Ripple Effect

Ripple Effect

42 by 42 inches

machine pieced and quilted

I finally finished this ripple quilt

made of large half square triangles

of  Kaffe and other bright scraps

and two Kona purples.

I strip-pieced the scraps and then cut them with 

a large HST die on the Go! cutter

The back is a two-tone ripple flannel

and I quilted straight lines in the purples

and squiggles in the scraps.

I quilted in a few ripples

because I didn't take enough care in basting,

so it's ripples all around!

This is going on the finished,

to-be-gifted pile.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishes

at Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

and TGIFF.

Peony season

I love peonies.

 Lucky for me, I have two bushes of double pink ones in my garden.

But I cut most of my blooms and enjoy them inside.

I needed a mat for this cut glass vase,

so inspired by Lori Kennedy at the Inbox Jaunt

and some Kaffe fabrics I won,

I made a little peony mat.

It features Lori's all over pretty posy design

on a Kona green (not sure of the name)

I backed it with this Kaffe print -- sorry, my half metre

didn't have all the selvage information--

and used the same fabric for binding.

It measures 12 inches square.

Now I can enjoy peony season in style!

I'm linking up to The Needle and Thread Network.

Basket of little finishes

I've been cooking up samosas lately

for an upcoming craft sale.

 I put together a dozen of these this week,

using my 10 cent thrifted zippers

and a variety of fabrics.

Each one of these takes two pieces of 5.5 by 8.5 inches of fabric.

I stabilized the exterior fabric with fusible fleece

and put in a few quilting stitches.

 I also made a few rectangular zippy pouches,

two from that same Kaffe print (far right, middle and top rows)

 to add to the others I made earlier

from a thrifted linen tea towel (top six)

and other goodies in my sewing room.

All of these will be for sale at the MCC Quilt Show and Sale next weekend

at 134 Plaza Drive in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I won a prize at a show I attended a couple of weeks ago.

I'm going to have some fun with these half yard cuts

of Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably fabrics.

Part of the prize was that variegated spool of Sulky quilting thread

held onto the package with those fun colours of ribbons.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers at

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big and small finishes

I've got two Friday finishes to celebrate this week.

This colour-blocked one was pieced by my mother

based on the Turning Twenty pattern by Tricia Cribbs.

I added various free motion designs

in coordinating colours in each of the blocks.

My goal was to add lots of texture and interest to this quilt

and I'm happy with how it turned out.

My mom put it in her local show last week

and she reports lots of good comments.

Turns out she made two 60 by 80 inch tops

with hand dyed fabrics and batiks

and I quilted both of them.

I'm just binding the other one

and I'm putting it in a local show at the end of the month.

This 42 inch square baby quilt has been on the finishing pile for months.

I pieced it from the leftover parts of this Grecian Cross quilt

made for my niece last year.

Since I cut up scraps for this one,

I had HSTs and strips left

so I put them together in this heart quilt.

Unlike the bigger quilt, this one has lots of fmq.

I put in feathers and fleur-de-lis in the borders and background

and pumpkin seed quilting in the heart.

I used up all of this Kaffe floating flower print

with an insert of purple Kona to get it big enough.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers at

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF

Quilt-Non and a few Friday finishes

I wanted to show off some of the results from my guild sew-in on Monday.

Here are two zippy bags made from mini-charms (2.5 inch squares)

I was showing a young adult some of the basics of piecing and quilting

so we made these bags side by side.

Hers is the top one.

We used a thought balloon print for the back and the lining.

She did a great job of piecing and machine quilting the straight lines.

I put in the zippers, since I figured a new sewer didn't need to face that

on her first time in.

She was happy to take home her bag,

and I gave her mine too.

And she said the sweetest thing at the end of the evening:

"I could make some of these for my friends."

Here's some progress on a year-old flimsy:

it's basted!

And no, I'm not at Quilt Con this weekend.

But I am off to the Canadian Rockies!

I'm linking up with Sarah today.

Bunch of Friday finishes

Last weekend a friend came over to play with my Juki.

We each made a "placemat with benefits" for our Singer Featherweights

from my Kaffe scraps.

Here's mine, with a few other bits thrown in.

I dug through the binding bag for leftover purples to finish this.

I quilted the back using the prints on top as inspiration.

When I was learning to fmq, I made several of these mats as practice.

Here it is underneath my FW 222K.

In preparation for T's visit, I cleaned up my sewing room

and found a bunch of nearly finished needle books underneath the clutter.

So I finished them, and made the four on the bottom

from bits and pieces.

See the Kaffe pencils on the bottom row?

This is the inside of one -- pockets for thimbles or thread

and several pages of wool for pins and needles.

I'm giving away two of these to celebrate seven years of blogging.

I'm linking up with TGIFF and Sarah and Crazy Mom Quilts.

I'm not cross about this Friday finish!

