Scrappy Strings Quilt - Finished!!

This quilt began in the Spring of 2012 as a project for the kids to work on.  We made a few blocks in Spring break that year and a few more in the summer. Then this past summer it came out again and I had hoped to get it done by November so we could give it to my in-laws for there 35th Anniversary.  But...it takes a lot of 6" blocks to make a big enough lap quilt!!

The back made out of scraps of blue

As it happens, they celebrated their 65th and 66th birthdays yesterday and today so I sent it to them for these wonderful milestones.

This block with pink is Sophie's.  When I pulled scraps from my bins I stayed away from pinks and really bright but Sophie insisted and now there are a couple signature blocks from her :)

I quilted a squiggly line in the white strips and then tied the center of the blocks with cotton yarn.  I've never tied a quilt before but I didn't have any inspiration for quilting that part and thought the tying would go with the scrappiness.

I asked them to Skype when they opened it so I could watch their reactions.  Modern technology is wonderful!

Linking up to the first Finish it up Friday of 2014 :)

New (to me) quilting

It needs some work, but it was fun to try!

Quilts for Charity

Last February when we had our quilt retreat we asked everyone to bring a blue/white and green/white 9 patch so we could make a quilt for the Pregnancy Care Center.

The 9 patch blocks we started with...

They sat in my sewing room until May when Fenna from FABulous Home Sewn spear headed a sew-a-long for Pregnancy Care Centres.  It was a good push to get it done!  Laura, from Crafty Hour, and I worked on it together, making it a disappearing 9-patch quilt.

front

back

Over the next couple of months Laura made a few more quilts with fabric from Fat Quarter Shop that they generously donated.  Laura pieced and I quilted this cute Dr. Seuss one.

Check out the flickr pool and see the other sewing and quilts they made.  Still a few more to be made from all the fabric that was donated.  Hopefully we can do that this winter sometime.

 

On the Grid Quilt

Or I could call it "Finally Finished" but then that would be the name for many of my quilts, so that would be boring.

This quilt started with a collection of blue fabrics.  From an online charm swap, another charm swap at my first ever quilt retreat five years ago, and other blue fabrics that found their way into my stash (like these freebies from Connecting Threads.)

I kept all my blues in a small rubbermaid container for a number of years and then last March I sent out 11 packages for my bee-mates to make me a 25-patch block and an optional 16-patch block.  I had an idea in mind of what I would do with them.  It was feeling good to use them up finally.

But, in reality my idea looked horrid and I stuffed all of the blocks back into the container where they sat for another 1.5 years.  So sad.  A couple of weeks ago I pulled out the container and decided that something would be done with those blocks.  I also made up my mind to spend no money on the project and use what I had on hand.  

I first made all of the 16-patch blocks larger, then made four more 25 patch blocks for a total of 24 blocks.  That's 600 squares of fabric.  I had slightly less than 1 yard of the red so squeaked out the sashing from that.  It's actually quite rewarding to limit yourself sometimes to make things work with what you have on hand.

I love the backing.  I bought it while visiting Suzanne earlier this year.  I think it was $3/metre or something.  I still have more of it.

This morning after walking 'our trail' by the river, my friend Jen and Zachary, of course, helped me get these photos.  Thanks Jen!

It's been beautiful weather the past couple of days.  When you live in our area (Fraser Valley, BC), a sunny November day is a bonus.  A whole week of sun is incredible!  We've been enjoying it!

Scrap Stacks by Melissa and Deanna

I am totally proud of my girls (9 & 10 yrs) for seeing this one through!  They started it in March Break and finished the top at the beginning of September.  I started by cutting out 4.5 x 8.5 inch bases from a thrifted sheet.  I gave them free reign on which scraps to use.  'Whatever you think looks good." is what I told them.  They cut strips, sewed them onto the bases, pressed them and added more strips.  I showed them how to sew the rows together (alternating directions).

I helped sew some of the rows together as it was getting heavy and some spots had a good number of layers to them!

I did the quilting and the binding.  They opted for rounded corners and I really like it!  This quilt will be a snuggling quilt in our family room.  It's approximately 44 x 52 inches.

It's a fun quilt for my kids to look at.  A different kind of I spy game when you are looking for scraps of many different things I have sewn for them and others over the years.  I see scraps from bibs, quilts, pajamas, dresses, curtains, shirts, skirts, bags, purses, and more!  A very fun finish for both the girls and I.

Have a good day - I am enjoying the sunshine streaming in through my windows!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Going in Circles

My favourite quilt I've made this past year is the quilt I made for my sister and her new husband for their wedding.

I had a vision.  I bought the fabric.  I got going on it and it actually turned out how I wanted it to.  That doesn't always happen.

I had so much fun making this quilt.  I had wanted to make Drunkard's Path Blocks for some time and had pinned a bunch of quilts in this style.  I decided on a colour scheme similar to their wedding colours with the addition of gray and yellow.

The quilting took forever, but it was totally worth it.

For the back I used up some pieces of fabric I've had in my stash.  I especially love the keys fabric but I've had it on my shelf for about 4 years and haven't used it yet, so it was time to use it!

