Finished in Record Time

Now that Christmas is over, I can share some photos of the most recent quilts I've made. These two went to two of my husband's cousins (at the request of my husband's aunt). I used a jelly roll of pastel fabrics and a jelly roll of various pink fabrics. The technique is a strip-tube technique (no need for a special ruler -- here's a link to a video tutorial), and I just used two different layouts of the blocks and two slightly different "white" fabrics to make the quilts a little different.

This one has Kona White

closeup

backing and binding

This one has Kona Snow

closeup

backing and binding

I'm told that the recipients love their quilts, which makes me happy. Giving my quilts away to dear family and friends gives me as much joy as the process of making them.

November Finish

One jelly roll makes a quick quilt for a friend who is in need of some comfort.

Here's a closeup...

And a look at the backing and binding...

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

My latest quilt...the center ABC section is a panel, and the "pages" from the book came on a different piece of yardage. I just added the blue sashing and border to make the quilt a more usable size. Gotta love that striped bias binding...

Here's a shot of the back. I had two "pages" left over from the front of the quilt, so I just added them to the back.

And here's a closeup...

This will probably be donated to some charity at some point. I've gotten very picky about which charities make money from my work, so it will take me a while to decide.

Long Time, No See

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post, but here's my latest quilt...

approx 40" x 64"

Here's a closeup shot of the quilting, backing, and binding...

And here's how this quilt came to be...

I started out with a jelly roll...

Then sewed it together a la "jelly-roll race" style...

All sewn together...

It looked OK, but I wanted to try something different, so I Googled "jelly roll race quilt variations" and found one that looked like patchwork. There was no explanation of how the patchwork look had been achieved, so I just decided to cut my top into 2 1/2-inch strips like this...

But no matter how I rearranged those strips, I couldn't make it look very patchworky -- too many of the same squares wound up next to each other.

So I then decided to sew all of those strips using the same "jelly roll race" technique...

Here's what it looked like in progress...

And again, the finished product...

I like the way it looks, but I'll never use this technique again...not worth the trouble.

August Finish

In preparation for my guild's September exhibit, I managed to finally finish this quilt. The fabric is typical Russian fairy-tale-themed artwork. Much too pretty to cut up into little pieces, so this pattern was just perfect. For info on the pattern (Shenandoah), click here.

A couple of closeups to show the fabric and a little quilting...

Hello Again!

Wow, it's been more than a month since I last wrote a blog post, but my desire to sit at the computer on hot summer days just isn't there.

Anyway, here's my latest finished quilt. I actually finished the last stitch on the binding on July 1st, but it's taken me this long to show it.

It was a free pattern called Tifton Tiles, which you can find by clicking here. All it takes is nine fat quarters. Easy, peasy.

This quilt is now residing at a dear friend's house.

Here's a closeup of the quilting...

And a shot of the backing and binding...

What I'm Working On

I'm currently working on several projects that I need to make in time for my guild's exhibit in September, so I haven't had anything finished to blog about lately. Since I don't want to go too long without posting, here's a shot of one of the projects. It's quite an easy fabric weaving technique that a friend of mine recently showed me how to do. It's hard to explain in words, but once I saw her do it, it became quite clear.

If this is successful, I'll post a photo of the completed project sometime this summer.

Under the Wire for May

I managed to finish one more quilt in May...

The pattern is an easy one, Color Weave, found free on the Moda Bake Shop blog. The blog is a great place to find free patterns using pre-cuts. I used a layer cake that I bought a few months ago at a 50%-off sale at one of my favorite quilt shops (alas, it's now closed).

The back is wild and crazy...

I just took nine fat quarters from my stash (and a couple of leftover solid pieces) and made a scrappy backing. Two of the striped fat quarters almost look like they're dirty or stained, but that's just how they are dyed, with light and dark patches. I can't say I like that look too much, but hey, it's helping make my stash of FQs smaller and smaller, thank goodness.

And I found the perfect striped fabric for the binding also in my stash...

Now I have to figure out what to do with this quilt...

Another Finish!

approx 62 x 70

I've had these red, white, and blue fabrics for several years, and now I've finally gotten around to using them in a quilt. It's one of the easiest ones I've ever made. Mostly squares, with a few half-square triangles.

It's hard getting the colors to look right on the screen, but the closeup photo below is fairly close to how the reds and blues look in real life.

All of the fabrics, including the backing and binding, came from my stash, all at least five years old.

April Finish

 I didn't have too much time for quilty things this month, but I did manage to finish one quilt.

This is a good-sized throw using a variety of floral fabrics that I've had in my stash for years. The pattern is Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Mountain Majesties. There's a lot of cutting and sewing and cutting and sewing, but overall, the pattern is quite easy.

Here's a closeup of some of the fabrics...

That's another 16 fat quarters used up from my stash. And a few yards for backing! No new fabric was purchased for this one. Now it goes in my "to-be-given-away-someday" pile.

Easy Pieced (Sort of) Backing

Almost all of the quilts I've made in the last couple of years have pieced backings made with various fabrics from my stash. This is the back of a quilt that I blogged about a few weeks ago, (you can see it here). The four fabrics in the center are actually all one fabric. There are no seams; the four patterns are printed horizontally on the same bolt of fabric, so there is the equivalent of one-quarter yard (11 inches by 36 inches) of each print in one yard off of the bolt. This piece had been sitting in my stash for several years, and I finally found a use for it.

Shopping the Stash

These fabrics have been in my stash for about five years (!), so I'm finally cutting them up and piecing a new quilt that I hope to finish in time for my guild's exhibit in September. The pattern I've chosen is an easy one, so it should come together in no time.

The fabric is part of a line for Quilts of Valor by Timeless Treasures. I prefer these kinds of patriotic fabrics to the novelty ones with flags, eagles, etc.

UFO Has Landed

I cut these 144 batik squares several years ago and then put them away in a project bag, along with some fusible grid, thinking I would get to the project quickly. Hah! Out of sight, out of mind.

One of the guilds that I belong to is having a UFO challenge this spring, so I finally dug it out and finished it. Now this pillow is ready for spring and summer, along with a couple of others that I made a few years ago.