Woodwork

Well friends, the sun finally came out and though the temps were frigid (for Tennessee anyway), I managed to get some photos of my latest quilt finish.

I love everything about this quilt.  The gray and green scraps play so nicely together, and the simple pattern allows them to really shine without the quilt becoming too busy.  Even though the greens are more prominent in the photos, in person, this quilt has an equal amount of gray that really soften it.  The solid strips are Kona Bone, and the creamy color keeps the quilt feeling more natural than a stark white.

I gave a sneak peek of the wood grain quilting at last week's NTT, and I am so excited to really show it off today.  This is only the second time I've done wood grain quilting, and I am so pleased with the way it turned out.  I love that the wood grain follows the vertical design of the pattern, and the soft wavy lines of the motif move so gracefully down the quilt.  Best of all, it adds such fantastic texture.  I quilted it with Aurifil 40 wt. #2311 (Muslin).  I usually use 50 wt. for quilting, but the slightly thicker thread shows up really well.

Even after finishing the top, I had plenty of green and gray scraps left, so I decided to go for the gusto and sew the rest of them up for the backing.  I am happy to report that my green and gray jars are now completely empty.  Woohoo!

I widened out the improv strip on the back with a gray near-solid, and I love the way the scraps (and quilting!) really pop against it.  Before I sewed up all of my greens, I pulled out just enough strips for a scrappy binding.

With shades of green and gray along with the wood grain quilting, this quilt feels a little outdoorsy, so I've decided to call it Woodwork.

If you've vowed to empty your own scrap jars this year, structured improvisation is an easy and fun way to do it!  Afraid of improv?  My book, Stash Statement, gives three different methods for sewing your scraps together, along with twelve full quilt patterns that take the guesswork out for you.  Once you learn the technique, you can apply it to any quilt pattern.  It's easy peasy, and so versatile!

You can get a signed copy in my Etsy shop HERE, or find it on Amazon, Connecting Threads, or ask about it at your local quilt shop.

Full Spectrum Medallion

Yesterday, I spent a lovely day with the Friendship Quilters Guild in Athens, AL, which also has some members in the North Alabama chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild.  We had such a fun time!  I have just a couple of open dates before my 2019 schedule is completely full.  Contact me ASAP to set something up for your guild!

Before I headed out of town though, I made sure to finish my latest medallion quilt  just so I could add it to my trunk show.  My, oh my!  Quilting this was quite an undertaking.

When I say that it was an undertaking, I mean that I spent 24 hours over the course of three days on the quilting.  This is undoubtedly the most detailed quilting I have ever done, and I absolutely love the result.

In the center, I quilted a free motion flower, and continued the petals into each part of the rainbow, including three petals in each part of the scalloped border.  In the negative space, I echoed the shape of the center and I like the way the straight(ish) lines play against the softer petal quilting.

In fact, throughout the entire quilt, I chose to quilt straight lines against curved designs to make sure that each part of the medallion really stood out (just an FYI- the entire quilt was quilted with free-motion, even the straight line designs).

On the Greek Cross blocks, I opted for a very small crosshatch quilting to follow the shape of the blocks.  With the curvy edges of the scalloped border against the straight edges of the Greek Crosses, at first I was unsure how to quilt the negative space between the two.  I should have realized that my very favorite free motion motif would be a perfect filler!  I opted to quilt tiny, micro-stippling there.  Just for reference, the spacing between the stippling lines is only 1/8-1/4".

Even though I like the end result, the Square In Square blocks were my least favorite part of the process.  Those square spirals took FOREVER, and I will say this- it's a good thing I'm okay with "organic" quilting lines.

In the border surrounding the Square In Square blocks, I quilted figure-eight loops.  This is actually the first time I've quilted this motif on such a large space, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it went.  Rather than having the loops span the entire width of the border, I added an echoing line on the top and bottom to give the design a little more definition.  Since I wasn't sure how to carry the loops around the corners, I decided to quilt petals there.

The triangle border got quilted with tight swirls, and I added pebble quilting to the corner stars.  I have quilted pebbles in very small spaces before, but never this much, and I'm pretty happy with them.  Echoing lines give great definition to the outer edge of the quilt.

A rainbow of Aurifil 50 wt. thread complimented each color section perfectly (along with white, of course).  Instead of using a consistent thread on the back, I always like to keep my top and bobbin threads the same, so there is a lovely rainbow on the back of the quilt as well!

I pulled fat quarter pieces straight from my stash for the back.  I arranged the fabrics as close to a spiral rainbow as possible, which proved to be somewhat difficult with such large pieces.  I still enjoy the warm/cool effect created though.

There was really only one choice for binding this quilt- a rainbow!  Color-matched to each section, of course.  Since I bind all of my quilts by machine, sewing them to the back of the quilt first, I had to really do some planning to make this happen.  The rainbow of thread on the back of the quilt really helped keep me on track though!

I am in love with the way this quilt turned out, and even more than that, I am really proud of it!   This quilt finishes at 72" square.  I am still working out the details, but I am considering writing the pattern and offering this as a Block of the Month QAL in 2019.  I'm still thinking though the details, but I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Adventures in Graffiti Quilting

Graffiti quilting, flow quilting, wild quilting, free motion improv quilting.  These are all names I've heard for the kind of quilting where several different motifs are blended into one quilt, and where the quilter moves from one design to the next without a set plan.

