Color Wheel Quilt

It's been a while, but here's another project from my Curves class taught by Rachel of Stitched in Color.  The very last projects were celebratory quilts - what a great idea!  This post should mean I've completed at least one project from every week of the class.  Yay!

My emotions with this quilt went from excited, to unsure and feeling a little circus-y (yes, I realize that's not a real word), to hopeful, to loving it!!

When I first started picking out materials from my stash for this quilt I thought I would be giving it away.  It looks like the family that was going to be on the receiving end of this one is going to be getting something else.  I don't think I can part with this cheerful quilt.

This curves were definitely precise curves, meaning there was a concave and convex cut that had to match up (with the seam allowance) and be sewn carefully.  Yes there was some unpicking, but it was worth it.

My husband and I tried to take pictures of this one last week,
but the wind was not cooperating!

I debated quilting patterns.  My first idea was to sew circles in the color wedges and lines (like rays emitting from the circle) on the white.  Then I was worried there would be too much stop and starting.  So then I resigned myself to sewing just the straight line rays.  THEN I convinced myself to sew just the circles.  There was still quite a bit of stopping and starting, but I figured to go for it anyway.  I think this quilt is going to spend the first part of it's life hanging in my sewing room as a decoration anyway so it will be saved from constant washing for a while.  See the circle in the very middle.  I think I sewed and re-sewed it at least 5 times...  Sadly, my first attempt was my best.






















I even love the back.  I love the dark blue.  Sometimes it's fun to not have enough of one color for the back, because then you get to be creative all over again on the same quilt.  See my little tag on the side.  I made it using this tutorial.  So easy.

I hope it added a little sunshine to your day!  I know it did mine!

Check out the other projects from the Curves Class!

Scallop Bunting

Bibs

Quilt Cards

Rainbow Road Table Runner

Clam Shell Pillow

Drunkard's Path Hot Pads

Spring Book Cover

Emmitt Quilt

So some of you may remember the original post for this quilt.  I posted about it when I finished the top.  The quilt was called "Emma" at the time, because that is the name of the pattern.  As I was finishing it up I realized Emma wasn't the best name for it since it's going to find it's home with a cute little baby boy.  So now I'm calling it Emmitt.  It works.

When  I first finished this quilt top I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  I didn't know if I liked all of the yellows I put in it.  I thought the plaid sashing and borders were a little too busy.  And so on, and so on.  But now that it's done, I LOVE IT!  Again, it's going to be hard to give this one up.

I did the basic meander free-motion quilting on it.  This is only my third time doing free-motion quilting, and only the second time I did the meander pattern. (Such a kind, forgiving pattern.)  The first time I did meander was on this little quilt I made for my sweet girl.  I have to say I like my second attempt at it much better.  I still need to work on consistency with my stitch length and I'm still battling my tension, but overall I love how the quilting looks.  Keep in mind, there were a few times I had someone "helping" me push my sewing pedal, and another time this same someone was dumping water on my leg as I was quilting this. Gotta love little helping hands.

And look!  I'm starting to make my own little tags to add to things.  So much fun!  I found a super easy way to make these tags.  I'll have to take pictures next time I make some and do a little tutorial on it.  I'm sure most of you already have ways to do it, but why not share?!

Next weekend we will probably see the sweet friends this is going to.  They're little one is due mid-March so I'm ahead of the game on this one.  I hope they enjoy lots of time snuggling their little one in this quilt.  Knowing it's going to a good home makes it easier to give it up.


Happy Saturday!

Charlotte Baby Quilt

I'm loving quilting, but I'm having a hard time justifying the cost.  I mean, how many blankets do we need?  However, if I make quilts as gifts, then it's okay, right?  :)  So my second completed quilt was a little baby quilt that I mailed off to a friend for her little girl.  It was much harder than I thought it would be to give it away!

The pattern is "Charlotte" from Three Times the Charm which you can find here or Amazon.   (It's cheaper shipping through Amazon.)  I added another row to make it a little larger.  The pattern calls for the octagons to be a neutral color, and the in between space to be the patterned material.  I decided I wanted to change it up a little and swapped it.

This is only my second time doing free-motion quilting, and I decided to try a different pattern.  I did a modified dogwood pattern.  You can find directions for it here at Oh, Fransson!  I didn't want the lines between, so that is where the modification came in.  I would leave one section of the flower open then more on to the next one.  Once I made it through the whole thing I made my way back to the beginning by closing up each section.  It worked great!

I hope my friend and her little girl enjoy it!

My First Quilt

Featured in Pink Chalk Newsletter 12/17/2011

&

About nine months ago a friend introduced me to the blog Cluck Cluck Sew and put the idea of quilting into my head. I decided I would start with a quilt for my little one who was just eight months old at the time. I purchased the Juice Boxes pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew, signed up for a Quilter's Kindergarten class, and made a trip to my local quilt shop, Village Dry Goods. After making a considerable dent in my wallet I returned home excited to start my project, but decided to wait till I went to the class.

The quilt went slow with a little one underfoot and because I was working on a denim rag quilt for a brother-in-law's wedding. After I basted the quilt I decided to give free-motion quilting a shot (AH!). The quilt sat waiting to be quilted for a while. I was trying to work up the nerve to do the free-motion quilting. I studied the tutorial "Finishing a Quilt" at Cluck Cluck Sew (can you tell she got me through this quilt!) many times before attempting anything. And guess what?! It wasn't so bad! I did the meander pattern and had a few sharp corners, but overall it went well. My biggest mistake was I forgot to put the foot down a few times, which led to some unpicking. :)

Close-up of the quilting, don't look too close. :)

Here are a few tips for free-motion quilting in addition to Allison's.

• While it is ideal to start/stop quilting on the excess batting at the edge, that wasn't always possible when I had a one year old tugging at my legs. I learned it worked best to stop on a square the same color as my thread. That way if I didn't have a smooth start, it hid the mistake better. 
• When restarting quilting in the middle of the quilt anticipate the direction you want to move before actually starting. This led to a more seamless start/stop.
• Practice quilting on several sandwiches sewn together rather than just one sandwich. This helps you get the feel of going over seams. 
• Be patient and relax! 

 This is the quilt that started my addiction!!  Quilt number 2 is in the works as we speak. :)