Ombre Quilt

Well, many moons ago I started a quilt with this mini jelly roll of Ombre Fabric.  I had one thing in mind -- but it didn't end up panning out.  I can't even remember why -- maybe I didn't have enough fabric?  So the blocks have been sitting in my sewing room for years.  Until now:

I quilted it very simply with straight lines.  I used some brighter color threads, which was unusual for me, and kind of fun.  So now I have this small quilt.  I'm not even sure what to do with it.  It doesn't really look like a baby quilt, but that's about how big it is.  Not really a good wall quilt for my house either.  But it's finished!

This was one of my goals for the Finish-A-Long.  I'm linking up to the linky party at She Can Quilt.

Sports Quilt

All of my boys love sports.  My oldest is now 13 and is moving to his own bedroom in the basement this summer.  So, I think I'll give him this quilt as a little "bedroom warming" gift.  :)

I made this using a Varsity by Sweetwater jelly roll.  I used the pattern called Sunset Ridge at the Moda Bakeshop. It was a fairly quick pattern -- and a good one for this particular Jelly Roll.  I was able to divide it into 4 colorways, and only needed to supplement a little with some extra yellow fabric.

 

I quilted with a loop in the gray section, and zig zags in the colored sections.  

This was one of my goals for the Finish-A-Long.  I'm linking up to the linky party at She Can Quilt. 

Christmas 16-Patch

For this Christmas quilt I used a jelly roll of Kate Spain's North Woods fabric.  The pattern is on the Moda Bakeshop - Road Fifteen Sixteen Patch.  I only used 1 Jelly Roll (rather than 2), so my quilt is smaller.  

I struggled a bit with the decision of what color to do the sashing.  There are a lot of light and dark fabrics -- including white, so I didn't want to use that.   I finally resolved on tan.  

I insisted (to myself) that I use some fabric from my stash for the backing.  It's a cute green polka dot.

I quilted it with meandering loops.  

This was one of my goals for the Finish-A-Long.  I'm linking up to the linky party at She Can Quilt.  

Merry Go Round Quilt

For many months, years even, I've had this little package of hexagons (a honeycomb precut) sitting in my sewing room.  The fabric is "Wishes" by Sweetwater.  I have not done much with hexagons in the past and was intimidated to sew them together.  But when I saw this tutorial for an adorable quilt at A Bright Corner, I decided to give it a whirl.  Andy's tutorial uses yardage, rather than precuts, but I was able to skip all the cutting and just whip this up.  

I did find that I didn't have quite enough bright fabrics in the "honeycomb" to make 9 blocks.  So I improvised and made one block with a colored background so I could use the light colored fabrics too.  I don't LOVE it that way, but it did make a square quilt!  :)  That center background is actually not quite as bold in person, I think.

I had some soft, green flannel -- barely enough -- for the backing.  I think it looks pretty good!

Another Lambkin Quilt

Using some leftovers from this quilt:

I made this quilt:

The colors look quite different, but most of those fabrics are the same.  It was almost dark when I took the picture above, so that has probably affected the colors too.  I added in the darker triangles because I felt like it needed some more contrast.  I was wishy washy about that decision, and seeing the picture I'm questioning it again now.  But it's done now!  Here is a picture of the whole bundle.  

I quilted it with simple straight line quilting.  It will be nice and soft.  

Finish-A-Long 2018 Q2 Goals

Last Quarter I finished 2 quilts that had been on my list multiple times.  Yay!  But I didn't even touch a few things on my list at all.  So those are at the top of my list this time. 

1.  Sports Quilt - Top is pieced.  I've decided to add some length to this quilt.  Of course I can't find the right background color now.  :(

2.  Christmas 16 Patch - Need to piece together with sashing -- but to do that I need to determine the  color of the sashing.  Also, on point or not?  It's these decisions that have kept me from finishing this!

 

3.  Ombre Quilt- I started this one a few years ago and didn't like it.  So, I have several blocks that I want to try and figure out how to change it. 

  

4.  Hexagon Table Runner - Made these little hexagons some time ago.  I'd like to make a table runner using the Modern Handcraft tutorial.

 

I am linking up the Finish-a-Long 2018 Q2 party at She Can Quilt.

