Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Perennial Pinwheels

A final finish for the I Love Color!, (affiliate link) Perennial Pinwheels.



Made in a baby quilt size, this is just a small portion of a larger pattern. 



And what a fun quilt - love those pinwheels! They have certainly brightened a dreary winter. Now for some closeups of these pretties. 

First the pinwheels, or as I see them, flowers.



Those in the blocks are surrounded by a flange (here the dark orange), making me opt for no background quilting in that area. I like the resulting puff!

Center pinwheels (or flowers) were treated with the same fill as those in the squares, with added straight lines in the background. 












I could have gone crazy with a fill here, but then the pinwheels wouldn't stand out, and the fill on the print background would have to change. As it is, I think I managed to make all three areas work together nicely. It's all about contrast.


Can't forget the backside, on green flannel,



with a closeup.



Now for my favorite picture, one that shows the texture in the print background squares.



A perfect fill for this quilt, with all that yummy texture! 

So cheers to a successful day! That 'do not disturb' sign worked wonders - guess I'll have to use it more often!

Have a great day!

Friday, February 24, 2017

Purple Passionflower

Here's #3 of the purple RSC17 quilts, Purple Passionflower!


Purple Passionflower quilts

These blocks are just like the ones for Violet Riot, though just a bit smaller. The scraps strips were getting shorter and narrower, therefore the blocks ended up at 9 1/2". With added sashing of 2 1/2" strips, the quilt is still a good size, measuring in at 36 1/2" square.

This quilt is quieter than Violet Riot due to the sweet flower print in the sashing.


Purple Passionflower blocks

Always amazes me how different fabrics, whether by print or color, can change the whole feel of a quilt.

Because of those sweet flowers, I used a new panto, Passionfruit. Aren't those flowers and swirls pretty?


Purple Passionflower quilting

And the back of a purple checked flannel works perfectly with the front.


Purple Passionflower back

Oh so sweet! Another great RSC17 finish, along with Purple and Pink, and Violet Riot. Is that purple scrap bin empty? Heck no! What's left are all the small or weird pieces.



I'm attempting to dream up a block that uses these pieces, one that can be made in all the other colors over the rest of the year. Then I'll have a true Rainbow Scrap Quilt!

Have a great weekend quilting!


Friday, February 17, 2017

Violet Riot - RSC17 #2

January RSC17 purple finish #2, Violet Riot!


Violet Riot

This quilt is just so purple, and has a ton of playfulness due to the yellow stripe in the sashing!


Violet Riot closeup

Isn't that fun?

These blocks started with a peach/plum unit from a leftover strip set, which were basically kept centered. Then strips that fit a needed size where continually added, somewhat in a log cabin style. The smallest of the nine blocks measured approximately 11" unfinished, so some had to be trimmed just a bit, for uniformity. With the addition of a 1" sashing, the quilt's final size is 35" square, another good size for a baby quilt.

Quilting on this one is another favorite panto, Bluster, with a fun plum floral flannel on the back.


Violet Riot back

Truly adds to the Violet Riot on the front, and another great RSC17 purple finish! Purple and Pink was the first, and the third quilt will be revealed next week. Inspired to dig into your scraps yet?

Have a great day quilting!



Monday, February 13, 2017

Block 2 of the Growing Up QAL

Along with doing the RSC17 and Honey Pot Bee QAL's, I'm also working on the Growing Up QAL hosted by Alida at Alidatweloqdesigns. Here's this month's blocks:

Birds in the Air, variation, in solid red




and Lady of the Lake, in navy.



Both of them turned out well, though when I made the second Lady in the Lake block, I pressed all the seams open to eliminate bulky seams.



Made going through the machine easier, and no big lumps when pressing.

Keeping up with this QAL! Come join in - there's still time!


Friday, February 10, 2017

Purple and Pink- an RSC17 Finish!

Woohoo! My first finish for the RSC17 January color, purple!


Purple and Pink quilt

Though a bit late, this is what became of those forty flying geese units.


Purple and Pink closeup 1

I was hoping to show a bit more of the block in it's construction phase, but it turned out the SD card was not in the camera. Last time I'll make that mistake!

The geese units, along with the surrounding dark purple, were all pieces from the pile of purple fabric. 


purple scraps


See the triangles in the lower left? All gone! As for the two pinks in the quilt, those were from yardage in the stash.

Once the blocks had the pinks on, the quilt still needed to be bigger. That's when I found a pretty floral fat quarter for sashing, which played nicely with the pinks and purples. And every last bit of it was used!


Purple and Pink closeup 2

To finish it off and tie everything together, the lighter pink fabric was repeated in the borders, helping to bring this quilt to 33" x 38", perfect as a baby size.

Quilted with one of my favorite pantos, Easy Peasy, with a soft, pink floral flannel on the back,


Purple and Pink flannel back

I'm pleased with how it all came together out of the scraps. I'd declare this a success for my first RSC venture.

Happy Quilting!


Thursday, February 9, 2017

Structured Doodle Weave Tutorial

Today it's a quick tutorial on the easy background quilting used on the Sweetheart table runner.



Though this was stitched on a longarm, the fill can easily be done on a domestic machine. Originally found in Charlotte Warr Andersen's One Line at a Time Encore (affiliate link)book, it's definitely a winner of a fill!



This fill requires a drawn grid (1 inch squares suggested). Start the stitching in one corner of a border square with a back and forth doodle filling up the space.




Try to have the doodle go into all the corners, filling the whole square. Continuously stitch from square to square, at an angle through the grid for the first row. 

The next row starts in the other direction, at right angles to the previous stitching.



Another line, parallel to the first, can be started next.



Continue adding back and forth doodle lines following the steps above.



And in no time, there's a beautiful woven background fill 




with lots of texture!




Enjoy!



Friday, February 3, 2017

Sweetheart Table Runner

Love is in the air with my newest table runner pattern, Sweetheart!


Sweetheart Table Runner



Made with a wide collection red heart prints, and a white-on-white background print, there's nothing that says 'love' more than red hearts on white!

Quilting in the background is a consistent grid fill, allowing the hearts and chains to stand out.


Sweetheart detail 1



Big hearts are filled with multiple spaced lines, keeping the layers together without crushing the poof of the hearts.


Sweetheart detail 2



And the back is a pretty red heart fabric, which shows off the quilting.


Sweetheart back


Being a scrap or fat quarter friendly runner, it goes together easily, and has a final measurement of  16" x 55 1/2". Feeling the love too? The Sweetheart pattern can be found at my Etsy store.

Enjoy the love!



Thursday, February 2, 2017

February 2017 Book of the Month

Just a day late, but not forgotten! The February Book of the Month selection will continue to be the I Love Color (affiliate link) book by Marcia Harmening.



These three patterns catch my attention:

Melon Slices Table Runner



Perinneal Pinwheels



Solar Eclipse



Hmm, tough choice. And any of these could be worked in with the RSC17 QAL, especially Perennial Pinwheels. I'll have to assess sizes to see what could easily be made smaller, given that I'm always crushed for time. But I'll keep you posted on the progress of whatever I choose!


Have a great day quilting!