Quilt Finish: Rows of Bows!

This scrappy "Rows of Bows" quilt was inspired by a quilt top made by an unknown maker displayed in a book called Cotton Candy Quilts by Mary Mashuta. I started making her on July 24th, 2014. I completed her on September 23rd, 2014. That's 2 months less a day. Not bag.

For my quilt, I chose to use only plaids and stripes collected painstakingly over many years. Amongst other assorted fabrics, lots of old shirts and shorts belonging to Lo and the Boy are found in this quilt. Some belonging even to me are in there. The backing fabric was provided by my mom whose extensive fabric stash I recently inherited because she loves me. What can I say except that I was a model child. But you know this.

"Rows of Bows" is a no-nonsense straight-line machine-quilted quilt, and is massive at 96 inches (2.4m) wide by 100 inches (2.5m) long.  I don't know exactly how much she weighs but I would wager it's about a ton, give or take.

I'm pleased she's done. She's resting on our bed as we speak. And it is my hope that very soon I will be happily snuggling right there with her.

♥M

Disclosure: The link to Cotton Candy Quilts is an affiliate link. I will benefit financially if you opt to purchase a copy of the book.

Quilt Finish: On A Picnic

This here is the simple picnic quilt I made for my sweet friends, DnA, who got married just a little while ago. Yahoot for their beautiful matrimonial union! Let us drink to their long and blissful wedded life!!! Hugs to you both, DnA!

Previously pictured in progress here and here, this is the quilt I quilted on Betty, my old White sewing machine. It's my first attempt at free-motion quilting (FMQ) a large-ish project. And I'm pleased with it!

And, as usual, every quilt has its lesson.

What did I learn this time 'round? Well... a few things actually.

Lesson 1: I learned the value of a good marking tool. After fussing with a regular HB pencil, a so-called quilting pencil, and a new but-soon-dry-as-the-desert quilting marker, I finally settled on the wonderful chalk pencil to mark the quilt with my quilting designs. It doesn't even compare with the rest. The heavens opened up, as I recall.

Lesson 2: For my next project, I will be taking a new approach to FMQ designs.

Part A: I ended doing gobs and gobs of unpicking because my quilting lines were designed long and smooth yet SO often ended up wobbly and crooked. Given Betty's minimal throat space, it was quite tricky to maneuver the quilt along these lines. Shorter lines would be far less challenging for Betty and me.

Part B: A little more space between the quilting lines themselves would also help. Then I wouldn't have to fret so over the fabric buckling. I was constantly checking for buckling and bunching on the backside of the quilt and it had a negative impact on my flow. It seems to me that more space between quilting lines is the answer here. That's my theory anyway. Still have to test that out in my next project though.

Lesson 3: I love the modular quilting design idea. By that I mean working in a small area on a discrete motif, as opposed to an all-over quilting pattern. Being limited by my machine's tiny throat space is not necessarily a bad thing, it just means having to think differently about how to accomplish the quilting. Modular quilting designs are one solution to the space problem.

Lesson 4: This project shows me the potential of my simple old machine. So what if it's old? I am not limited by it. IT is limited by ME! I'm supposed to be the one with the brain after all.

Lesson 5: Except for batting and thread, I could probably make 20 more quilts from my scraps/stash alone. Like really, I had everything for this lap quilt in my house! This is an old, old lesson. An oldie but goodie.

Lesson 6: If you want motivation to finish a quilt, plan to give it as a gift for a big day like a wedding or a birth. There's nothing like a deadline to set one's butt astir.

Yeah... So I think that about covers it! I hope to get started on THIS colourful one soon. Poor thing's been waiting most patiently in the wings...  I think I may need to set a deadline of some sort, eh?

♥M

KITTEN UPDATE:   Thanks so much for your kind input on the kittens. Of which there are now three (I named the third "Twigs")! We've put out food and water for them. They aren't touching it from what I can tell. So the mom must still be around?...  They've begun to meow at me when I look in on them. Am I scaring them? The Humane Society said to give them a call if we decide to hand them over. Also, after last posting, Lo reminded me that Elle (my eldest) is highly allergic to cats. That fact had totally fallen out of my head, if you can imagine!!! I'm so worried about the poor little things. I just want them to be safe and alive...

