I had a few days off last week and worked on the Double Rainbow quilt..happy to announce it's finished! Bound, washed, and ready to be mailed to Saskatchewan. I have shown it to my niece already (so much for a surprise) by way of facebook and she loves it so that is fantastic.
Originally, I was going to go with some small rainbow (all colours in) mosaic tiles for the back, but then I started leafing through Modern Log Cabin Quilting, and the rest, as they say, is history. I love the punch of bold colours against the Kona Coal. I only wish I had had better luck (or skill) in the basting. I'm a little irritated that the row of log cabins isn't more centred. Oh well.
Originally, I was going to go with some small rainbow (all colours in) mosaic tiles for the back, but then I started leafing through Modern Log Cabin Quilting, and the rest, as they say, is history. I love the punch of bold colours against the Kona Coal. I only wish I had had better luck (or skill) in the basting. I'm a little irritated that the row of log cabins isn't more centred. Oh well.
For the binding, I went with Ann Kelle's lovely Remix rainbow striping - it just yelled out to me from the shelves of my local quilt shop. It makes this quilt a quadruple rainbow...but I think we can handle it.
I quilted it in some random diagonal lines. I had other plans, but these things change. In the interest of not pulling out my hair on my days off, I went simple. Hope it's enough quilting to hold it together!
Thanks to all the members of Sew Modern all-Canadian Bee. You gals did a fantastic job. Made my work so much simpler! I hope this is the first of many quilting bee quilts I put together.
- Donna
I did think it turned out a little small with just the two charm packs, so I added a few borders around to add some size. I think it may be a little too big in the end, but lucky for me, babies grow and it'll be just the right size at some point in her life
The binding might be my favorite binding ever. It was a teensy bit more work because I didn't realize you had to match up stripes on striped binding, so I had to pull out some stitches (which I normally avoid at all costs!) and put it back together. It was well worth it in the end to have it look like one big continuous piece.
When I picked up this cheater print a few months ago, I instantly knew I wanted it to be the back of an all yellow quilt. I think it works pretty great on the back of this one!
This was the first time I've used pre-made binding. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I would rather make it myself! The pre-made is just a little more flimsy than what I am used to, but I do like how this one matches so well with the other elements of the quilt.
Big E took a shining to this one, but it's actually for one of the 7 babies of 2011! I have one more quilt to make to round out the seven and I better get at it since the Mama is due in exactly one month!
I have another strip quilt ready to put the binding on...once I make the binding, that is. Also, I did some cutting yesterday for what should be #4 of six, but it's a wonky star pattern and that may get set aside if I need some instant gratification and interrupt the program with another strip quilt or some patchwork. I do have a stash of charm packs on the ready for when the mood strikes! 
So this is the quilt where the walking foot made it's maiden voyage. Love that thing! It took a bit to get used to (first strip or two) and before I knew it, I had the pedal to the metal and the thing was all quilted! I mixed in a little bit of 
So what am I doing with all my time? We went to the art gallery yesterday afternoon, then out to dinner. With a full belly, I came home and had a deep 2.5hr nap (heaven). In the sewing department, my test block for 
The block above is Michelle's bee block. She is making this pattern from 
Call me a procrastinator, call me what you will, but I could not take the studying in lieu of creative time any longer. Something came over me last night and before I knew it I had a quilt top. Unbelievably so, I didn't have the right fabric for the back in my stash, so I had to put it aside until today when I could make a trip to the fabric store. Solids were on sale - buy one and get 2 free, so I was happy about that! 
This quilt is for a baby that is due in two weeks, but is long overdue to the parents she is just about to bless. They've been struggling to have a baby for a few years now, so it's pretty exciting that their journey is just about to end...or begin, I guess!
I used a charm pack of It's a Hoot (gifted to me from Miss Donna!) mixed with some Wonderland here and there as well as three different shades of pink 
The photos leave a bit to be desired (colors are way off - back of the quilt is a sweet bubble gum pink and binding is a deep 
It's not a show stopper, but was a fun little project for the holidays. I quilted it with tiny little messy circles. Of course, my intention was not for messy, but that's what resulted. I think it looks fine as is and it gives such a great texture. I hope to be back here soon to show of January bee blocks that have yet to be put together and a 
It's a Bento Box pattern which I doubt I'll ever do again. Matching up seams is something I've yet to perfect, so I really had no business going the Bento Box route in the first place! It's quilted using a meandering pattern a bit larger than I'm used to which makes it a little less crinkly.
I quilted it with a light pink thread that matches the solid pink back and the whole thing measures 41" x 55". I'm happy to be at the point where I can fold this one up and put it away until the shower rolls around. It's been keeping me from some improv quilting that I really want to try, but am nervous to ruin!
Question: Can you even ruin an improv quilt?
I've had the fabric for a while now, but was struggling with what pattern to use. My mind went through a good many patterns before I got frustrated and just started ripping the fabric and sewing strips together. And so it became what you see here, the "Making it Work" quilt. Once I had the strips, I just made it work from there! 
My intention was to make a checker board with white blocks between the blocks of strips, but it looked too bland with just the white, so I cut up the white blocks and framed up some Robin's Egg and Stone Kona solids. 
The binding is pieced with each of the five Daisy Chain fabrics in the blocks and is sewn on entirely by machine. I'm pushing two weeks late on this one, so some sacrifices had to be made! I am quite pleased with how it turned out. My picnic quilt also has a machine sewn binding, but it's lacking a bit since I didn't figure out to sew the 2nd time around on the front until this quilt! Much neater this way! 
Throughout the process, I was never 100% sold on this quilt, but I've never met a quilt fresh out of the dryer that I didn't fall in love with.
That said, this quilt is coming together at a snail's pace. It's a present for my mom and step-father's 20th wedding anniversary that was...ummm...last week. Late again! Good thing they love me. 
Now on to the quilting - I've learned a valuable lesson with this quilt: making a quilt with no planned recipient isn't near as entertaining. I'm happy with this one, but I don't feel a connection to it like I did the past quilts I've made. Is that weird? 
It's finally off of my to do list and I am quite happy about that. There is another one in the quilting stages and hopefully will join this baby boy quilt in the finished pile by tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me, would you?
When I was little, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, Nana D. She taught me a lot of what I know about creating things out of what seems like nothing. She mothered 11 children and lived through the great depression - the woman knew how to stretch a dollar. Nana D was known for her crocheted afghans and our family came to expect a pair of her handmade mittens and socks for Christmas. She got started early in the new year, preparing for the next Christmas; she knit sets for each of her children, their spouses and all of her 18 grandchildren.
I traced out the hearts and she appliqued them on. Once it was time for the quilting, she had me threading needles while she quilted. I had a handful of needles and would stick them all along the windowsill once they were threaded. I remember her bragging to her friends about how good I was at threading a needle. You never know when you'll need that kind of skill! I was so proud of that quilt and really hoped my cousin would appreciate the work we put in to it.
I know it's not looking it's best, but I can't bring myself to alter it. I can't bring myself to pull out her stitches or replace the missing hearts with fabric that she didn't choose. It's my little piece of what I remember about my relationship with her and I wouldn't trade it for the world.