Purple and Aqua Crosses

60 by 84 inches

Machine pieced and quilted

After a long haul, I finished the Grecian Cross quilt

and promptly gave it to my niece 

as a belated high school graduation gift.

A year ago, she told me she wanted a purple and aqua quilt.

I didn't think I had the stash to make a whole quilt,

but after realizing many of my Kaffe Fassett and DS Quilts fabrics 

had aqua, and often purple,

I managed quite fine. 

A few quilting friends passed on bits and pieces

so in the end, I only purchased the white background fabric.

My niece R. with her new quilt.

The back is also a Kaffe print,

purchased for $5/metre at the local Fabricland.

When I didn't have enough left for the binding,

I went back for another metre, and had to buy it at full price. Oops.

If you double click the photos, you can see the huge variety of prints in it,

and my very loose interpretation of purple and aqua. 

I was sorry to see this one leave my house,

but I'm happy the new owner loves it.

I'm linking up with Sarah and Lorna at TGIFF and other Friday finishers.

It's my party and I'll defy if I want to

Last month when I posted about this quilt,

every one who commented told me the same thing:

it needs more quilting lines.

 

 

I don't disagree, but I defied all of you for one reason:

the minkee stuff on the back made quilting it a huge problem.

It already ripples despite the spray basting,

and it was difficult getting the quilt to move along the machine bed.

 

So I bound it, and I'm calling it finished.

In a perfect world, I would put in more quilting stitches. But this quilt marks the end of a relationship for a friend, who is taking back her family name of "Merry". She has mixed feelings about it all.
Life isn't perfect, and neither is this quilt. Yes, it could be better, but I think it's still a fun, cuddly, and affirming quilt. I know my friend will like it. And I've learned a few lessons too: minkee or fleece isn't the best backing for a quilt that needs heavy quilting, and don't ask a question if you don't want to hear the answer.

And so I defied all of you and didn't quilt it more. But today's my birthday -- so I'm taking to heart the message on the quilt: Be Merry!

Design Wall Monday

This throw-sized quilt is in progress, both on the design wall and in my head.

I got a good start on it at the retreat last weekend,

making all the letters and the borders.

Here's a more straight on shot,

also featuring my Singer Featherweight 222K,

which I always take to retreats

(and someone always says "what an old machine!")

Here you can see the details --

one inch squares in the letters

and 3 inch squares in the side border.

I strip pieced the letter fabric and the border fabric

from the plum, purple, blue, and pink Kaffe prints in my collection.

I used up lots of these yummy fabrics, and it feels good

to play with them, and see them in a quilt for someone else to enjoy.

I'm linking up with Judy's Design Wall Mondays.

12 by 12 by two

Kaffe star

12 by 12 inches

machine pieced, hand quilted

Vintage star

hand and machine pieced, hand quilted

vintage cotton and linen fabrics

Backs of Kaffe star (top)

and vintage star

I'm a winner and so are three of you!

Mr. Random Teenager choose the winners for my blogiversary giveway:

Susan and Penny each won a zippy bag made from word fabrics

and filled with a 12-pack of hand dyed charms cut from my stash.

They're all  prints or white on white fabrics

that I handdyed,

except for the pink one at the right, which I got in a scrap exchange.

I hope you have fun with them.

Deborah won the little sewing machine quilt.

She's a Canadian and a blog lurker.

Thanks to everyone for entering and for making the past four years fun.

I've emailed the winners.

Winning is always fun, and this week the mail carrier delivered four Kaffe fat quarters

that I won in Karen's giveaway at the Selvage Blog.

Thanks so much!

And then I got this B for my birthday quilt

and Dutch wax prints scraps from Kathy.

a member of my guild.

The same day, my friend Cheryl gave me the leftovers

from her hand dyed triangle quilt.

Look at this bunch of triangles in yummy colours.

Here's the bits she's cut off her quilt to square it up.

Thanks and thanks!

pretty pain in the neck

I use heat on my neck or back nearly every day as I recover from whiplash (from an accident last year) and recently I got a new gel pack that I heat in the microwave. I needed a cover for it, so I found half a towel from another project (a baby bath towel) and a selvage strip from a Kaffe Fasset print (thanks again, Bumble Beans!) and I made myself a pretty cover for my neck pack. Meanwhile, I got inspired by the pattern in the Roman Glass print and I took it all one step further .......

Inspired by the layers of free-form ovals, I cut a few of my own from hand dyed fabric and hand appliqued the layers to each other for another flower in my minimalist applique quilt. At left is the front, not appliqued to the backing yet, and at right is the back, where I've cut the layers away one by one. I won't be cutting away the black though. Isn't it fun how one thing leads to another?

Can anyone help me with the name or designer orline of this fabric? I just have a sample size, and I'd like a little more of this because of the VW bus on it. I own a VW van, but not quite as cool as this one.