Weddings and Quilts

Two of my closest friends are getting hitched this weekend. They strictly said no gifts, so decided to make them something handmade as a token of our friendship and a celebration of life in general.

I started it last Sunday inspired by this table runner and some encouragement from Jess and Neva. First I scored the perfect set of solids in rainbow colors from my stash. One must never undermine ones stash!! :) For the background paired it with Kona Coal and Dictionary Print in neutral by Tim Holtz for the back to keep things a bit masculine.

 I quilted it in straight lines using Aurifil #50 wt thread in gray that I got from the Massdrop group by. It was a perfect match.

For the binding I used Text Print in black by Violet Craft from the Madrona Road collection.

And a first for me an actual label on the back. I got these printed from Spoonflower recently. I like the layout but am not too thrilled about the printing. It looks a bit dull. I don't know if it is my choice of fabric or the text is too small. I have to refine it a bit more.

I added a sleeve on the back and it is ready to gift.

I am posting this today because I know they don't read my blog and besides they are too busy with the wedding prep.

Linking up to: Crazy Mom Quilts, Friday Fabric Frenzy, Fabric Tuesday

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2014

Once again it's that time of the year when some of the best quilts from all over blogland converge in one place. This is my umpteenth time participating in Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis. It's such a fun event.

This year I am entering my Bohemian Rhapsody quilt. Once I buy fabric it usually sits on the shelf for atleast a year or so before I use it in a quilt. Yes I am slow. However when I received True Colors by AMH, I started working with it the very same day. I was attracted to the saturated colors in the fabric and lost no time cutting it up. 

Paired with cream colored low volume fabrics gave it a slightly antiquated look. The quilt reminds me of something that would be part of gypsy paraphernalia. I hand quilted it with Perle cotton to give it that truly handmade look.

For the binding I used the low volume pieces of the collection and for the backing a wonderful piece of fabric from Joel Dewberry.

A few more pictures:

Category: Hand Quilted Category

Dimensions: 54" x 54"

Flowery Ballerina

The Ballerina quilt by Jaybirdquilts has been on my to do list since Neva and Kathy brought theirs at CJMQG  show and tell. 

While spring cleaning I noticed the dandelions growing in the mulch which inspired the fabric selection for this quilt. I wanted this quilt to look like flowers growing in mulch. Not very attractive but they were the first plants to stick their heads out, sturdy little things. I used just the flowery prints from a bundle of Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie & Camille and paired it with some Robert Kaufman Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in black to produce a similar look. 

The quilt pattern asks for much larger blocks but I preferred them a bit smaller and reduced the scale of the blocks. I also straightened the quilt edges by adding in filler fabric instead of the wavy edge as recommended in the pattern.

In the excitement of making this quilt, I forgot to pre-wash the linen and realized my folly only after I had cut up the fabric. I have not made a quilt without pre-washing linen before and was worried how it will hold up once washed. To give it a fighting chance I decided to quilt it densely and settled on Flower Power pattern by Angela Walters. I used silver colored thread which tied in the varied colors of the quilt quite well.

Gave it a little practice run and was ready to go. A big improvement from my early attempts at this pattern. The quilting took foreveeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I had been posting pictures of my progress on Instagram. You can see more work in progress pics at liketosew. 1500 yards of thread later it was done. The dense quilting gave the quilt a great texture. I bound it with Comma fabric in green which matched perfectly with the green leaves in the flowers. Normally I pop all my quilts in the washing machine without much thought but this one I am still holding off. :)

For the back I used an Alexander Henry fabric that I had been hoarding for a while.

Finishing off with a few more pics.

Linking up to the Jaybird quilts sew along challenge hosted by Sarah Lawson of Sew Sweetness.

                                                      

Supernova Friendship Block Swap

I troll around Instagram as soon as I wake up for a few minutes before beginning my day. A habit I should probably not encourage. Anyway on one such occasion I saw a post by Heather of Quilts In The Queue asking for a swap partner in the Supernova Friendship Block Swap hosted by Stephanie Palmer at Late Night Quilter. I had met Heather at our Mid Atlantic Mod Retreat where she was dexterously working away on her Weekender Bag which I absolutely loved. Anyway I responded back and we were on. So something good can come out of trolling on Instagram in the wee hours of the morning. :)

We started by exchanging a few emails about color choices. And after a few takes we narrowed it down to this color palette. 

I have never planned colors for a quilt with such enthusiasm but I am conscious about the fact that my choices will influence her quilt too and just wanted to ensure we both got what we liked. Also this gave me something to do on my long commute to work. I am sure Heather thinks I plan all my quilts with such gusto but actually the opposite is true. I usually wing it as I progress. However this was a good exercise and may be I should try it in the future.

Anyway here is my fabric pull for the same. I realize my stash is seriously lacking in dark greens. Shopping time!

On another note I was just browsing through Heather's blog and found that she made the Heirloom Quilt by Joel Dewberry a while back and so did I. What a coincidence!