Blue stars nearly finished

I collected a bunch of blue friendship stars from friends

for a group quilt project.

The parameters were that the stars had to be blue, the backgrounds neutral,

and they had to spin the same way, and finish at 9 inches

I dispersed the solid stars among the rest of them,

and then offset them by 3 inches to make them dance.

It all went together quickly, and I had enough blue scraps to make the piano key border.

One friend donated three metres of indigo fabric for the backing.

I had a few stars left, so I pieced together the backing,

but not without some serious calculations.

And I have just enough yardage left to cut the binding.

Here's the finished back.

It doesn't look nearly as complicated as it was.

I love little pieces and I don't mind making 500 seams in the front,

but I'm grumpy about more than one seam in the back.

It's not quite a finish, except that I finished both the top and the backing this week,

so I'm claiming it.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

A huge Friday finish!

I have a huge finish to share:

This scrappy log cabin made in a quilt as you go style.

Members of my quilt guilt started this project in September,

and at our March meeting, we hand sewed the binding down.

It has about 2,500 pieces, all from our scrap bags

and the batting is all 3 inch strips leftover from other quilts.

Here are my binding buddies!

We only purchased fabric for the binding, 

since no one had the right colour in their stash.

It is backed with wide backing flannel in dark grey.

The quilt has 36 blocks measuring 15 inches,

and all of them are joined by 1 inch strips.

Read more about the technique here.

I participated in the rainbow mini challenge at Winnipeg Modern Quilt Guild,

and I used my leftovers to make two needle books.

I've been machine quilting a surprise baby quilt,

and I'm pleased to have finished all the quilting a month before the baby is due.

I still need to trim and bind it.

This is not a finish, but a start.

My mom spray basted this quilt in Sept. 2016 

and I promised to quilt it in time for my niece's high school graduation the following June.

Well, I didn't make that deadline

but I did start quilting it yesterday.

Nobody to blame but me,

and ongoing neck issues from whiplash injuries.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers at

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Crazy Mom Quilts

TGIFF

Near finish for Friday

I've been coordinated a guild quilt as you go project

and finished joining the 15 inch blocks together.

The quilt measures 90 inches square with 36 15 inch blocks

I joined the blocks with one-inch strips

and got them all together last weekend while sewing with friends at a local gallery.

I'm backing this with flannel and quilting it at another sew-in this coming holiday Monday.

 I took the leftover light strips, some of which I rejected for being too medium in value,

and joined them to make a 15 by 29 inch table runner.

I dusted off my free motion quilting skills for a design in each strip.

I backed it with a bright Riley Blake print

and bound it all in a neutral.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers

at Crazy Mom Quilts

and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Maker Monday

Some recent and ongoing makes here:

A wire coat hanger transformed into two Featherweight thread stands.

Note: Older Singers like this need a thread stand when using cross-wound threads, like Aurifil,

because the sewing machines were manufactured during an era when all the threads were wound straight on a bobbin.

The thread stand lifts up the thread for even feeding.

My engineer son made these with a pair of pliers

and shrink-wrapped the end because he just happens to have shrink wrap and a heat gun.

Handy to have a handy guy around.

We've finished 36 quilt as you go log cabin blocks for this guild group project.

Today I'm sewing them together.

Stay tuned.

It's a lovely quilt with thousands of fabrics.

My friend Audrey finished her string pieced strip quilt,

based on a design I figured out as a group project.

You can see those over here and over here.

This was the first Sunday of January.

By the last Sunday, she had it quilted, bound and was showing it at a quilt retreat.

Finished and gifted!

This string quilt has been growing on my wall in April.

It went from a pile of blocks in brights and lights

to a sashed top

To a completed double quilt in two weeks

with the help of many hands.

This was a group effort with friends contributing blocks and sashing,

basting, and binding the quilt.

We overwhelmed the recipient with it

and she loved the bright colours,

the cuddly flannel backing and the wool batting

and all the fun fabrics in this.

We gave her the quilt,

and then we spread it out on the table and tied it in the blocks.

So now it is knotted in love too!

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers 

over at these blogs:

 Sarah and Amanda Jean and TGIFF

Double Friday finish!

At a retreat last weekend, I  worked on two string quilts.

I squared off and bound the top left one

and quilted and bound the bottom one.

These are two of four I've put together for a local charity,

using 6 by 12 inch string blocks from my local quilting friends.

My guild friend Bonnie long armed the yellow and orange one

in an edge to edge pattern,

more visible if you double click the close-up below.

I packed up my Juki for the retreat, and powered through the blue quilt,

using my walking foot for straight-line stitching on either side of the vertical seams.

I freemotioned designs in each column,

inspired by motifs in Christina Cameli's 

First Steps to Free Motion Quilting.

Christina's blog tutorial improved my fmq skills, 

and her book is fabulous.

Yesterday I took the three finished quilts out for a photo shoot on the lawn.

(The fourth is pieced, but not yet quilted.)

We're still snow-free in Winnipeg, although snow is sure to come soon.

Here you can see that each quilt has a slightly different colourway:

From top: yellow/orange; blue/red; pink/purple.

I'm linking up with Sarah and Amanda.

Strip piecing for a cause

I love string quilts. They're true scrap quilts,

using up bits and pieces

and somehow looking great in the end.

And string quilts motivated me to start this blog

and inspired the name as well.

I've  been making 6 by 12 inch string blocks recently,

because it's easy to cut around the ruler.

I even use the off cuts to make more blocks.

I'm using up a variety of fabrics,

and even some extra wide selvages.

So far I have 20 blocks on the wall. I'm hoping to make enough

and gather some more from my local quilting friends

to make two single quilts for a local cause.

I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Mondays.

Quilting the river

This is a river quilt that my son's grade 4, 5 and 6 class are making with my help. I've been quilting with some of these kids since they were in grade 1, so they're getting quite good. Not one complains about having to sew, although they do need gentle reminders to keep their stitches smaller. Many toe catchers here, but since this is a wall quilt, it won't matter too much.

We string pieced by hand on 10-inch square foundations of warm and natural batting. Each child had a strip of two-inch blue water fabric they had to place somewhere in the quilt, and then they pieced other fabrics representing the shoreline, plants, grass, rocks, and sky around it. The biggest challenge was putting it together so the river flowed from square to square. I've posted a 3 by 9 (more or less) version of the quilt, but in the end my young quilt artists decided on a a square version of 5 by 5 squares. Right now I'm in the process of sewing it together and backing it, then I'll take it back to school and we'll tie it with cotton yarn.
I've had fun quilting with these children as my sons travelled through their elementary school years. I think this is the sixth quilt I've made with students, and I've learned much more than they have. The biggest lesson all quilters could learn from my junior quilters: don't be afraid. These children try new techniques fearlessly, put together fabric combinations without that inner critic, and don't believe for a moment they can't make a quilt.

Here is our quilt from last year, with about 18 of the same students that I have this year. You'll have to click on the photo to enlarge it, since I didn't get a very close shot. I taught them how to handquilt, and they were fearless about using contrasting thread that showed up their stitches. Some have biggish stitches, but others are as good as adults. I quilted the three squares with the words and dates, and a couple of parents made some of the stars, but all the rest are by students. Aren't they great! I hung it in a local show, and they were thrilled their work was on display.

Once the river quilt is finished, it is going in a couple of shows as well to inspire young quilters, and the older ones who might be mentoring them.