a tufted tweets lattice quilt

I guess cleaning can sometimes unearth some fun things you’ve totally forgotten about! Back when I was working on a quilt for Laurie‘s new Tufted Tweets line, I made up several different types of blocks before Laurie and I agreed on the design which ended up being the Unfurnished quilt. These blocks were set aside and I came across them the other day during some organizing.

I had most of the pieces already cut, so it was quick work to put them together into this square little quilt! This design is a lattice design, which I paper pieced (mainly because I enjoy paper piecing… it certainly could be sewn without it). I had wanted to make something like this for quite a while, and you might remember that I ended up making two such lattice quilts out of Flea Market Fancy a few months ago (one finished, one still in the unfinished pile!). Anyway… I think this one’s pretty fun – I love how the Tufted Tweets prints look all mixed together (previously I’ve only used these prints in the separate colorways), and I love the gray background with that little bit of white.

The backing is already done, so hopefully this one won’t languish too long in the unfinished pile!

Posted in Posts about Quilts | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments

a Hope Valley queen sized quilt for Erich

I know some of you thought I was being a tease by showing you only the binding on my latest finished quilt earlier this week, but to be honest, I had just finished it and I was pretty excited to have it done. Making a queen sized quilt is quite a feat! They’re also pretty large, so I had to wait until I could find myself some volunteers to hold it up for photos.

You may remember that this is the quilt I’ve been working on for Erich, who was the one to make me the absolutely gorgeous sewing table. We worked out a little trade, and I’m so happy about it, since I don’t know that I could otherwise afford his woodworking prices! Plus, trading is fun – I love having something he’s made in my home and I certainly hope that he and my sister enjoy having a handmade quilt on their bed!

Whitney selected Denyse’s Hope Valley line which we paired with Kona Coal (her solid of choice, and a good one for a more masculine quilt!). I adjusted the measurements of my Unfurnished quilt to work for a queen sized quilt, adding a column and increasing the width of each column. I love that it works out so that there are three columns along the mattress and 1 column on each side.

For the backing I used a lot of Kona Coal, with an offset pieced section to mimic the pattern from the front. I think it will also make for a fun change should they tire of the pattern on the front!

I’m really happy to have this one done, and I’m even happier that I managed to get it to Erich before the nights really started to get cold!

As much as I love large quilts, I think I’ll be taking a little break before I attempt another!

(oh, kind of unrelated, but I forgot to mention it previously – I now have threaded comments, so if you’ve asked a question, check back for an answer.)

Posted in [search] Wonky/Improv Quilts, 2010 Finished Quilts, Finished Quilts, Quilts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Action Kivu Fundraiser

Alissa is holding a fundraiser on her blog this week for Action Kivu, an organization in eastern Congo that runs a sewing workshop for victims of the conflict there. (You can read all the details on her blog.)

Photo by Candice Knezevic/The Enough Project

Action Kivu is a homegrown operation founded by Congolese educator and interpreter Amani Matabaro Tom and his seamstress wife, Amini Bukanda. The program teaches women to sew, knit and embroider so they can support themselves and their families.

Photo by Candice Knezevic/The Enough Project

Sewing creates such a strong personal link between all of us, the online sewing community and these Congolese women, so if you can, please take 5 minutes to watch this powerful video and think about what you might be able to donate to help make a difference in these lives.

Every little bit counts! Let’s help Alissa exceed her $7500 goal – she’s already raised over $4000 this week!

Donating is easy – just click over to this post to do so. As an added bonus, by donating at least $25 you’ll be automatically entered to win some fabulous fabrics!

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