Herringbone Quilt – Work In Progress

This past March the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild held their latest sew-in. We’re currently making baby quilts for the École Rosalie-Jetté, a secondary school welcoming teenage mothers and their babies. All of the fabric has been donated, we sew it up into quilts and the school distributes the quilts to some deserving young mums.

I have been away from the blog for much too long. Unfortunately, a little family emergency has kept me mighty busy. Everything seems to be pretty much back to normal now, but of course there has been no time for any sewing. So instead I thought I’d share a work in progress (WIP).

This past March the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild held their latest sew-in. We’re currently making baby quilts for the École Rosalie-Jetté, a secondary school welcoming teenage mothers and their babies. All of the fabric has been donated, we sew it up into quilts and the school distributes the quilts to some deserving young mums. You can read more on the project on the MMQG website.

You may have seen this fabulous grey herringbone quilt by Erica of Craftyblossom. It’s really quite lovely.

Not knowing what fabric would be available, I thought I’d do something similar, since it uses small pieces to make half-square triangles and just requires a bit of contrast to work well.

Here are all the half-square triangles up on a design board. The blue is actually a teal colour, but I took these photos in a rush with my iPhone, and the colour is a bit off.

Herringbone quilt on the design board.
Herringbone quilt on the design board.

I’ve been working on this quilt with the very talented Cinzia Allocca of Deux Petites Souris. We only had a few hours to work, but I’m quite impressed by how much we were able to do. And I love how it’s turning out. I may have to make my own. I especially like the checks.

Half-square triangles (HST) that need to be trimmed.
Half-square triangles (HST) that need to be trimmed.

I have a big pile of half-square triangles (HST) that need to be trimmed before the next sew-in. Hopefully, we’ll finish up the rest of the quilt then. I’m so optimistic when I’m excited about a project.

A terrible photo, but at least the colour is accurate.
A terrible photo, but at least the colour is accurate.

The fabric isn’t what I would normally choose, but it’s quite liberating sewing with donated fabric since you can try pretty much anything.

Instead of sewing, today we made some Easter cookies. I know, I know, a little late. If you count the fact that I bought this cookie cutter for Easter last year and am only using it now, it’s actually a lot late. Oh well. And of course the kids are responsible for the rather (ahem) generous portion of sprinkles.

A little baking. I know these area little late.
A little baking. I know these area little late.

By the way, the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild is looking for new members. If you’re interested, you can attend our upcoming sew-in in May and see what it’s all about. Membership fees are quite low ($30 per year) and you can attend just one meeting and pay for just the one month, which comes out to about three dollars, I think. You’ll have to check with the organizers for the exact amount. I’ve been corrected! You can attend your first meeting for free (yay!) and after that, membership is pro-rated.  We alternate with a sew-in or a meeting each month and there are also some special events like workshops and lectures. You don’t have to be an expert (I’m on my fourth and fifth quilts) and I even saw people sewing (gasp!) clothing at the last sew-in. It’s all very friendly and laid back.

Sunshine Bug Quilt

I think I probably started this quilt in the depth of winter last year. That probably explains why I chose such bright, colourful, sunny fabrics. So it’s fitting that I finished it yesterday, the day after another big snowstorm.

Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt.
Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt – folded.
Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt – folded.

This is a stacked coins quilt. It was quite quick to piece the front.

I didn’t piece the back this time, but used a single piece of Tangerine Dots from Anne Kelle’s Remix collection. It’s a baby quilt, though it would also fit on a toddler bed, so it’s small enough for a single piece of backing fabric.

Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt – back with Tangerine Dots from the Remix collection.

For the quilting, I just did some straight line quilting, but it is quite dense over the white sashing.

Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt – front detail.
Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt – quilting detail.

Again, I followed the tutorial by Red Pepper quilts on machine stitched binding. The binding is entirely machine stitched. I save quite a bit of time this way.

So far this quilt has no home. I didn’t have anyone in mind when I started it. Of course that’s probably a good thing, because they would have been waiting a long time for me to finish.

My toddler has already refused it. She wants a quilt with birds instead. I’m working on that. Even though she doesn’t like it, I like it a lot. I really like the sunny colours.

I didn’t use a pattern for this quilt – it’s quite a simple design. But if you are a beginner looking for a pattern, there’s one that is very similar in the Moda Bake Shop called the Stacked Coins Baby Quilt. This project is linked up with Finish It Up Friday.

