summer 2 x 4

Posted on September 2, 2018

Earlier this summer I pulled out this stack of fabrics that included a bunch of neutrals with some pops of color – hot pinks, bright yellow, a bit of peachy orange and a few shades of blue.

I had plans to make something else with those fabrics, but the blocks took far too long to complete and I really needed something faster.

(look at this cute house! it has me wanting to make another string quilt!)

So of course I immediately thought of my 2 x 4 pattern! It’s a super quick one, yet still fun and satisfying to put together. As an added bonus, I think it looks wonderful with any and all fabric combos!

Interestingly enough, despite making many quilt tops in this pattern, I have yet to actually complete one! Maybe this one will be the one!

 

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ginger-lime spritz

Posted on July 19, 2018

Well hello there! I’m excited to show you this finished quilt today! As you know, one of my favorite parts about quilting is taking photos of my finished quilts. Back in the day I used to spend lots of time scouting out the perfect locations for each quilt. Now, with kids who dislike the car and aren’t always as patient as they might be, it’s harder to take the time to find fun backdrops. So that’s why this time around I decided to switch things up!

This mural is on the side of the Shacksbury Cider tasting room in Vergennes, Vermont, and was painted by Annemarie Buckley, whom I’ve followed on IG (@buckleyprojects) for quite a while. I love the design and the colors and thought it might be fun to make a quilt inspired by her mural. Of course the best part of that is already having the perfect place for quilt photos!

I snapped a photo of the mural last winter when I drove through Vergennes and then selected a bunch of Kona solids that matched and coordinated with the mural colors. The design is one I had tucked away in an inspiration folder from long ago. I love the bold graphic look of it, especially in the solids. I added in some extra white space to keep it light and interesting, and I really love it. It’s not often that I can actually commit to a full solids-only quilt, though I’m always pleased with the results when I do.

Of course, I couldn’t resist a print for the back, and what else than these perfect Cotton + Steel apples. It was a no brainer, really.

As soon as the quilt top was finished I sent it out to Rachel at Stitched in Color to have her quilt it. I knew that it’d never get finished if I tried to do it myself and I’ve been really happy with her quilting services (she previously quilted this one for me).

Once again I asked for her quilting suggestions, and she suggested a couple, including this one, which is called Pine Needles. I love how it looks on this quilt – it adds great texture and a subtle design to this otherwise simple quilt.

I bound it in a ginger colored Cotton + Steel basic. I kind of wish it was a bit darker to frame the quilt, but this is what I had on hand, so that’s what I went with!

I convinced the family to take a drive down to Vergennes last weekend (about 45 minutes away), by including lunch and ice cream at Basin Harbor and also allowing them to watch a movie in the car. I think we all won.

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framed

Posted on May 22, 2018

So I have a sad story about this quilt, but at least it has a happy ending. Looking back, this quilt had a rocky start – I set out to make something else and even cut up a bunch of my treasured Carolyn Friedlander fabrics, only to find that I didn’t even like my design. Happily I was able to turn it into something I did like (photos of the quilt top here, last March).

In fact, I liked it quite a lot, and as with quilt tops I like a lot, I hung it in the closet, afraid to ruin it during quilting. Recently I got the urge to get these quilts finished, so sandwiched a few of them, including this one. I started quilting and immediately knew there was a problem. You know how you can just tell it’s not basted well enough? Well, I knew, but continued on with a few more quilting lines just in case it would work itself out. Nope. And now I had even more quilting to rip out!

I resandwiched it and pressed on, quilting all the horitonzal lines I’d need. It was ok, but I could see that it wasn’t stretched tightly enough. I suppose it might have been ok if I had just continued on with horizontal lines, but I had already picked a design from Jacquie’s book, and wanted to see it on this quilt. There was no way I was ripping all that quilting out though, so I kept on, and it kept getting worse.

Adding all these quilting lines between the horizontal lines I had already quilted made the issue that much more obvious (it looks ok in some of these photos, but in person you can see how there’s lots of excess fabric, even folded over some of the quilting lines). I was pretty bummed about it, and thought I might not even show you this one, but then Hazel walked by and was so excited about the quilt and immediately asked if she could have it for her bed.

She, of course, didn’t even notice all the bad spots I was focusing on, and instead just loves it for what it is – a quilt made up of colors she likes that will keep her warm at night. I shall try to embrace it in the same way (though I still reserve the right to be bummed that it didn’t turn out as nicely as I had hoped!).

Posted in Fabric, Finished Quilts, Posts about Quilts, Quilts | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments