embroidery

A friend of mine embroidered the squares in this quilt for her grand daughter and then asked if I would be willing to finish the quilt.  So I got it put together, and now I am completely unsure of how to quilt it.  I know I can't go over the embroidery, so I'm going to stitch in the ditch around each block, but after that I'm not sure.  I've considered in the ditch on the whole thing, which might be best, but I'm not the best in the ditch quilter.  I'd love to hear your suggestions.

flower quilting

I'm finishing up another baby quilt, and decided to quilt it with these fun flowers.  I found inspiration from this book.   

I'm making another pow-wow quilt.  I know, I make this quilt a lot and I still really like it.  It's perfect for quick simple baby quilts.  You can use your stash and mix whatever prints you want together.  It's my favorite pattern right now.

granny square

My granny square quilt is finished.  I posted the quilt top a while ago, and actually finished the quilting a while ago, so we have been enjoying this quilt through this COLD winter (yes, I know, cold in Texas isn't really that cold).

I fell in love with Jolene's quilt first and couldn't resist.  I did start and then come back to this quilt, because it just wasn't coming together for me.  I talk about my modification here--once I got that figured out it went together fast, and these blocks are fun to make.

I made mine pretty big, 6 blocks by 7 blocks, and I used low volume fabrics for my background, which I think I like.  I used up a ton of scraps, and overall I like it, but I think I might be over the low volume business.  I'm kinda missing the vibrancy of color on white.  I do like how the low volume makes it a bit more subdued and muted.

I guess I didn't take a full picture of the backing... I pieced together some fabrics from my stash, but the majority of it is this pretty purple plaid I picked up at JoAnns.  I like it as backing, and it would also make a great binding fabric.

bound in this fun stripe, I love the color combo on this stripe and how each stripe is about an inch.  Adds some variety to my striped binding obsession.

I ended up hand stitching the binding because my machine was in the shop, and I have to confess...I am a long time machine binder, but I kinda really love the look of hand-sewn binding.  I'll probably be doing it more often, maybe.  It definitely takes longer.

for quilting, I did straight line quilting down the x's of each block.  It worked out well because those x's all line up.  I quilted a quarter inch from each side of the seam.  Tedious and a little boring to do, but I love the overall effect, plaid-like.

I'm keeping this quilt, I just don't want to part with it.  It's one of my favorites.

x and + quilt

I'm back.  I finished up my x and + quilt a while ago, but it was a christmas gift,  so I am just now able to share it here.  This was one of those quilt alongs that I started last year.  

I really love this quilt, I loved making it and love the finish.  It's so very scrappy, but there's still some order!

for the backing I used a large solid piece (I think it's kona putty) and then added strips of fabric I had in my stash

It's pretty hard to see the quilting, but I did swirls (I love quilting swirls) on the x sections and zigzags on the +.   I like how it turned out.  There's a few things I will do differently next time, but it turned out just how I pictured it.

I went back and forth on the binding...almost settled on a navy blue, but ended up with a black and white stripe (a la Red Pepper Quilts).  It just works so well on scrappy quilts.

princess quilt

It's the end of the year, and I have about 4 quilts that I finished this year and have still not shown on this blog.  Two of them were Christmas gifts, so that's my excuse there, but mostly I just haven't made the time to blog them or even take pictures.  This quilt was finished this SUMMER!  It went straight to my daughters bed before I even had a chance to admire it.

My daughter needed/wanted a new quilt for her bed, and I had collected princess fabric that she loved, so we used them.

It took me a while to decide on a pattern.  I think I cut into the fabric 2 or 3 times before finally deciding on this pattern.  I believe I first spotted it on pinterest.

It's a generous twin size and my daughter loves it.  I like it too.  The one thing I wish I had done differently would have been to use a background fabric(black dot on cream) that was whiter rather than creamy.  But I had that fabric on hand and I really wanted dots.  I guess it gives it an antique-y feel.  