I have always admired this kind of quilting, but when it was time to actually put stitches on a quilt, I always chickened out.  That is, until last week.  I decided to try my hand at graffiti quilting on this preemie quilt for our local children's hospital, made from some of the larger chunks in my scrap jars. Before I get into the details, just FYI- this was done on my regular domestic machine, a BERNINA 550QE.

This little quilt only measures 36" square, but it took me four hours to quilt!  By comparison, my speedy self can (fairly densely) stipple an entire twin size quilt in that amount of time, so this was quite an undertaking to say the least.

Since this was my first attempt at this kind of quilting, the thread, background, and backing fabrics were specifically chosen to mask any quilting imperfections.  I opted for a tonal white fabric with little scrolls rather than my usual Kona White in the background.  On the back, I chose this black and white crosshatch, and I quilted it with my favorite 50 wt. Aurifil White thread.

Mission accomplished!  I'm pretty proud of the stitching, but it is by no means perfect.  Luckily, the thread, backing and background fabrics did their camouflage jobs and you really have to look hard to find the couple of crossovers in the quilt.

I tried to photograph the quilting in several lights to best show the stitching, and I actually think the first pic shows the stitches in contrast the best, even if it isn't the best photo of the colors in the quilt.  The photo below shows the colors best.

Though this quilt was not fast, I have to say that it really was a lot of fun.  It is something that I will definitely be doing again;  next time on a quilt I'll get to keep.

I do have a question for all of you quilty peeps about this kind of quilting though.  Where else do you use it?  Allover on a simple quilt (like this one)?  Only on quilts with lots of negative space?  Anyplace else?  I'm thinking that this would be too busy for many quilts, but I welcome your thoughts!

A Pop Star Finish

I'm so excited to share my finished Pop Star quilt with you.  I'm continuing to branch out in the free motion quilting department, and for the first time, I actually quilted three different motifs on the same quilt.  In the past, I've worried about everything looking too busy and just stuck with an allover design, but I'm so pleased with the way this one turned out.

The Kona Navy background just makes these colors sing, but unless you're looking at the quilt in person, it does make it more difficult to tell how it's quilted.

Though these are technically stars, I kind of thought of them as flowers when I decided on the quilting designs.  The main petals of each block are quilted with loops, which really add to the flower effect, and I decided on a very tight organic (read imperfect) grid for the center stars. The grid spacing is smaller than 1/4 inch.  Since I used the center star outline to travel from one area to another, I decided to embrace a "sketchy" outline on them.  It seemed easier than trying to perfectly travel over lines of stitching, which would have inevitably ended with gnashing of teeth.

The background is stippled with navy thread.  You know, because stippling is still my very favorite, and it seems I just can't help myself!  You can really see the quilting detail on the back of the quilt.

Since I've had some of you ask me with other quilts, I'll go ahead and let you know that there is no marking involved in any of these designs.  It's all done free-motion, including the outlines of the stars themselves.

The only fabric I had to purchase for this one was the navy, as well as the red and white backing fabric.  Everything else came right from my cabinet.  I even had these little yellow polkadots in my stash, and they are a perfect little pop of sunshine against the dark background.  I'm calling this quilt a win on all fronts!

Folk Dance Encore and NTT

Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, y'all!  With my roses in full bloom, it's my very favorite time of year to take quilt pictures, so I hope you'll indulge this slightly picture-heavy post.

As I mentioned in my last post, this quilt is a remake of my original Folk Dance quilt, and I'm keeping this one as a class sample, as well as for trunk shows (pattern available HERE and HERE).

I thought a dense, allover flower quilting motif would compliment the Anna Maria Horner fabrics nicely, and I have to say- I am as proud of this quilting as any I've ever done.  I even had a quilty friend ask if I had bought a longarm machine.  Nope- all quilted on my domestic BERNINA, but I take that as a huge compliment!

Even though I used 25 different prints in this quilt, I am saving the remainder of these fat quarters for a king size quilt for my bed.  I did use the smallest leftover pieces on the backing though, and it adds just a little bit of flair.

This quilt has a full rainbow of color, so I could have chosen almost any color binding.  This Kona Oasis was already in my stash, and I love how it frames the twirling skirt blocks, so it was a no-brainer.

Okie dokie, friends!  I owe you some winners from last week's April sponsor post!  First up, the two winners of the adorable Hello Spring embroidery from Fort Worth Fabric Studio are comments 20 (Lee), and 16 (Mary).

 

Next, the winner of the $25 gift card to LouLou's Fabric Shop is comment number 52 (Angela Bowling).

And last, but certainly not least, the winner of the $25 gift certificate to Lady Belle Fabrics is comment number 34 (Susan L.).  Congratulations to all four of you, and happy stitching and shopping!

Time to check out the eye-candy from last week's party!  This stunner is by Cyndi at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework-

Katie Mae Quilts shared this lovely quilt.  Definitely check out the post for some close ups of the quilt, but I couldn't resist including this gorgeous rainbow shot here.

Speaking of beautiful photos, check out this quilt from Elm Street Quilts.  A gorgeous quilt, and I love the beautiful setting!

The talent showcased at NTT week after week is simply amazing.  Without further ado, let's party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)