"ON THE BRIGHT SIDE"

 

 

 

My first patchwork quilt ... thanks Amanda Jean for the inspiration!

 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. If I had it to do over again I would pick different colours for the backing and binding.

 

 

All the material is from my scraps and stash.  For the backing I bought some orange polka dot flannel. 

 

Normally I use a cotton batting, but on this one I  tried a polyester ..... I definitely prefer the feel of cotton.

 

Right now I am working on hand quilting a baby quilt that I used a 80/20 batting on.  So far I like the feel of it ... I'll see how it feels once it's washed and dried.

 

Finished size: 76 x80

 





This quilt was destined for my very special friend Jan. We met almost 7 years ago,after both of us had lost our spouses to cancer.  Our friendship helped both of us through some difficult months and years.

 The first time I saw a picture of this pattern in a magazine (McCall's Quilting July/Aug 2012), it made me think of Jan.
My plan was to have more browns in the quilt (brown being a dominant color in Jan's home décor), but somehow the blues and aquas forced their way over the browns.

I did go out of my comfort zone by working with these 60 degree angles, but it was fun and not too difficult, so I will try it again.  This quilt was classified as "intermediate" for difficulty level, which made me a bit nervous, as I had been sticking to "easy" options.

Most of the quilt is free motion quilted, several different designs from zigzags to daisies.  There is also a bit of straight line quilting in the borders.



I love this shot.  The neighbours must have been wondering about us!

Thanks Jim for helping again with the pics :)

Jan and me, two years ago

at mine and Jim's wedding.

Thank You Jan for being such a great friend over the last nearly 7 years.  So glad that we found each other!





NEW BEGINNINGS ... for Amber and Ben

My hubby preparing.....

Me doing the fine-tuning!

Another wedding, another quilt :)

Congratulations Amber and Ben !!

I bought a fat quarter bundle in Frankenmuth, MI last summer, admired it for a good 8 months before finally cutting into it.  Mixed in are some muslin and some solids from my stash.  I used a grey and white flannel with letters on it on the back (you can see a sliver of it on the picture above).   Quilting is done in straight lines on either side of each seam  .....   a very soft and cozy quilt. 

I did a very small bit of hand quilting in 2 of the red squares, both hearts, one with their initials and the other with the wedding date.

Another quilt is finished as well, but not to be revealed till Christmas





Wishing you all a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend.



This is a quilt I began for fun, not knowing where it would find a home.  This past weekend my niece was married and the quilt is now in the hands of a new family, waiting to provide lots of warmth and comfort.  I hope you guys wear it out over the years, Melanie and Nick, along with your sweet kids, Camden and Paisley.

The pattern is a Block of the Month from Jenni of  IN COLOR ORDER..  I  did all the quilting by hand and hand stitched the binding.  

This was great practice for my HST's.    Of course as usual I did not follow all the instructions so some of my corners are chopped off.  Each quilt is a learning experience so I don't mind a few imperfections !

It's a long weekend here, Yaaaay!  Now to get all the chores under control so the quilting can get started :)

Wish Upon a Star

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 ** WISH UPON A STAR **

This is a quilt I made for my niece who will be turning 6 shortly.  I found the pattern, Star Light, in the premier issue of Quilt-it magazine.

The stars are from fat quarters purchased at Joannes, the white background is also from Joannes.   A trip  over the border to Port Huron shopping usually lands us at Joannes :)   The binding was bought at Fabricland and the backing at LensMills.

All the stars lined up :)

I was debating on whether or not to put on the border of  triangles  .... so glad I did.

I named it " Wish Upon A Star"

66" x78"

Machine Quilted , Straight lines

Binding hand sewn ( I love this stage!)

SpringFever

Last month my "getter-done man" (aka hubby) painted the guest room, which triggered my quilting brain .... how about a big star quilt to put up instead of a headboard.    I followed a tutorial from Jeni of In Color Order, just decreased the size a bit.  

Here are the large hst's  waiting to be sewn together.

The fabrics for the front were bought at my LQS (The Marsh Store in ColdStream Ontario).   My stash provided the backing ... it's not too pretty, but no one will see it.

I'm loving it as an improv headboard :)

 

Thankyou Jeni for the tutorial!

 

Linking up to finishitupfridays at CrazyMomQuilts

 

Welcome to my blog!

This is all new territory for me, definitely not my comfort zone.  I am much more productive in the kitchen or in front of the sewing machine lately.

Hopefully I will be able to chronicle my quilting progress and improve my computer skills at the same time.

Quilting has always been a skill I dreamed of learning, but was too intimidated and just too busy with life to get around to trying.   Even though I am still working full time and became a business owner recently, being an empty nester has given me much more free time.   Thanks to my husband for nudging me to try quilting ..... I am now hooked !!!!