Sarah from SoSarahSews has a fabulous quilt to share with us all today. I LOVE the bright happy colors, and I'm sure a teenage girl will love them even more!! Sarah has a great list of her finished quilts, so yummy to look at it :) Make sure to see her flickr for inspiration and check out SoSarahSews. Thanks!!
Well, I'm moving to London, England in 6 short months. And I've made a quilt for all my young nieces and nephews...the ones that have been born in the last few years. But my goal for this year was to give my older nieces and nephews a quilt before I leave.
I took care of Grant, whose birthday was in December, with this camoflage quilt.
Next up is my oldest niece, Brooke. Her birthday is 4 days after mine in February, and I'm happy to say I'm already done with her quilt! (Only two more to go after her!)
Here it is. She's going to be 15 this year. I can't believe it. I think this will suit her. She told me she likes all these colors, but no yellow, which is funny because her room is yellow.
This is an up-close of the quilting. I did big flowers throughout the quilt. I like it. (Don't mind the string hanging off there...don't know how I missed that!)
The back is one fabric I chose that I thought she would like. The colors in the pic are a little off, but it's really nice in person. I hope she likes it!
I had a lot of little triangles left over when I trimmed the blocks. I made a baby quilt with them, you can check it out here.
I'll soon be sharing with you my newest nephew's quilt (See HERE) that will be on it's way to him soon. (He was born 12-12-12! How cool is that birthday?!)
Kris from Duke Say's Sew What? is a very talented quilter, no doubt. We've featured her many times on Fabric Tuesday, she always has a great project going! But this string quilt we're featuring today that she made for her mom has a lot more meaning. Kris' family has been through a lot lately and this quilt will serve as comfort for her mom. After you read the story stop by Duke Says Sew What? and see some of her great projects!
If you're a regular here, you know that I have been working on finishing a string quilt to send off to my Mom. They say a quilt is a hug - and this is a hug for my Mom, who had a stroke recently.
There have been a few health issues around here recently. It started with my oldest son getting gasoline in his eyes. We called my Mom, who works for an eye doctor and she recommended immediate medical care so off we went to the ER. (He's fine now.) I had already been experiencing a tightness in my chest, but the day after his ER visit, I started having electrifying zaps of pain from under my arm across my breast. I called my Mom, who of course always has a way of calming me down when I get rather anxious about things. I thought I had the symptoms of breast cancer - I really didn't know what those are, I just knew I had a pain like no other. My Mom talked me through what I think was an anxiety attack over the chest pain - I was pacing the house in circles, mainly because I couldn't sit down since sitting down made it worse. I could only sit on a hard chair.
After a trip to urgent care I was diagnosed with a pinched nerve and given pain and anti-inflammatory medications. Good thing I went in because it only got worse before it got better. By the next day I could hardly sit in the car to drive. The pain came in waves and I couldn't help but gasp or sometimes scream! What a nutcase I had become! Just ask my husband!
That's when my Dad called to say my Mom was in the hospital and they were running tests to see if it was anxiety or a stroke. She was feeling odd and couldn't speak in a normal manner. When the doctors asked her if she was worried about anything in particular, she said "my daughter is having pain in her chest". OH NO! Now SHE was worried about ME! I was very worried for her - but did my best not to cry because crying uses your chest muscles and mine were on fire! What a mess this had become! The thought of sitting for a 3.5 hour plane ride to go be with her was out of the question.
Test showed a blood clot in her brain but it was small, and physically she was not experiencing any problems. The only challenge for her was her words. As it turned out, this was not an anxiety attack but I still felt badly for any part I played in it.
That night I got a call from my Mom. She was in the hospital room by herself - Dad had just gone home. She wanted to let me know that she was okay and for me not to worry. She told me this in words that I completely understood, but some of them weren't quite right.
We've since been told that Mom was extremely fortunate to have had so little problems following this mini stroke. She's home and doing much better. She still gets a tad frustrated when speaking or writing, but is expected to fully recover. She sounds better and better.
We are all so relieved that she is doing so well. The only thing that has us all a bit sad is my parents have had to cancel their trip to come stay with us and attend Mitch's High School Graduation. There's no where my Mom would rather be - she adores her grandchildren, but she's not ready to travel this far in a plane.
We will be glad to have them come visit us and enjoy themselves fully when Mom is 100%.
Until then, I made this quilt for Mom. She loves pink so this quilt is filled with it! Mom had a great support group of my friends praying for her and I can't thank them enough. I'm also thankful for all of the medical staff that treated her and of course, my Dad, who is her rock! My Dad provides a comfort to the family like no other.
Val from Pink Please! is quite the talented quilter and has been showcasing her talents on Moda Bake Shop with her darling Floor Pillows and Play Mat. So cute! Today she's sharing a quilt with a lot more meaning and purpose, and it was a collaborative effort. I so admire Val (and all of you) who take your talents and do so much good with them. It is something I am striving to do more of myself. Anyway I will let Val tell you about the quilt and Heroes Foundation. Also, she posted HERE how well the quilt did (!!!!!) so check that out when you're done!! Also make sure to stop by Pink Please! and her shop with darling custom tooth fairy pillows.
What started out as one quilt block made from scraps and a plea to have some friends help make a few more, has turned into one incredible quilt, full of stories, that is ready to be auctioned off at The Night Under the Stars Gala benefiting the Heroes Foundation on Feb. 25th.
I dragged my Dad (and his camera) over to the railroad tracks by his house to take some fun shots.
(Thanks, Big John!)
Ok, the quilting on this is just amazing!!!! Tammy Lawson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Super Bowl, what what, offered to donate her time (4 hours!), her batting, her thread, her long arm quilting machine, and her skills to put this quilt together. Watching her free motion quilt this was mesmerizing! I can not comprehend how she quilts this without drawing the pattern on the fabric. If anyone in the Indy area needs long arm quilting services, contact me to get Tammy's info. You will not be disappointed! She even let me sew on her machine while I waited. We called it a Sewing Play Date!
Check out this video I took of Tammy in action....
I LOVE the little ribbon block that Charlotte of Lawson and Lotti made.
It makes a statement without saying a word!
If you made a block(s) on this quilt will head over to Flickr and tag it here? It should be fun to see everyone on there.
My friends in charge of the auction thought a throw pillow would be a nice addition to the quilt. I chose 4 blocks that were extras sent in that I thought went nicely together and made this pillow. I put pink pom poms around the edges and now I don't think I'll ever be able to make another pillow without them.
The silent auction committee thought it would be nice if I would write up a little somethin' somethin' about this quilt to put in the brochure that everyone will receive the night of the Gala. Here is what is submitted:
When I first became involved with the Heroes Foundation Silent Auction Committee, I knew I wanted to make something special to donate to such a wonderful cause. Modern Quilting is a passion of mine and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use my art to raise money for others. I posted a request on my blog asking my sewing bloggie friends if anyone would be interested in helping me make this quilt. Each person could make one quilt block using their scrap fabric and send it to me with a note telling who their block was in honor of. I was very nervous that no one would want to help me. To my surprise, within 48 hours, 45 women had responded that they would like to contribute. Not only did these women send one block each, but many sent two! Coming from as far as Australia, the stories behind each block will tug at your heart strings! Some blocks are in honor of lost parents and spouses, some are in honor of those currently fighting, and one is even in honor of herself, a woman currently going through chemo and radiation. This quilt has helped me see that cancer does not discriminate. Everyone all over the world is fighting this ugly disease and the 46 of us hope that we can use this disease as an opportunity to make something beautiful, that will hopefully raise money for those who need it.
~Val Campbell
Blocks have come from: England, Australia, and The United States (Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.)
***Thank you all that contributed. I am honored to have put this together. The quilt earned $1000 at the auction!***
Sheila from Thought and Found made this darling string quilt for her sister, my sister would never do that for me! I wonder if Megan or I will ever make the other a quilt....hmmmm, we are a little selfish that way! Anyhow, here are Sheilas finished projects, her flickr photostream here, her blog is a fun mix of design, quilting, cooking and other great stuff, a fun read. Make sure to head over!
Another quilt finally has its binding! This quilt, similar to the Tic Tac Toe quilt, has been sitting in my UFO pile for months, pieced and quilted and 90% finished. I even had the fabric for the binding, ready and waiting. I’ve always been motivated by a deadline, and this time it was the fact that my sister was hosting Thanksgiving this year, and I wanted to be able to take it to her.
I am really pleased with the finished product. When I first started out I wasn’t so sure that I loved all the fabrics, but this is a memory quilt of sorts, since I was using the leftover bits from the lids of the wedding favours from my sister’s wedding last September. But as I started piecing the blocks I really fell in love with the way that things were looking. And then I started to get seriously bored with sewing these blocks. I love how string quilts look, but it will be a while before I start another one!