Thanks for stopping by!  I am looking forward to my cup of coffee and looking at some quilts this afternoon.

And thank you to Amy at Amy's Creative Side for hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Stringing with the kids

We recently pulled this project out of the woodwork again.  A great project that the kids can work on too!

Two Sided Table Runner

Made for Gord's nephew and fiancee for their engagement.  It was fun to do some quilting again!  A darker side for fall time, using a mini-charm pack that I got from Suzanne for my birthday last month, and a lighter side that is quite springy.  

I find it hard to make things for people I don't know very well.  Just because I like it, that doesn't mean that they will.  Hopefully they will like it and use it in their new home.

A quilt for my Midwife

I finished this quilt just before Christmas and hope to give it to my midwife this week. The grey/green colour combo comes from the new birth center that she is opening and I love it! They grey is Kona charcoal and the prints are a variety of fabrics from my local quilt store and stash.

This was such a nice project to tinker away at after coming home from the hospital with Sebastian. A little bit here and there while letting my thoughts go back to his beautiful birth and hospital stay.  Many prayers were thought and even a few tears shed while making this one!

I made the label fit into the quilting on the back and I love it almost as much as the front! :)  The backing is a sheet I got from a friend a couple years ago - makes for a nice soft quilt!

This picture is a little more true to colour.

Progress posts are here, here and here.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I made this quilt about 3 years ago. Carolin was a baby and I only had snippets of time to work on it. But it was such a joy to be able to sneak away to my sewing room a little bit each day and work on it.



I even had fun with the quilting. Because it wasn't overly big I thought I'd try something fun.



I actually sold this quilt on consignment at a local gift shop. As much as it's hard to part with a quilt, I was very happy to spend the money on more fabric!

Thank you Amy for hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival once again!

Mrs. K's Quilt

A few weeks ago, I alluded to the fact that I was working on a really special quilt. More special than any other quilt I have worked on.



I have known Mrs. K for many years. She and my mom have been friends since I was a toddler and have stayed friends for almost 30 years. That's a pretty long time.



For the past 9 years I have also been a member of the same congregation as Mrs. K. (Not my mom though.) I am pleased to call some of her daughters my friends. This past summer, Mrs. K was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy (is that spelled right?) and now is undergoing pretty harsh chemotherapy treatment.



When I found out that she would need this treatment I knew that she needed a quilt. A very special quilt. Something to keep her warm and keep her spirits up on the terrible days.



Mrs. K is a very blessed woman. She has a husband and 6 children who love her and care for her as well as numerous other family members and church family. She is so thankful for that support. Last Monday a few of us surprised her with a little morning 'party' and presented the quilt to her. She loved it. It was so worth it.

Wednesday I will post a little bit about how we organized the making of this message quilt. Just in case anyone else out there would like to bless someone in their lives with such a gift.

Have a good week!

Thanks to Heather for letting me steal her photos for this post.

It's done!

I finished Lukas' Paintbox quilt last week and am so happy!  We took it along when we went to the park tonight to take some pictures.

It's bound with strips of the leftover colours...

The backing is an old duvet cover from a friend. The diagonal lines are printed on the fabric not the quilting.

I quilted vertical and horizontal lines...lots of them :)

I'm sure happy to have it finished and Lukas loves it too. Now we just need to get his room painted!

I Love My Mom Quilt

It's my mom's birthday today.



I love my mom very much. I think that all of her children would agree that she is pretty special. She is well-loved.



I started this quilt in May of 2009. Zachary was only a few weeks old. I gave her a quilt block for Mother's Day.



I gave her quilt blocks every few weeks or months. With a card or in the mail, or just by itself.



It was fun to give her these little surprises here and there. She loves surprises. And mail. She loves mail.



Then one day I demanded them all back. I finished the quilt top around Mother's Day 2010.



And this morning I gave her the completed quilt. She likes it very much!



It will be quite at home at their place, don't you think?

Back at it!

My Paintbox quilt that is.  Notice the beautiful machine?  A wonderful friend lent it to me while she is on holidays!  I think it was partly a kick in the butt to get this one done :)

I'm a little torn on how I'm quilting it. So far I've stitched in the ditch on each side of the vertical sashing and have started the horizontal. I don't love it though and am thinking I should've meandered and put a little star or something in the center of each block. But...I don't think I'll be taking all this stitching out so a grid it will be. I hope in the end I'll like it more.

Our dear sister Karen

Alisa and I have a wonderful younger sister named Karen. 13 and 10 years younger to be exact and we love her dearly. It's been very fun for us to see her start sewing and beginning love to fabric too! She loved sewing class in high school and even got the opportunity to help with the grade 8's. She just graduated this year and won the dogwood scholarship for her textile portfolio!! Included in it was a quilt she made and both of us got to work with her on it.

Alisa had fun going on the fabric hunt and taught her how to cut and piece.

When she came for a visit last Thanksgiving she worked on it at my place and got the top all pieced together.

And then she quilted it on Alisa's wonderful (oops got that wrong) her own machine :)

It turned out beautifully!