(flea market) fancy lattice quilt

Do you remember when I made this quilt top? I didn’t, but luckily a look back in the blog archives tells me it was June 7th, 2010. I don’t usually wait quite this long to finish a quilt, but this one ended up pretty large, so it was sent to live a lonely life in the closet of unfinished quilts.

This year I vowed I’d finish up some of those quilts, and to that end I decided to send this one out to be quilted. It was the first quilt I’ve sent out, and I must say that once I got over my little bit of guilt for not doing it myself, I realized how nice it was to pack it all up and have it arrive back just needing a binding!

I sent it to the lovely Lindsay of Eileen Quilts, and she very quickly quilted this one up in a fabulous loopy design. (How’d I pick Lindsay? Both Amanda of Hey Porkchop and Karyn of Make Something have shown gorgeous quilts quilted by Lindsay. In fact, Karyn had this design quilted on her quilt and I loved it so much that I went with the same.) Anyway, she was wonderful to work with and super fast! I was so pleased to receive this big quilt back in the mail, all beautifully quilted.

But back to the quilt! This isn’t the first Flea Market Fancy quilt I’ve made, and I’m sure it won’t be the last (I’m currently in the midst of finishing my FMF Swoon quilt top…), especially now that some of the prints are being reprinted. When I decided to make this quilt, I wanted a quick quilt, and something that would show off the Flea Market Fancy without using up too much of it. I think this lattice design was just perfect on both counts.

When I made this quilt top, I kind of failed to accurately calculate the size I’d need, so this quilt ended up being king sized, even though we don’t have a king sized bed. But even though it’s large, I love it on our bed (and who doesn’t need some extra covers, especially when you sleep next to a middle-of-the-night cover-snatcher?!)

Posted in [search] String Quilts, Posts about Quilts, Quilts | 25 Comments

what’s on the (design) wall?

Since my actual design wall is covered with mini Liberty cross blocks I’ve started using the wall behind my sewing table as a makeshift design wall. I don’t know what kind of tape this is, but luckily it’s not doing any damage to the walls (which makes the person who’d have to repaint it if they damaged it (me!) happy!) And just look how bright and happy this wall is now!

In progress –

*bright and bold blocks to feature Laurie Wisbrun’s fabulously fun new Llama fabric (available in her shop)

*a great Lotta Jansdotter calendar given to me by Phiona (not a work in progress, obviously. It was there before the blocks started taking over the wall!)

*a couple improv blocks that ended up not working for me

*and more improv blocks in the style of Denyse Schmidt which will be the start of my quilt for the Traveling Quilts group. I’m calling it Manly Improv with a Pop of Pink.

So what’s on your (design) wall?

Posted in Fabric, Posts about Quilts, Quilt Blocks | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

a whole cloth baby quilt

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m weirdly obsessed with this new little quilt! I didn’t plan on making it, so maybe that explains some of its appeal, or maybe it’s just that it all came together so nicely… I’m not sure, but I am sure that I’m in love.

It all started last week with a little trip to my local fabric shop, nido. It was meant to just be a visit to say hi to Phiona, but of course I can’t resist new fabrics, so this new Nani Iro was quickly added to the cutting table.

This time around the Nani Iro is a brushed cotton twill and is so soft, almost flannel-like, that I immediately imagined a blanket for Max. I also picked up a bright gold/yellow shot cotton for the blanket backing. As soon as I returned home the blanket idea was switched to a quilt (of course!) and paired with this wonderful plaid print from Denyse’s latest line for Joann’s.

I’ve always been intrigued by whole cloth quilts, though I hadn’t ever made one, so I was kind of excited by the prospect of making one. I’m still kind of stuck on that circle quilting, so I quickly marked up the quilt top and started sewing. I used a yellowy-green variegated Sulky thread, and used my walking foot to slowly quilt these circles.

A trip through the washer and dryer and this has become my current favorite quilt. I made it for Max, but I certainly snuggle with it every chance I get! The soft Nani Iro, combined with a great lightweight batting (Quilter’s Dream Request) and that soft lightweight shot cotton is just the perfect combination. And that binding? My new favorite! Now if only it was less baby-sized and more Ashley-sized!
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Edited to add:

Here’s a quick little diagram on how I quilted this quilt. More details provided here.

Posted in [search] Other Quilts, baby, Quilts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 51 Comments