FITF: Film in the Fridge | modern quilts, clothing, fabric, and photos

intersection (take 2, in Tiger Lily)

Posted on May 4, 2015

In an attempt to keep some variety on this here blog, I thought I’d hold off on the Tiger Lily triangle quilt I mentioned in my last post. Back to back triangle posts….no good! (Ha!)

Fortunately, I couldn’t resist a second quilt out of Heather Ross’s upcoming Tiger Lily collection (for Windham Fabrics). There’s a fun variety of prints and colors, so while my initial quilt includes lots of low volume prints, I decided to go bright and juicy with this one. After selecting some of my favorite prints, I added in a bunch of coordinating prints and then decided that it could be a fun grouping for another Intersections quilt.

I loved making the first (tutorial here), and I’m happy to say that the second was just as much fun, not to mention fast! While you can certainly take your time selecting fabrics and making individual blocks, it’s also a great block for speed sewing. I paired fabrics for 10-12 blocks at a time and then chain pieced the rings for that batch of blocks, and had this little quilt top done in no time!

Since I had already cut into most of the fat quarters of the Tiger Lily prints, I was limited as to the size of my center block, so I decided to adjust the center block measurement down a bit (I used 6″, 6 1/2″ & 7″ center squares), while keeping the other measurements the same. Happily it didn’t really change the look of the block (though it does make for a smaller block, finishing at 9″, I believe).

That plum/purple was a last minute addition, and I wasn’t completely sure about it for a while, but now I’m pretty happy with the extra shot of color it provides!

Max and Hazel are both totally in love with the cats in Heather’s new line (going so far as to kiss each piece of fabric showing a kitty whenever they see it), and after I suggested Hazel might like the equilateral triangle quilt out of the Tiger Lily prints, Max was adamant that he had to have one too. He’s very thrilled to hear that this one can be his (ah, always nice to know a quilt will be appreciated — at least while he’s this age!)

Posted in Fabric, Posts about Quilts, Quilts | Tagged handmade, Heather Ross, intersection block, intersections, quilt, quilt top, tiger lily, tutorial, windham fabrics | 4 Comments

paired

Posted on April 28, 2015

Another Cotton + Steel quilt? Why, yes! I was playing around with my Cotton + Steel stash one day and once again was admiring how many ways they can be paired. Inspired by this image from Jeni’s Splendid ice creams, I made up a bunch of these equilateral triangles back in January. I couldn’t come up with a plan for the layout, so I set them aside for a few months.

I originally thought that I might add in a bunch of brightly colored solids and maybe play around with the layout, but when I pulled the triangles out recently, having just received this great polka dot print from the Hello Bear collection by Bonnie Christine, I knew it was what I had been waiting for. I think I’ve mentioned recently that I’ve been trying to be good about only buying fat quarters or half yards of favorite fabrics (or f8ths of entire lines I like), but I had to make an exception for this fabric. I won’t tell you exactly how many yards I’ve bought so far, but suffice to say I’ve broken my 1/2 yard rule.

(Hazel still adores Alexia’s Tiger Stripe print!)

I love the randomness of the polka dots, making it a great one to chop up and use as a background (Penny and Amber have both been making fabulous blocks with it as the background). I was a little surprised when I received it to find that it wasn’t as white as I expected, but it turns out that the slightly off white color works perfectly with so many other fabrics.

Anyway, I digress. Don’t you love these great prints? I think the colors look great together and think that this low volume background print lets them really shine — something that wouldn’t have been the case with my initial colored solid idea. I suppose it goes to show that sometimes it works to set projects aside if they’re not coming together. In the end, it was a quick finish, especially since these triangles are larger, measuring 9″.

We stopped by my brother’s shop one day where I thought I might be able to tape this quilt top to the side of his warehouse (no go – note to self, get better tape!). As it turned out, he happened to be there, so he was nice enough to be the quilt holder of the day.

The kids think their uncle is pretty funny, and soon this was less about a quilt photo shoot and more about a game of peekaboo.

They call him ‘uncle beep beep’ (which is slightly better than my poor sister Whitney’s nickname of ‘aunt meat’) and think it’s especially hilarious since they realize that both my brother and sister wish they had been given better nicknames. Ah, kids be funny.

I liked making this one so much that I’ve already made up another, this time using some of Heather Ross’s upcoming Tiger Lily line. I’ve been driving around with it in my car, hoping for a chance to get photos, but we’ve had a week of rain, so no luck yet…

Posted in Fabric, Posts about Quilts | Tagged art gallery, bonnie christine, cotton + steel, equilateral triangles, handmade, hello bear, quilt | 22 Comments

a hug from a marshmallow (a Cotton + Steel Bespoke quilt)

Posted on April 21, 2015

I say it a lot, but this one is definitely my new favorite quilt. I love a soft quilt, and with all this double gauze, this one is extremely soft! I’ve spent some time with it wrapped around me, so I can say for sure that it feels like you’re being hugged by a marshmallow (er, at least what I imagine being hugged by a marshmallow would feel like…)

I used Quilters Dream wool batting this time around, which was a first for me. I typically like a nice flat quilt, so usually opt for their Select or Request battings which are cotton. Long ago though, Rhea of Alewives had recommended the wool to me and I had been wanting to try it ever since. I thought it would be a perfect choice with the double gauze, so decided to give it a go.

Despite my fear of overly puffy quilts, I was surprised how much I love the wool. It does give it a little extra puff, especially when combined with the two layers of double gauze (front and back), but it also makes for a super soft, lightweight, cozy quilt. Big fluffy piles of marshmallows (just look how happy Anna and Hazel look wrapped up in this one!).

Another first for me – hand tying a quilt. I had to laugh because everything I read talked about hand tying being a quick and easy way to finish a quilt. Ha! Having never done so, I sat and stared at the quilt, wondering what to tie it with, what color to use, how close together they should be, etc and I think a few weeks went by with no progress at all! (When I did finally start it was rather quick though).

Those of you who knit might cringe when I tell you that rather than going out to get yarn/embroidery floss/what have you, I dug through my Plucky Knitter yarn stash, and of course the only color I felt would work happened to be cashmere (making this quilt even more expensive!). I used a reddish pink for the corners of each block, and then a pale purple/pink for the centers of each block.

I pieced the backing with lots more double gauze – a large piece of the red print, along with all the leftovers from the front

including tiny hsts from the triangles I was left with from making the blocks on the front.

I couldn’t convince Morgan to wrap this quilt around his body and stand outside in downtown Burlington for quilt photos, but luckily Anna was in town at the time and didn’t seem to have any qualms about wandering around on the docks draped in a quilt! Thanks, Anna!