quilting Archives - The Finished Garment

Heart Quilt

The thing about having four kids is that if you make one a quilt, you’re going to make them all a quilt.

This is the quilt for my third. She has very particular tastes and she preferred to choose a pattern, so she would have a better idea of how the finished product would look.

I used Quilty Hearts by Emily Dennis at quiltylove.com. It uses a four-patch design on the bias in pinks, reds and white to make hearts, then adds strips of diagonal sashing.

It’s a very easy pattern to use and the instructions were great. The quilt top came together quite quickly.

I mostly used Art Gallery Fabrics. The prints are all from the Love Struck Fabric Collection and the solids are from their pure solids collection.

For the background I used Kona snow. This is my favourite “white” fabric. It’s just a bit off-white and gives a softer look.

For the backing, I used Moonscape by Dear Stella in Apricot. I chose the wide-back, just to make things a bit easier.

I did all the quilting as straight-line quilting, but it makes an “x” shape – like a kiss! So it’s definitely on theme.

This was a beast to sew on my standard machine, because of the constant switching of directions and the need to roll up the quilt again with many of the directional switches. I’m seriously considering a machine with a higher tower height!

But the results were worth the extra effort – so crinkly! I adore this texture. It’s just heaven. I used cotton batting and cotton thread to help with the crinkly effect.

Quilt Summary

Pattern: Quilty Hearts by Emily Dennis at quiltylove.com

Quilt Top:

Solids: Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids
- Hibiscus
- Cactus Flower
- Sweet Pink
- Quartz Pink
Prints: Love Struck Fabric Collection by Art Gallery Fabrics Studio
- Sweet on You
- Love Letters
- Pieces of You
- Love Lane
- Cherry-ish You

Background: Kona Snow

Binding: Skip a Beat (also from the Love Struck Fabric Collection by Art Gallery Fabrics Studio)

Backing: Moonscape by Dear Stella in Apricot

Batting: Quilters Dream 100% Cotton Batting – 4oz Loft

Thread: Gütermann Cotton thread in white.

Size: 72″ x 95″ (Twin).

Forest Animal Quilt

Ages ago, my son picked out some fabric for a quilt, and did I actually make the quilt? No. Then, yes. Finally!

Now that he’s not small anymore and well into his teens, I had to ask him if he still wanted a quilt with these fabric designs, but it was still a “yes”! So I got to work.

The fabrics are from a fat quarter bundle featuring the Get Together collection by David Walker for Free Spirit/Westminster Fibers. The solids are Kona solids, but this bundle has been in a bin of fabric for so long, I’m not even sure what they are. My guess: Chocolate, Delft, Earth, Key Lime, Windsor? I got it from Mad about Patchwork. Am I too embarrassed to write them after all this time to find out what they are? Yes, I am.

The design is a series of very large equilateral triangles. I thought this would suit the larger print, and I wanted lots of animals on this quilt. It was super easy to piece. I didn’t use a pattern, or rather, I used my own.

I usually draw out my patterns on graph paper first, and that’s what I did here. Three out of four kids in the family helped me arrange the triangles.

The backing is Trees on Green Background from The Magic of Christmas collection by Lori Whitlock for Riley Blake Designs. I got this from The Quilting Shed. I messed up my quilt math and had to order more fabric. Twice. lol. So a special thanks to Andrea for the patience and speedy delivery.

Yes, I should have removed all the fluff. (sigh)

The backing is pieced and I used some of the scraps from the triangles to make a stripe of tiny squares down the centre. Giant equilateral triangles make lots of scraps.

On the back, there are also two bears. My second child is a teenager and claims to be too old to be tucked in. This way the bears can tuck him in each night. My quilt my rules.

I used a scrappy binding (2.25″ wide). Nothing else matched the colours as well as I wanted. It’s machine sewn.

The straight-line quilting design echoes the triangles, but the pattern also creates little stars if you look very closely.

This is a twin-size quilt. I wanted it to last a long time. Who know when I’ll make another? And yes, it was a beast to sew on my regular (non-quilting) sewing machine.

I love a crinkly quilt, so this is 100% cotton fabric, 100% cotton batting, and 100% cotton quilting thread. (I used Sew-All thread for the piecing though.)

Yes, there is still a bit of fluff on this quilt.

The thread is a medium grey. It was really hard to find something that looked right with this assortment of dark colours. The grey was great with everything (including the backing), except maybe the limey-yellow.

As planned, it all shrunk just a tiny bit in the dryer for this lovely, cozy, crinkly texture.

I was having trouble with my imperfect straight-line quilting. I was worried it wouldn’t look as good as I hoped. But the crinkle fixes all.

Quilt Summary

Pattern: my own.

Fabrics:

Quilt Top:
- Prints are from David Walker’s Get Together collection for Free Spirit/Westminster Fibers, including:
  - Flock of Birds in Navy
  - Squirrels and Trees in Blue
  - Squirrels and Nuts in Navy
  - Bears in Line in Blue
- Solids are Kona solids. I’m not sure of the colours, but perhaps: Chocolate, Delft, Earth, Key Lime, Windsor?
Backing: Trees on Green Background from The Magic of Christmas collection by Lori Whitlock for Riley Blake Designs.
Thread: Gütermann Cotton thread #9310.

Size: 74.5″ x 91.5″ (Twin).

Some in-process shots, before this quilt was finished.

Hear Me on Canadian Quilt Talk

I’m in a podcast! A little while ago Brandy Lynn got in touch and asked me if I wanted to be part of Canadian Quilt Talk.

She explains on her website that “Canadian Quilt Talk is a weekly online podcast that aims to inspire quilters and fibre artists alike with tips, tricks and the latest products.”

Apparently she saw one of my Big Lists online and thought it was an interesting resource and so we set up a Skype call and did an interview and you can check it out today beginning at 4 p.m. PST/7 p.m. EST.

If you are coming here after hearing the podcast then you might want to head right to one of my Big Lists.

And after hearing the podcast, you might be curious about how I use an app to keep track of my fabric stash. You can find that here. And if you are looking for some of my quilts, you can find those here.

Brandy Lynn is incredibly nice and recording the podcast was a lot of fun. Her podcasts air every week and I highly recommend checking them out.

Spring Table Runner

Last week I showed you a table runner I made for my mother-in-law, and this week I have the one I made for my mother.

Like the previous one, I used all fabrics from my stash, most left over from previous projects. The design is a simple window pane design with white sashing. I used freeform wavy lines for the quilting.

The backing is a fabric I had purchased for another project online, but when it came it didn’t quite match the other fabrics, so I’m especially glad to have found it a home.

It’s a nice simple quilt, but I’m quite happy about how the peach and emerald green look beside one another. Hopefully this will get lots of use.

This post is linked up to Crazy Mom Quilts and her Friday finishes. It’s also part of the Stashbusting Sewalong.

Project Summary

Fabrics:

Little Blomster in coral, Blomster in emerald, Pilvi in mint, and solid coral from the MorMor collection by Lotta Jansdotter for Windham Fabrics.
Houndstooth in multicoloured, from the Textured Basics collection by Patty Young for Michael Miller Fabrics.
Kona white by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

Size: About 17″ by 48″.
Block: Windowpane.
Cost: Fabric: 0$ (all from my stash).
Sewing Level: Beginner.