I used this older blue Heather Bailey print that I have had for a while (found it on sale for $6/yard).  This print is one of my favorites for backing.  I've used it several times, but this is the only one I can specifically remember.

bound in pink scallops.  (I love this print so much)

quilted in an egg shell pattern, this was the perfect quilt to use this pattern.  I didn't have to mark at all, and it almost turned out perfect.  The two inch squares were the perfect guide.

Here's a fun little tid-bit.  These cute fabrics are by Ann Kelle, called Girl Friends, and they make an appearance often in different fabric.  My daughters think they are so cute.  

This one particular friend looks EXACTLY like one of my daughters friends (from Colorado).  I mean, exactly.  The glasses, the dark hair, bobbed, the short bangs.  Exactly. When I first saw it I asked my daughter who this princess looks like and she knew immediately.  KATIE.  So we like to try to find Katie in the princess quilt.

Briar Rose Quilt

I have a finished quilt to show!  I actually finished this a while ago and forgot to share!  I gave it away and I guess it slipped my mind.  

I love Heather Ross, so when she released her Briar Rose line (first in a LONG time), I couldn't wait to put it to use.  

Pattern found in this book.  (as a sidenote, I can't buy EVERY quilt book out there.  There are so many now, and most are good.  I usually check them out from my local library first and if I love it, then I consider buying it.)

The pattern is a modern take on the log cabin.  If you look closely, you can see each block is made up of small log cabin blocks.

I quilted it in circles, first seen here, except I tried to do it free-motion, and it's kind of sloppy.  I feel a little bad about that, but not bad enough to not give it away.

 Bound in a pretty orange, (looks like mac and cheese), which worked perfectly with the other prints. 

 The strawberries from this line are my favorite, so I used the pink ones on the back.

straight line quilting

I often get asked how I go about doing straight line quilting, so I thought I'd share my method...

Here's the thing with me, I hate marking quilts (I also hate pinning), so I try my very best to avoid both of those.  Only taking the time to mark if it's absolutely necessary.  I should also make note that I am not a perfectionist, I don't mind if my lines aren't even, or if they aren't straight.  It just doesn't bother me.  I do like my quilts to be well made, to stay together forever, or at least until they are worn out.  That is the only area that I am a "perfectionist" in.  

Anyway, anyone can straight line quilt, but I definitely recommend a walking foot.  My machine has it built in, but most walking foot-s (or feet) look like this.  Basically it helps move all your fabric through the machine together to avoid pulling/puckering/dragging.  

I often use a seam as my guide when sewing straight lines.  In my pips quilt, I used the diamond pattern as my guide.  I sewed a very generous 1/4 inch away from my seam line, on both sides.

I did the same thing with my rabbits and race cars quilt.  Since the blocks aren't straight, I did a lot of rotating at each intersection.  I thought it would be very time consuming, but once I got going, it went quick.

I recently finished up a quilt that I quilted straight lines one inch apart over the entire quilt.   It's pretty easy, a bit monotonous and maybe even boring, but I love the effect it gives.  I'll post the finished quilt soon...

To sew one inch apart, I use a little tool called a quilting guide, I'm sure you all have one.  It's so handy.  

You slide it in behind your needle, and then tighten a (tiny) screw to secure it.

sidenote:  the normal way to put the guide in your machine is in the picture above this one, but I like to remove the bulk of my quilt from under the machine as I go, instead of adding to it (which is what happens when the guide is on the other side).

  I usually sew one line down the middle (sewing a 1/4 inch from a seam, so I don't have to mark.)  Then I use my quilting guide, I adjust it's position to my desired distance from the needle, mine was one inch-ish away. 

Line up the guide with your previous stitched line, and sew.  It's easy. I keep my eye on the guide/stiched line.  It's pretty cool how well it works.  If you have puckering or pulling, stop and figure out what the problem is.  Trust me, from personal experience, you will notice it once it's finished!

I mentioned that I don't mind imperfection, but if you do, I recommend checking to make sure your line is still going straight (use a seam as a guide), sometimes it can slowly start to drift and will no longer be parallel with the edges of your quilt.  Just check it if you are particular about that.

I hope this helps someone, if you have questions, let me know.  Or, if you have tips or techniques that you use, I'd love to hear them.