Tag Archives: finished quilt

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The issue 5 call for entries to the Mini Quilt Gallery of Curated Quilts closes today and I've finished my (well, our) submission just in time.

I'll start with that "our" part. This color palette is not my typical palette. I purchased the Kona solids Shadow, Yarrow, Metal, Sunny, Moss, and Windsor just to participate in the challenge and they sat there, waiting for inspiration to strike. I had an idea, but unfortunately I'd seen that another maker made a nearly identical piece. On June 10th my son walked into my sewing room and I said, "I need a brilliant idea. I need a brilliant quilting idea." He responded, "arrange them lightest to darkest for me," and got to work.

His initial idea was to color block with six large rectangles. Then I filled him in on the theme of Connections/Improv. We discussed what improv meant and settled a plan. I would cut the fabric into quadrilaterals with scissors and he would arrange them on the design wall. I cut a few of each color, and as he filled the space he instructed me to cut particular colors to fill in the gaps he had.

I did all the piecing. I enjoyed the puzzle of putting together his design. It includes straight seams, smooth curves, and a set-in seam. We had to add a couple pieces in the top right to keep the project large enough for the challenge.

Then I went back to G to discuss quilting. I knew I wanted pretty dense quilting (but not matchstick) and I had four matching 50 wt Aurifil colors to use: Yellow #2135, Dove #2600, Medium Grey #1158, and Medium Delft Blue #2783. If I'd had all six colors I would have been inclined to quilt tone on tone in each section. I'm so glad I didn't. I asked G what area of the quilt he liked the most and wanted to emphasize. He liked the lower left, so I made that the focal point of my quilting. My quilting was done by walking foot and random color changes. I really like the effect.

I love that this challenge allowed me to connect with my son. It was the perfect size project for us to work on together. It finished at 10" x 10", with a faced binding. Thanks for the inspiration, Curated Quilts! Congratulations to all the other makers who have submitted their mini quilts. 121 so far!

You may have seen my i Mini that I created for the Minimalism challenge in issue 3 of CQ. (Fun fact, it's currently hanging in the San Mateo County Fair.)

G has made 5 of his own quilts. Check them out:

I've linked up to Needle and Thread Thursday and TGIFF.

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Years ago I was inspired by another quilter who was making one block from the scraps of each finished quilt she made. I thought this was a wonderful idea and set out to make house blocks with my scraps.

I made two.

It became clear that I was finishing quilts too fast for this to be a feasible addition to my process. So I recently decided to finish the house block into a little mug rug.

These particular scraps go back to 2002 when I began quilting. Since the beginning I've been a multiple projects at once kind of quilter. The small lap quilt that these scraps came from was the second quilt that I pieced and the first one that I finished. The quilt was given to my late grandmother and years after she passed away it was given back to me. Here the two quilts are together.

Thank you for visiting!

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Two years ago I made class quilts with the kindergarteners at school when my son was in kindergarten. Last year another parent took the reigns and and this year it was my turn again, since my daughter is in kindergarten this year.

I decided to do something a little more complicated this year. Since I was really enjoying seeing all the Village quilt blocks on instagram I ordered a copy of the pattern for the kids to each sew a house block. They made fingerprint art a la Ed Emberley on the doorway fabric with their teachers and I led them through piecing their blocks. (The maker's names are on each doorway as well, but they have been removed for the blog post.)

The kids are at a montessori school, so sewing has been part of their curriculum for the last three years. By kindergarten they are all comfortable using needle and thread. To help them with their piecing, I use a frixion pen to mark the 1/4" seam on the wrong side of each fabric to help the kids keep their running stitch in a straight line. I pin together the two layers of fabric to keep them organized. Some kids take tiny microscopic stitches and some take 1/2" long stitches, but it all gets the job done.

Aren't the blocks adorable!? Once each child finished hand piecing their quilt blocks I brought them home to give them a good press, sew them together, and finish the quilts.

I was sure to get a good shot of the quilt sandwich before I added the binding. When I taught the kids about the parts of a quilt they got a kick out of the phrase "quilt sandwich." I told them that the top and bottom fabrics were like the bread and the batting was like the... whatever you like on your sandwich. One student asked nearly every time I saw him if I had added the peanut butter and jelly yet. ;-)

I opted for echo quilting bordering each house and my daughter helped me pick the zen chic blue dot fabric for the binding. These adorable quilts are about 16" x 15". They were finished and hanging on the classroom walls in time for Mother's Day Tea.

 

Just for fun, here I am with the portrait of myself that my daughter drew for the Mother's Day Tea on Friday.

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