Today's post is on honor of Paula Budinger, also know as Paula B Quilts, who passed away February 8, 2020. Janice of Color, Creating, and Quilting is hosting this special blog hop to honor Paula's memory.
Paula was fond of bright colors, and making quilts for kids through Project Linus. To honor that, I have two bright kid's quilts to share.
The first up is Burst, a new, fun pattern, so named because of the burst of color coming from the center of the quilt.
Paula would have loved all of these bright colors on the black background, as do I, though any other color would work just as well.
Burst, as a baby quilt, measures in at 42" x 42". The Burst pattern also includes sizes for crib, lap, twin, queen - that's a lot of quilts! This little guy sports the Passion Fruit pantograph quilted in a variegated thread. Definitely keeping with the multi-colored theme!
The backing is a multi-colored ladybug fabric from my stash, which works absolutely perfect here.
And the second quilt, Jax, is a fun, random setting that reminds me the game Jacks.
This one, too, looks great on a black background, but would look terrific with blue, grey, or even black-on-whites. Hmm, there may be another quilt or two in my future!
The backing on Jax is colorful too, full of all sorts of construction trucks.
Believe it or not, it also uses variegated thread and the Passion Fruit pantograph, but the flowers are turned into stars by quilting straight lines and omitting the center loop.
Paula would have been so happy, don't you think?
Happy Quilting!
My Favorite Patterns
Another finish - the Kimono quilt, which turned out better than I expected, given all those charm squares in the border.
With such a variety of colors, those charms play nice with the all the prints in the kimonos. Thank you, members of the guild, for the kimono blocks so many years ago, now turned into a great quilt! And since this is made with contributions from guild members, it's only fitting that it go back to the guild's Philanthropy group, for distribution to someone in need.
Before it goes, how about a closer look?
The border is two charm squares deep, bringing the quilt's size to 63" x 83". Just look at all the color in the border!
Here's another corner.
Since this quilt is so busy, I kept the quilting simple, using the Paperchase panto, making it quite soft.
And with yardage, charm squares, and scraps leftover, I managed to puzzle together a backing, knocking out the theme from my stash.
Just look at all that piecing at the end.
This quilt is totally a scrap quilt, as even the batting is composed of pieces. Nice to have that out of the storage area too. This one was a win-win all around! If you're inspired to make something like this, check out the FREE Kimono block tutorial to get started.
Happy Quilting!
Today it's all about black and white quilts for another fun blog hop hosted by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks!
If you've been paying attention to some of my previous posts, you'll know I've been working on a couple more quilts for Paradise, CA. And funny, they just happen to be black and white - yes, I planned it that way!
Let me introduce Paradise 8,
another from my Quarter Cut quilt tutorial, made with a black and white theme this time.
And then there's Paradise 9,
made from blacks and whites pulled for Paradise 8, but didn't make it into that quilt. This one is totally free form piecing, using the given widths and lengths of the fabrics pulled. There was very little cutting to make the pieces fit - lucky me! I really like this one too, as it reminds me of an interesting tile setting, with the variety of big and little pieces.
Both large lap quilts use the Happy Times pantograph, as it's such a nice open, pleasant design.
Don't you just love that zebra print? Tried to use all of it, even with the binding, but still have about 1/2 yard left.
And the best of all? Both quilts have the same backing fabric, with a horizontal strip to add a bit of length.
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| Paradise 8 backing |
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| Paradise 9 backing |
Though both backings have vertical seams (dreaded by longarmers!), I dealt with it just so I could use up that fabric. That's right - 6.5 yards of a sheet music print is no longer taking up valuable real estate in the stash - woohoo!!! I really need to start making one of those fabric in/fabric out tally sheets for the year, as I'm off to a great start on using up the stash.
Also notice the numbers behind the quilt names, 8 and 9. It means this is the eighth and ninth quilt I'm sending to Paradise, CA, and probably the last. Nine large lap sized quilts in two months is a pretty good donation number - I hope they provide some comfort.
Enjoy hopping!
My Favorite Patterns
It's been a while since I've had a Book of the Month, and since I've made several quilts for Paradise, CA, the book Quilt Giving (affiliate link) seems appropriate at this time.
