Quilt Reveal: Stand Tall

 In September of 2019, I posted a tutorial of how to make some fabric collage animals. I made several different animals for the tutorial. When I put them away, I hadn't decided whether to put them all together in one quilt, or to make lots of little quilts. 

 

After all, how  meta is making a collage of blocks that are made with collage of fabrics. That would be fun, but that would require figuring how to join different size blocks and make them look cohesive. Also since the collaged animals will use a lot of quilting, and I wasn't thinking about doing a lot of quilting in the background, I am not sure whether the inconsistent quilting will cause any trouble.

Making them into individual quilts would be great to give me a head start on the small quilt of the month.

 

As we come to the end of 2022, I was thinking about the end of the year post.

Although I didn't have any rules for the year, I did have an idea that I could have more finishes than starts. A low key, low pressure goal. I just had to finish one more quilt than I started. How easy is that?

Earlier in the year, I had even pulled out some almost finished quilts that should have helped me reach the goal early so I could skate free the rest of the year. Well, as you can see, I haven't pulled it off yet. It is fine, since I started a big time, intensive quilt, I can forgive myself for reaching my goal. But still, I still have to admit defeat. I haven't had much success this year in quilting for 15 minutes a day. So a win on the quilting front would be nice.

I looked in the Cave of Wonder for quilts that would be quick to finish. Not a big, lap quilt, but a really small one. I pulled out the box of collage animals to see if I could make some more progress on them. And as you can tell by the pictures, a small quilt won out and here is the result. I quilted the markings on the giraffe and added a bead for the eye before binding it. I might add a three-dimensional tail but I am calling it finished it for now.

Quilt Reveal: Blue Shirts Quilt

 

I put the last stitches on the shirts quilt this week. It is strange to give you a quilt reveal without showing it all to you, but it is a very large quilt and  I will need help to show the whole thing to you. For good lighting, the photo has to be taken outside, and I don't want to get it dirty by laying it on the ground.

Maybe we will take the quilt for a walk so you can get a complete picture.

The quilt is made out of shirts that my brother-in-law wore until they were declared unsuitable for wear. We both like the idea of extending their life by turning them into a quilt. He isn't a lounge under a lap quilt guy, so I had to make a bed quilt. It has a 8 x 8 block layout, so it is approximately 80 x 80 inches.

Did you notice the row of one inch squares on the bottom left?

I made the quilt by cutting different size squares that would become ten inch blocks. There are a few rectangles in there too. I quilted it with an all over simple pattern meant to disguise the blocks.

I even used a shirt to make the label. I used shirts that had stains on them and I was looking for something to explain why. Mostly, I just wanted to tell the history of the shirts and show how well-loved they were.  This was the best I could find:

 

We leave a stain. 

We leave a trail. 

We leave an imprint.

 

2021:  Weeks 17 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

 

This week, using only 15 minutes at a day, I stitched the rest of the binding and label of the shirts quilt.

15 minute days this week --7 out of 7

15 minute days this year -- 115 out of 115 days

Success rate  = 100%

 

I was at 95% at this time last year, because I slipped this week last year. I haven't made a small quilt this month, but am trying to think of a quick one I can finish before the end of the month.

Linked with:

15 Minutes to Stitch

 

Quilt Reveal: Wild and Free

 

 Wild and Free, Just Like the Sea

 I wasn't going to participate in the Project Quilting challenge, but since it is the last one for the season, I wanted to help them finish out the year with a large turnout.

At the beginning, when I was making blocks for my Seaglass rooftops quilt, which will probably be officially called Amalfi Coast, I was only cutting the pieces for the blocks as I went along.  I didn't want to cut strings if I didn't need them. But then this week, I realized I could use leftover strings to make a string project. Sew some strings and see what you want to do with them, improv style. Use up more scraps.

I then decided I could use the strings to make a quick Project Quilting challenge so that is what I did instead. I have plenty of other leftover fabric for a string project.

Instead of straight strings, which I thought might be boring for a small project, I made a log cabin. The colors aren't true on my screen in these pictures.

It is about 10" x 11 1/2".

 

 

This week's Project Quilting Challenge 12.6 theme was Ab Intra, a Latin phrase that means “from within". This quilt fits the theme in many ways. First of all, there is a center, and there are layers around it. I use an onion analogy a lot in my life. In order to do anything - manage your finances, get healthier, learn to quilt, it is good to tackle one layer at a time, and build on your skills.

Second, the colors remind me of oceans and bodies of water. I don't live near water, but if I could live anywhere, it would be near water.

 

The quilt has an hourglass figure like mine.

Thirdly, to make it even more literal, I inserted a heart in the quilt.