Raindrops Quilt

Rain is one of my favorite kinds of weather.  It's very calming to me.  Of course, in Utah it doesn't rain all that much, so I welcome the change.  I decided to make a raindrop quilt to hang on my wall in the spring. 

I appliqued the raindrops on -- I have done very little applique.  The raindrops are not evenly distributed -- this was intentional, as rain does not fall evenly.

The quilting is straight lines -- which took a while because I didn't want to quilt over the raindrops.  I considered trying "Trupunto" on the raindrops, but chickened out.  Leaving the raindrops unquilted still lets them poof out a little bit.

 

I'm still a little uncertain -- one minute I love it, the next minute I wish I had been more careful about the raindrop angles/placement/shape.  And in the pictures above there is one background color that looks way off -- the light blue.  It doesn't look quite that drastic in person.  Here it is on the wall. 

 

One great thing is that this one was on my Finish-A-Long list for this quarter.  It's almost time to link up, so I'm glad it's finished in time.   

I am linking up at She Can Quilt - Finish-A-Long Q1.

Baby Girl Quilt

Remember the Dolls Like Me quilt drive?  Well, everyone who submitted a quilt was entered into a drawing for some prizes.  And I won a prize!  A very generous prize.  It was a fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabric -- Lambkin.  I was very excited because I have a good friend who is having a baby and I thought this would be perfect.  So I made this quilt:

 

 The fabric was very cute, but I wish I would have chosen a different pattern.  The original pattern had a lot more contrast between the different fabrics.  I think this needed it.  Looking at the picture, I'm starting to wonder if it's just that I'm not used to using such soft, pastel colors.  The quilt is really quite pretty.  In a house full of boys, you just don't get soft and pretty very often.  :)

And I'm not sure if the quilting pattern distracts too.  Or maybe the fact that I chose a pink thread.  You can't see it well in the picture, but maybe I should have stuck to white.  Oh well, at least I tried something new.   And just look how cute that fabric is!  Those little lambs are adorable.

 And I actually really like the back of the quilt!  Simple, but I like it.

So I ended up giving my friend this other quilt.  It was good because she said that quilt matched her nursery.  yay!  I'll save this one for someone else.

Quilts for Dolls Like Me

A few weeks ago I saw a blog post at Needle and Foot announcing a quilt drive for little doll quilts.  They would be donated to a great woman who makes dolls for some great kids.  She describes herself this way: "I am a dollmaker who feels that every kid...regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, medical issue, and body type...should have a doll who looks like they do."  So she makes dolls with special characteristics, such as a missing limb or a feeding tube or a birth mark. 

I had some unused quilt blocks and decided to make those into some doll quilts.  They are all around 20-24" and so fun to make!  Here they are:

I am linking up to the Linky Party at Needle and Foot.

Summer Sampler Quilt

So this quilt is long overdue.  I believe that the blocks were made back in 2014.  They are all from the book "Vintage Quilt Revival."  So from my very first Finish-A-Long this has been on my list.  I began sewing it in one setting, then changed my mind, unpicked, and decided on another setting.  Then changed my mind again because I didn't have enough background fabric.  I settled on this simple setting.  I'm not in love with the outcome, but I'm satisfied.  It is done!  Hooray!

 

One thing that I do love about this quilt is the fabric.  The background is all Shot Cotton.  I have made one other quilt with this fabric and I do love how soft it is.  That shot cotton quilt is the most used quilt in the house.  We all love it.  

For the quilting I tried to stitch in the ditch in the blocks -- it's my first time doing this kind of quilting.  I used my walking foot, which made for straight lines, but also a lot of stopping, turning, and shifting.  It wasn't easy for me to figure out how to get around the shapes without frequently overlapping or stopping/starting.  The sashing was a little more straightforward (thankfully!)  I did straight lines down the long strips, using a variety of colored threads.  This would have been more obvious if I had used a heavier thread. 

   

The backing is some great checked shot cotton I got on sale a while back.  Wish I had more. So soft.  I didn't have enough of the checkered fabric, so I used some other fabric I had on hand.  It is kind of a slippery fabric (not sure exactly what it is), so I was relieved when the backing didn't have a bunch of tucks!

 

This quilt is one of the goals on my 2018 Finish-a-Long list for this quarter.  

And it is finished! 

I am linking up at She Can Quilt - Finish-A-Long Q1.