I was checking out the quilting section of the library in an adjacent town when Quilt Giving (affiliate link) caught my eye. With so many disasters this last fall, the quilting community has really come together to help out. And maybe a quilt or two in this book will inspire more quilts to give.
Though I really like how fast and easy my Quarter Cut quilt is,
I'm getting ready to move on to something else - but that doesn't mean I may make one more!
The Quilt Giving (affiliate link) book is full of more modern quilt designs, and one quilt that caught my eye is named Summer. Here's a sneak peek at the page.
I like pattern flow thru this quilt, though I don't think I'll make it in those colors. Instead, we shall see what the stash beholds!
If you're inspired to make a few quilts to give for those in need, check out the Quilt Giving (affiliate link) book, and the Quarter Cut tutorial for easy quilts.
Happy Quilting!
Yeah! It's a wrap, and what a soft, comfy wrap it is - these deer told me so!
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| reindeer 1 |
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| reindeer 2 |
Seriously, using the Quarter Cut quilt pattern with homespuns, along with a flannel backing and a soft cotton batting really make this a very comfy quilt - much like a favorite t-shirt.
I'm sure someone up in Paradise, CA is going to just love it!
An in depth view of the quilt top construction was shown last week when I used it for the Quarter Cut Quilt Tutorial. And now it's all quilted,
with a gold/brown variegated thread on top, and navy blue on the back. I love my Innova for awesome stitch quality!
The Paperchase pantograph is also a perfect choice - it's an open, repeated design that doesn't fight the weave of the homespuns.
Here's a few more closeups to show how well the colors of the homespuns work together - it's really the homespun 'theme' that makes this quilt sing.
Personally, I'd rate this another successful Quarter Cut Quilt, along with Paradise 1
and Paradise 4.
Need to make a quilt in a hurry or maybe just want to use up some stash? Then check out the Quarter Cut Quilt Tutorial to see how fast and easy it is!
Happy Quilting!
You've probably seen the quilts I recently made for those in Paradise, CA. Since I've made two of the same pattern,
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| Paradise 1 |
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| Paradise 4 |
and have been asked for a tutorial, I'm now making a third. I've gone through the stash, and these homespuns are begging to be used. Plus, it would be nice to send a quilt to Paradise that's for a guy!
I do have a couple more FQ's, which didn't really work with the red/blue/green scheme I've got here, so I'll save those and see if I can make a smaller quilt with just the FQ's. Who knows - maybe that will become another fast, easy quilt tutorial too!
For those homespuns above, it will be another Quarter Cut Quilt, which is what I'm calling this pattern. It requires quarter cuts or more of yardage, and also fat quarters. So I think Quarter Cut Quilt is fitting!
I do wish I had the tutorial for you today, but too many Christmas parties and luncheons took away a ton of quilting time last week. So be patient - the tutorial is coming!
Until then, Happy Quilting!
Here's the fourth, and last for the moment, of the Paradise quilts -
Paradise 4.
Constructed just like Paradise 1, this quilt measures around 60" x 80". Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting asked for a tutorial on this quilt, which is coming next week - it's a great stash buster! We're talking 2.5 - 3 yards for the front only - that's a lot of yardage.
And it's also super fast to put together! Using the backing fabric as my color guide, I pulled fabrics at 10:30 in the morning, laid them out in a pleasing arrangement, and started making the long rows with sashing in the middle and along one row edge.
Because I had a deadline for this quilt, lunch was eaten while sewing all the rows together. By 3 in the afternoon, both the front and the backing were ready to go on the frame. And by 5:30 pm, the hand-guided pantograph quilting was done, thanks to my wonderful, trusty Innova machine. With an hour devoted to binding the next morning, the Paradise 4 quilt was a finish, just in time to deliver to my quilt friends in the afternoon.
Now I know that's a very lofty production time to meet, but I'm a super focused and efficient person when I need to be. Taking in-progress pictures was the furthest from my mind, that's why no posts to Instagram or Facebook - I hope to catch up soon.
As for some closeups, this quilt also used the open, and very pretty Happy Times pantograph.
As for the pinks, here's the floral backing that was used for color inspiration.
I'm going to take a break from donation quilts for a few weeks, but will probably make a few more for a January delivery. I've already gone through the stash, pulling pieces for the next quilts.
See you Monday with the tutorial!
Happy Quilting!
My Favorite Patterns