The binding selection was the result of a consultation with the fabulous members of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild. I was so unsure of what to do. I had considered using one of the sheets from the quilt, but worried that it would be too busy. Someone suggested yellow and pretty soon we had every bolt of yellow fabric in the shop on the table! Kona Buttercup was the winner because it leaned ever-so-slightly towards green, while still appearing yellow when it was next to the quilt top.
Of course, the best part is that Rachel and Sean love it. And that was really the whole point. :)
Hopefully our mommy isn't reading today's feature...because we owe her a quilt big time! I love this String Quilt by Tong made for her mom! I love how she used all polka dots!! Tong (who is getting married in a few months!!) from Ting Tong and Things, is a fun read, lots of modern quilting and she makes some AMAZING bee blocks. This one and this one are a couple of my favorites!
Finally, the big finish! my polka dot string quilt for my mom! i absolutely loved how this quilt has turned out! i ended up doing straight line quilting down the long side of the quilt with the quilting lines close together. i chose a solid binding in kona buttercup. the finished quilt is 64 inches by 72 inches.
for the back of the quilt i used some left over scraps from the quilt top and did a few confetti style blocks framed in the same kona buttercup used for the binding.
and for the first time ever, i tried embroidery and made a quilt label for the first time too.
my mom was so thrilled when i gave her the quilt, she had been waiting for it to be finished since i started it in the summer with the help from the lovely ladies in the great white north bee. this has definitely been my favourite quilt, i hope it can keep my mom warm and cozy for years and years to come!
Heather and I always love checking out Fabric Tuesday links getting inspired by all of you! A few weeks back Cara from Me? A Mom? Had a beautiful almost finished quilt, so we made her promise to send it our way when it was all the way done!! And not only that...she's turned it into a quilt-a-long for all of us lucky girls (and one boy? two?). Here's Cara:
I'm just starting a quilt along and tutorial of the pattern Urban Lattice on my blog I think it's going to a lot of fun!
This quilt was made for my husband who has long wanted a "manly" quilt that was all his. Not only was it to be masculine looking but he also wanted it to be a really large lap size. His only request was that it have lots of blue.
I went round and round trying to decide what pattern to use.
Then, after doing a baby-sized string quilt for my daughter -- and loving the paper piecing process -- I decided to think about ways I could modify a string quilt block.
The result was a design I call "Urban Lattice." I love the simple geometric nature of the design and so does my husband.
The finished size is 72 x 84 -- the largest I've ever made before by FAR. I machine quilted the entire thing myself and thought at times my lil' ol' basic Janome might start smoking What a workout! I cursed. I laughed. I got charlie horses in my shoulders. But it was all worth it.
Here and here are posts where I talked about this quilt.
Thanks for your interest in featuring my quilt. I love your blog.
Thanks Cara! And I just have to say...I may have gasped tonight when I saw how close your kids are in age!! But they are ridiculously cute so that makes up for any lack of sleep, right? :)
Make sure to stop back tomorrow to show off your fabric finishes on Fabric Tuesday!
Paulette from The Way I Sew It has a great quilt to share today, and not only that but a tutorial too so you can make your own! I love the color combos in this quilt, light blues and reds can really do it for me! And, she figured out how to make this quilt all on her own...seriously. Make sure to check out her cute blog, look at these cute potholders she just whipped up! Nice! Now on to the quilt:
Double Pinwheel String Quilt
Back in late winter, when the sky and remaining snow cover were often the same shade of gray, I dreamed of making this colorful double pinwheel string quilt. It was pictured in a book called String Quilts with Style, by Bobbie Aug and Sharon Newman, and it was just that—a picture. There were no instructions for this particular quilt. It was just a gallery example of an awesome string quilt.
Personally, I think ALL string quilts are awesome. I’ve never met one I didn’t like, a LOT. I feel the same way about pinwheel quilts. And scrappy quilts…and bold color? Bring it on! This quilt hit all my happy buttons!
Without instructions and just the photo for reference, I was left to fly by the seat of my pants. So I busted out the old plastic protractor to determine the angle of the inner red pinwheel, did some fiddling to create a template, and away I went.
I used all kinds of scraps for the strings—modern, traditional, vintage—which were pieced onto paper ripped out of the phone book. The blue fabric in the pinwheel blocks was a vintage fabric found at the thrift store. I ran short when it came time for the border, but fortunately there was a Kona blue that was an almost perfect match. It was quilted by my long arm quilter, Sandy, with multicolored variegated thread in an allover design that reminds me of windblown pinwheels.
You can find the details of how to make this quilt on my blog. I posted a four-part tutorial here. And if you make one, let me know—I’d love to see it!