Sunshine Bug Quilt

Quilt block: Stacked Coins

Size: 36 by 43.5 inches

Fabrics:
Sashing and binding: Kona White
Orange stacked coins:
Deena Rutter’s Happier collection for Riley Blake Designs: Happier Floral in Orange, Happier Bugs in Orange
Kona School Bus, Papaya, and Corn Yellow
Beetle Boy by by Ellen Crimi-Trent
Spots in Taffy from Kaffe Fassett for Westminster
Stof basics fat quarter bundle in orange/yellow
Backing: Remix Tangerine Dots by Anne Kelle for Robert Kaufman
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Cotton

Sunshine Bug Quilt
Sunshine Bug Quilt – pieced front.

Whale Quilt

These are some photos of my second quilt. Unlike my first quilt, this is the first quilt I made myself without a pattern or a class, and I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

Whale Quilt
Whale Quilt folded.

When I started, I was very sure about how I wanted the front to look, but didn’t really have a plan for the back.

Whale Quilt
Whale Quilt front.

When my cousin announced she was pregnant, I thought this would be perfect for her new baby. But now that the quilt was for a very special little one, it needed something a bit more fun for the back.

Whale Quilt
Whale Quilt back.

Anne Kelle’s whales were perfect and exactly the right colours!

Whale Quilt
Whale Quilt

I did some simple straight-line quilting, and I love the crinkly look it ended up with. I bound it in Kona white. It’s not the most practical choice, but it does look nice. I followed the tutorial on how to machine bind a quilt from Red Pepper Quilts. It worked very well. So much easier than hand stitching!

Whale Quilt
Whale Quilt close-up.

The quilt measures about 50 by 56 inches.

I’m not sure what all the fabrics are. But here is a partial list.

  • Kona white from Robert Kaufman.
  • Anne Kelle’s Urban Zoologie collection Whales in the bright colour-way from Robert Kaufman.
  • Crystal Palace from Classic Cottons.

The dark blue, light blue and yellow are just fat quarters that I picked up at a local quilt shop.

Whale Quilt
Whale Quilt test drive.

There may have been a test drive (ahem) before I shipped it.

My First Quilt – The Pink Rails Quilt

Isn’t it pretty? Since this blog is brand new I thought I’d post an older project that I couldn’t share before, because I had nowhere to post it. My first quilt!

Pink Rails Quilt

I made this baby quilt as part of a class at Montreal’s Emeline & Annabelle sewing lounge (now closed). It is about 36×36 inches.

This is a simple strip quilt made using only four fabrics on the front and a fifth on the back. I hand stitched the binding, but since then have switched to machine stitching bindings. It’s just so much easier.

Pink Rails Quilt

I have been sewing for ages, but had never made a quilt before this one. I thought a class would be a good way to get started. And I wanted a good excuse to get out of the house and spend some time with grown ups who also like to sew.  I was correct on both counts. Emeline & Annabelle also used to offer “Block of the Month” classes which were great for beginners.

Pink Rails Quilt

I made this quilt in the fall of 2011. I didn’t have anyone to give it to when I made it, but my last baby arrived the following summer. So I was making it for a very special someone, I just didn’t know it at the time.

Pink Rails Quilt
Pink Rails Quilt – My very first quilt

Sadly, Emeline & Annabelle’s sewing lounge closed this past fall, so I can’t go back and take another class. However, there is now a modern quilt guild in Montreal. The Montreal Modern Quilt Guild is a local chapter of the larger Modern Quilt Guild. There are monthly meetings and sew-ins. I went to my very first one last month. So much fun! You can see a picture of the January sew-in on the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild website. I’m the one way in the back, with the stroller 😉 .

Pink Rails Quilt

Quilt block: Rail Fence

Size: 36 by 36 inches

Fabrics:
Loulouthi Framed in Shadow by Anna Maria Horner
Joel Dewberry’s Heirloom collection, Blockade Blossom in Garnet
Joel Dewberry’s Heirloom collection, Blockade Blossom in Blush
Joel Dewberry’s Aviary 2 Lodge Lattice in Lilac
“Grand Bazaar” collection by Patty Young produced by Michael Miller, Spade in Charcoal
Organic bamboo quilt batting