Sunday, May 27, 2012

Stacked coin quilt completed

Utilized the long weekend to finish the binding on my quilt. At first I had ordered a fabric for orange binding on the quilt, but the fabric shop messed up the order and sent some other fabric. While waiting for the orange fabric to arrive I had a change of heart and used grey stripe by Licien for the binding. I think it frames the quilt much better than the orange fabric. Kind of blends with the rest of the colors. 



For quilting I used straight simple lines. The back of the quilt shows the quilting more clearly. I am on a Quilter's Linen trip at the moment, used dusty blue and light grey Quilter's Linen for the back. To add more interest I added a partial strip of printed fabric. Some critics didn't approve but I thought it added visual interest :) Here comes another picture heavy post.










Thursday, May 24, 2012

Quilting facts

While browsing for how to's on quilting I came across some fun facts and figures about Quilting in America in 2010. The data is 2 years old but nevertheless interesting to know and see where you fit into the statistics. 
The statistics on page 2 are more applicable in my case:
  • In the past 12 months, purchased an average of 93.6 yards of fabric at a cost of $927.10 ($9.90 average price per yard)
  • In the past 12 months, spent an average of $144.10 on thread
  • Own an average of 2.7 sewing machines. I own 2 machines.
  • The majority (85%) have a room dedicated to sewing/quilting activities.
  • All the internet statistics hold true also.
I am such a newbie at quilting and would definitely be an outlier for the stats on page 1.
 
Which of the statistics hold true for you?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Stacked Coin Quilt

Recently busted out my Monaluna Circa 52 collection and decided to put together a quilt as a gift for a one year old boy. I absolutely love this fabric and its so easy to work with. It's 100% organic cotton and does not need heavy ironing at the seams. It almost feels as if you can mold the fabric in place. The muted colors are quite therapeutic. I picked a favorite pattern of mine, something I wanted to put together for a while. I was surprised how easily it came together. I didn't follow any particular tutorial but have seen a ton of stacked coin quilts online so just decided to put it together from memory.




More: fabric

Monday, May 7, 2012

Marvel comic quilt completed

The weather finally cleared up last weekend and here are a few pictures of the completed quilt. Warning: picture heavy post.

Front

Back






Totally worth it :)



More: quiltingquilt topblocksblocks

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Marvel comic quilt [continued]

The backing fabric for my Marvel comic quilt arrived last week and I got down to basting and quilting. I used Pellon Natural One 100% cotton batting instead of the usual Warm & Natural 100% cotton batting. It had a real nice and light feel to it and I thought it would make a great summer quilt. The finished quilt feels very soft and drapes real well. 
On the flip side it produced a lot of lint. I had to sweep the room after I was done and had to clean the machine a few times before I was done quilting. The lint was particularly visible against the black fabric. I am not sure if the picture below correctly reflects to the amount of lint produced. I wonder if it will hold up well after a few washes? Has anyone used this batting before? Please let me know what you think?

A close up of the lint




Made a nice little label too.
I decided to do straight line quilting 2 inches apart. This does not take away from the quilts soft feel. I will use more dense quilting on the next project. I have finished the quilt but it's been raining the past few days and haven't got a chance to take pictures outside. The pictures inside the house don't come out too well so will have to wait a few days to post the pictures of the completed quilt.

More here: quilt top, blocks, blocks

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Solids vs Textured Blenders

I have been looking to add some solids to my stash and decided to get a few shades of Kona cotton. While I was browsing fabric stores online I realized that I prefer Quilter's Linen with it's textured look over solids. The color comes across a lot more muted and adds some interest to the fabric. Does anyone else feel the same way or is it just me? I recently used the straw and black colored fabric for my Marvel comic quilt and I think it turned out better than it would have with solids of the same color.


Quilter's Linen from Robert Kaufman


Bags made easy...

My mum gave me a kit for an abbey bag. I decided to put it together last week as it said "make in less than 3 hours". It was real easy but I don't think I got the gusset concept at all. The final product had no real gusset as promised in the instructions. Sorry for the blurry pictures.






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