Some near finishes here this Friday

I've had a productive few weeks over here,

mostly motivated by two babies who need their quilts

and a weekend retreat.

I spent last weekend with three UFOs and made good progress with them,

but I had the most fun with playing with these bright scraps from another retreater.

I'm not embarrassed to tell you I dug around in the common scrap bag

and found these beauties which will turn into some sort of mini quilt.

I used the shapes as I found them, having fun improvising.

Last week I also finished this I Spy quilt using 6.5 inch cut squares.

I added the piano key border from the bits too small for squares,

getting the quilt to about 42.5 by 57 inches.

That short last the newborn for a couple of years.

Here's a view of the back -- a fishbowl print I'd been saving for the right moment.

This stuff is 54 inches wide and I have enough for another toddler quilt.

After worrying about the quilting designs for too long,

I decided to go for wide matchstick quilting, 

or just plain straight line walking foot quilting.

I eyeballed the lines and kept them to a minimum because I want the quilt to be soft and cuddly.

I used about eight thread colours in 28 weight Aurifil

to both contrast and match with all the flying geese.

It measures 42 inches square and is bound with a dark grey Kona solid.

I just need to pull in a few threads and its ready for the baby across the street.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers today at

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Twirling around here

Yesterday's work: transforming a metre of cotton and half a metre of tulle

into a little girl's twirly skirt.

And using up the leftovers to make a matching one for her doll.

I used one eight inch width of fabric for the top tier

and two for the bottom.

I edged the hem with four wof strips of tulle netting.

The skirt is so full it stands up by itself.

My favourite three-year-old wanted a skirt to dance in

and I hope this pink and purple ballet slipper skirt

meets her requirements.

I also turned some scraps of Christmas fabrics into potholders.

I now have young adults on my Christmas list,

and they'll be getting some kitchen gifts from me this year.

I sewed more Christmas fabric scraps into gift bags

and free motioned a message onto one side with some 12 weight Aurifil thread.

Seems like I made more gift bags than Christmas gifts.

And finally, my top photos of the year on Instagram #2016bestnine.

Follow me @brendasuderman

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers.

Crazy Mom quilts

TGIFF

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Scored gold in Quilt Olympics

I've had a record-setting summer in giving quilts.

I gave away three large quilts and one small one in the course of a week, 

and they all now live in different Canadian provinces.

Above in the 13 inch mini quilt I posted about earlier

which decorates my friend C's new professorial office in Waterloo, Ontario.

Transplant Star,

60 by 84 inches

Machine pieced and quilted

This star quilt needed a home for a long time.

I started it last summer when I was recovering from an injury

and finally got it quilted and bound by spring.

It now lives with a college friend who had a liver transplant last spring.

When I gave it to him, he said

"You didn't need to make me a quilt."

Although I didn't make it for him,

he certainly deserves a quilt after a tough recovery.

This one lives on a Saskatchewan farm.

Balancing Act

55 by 70

machine pieced and quilted.

This one was also a long time work in progress,

which started from a bunch of scraps and sewn together parts 

from Quilt Diva Julie.

After too long as a flimsy, 

I managed to get it quilted and then hand stitched the binding

on my trip west,

where my friend M. is the new proud owner.

She liked the typographic elements in it,

especially after a long career as a journalist.

The back is a numbers print from IKEA,

which I chose because it was exactly the right size for this quilt

and because it had writing on it.

An accountant friend of M's admired it for its numerical qualities.

This one is moving to Edmonton, Alberta with M. 

Floating Chevrons

55 by 65

Machine pieced by me.

Hand quilted by my friend Yvonne

I've posted this one before,

and it was the quickest out the start gate

and first to the finish line of all of these.

I pieced most of this during a retreat in January,

and then Yvonne put it in her frame for handquilting.

We showed it in two local shows

and now it lives in Toronto

with our mutual friend L.

I feel great about giving away these quilts to good homes across the country.

I know they will be used and loved.

And they've cleared out some space on my quilt rack

as well as given me the satisfaction of sharing some quilt love with friends.

That's my gold medal story.

I'm linking up with TGIFF

and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Progress on star quilt

I've finally finished machine quilting this star quilt.

It's been a WIP for too long.

I deliberated a long time before I started quilting

and although some of you suggested it called out for hand quilting

I didn't go that way.

Instead I used a dark beige 50 weight Aurifil thread on top and bottom

and played around with lots of free motion designs.

This is a scrappy quilt celebrating the marriage of friends.

It also celebrates the many patterns and surprises 

in a long term relationship.

I think of this quilt as an "I Spy" quilt for adults.

I've quilted in their names, their wedding anniverary

and lots of loops, swirls and even a few bad stitches.

I'm putting the binding on soon and sending it to a local quilt show.

And wondering about the SSOB banner on the right?

Come back on Monday for my stop on the blog hop celebrating Julie Sefton's new book:
Build -A-Barn: No Pattern Construction.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers over at
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
and Crazy Mom Quilts
and TGIFF

Thread breaking!

I have a free day and I was planning to quilt for most of it.

But I've just had six thread breaks in a row

with two different colours of Aurifil 28 wt.

I had better success earlier today.

I've cleaned out lint

and changed the bobbin

and put in a new needle

and rethreaded.

Any other suggestions?