am hoping because it is encased in fabric the fuzzies are gone for good.  This is supposed to be naturally anti-bacterial.  For anyone with children or pets that's a good thing - and many of us have both.

Remember the love/hate thing?  I love it. I hope you do too.

Trip Around the World - Finished Quilt

I was super excited this week when I received a call that the free motion foot I ordered had arrived.  I had quilted about 75% of the quilt when the foot broke.  I have an older sewing machine and no one had the foot in stock.  It was a huge relief to receive the call. 

The quilt came out of hibernation and I finished quilting yesterday and applied the binding this morning.  Then the best surprise was that the weather has turned out better than forecast.  On a Saturday!  That meant I could take photos outside!!

This shot is in front of one of the old remaining structures from the Sand Point Naval Base in Seattle.  It was turned over to the city a number of years ago.  This can be found in Magnuson Park on the shores of Lake Washington.

The back of the quilt.  I think it's super cute with the single row of pinwheels at the bottom.  I love how bright the orange is.

The orange back is Aboriginal Dots by Kaffe Fassett.  The location:  the shore of Lake Washington in Magnuson Park.

I used three Moda Punctuation Charm Packs by Moda on the front.  And a muslin colored fabric - whose name escapes me.

The Sweetie's arms were nearly ready to fall off at this point... I can't even tell you the number of shots I deleted.

The binding is a cute yellow fabric by Liesl Gibson of Oliver +S, and ties nicely to the center yellow diamond on the front.  This was not my usual color palette - I trend toward the darker side, but this is so bright and cheery I might need to explore the bright side again.

This quilt was about trying new things:  Triangles, brighter colors, and free motion quilting.  Free motion quilting was fun!  I am very pleased with the result.

And just because... even the weeds found in the spring grass are cute!

Procrastination Quilt - Finished!

I can't wait any longer!  I finished the Procrastination Quilt over the weekend!  Whoo Hoo!  I was so happy that I couldn't wait to tell you about it.

Hey, wait a minute... hmmm... If the quilt was finished on Sunday, why wait three days to tell everyone?  I will blame it on the weather.  Really. 

It has been raining for days.  If it did clear up (read, stop raining) even for a moment, the quilt, me, and the camera were not in the same place at the same time.  Really.

I tried to take some photos, but didn't care for them.  I made the bed.  Spread it out.  Opened the curtains, turned on the over head, and table lamps.  The lighting just wasn't great.  I moved it to the living room, in front of the largest window.  The grey outside just washed out the colors.  Duh. 

I just can't wait any longer.  So I'm going with the photos on the bed.  OK.  Maybe some from the living room too.

This quilt is not an original pattern.  It's become commonly known as Wonky Squares.  The underlying pattern is a variation of the Courthouse Steps or Log Cabin.  I followed the Tutorial offered on the Tall Grass Prairie Studio blog.  If you know me personally, this is a stretch as I tend like the world all lined up and orderly.  (I imaging my mom laughing so hard tears have come to her eyes as she reads that last observation.)  Chaos is not my natural inclination.  This project was and exercise in 'Lighten Up, Kid'.

I chose to limit my colors to three.  This is designed as a throw for my office/guest room which is light blue, and white, with grey and chartreuse accents.  I've seen beautiful Wonky quilts with broader color palettes, but this was an exercise in editing.  Seriously.  It was so difficult to narrow my choices in the fabric store as there were so many fabulous options.

I used a Gees Bend teal fabric.  I was warned that this fabric bleeds like crazy on the first washing as it is hand dyed, so washed and dried it separately.  The lightest fabric is Spa by Rosemarie Lavin (Wyndham Fabrics) and the grey is from Kona Bay.

Next I decided to do the quilting myself.  I wrote about my first experience which involved ripping it all out.  When it doubt, rip it out.  Glad I did.  My main issue was that my machine does not have a walking foot.  I borrowed my friend Lisa's machine (as she picked up a shiny new one just the other day), and presto, much better results.  Finding a walking foot for my 21 year old machine is proving to be a little tricky - I'll double check eBay.

I used straight line quilting for my first time out - nothing fancy.  Again I followed a tutorial from Tall Grass Prairie Studio where you use painters tape - yup, that blue or green stuff - as a line marker.  Pretty slick.

Once I let the walking foot do most of the work, rather than me wrestling (and losing) with the fabric it all became much easier. 

Last but not least, I applied the binding by machine.  No hand hemming the second side.  I enjoy hand work, but I just wanted this baby in the Finished pile, not the Work In Progress (WIP), or Unfinished Object (UFO) piles.  Hand hemming was an opportunity to procrastinate - again.  I just looked Procrastination in the face and said - not today, fella. 

I did notice that my stitch in the ditch technique could use some improvement.  While the pattern is Wonky, the stitching, perhaps, should not be. 

Once finished I washed the quilt.  It had been on the floor for basting and the Overly Helpful Helpers had napped and walked on it.  I had prewashed the fabric before starting and had used a fleece styled batting so wasn't sure I would get a puckery, quilty result.  But it did - super excited about that part.

Overall I am very pleased with the result.  I could write a longer piece on it's imperfections and things I would do differently, but will spare you, gentle reader, from that particular torture.  Let's lock that perfectionist into a dark closet and throw away the key.

Now onto the next Procrastination Project - tucking in the tails of my nearly finished scarf.  Tomorrow is another day!