The Space Between

When I was little and I went to bed before the sun did, I'd lay in my bed and make pictures with my hands. You know when you take both hands and bring the thumbs and index fingers together? You know that space that lives in the middle there between them all? In that space I'd create a whole world of shapes. I'd make all manner of hearts and trees and animals and letters, and my mind would wander aimlessly, and happily, through them all until my eyelids grew droopy and I fell asleep.

For reasons that I don't really understand, I have very few recollections of when I was a kid. This is a memory that just recently came back to me. And it's a good one. I think it came back to me because it was an activity that I repeated over and over again. It was imaginative and natural and easy and free and portable and quiet and good, and the results belonged only to me. Plus, it is probably the creative root of everything you see here.

What, you might well wonder, does this have to do with Dresden placemats? Oh nothing. Nothing at all in fact. I'm just so glad the memory is mine again. And I was reminiscing out loud.

♥M

P.S. As you can see, I finished the Dresden placemats, yipee-kayay! Previous posts about this scrappy little project live here and here.

A Collaborative Quilt

I had the pleasure of sharing the making of this vibrant quilt with my youngest sister Ariane. It's gotta be one of my all-time favourite projects. While visiting my parents this past weekend I re-discovered it and just had to share it with you. Every time I encounter it, I love it more.

The unnamed queen-size quilt was made a few years ago as a gift for my parents' wedding anniversary. It lives in our beautiful childhood home (in my old bedroom in fact) where my parents reside to this day. It was created after a pattern by Lynn Roddy Brown in her book Simple Strategies for Scrap Quilts. In fact, our inspiration quilt is right there on the cover.

I remember Ariane and I getting together to make our version of the nine-patch, the discussions over colour, the pooling of resources, the shopping trips, the strip-cutting, the chain-piecing. I also remember my sister lugging her old reliable sewing machine to and from my house. I remember us sitting there at my dining room table each at our old machines, chatting and sewing, sewing and chatting. We machine-pieced the quilt but when it came to quilting, we decided to hand-quilt it. We quilted it on our laps, echoing the simple piecing.

Working on this quilt with my sister is a memory I will always cherish. One I hope to repeat again. And possibly again after that. Maybe one day Ariane?

♥M

HERE is Ariane's post about this quilt from back in 2009.

Sand and Beach Balls: A Baby Quilt

Introducing "Sand & Beach Balls", a baby quilt I designed and made for my newest young nephew.

When I set out making this scrappy little quilt, I knew I wanted to capture the feelings you sometimes get on a lovely beach outing. A combination of serenity, warmth and playfulness, you know? I hope that by doing so, my nephew will feel those good feelings whenever he wraps himself in this blanket.

Working from my stash, I went with the following colour combination. For my collection of beach balls, I chose aquas, blues, yellows, oranges and browns to bring to mind water, sunshine, and sand. For the remainder of the quilt, I kept to off-whites and beige tones to reflect the beach underfoot.

In a few places on the quilt, I added subtle embroidery stitching to echo the sun's rays. I also embroidered a quiet To/From inscription so that my nephew will always know that this quilt was made especially for him by me in the year of his birth.

I chose a simple hatching pattern for the quilting because, frankly, I'm still such a newbie when it comes to machine-quilting. I wasn't so sure it would work out either, but I went with it because it mimicked the main backing fabric. And speaking of which, the simple backing was pieced from an old gingham sheet and a blue remnant, both longtime stash-dwellers.

I'm so happy to have it completed. I'm pleased with it. Now I can send it off to my brother, the new daddy and his sweet little family, where hopefully it will be used and loved for a long long time.

Wishing you the pleasantest of weekends!

♥M

More on this quilt here, here and here.

Quilt Squares on a Chain Link Fence in August

I did a little happy dance this morning. A scrappy happy dance if you will. I've completed the 238 squares that will make up the scrappy quilt that you've glimpsed here.

And then I ran outside to the field behind our house and took photos of the squares on the fence back there. Yes, of course I was fully dressed. Eesh. I even had my shoes on. I'm thinking these would make an awesome bunting. The quilt squares, not my shoes. And let me tell you, 238 squares would cover a lot of "bunting" ground. Yes indeed.

Don't worry. I'm not going to make a bunting out of my quilt squares. It was just a thought. I get those sometimes.

Next, the joinery. What is known in quilting circles as "piecing the top" (I think). Joys!

You have a good day, and I'll see you Friday! ♥M