 

You can see it in proper lighting conditions. It is something I had read about when I started quilting, and there may even be a quilt I did that in but I haven't done it since until I thought about the challenge rules.

 

Never give up 

for that is just the place and time

that the tide will

 turn.

 

2021:  Weeks 12 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

I spent my week making more of the teal and aqua rooftops blocks. I decided to make more blocks instead of making more rounds. I have the planned 30 blocks made now, and will start sashing them this week.  I also made the Wild and Free mini quilt for the Project Quilting challenge.

15 minute days this week --7 out of 7

15 minute days this year -- 80 out of 80 days

Success rate  = 100%

 

Linked with:

15 Minutes to Stitch

Peacock Party 

Patchwork and Quilts

Quilt Reveal: Pinwheels

I have finished my latest quilt. It is relatively small 12" x 36" so it a mini quilt or a table runner.  It is my mini quilt of the month for the month of July.

The blocks were started in October 2010. While some quilts are delayed because of some problem, this one was delayed because I thoroughly enjoyed making the blocks. Once the components are made, they can be switched around and placed in different ways to form blocks that look very different from each other. I planned on making even more components to find more ways to form these blocks.

In May, I pulled out the blocks again. I decided to finish these blocks off into a quilt and experiment with more blocks at a later date.

The original plan was a 2 x 2 layout, but once I saw that a 1 x 4 layout let each block shine on its own, everything fell in place and it was easy to make the quilt top.

Then some things happened and this quilt top waited for me to finish it.

Sandwiching it was easy, since the backing fabric and the batting were already cut to size.  I haven't used the sewing machines in a while, and I still had post traumatic shock from the last time I used them. I broke needles, and a needle holder, and when I took the one machine to the shop, it got waylaid in the coronavirus store closing, and then I had to pick it up from another town quickly. "Come today because we might shut down tomorrow and then we don't know when you will be able to get your machine back."

The quilting is simple to let the quilt blocks shine, and since the busy border wouldn't show the quilting much anyway.  Straight lines to avoid any trauma.  I was originally planning on quilting horizontal lines on the longer borders, but I was afraid that there might be some puckering where the lines crossed, and I wanted this quilt to be as stress free as possible. Straight vertical lines did mean more turning (since I didn't quilt through the pinwheels), and more rows to quilt, but it is a small quilt so it wasn't a big deal.

I didn't have enough of the backing / border fabric for a separate double fold binding, but I did have enough for a fold over binding. I haven't done that very often, but I did write a tutorial the last time I did it.  Since it wasn't planned, I did have to rip out some parts where I had sewn past the quilt top, but it wasn't very much. Since I quilted all the way to the edge, I trimmed the quilt slightly past the quilt top to avoid cutting the backing and kept the binding wide enough to cover that gap. Since it is the same fabric as the border, it looks great!

Linked with:

Finished or Not Friday

Butterfly Wreaths -- Quilted Scalloped and Bound

I finished quilting the scallops for Butterfly Wreaths.  It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be.  I wound up having the exact amount of thread I needed to make that last row of quilting. I switched to another slightly darker thread, which will be fine because it shows on the back and not the front. I followed the instructions to make bias binding, and I wound up having the exact amount of fabric for binding this quilt. When you add in the seam allowance, the scallops don't wind up being as deep as they looked when they were being cut.

Here's what it looks like from the back. There are several different colors of thread on the back, but it isn't obvious and adds interest. It looks so pretty, I'm not sure where to add the label.

The wind posed this shot.

It isn't finished yet!  I will wash away a little bit of stray marks where I marked the cutting line for the scallops, and then will be adding these beads in the light squares. I have to justify all the beads I buy to embellish quilts, and I have enough of these leaves for all of the squares.

[Edited to add: I am going to call this finished for now. This quilt finishes at an awkward size - too small to be a wall hanging over the couch, and too big to fit comfortably on the bulletin board.  It will probably serve best as a table topper, which means I shouldn't be adding embellishments on it. Also I need to get to the backlog of quilts that also want to be finished.]

 

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 10

This week, I spent quilting and binding Butterfly Wreaths. Also learning how to scallop and do bias binding.  Yesterday, I started another (hopefully quick) quilt. I am almost done touching every. single. thing. in the master bedroom to see if it sparks joy. I have a couple of box lids of things I have kicked out of the room and I need to find new homes for them. After that, I need to do some general cleaning before I tackle deep cleaning another room.

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 69 out of 69 sessions
Success Rate: 100%

Linked to:
Oh Scrap!
15 Minutes to Stitch Week 10
Slow Sunday Stitching - I stitched the binding on this quilt.
Moving it Forward 
What I Made on Monday 
Needle and Thread Thursday