Flannel Vortex Quilt Top Done!

Back in May, I started to make a quilt using my flannel scraps.  I started out with a bin full of scraps.

 



 



 

 

I have been working on this quilt off and on as I work on other projects.  The bin of flannel has been living beside my sewing chair for a few months now.  Today, I gathered up all of the odd sized blocks I have been making and laid them out on the floor to sew together...

 



 

 

There are three columns of blocks in this quilt and it is a nice  sized baby quilt/lap quilt.  There were times I thought I would never get to the bottom of the bin!  Many of the scraps came from a flannel mystery quilt I made several years ago and others were leftovers from flannel backs for other quilts and pj's I have made for my nieces and daughter. The flying geese were extras from the mystery quilt. 

I have a bin of larger flannel pieces and will likely piece the back of this quilt rather than buying more fabric.  I also have a couple of blocks leftover which I will also piece into the back. 

Our guild is having a quilt show in the fall.  I need to get some of these quilts finished so that I can put them in the show!

Rabbits!



Back in the day, rabbit ears were something you had on your tv for better reception...

This week, rabbit ears took on a different meaning in my sewing room when Christine and I got together to sew...

 

Here are Christine's rabbit ears:

Next up, the eyes...

Pretty soon, there were two rabbits hopping onto my design wall!

I decided to put all of my Fancy Forest blocks up on the design wall to see how they look:

Next week, we will be making our second rabbit blocks.  I cut mine out today--there are lots of pieces in this block.

This is Christine's second hedgehog from last week.

We have one rabbit, two owls and two fireflies left to make before we assemble our quilts.

My husband and I installed a second floating shelf in my sewing room today.   I added some birdhouses I purchased in New Brunswick when we were on a family vacation one summer several years ago.  I may put a small wall hanging under the top shelf...

Thanks for stopping by!

 

A Quilt for Baby N

Last November, I made a "baby quilt in waiting" --just so I could have a baby quilt ready to give should a baby come along.

Yesterday, this quilt found a new home.  My cousin's daughter had a baby girl three weeks ago.  Here is baby N with her new quilt.

I think she likes it!  Her Mom's favourite colours are orange and gray...I had no idea! 

When I was in high school, I made my first quilt... I used a single piece of yellow broadcloth and hand appliqued blue calico squares onto it in a checkerboard pattern, leaving a yellow border around the checkerboard part.  I added a yellow ruffle around the edge and sewed the back to the front and turned it inside out.  A puffy polyester bat was stuffed inside and smoothed out as much as possible.  I tied it at each corner of the squares with blue embroidery floss.  I was very proud of that quilt and kept it for several years until my cousin had a baby...Baby N's Mom. Yesterday, I asked if she remembered her yellow and blue quilt--It turns out that she still has it!!!!  She is going to send me a picture, because I  did not take a picture of it when I made it.

I love making baby quilts!  I need to get my "S" quilt quilted so that I am ready for the next baby who comes along!

Hedgehogs tonight...

 

Tonight, Christine and I got together to sew for the 2nd time this week!  I had all the pieces for my hedgehogs cut out before Christine arrived.  These blocks have lots of pieces and lots of steps to put them together.

 

 

There was a bit of re-cutting and some unsewing along the way for both of us! My first hedgehog is quite loveable!

 

 

Christine's first hedgehog is also cute!

 

My second hedgehog was a bit quicker to put together.

 

 

Here are the two of them, side by side.  It was not until I looked at this picture that I realized that one of these things is not like the other...(Do you remember that song from Sesame Street?)

 

 

 

The hedgehog on the left is wearing a headband.  I am going to consider the blue hedgehog to be more athletic than one on the right.  I think it adds a bit of personality, don't you think?

Here are all of the blocks I have made so far for my Fancy Forest quilt (baby quilt size).

Next up, the bunny blocks.

Creating Texture

I have spent much of my sewing time over the last 2-3 weeks creating texture in the background of this quilt.  I started this top at a workshop in 2014 with Kathy Doughty from Australia. The workshop was called "Modern Wedge".  

I put the background together earlier this year and hand appliqued my snaky wedges to the background.  I brought the quilt top to the Walking foot quilting class I took in April with Jacquie Gering.  It was Jacquie who suggested the asymmetric grid for the background of this quilt.  It has taken me several hours, but I am finally finished quilting the texture into the neutrals.  

I have an idea of how to quilt the curved parts but wanted to finish the background parts first.   Now that this part is done, I can change my thread colour and start on the curves.

 Don't forget to come back to see if my idea works!

Thistles this week...

Christine and I sewed tonight.  We made two thistles each for our Fancy Forest quilts. 

The yellow fabric on the left thistle looks a lot more green in real life!  

Here are Christine's thistle blocks:

I like the way the striped leaves look on her thistles. 

Next, we will be making hedgehog blocks...I have mine cut out already and Christine will be cutting hers out before we get together to sew them.

Christine and I have been getting together to sew one evening a week (most weeks!) for several years now. It is great to have one evening together a week when we don't do anything but sew (and chat!)... Much has been accomplished over the years.

I had some visitors in my garden this week:

(Same butterfly, underside of wing...)

The wasps are out in full force these days.

My Daughter's Quilt--binding!

This is the binding for my daughter's graduation quilt.  Last weekend, I sewed it to her quilt by machine.

My friend, Cathy, did the longarm quilting --the pattern is called "Mayflower".  My daughter chose it when she was home in May.

One of the fabrics in the quilt has daisies on it so this quilting pantograph is perfect!

This week, I started to do the hand stitching on the binding.  This will take a while as it is a queen sized quilt.  So far, I have two sides stitched and I have turned two corners...I will keep sewing as I watch the Olympics on TV and ride in the car.    Happy Slow Sunday Stitching!

What does the Fox say????

Christine and I get together for an evening of sewing most weeks.  A while ago, we decided to each make a small Fancy Forest quilt (pattern by Elizabeth Hartman).  We each had to purchase background fabric and we are using stash fabrics for the animals.  Goodness knows we both have an abundance of stash fabric!  This week, we each made four foxes. I am using bright colours for my animals and light gray Architextures fabric for the background.

 

 

Christine found some fat quarters in her stash that she will be using for her animals.  She bought some gray-beige fabric for her background. 

 

 

Next time we get together, we are going to make the thistle blocks...there are two in this quilt.  I have mine cut out all ready to sew together.  We are starting out with the easy blocks and building up to the more complicated ones.

 

This will be a fun project to work on together!

 

 

 

I bought a new plant for my perennial garden last week.  This is a pink threadleaf coreopsis.  





Sewing with Cathy

This past Saturday afternoon, Cathy and I got together to sew some blocks together to make a comfort quilt for the London Friendship Quilter's Guild.  Several guild members made friendship star blocks in red and blue for this quilt.  The blocks above were made by me!

It did not take too long to sew 35 blocks together and add the border.  I think this quilt really sparkles! Cathy will be quilting this quilt and another volunteer will be adding the binding.  We hope that more blocks will be donated at our September meeting so that more quilts can be made.

On the weekend, I cleaned up this corner of my sewing room and my husband and I put up the floating shelf above my cutting table.  The bins to the right of the table each have projects that need to be quilted in them.  My rulers are all organized in the ruler holder on the right side of the table.  Other corners of the sewing room do not look like this yet...  LOL!  The cutting table is custom made to my (short) height so that I don't hurt my back when cutting fabric.  (made by Eddycrest)

I spent some time on Sunday afternoon quilting.  This is the back of the quilt.  I will show the front when it is finished.  I hope to work on this quilt again tonight. 

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