Category Archives: Quilting

May 15, 2013 · 5:50 pm

Madrona Road Challenge: Gear and Spark

The Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild is participating in the Michael Miller Madrona Road Challenge. Participants made complete quilts with a perimeter of at least 120″, using fabrics from the Madrona Road line by Violet Craft, and complementing them with Michael Miller Cotton Couture Solids.

Here’s my entry! A bias-tape, machine-appliquéd design representing a gentle, loopy gear:

The quilting represents the spark with free-motion star shapes.

It all started off with this doodle:

I used a bias-tape applique method.

Check out the rest of the amazing entries from the A2MQG HERE.

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Filed under A2MQG, Challenges, Fabric, Quilting

April 17, 2013 · 5:27 pm

Back-to-Front Binding Tutorial

One alternative to making traditional binding is to make a quilt-back big enough to fold over to the front of the quilt and sew in place. That’s right, you can use the backing for the binding! I’ve had a tutorial for this process up on the blog – it was one of my very first posts back in 2010! But that tutorial needed some updates – here we go!

Continue reading →

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Filed under Quilting, Techniques, Tutorial

Tagged as binding, inding, quilting, sewing, tutorial

April 9, 2013 · 9:13 pm

Outdoor Archicoop Pictures

Just taking a second to post some nicer pics of the Archicoop quilt. Now that it isn’t negative 2 trillion degrees, I am getting outdoors and getting better photographs.

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Filed under Quilting

April 8, 2013 · 4:04 am

Lynn’s Atomic Pinwheels

When Lynn showed us her quilts made from her newly released pattern, Atomic Pinwheels, I knew I’d like to try this design myself! So I volunteered to be one of the pattern testers and gave it a whirl.

This design features a really cool piecing method where you do partial seams and really build the entire quilt top quite fast!

And as for the curved piecing – I can always use the practice. The inner quarter circle pieces were quick and easy to piece into the arches. Getting the arch units to go into the larger rectangles took a lot of pins and patience for me, as I’m still learning.

When it came time to quilt I wanted to pick a design that highlighted the movement of the pinwheels and the details of the circles within the blue patterned fabric.

Thanks, Lynn, for giving me the chance to try out this excellent pattern!

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Filed under Pattern, Quilting

April 2, 2013 · 7:10 pm

Trapezoids at Work – Finished Quilt!

Trapezoids at work! Quilted and bound…

I did a tutorial for this quilt when I finished piecing the top. It can be found HERE.

I wanted the “columns” of trapezoids to alternate between Business Fabric (texty prints, grids, organized dot prints, a lot of Architextures) and neutral solids, with a couple of color splashes for fun.

The inspiration was how my mind floats around while I work. There are periods of focus and periods of distraction, dreaming, spacing-out… You know how it goes!

I carried that idea into the quilting. Dense linear quilting for the WORK areas, and floaty circular quilting for the dreaming spaces.

A couple of rings of pebbles as a nod to the pearl bracelets fabric that makes an appearance in this quilt…

Happy little dreamy scallops…

The backing fabric is a 108″ wide Spot On Wide Circle in Steel. Pink castle fabrics has a bunch of different colors from this line – very handy!

The binding is Paper Clips in Gray from the Type line…

I hope ya’ll like it! I love it when a plan comes together – this is really exactly how I wanted this guy to look and everything turned out! Happy claps!!

14 Comments

Filed under Fabric, Quilting

February 27, 2013 · 9:23 pm

Archicoop! Finished Quilt

I finished my quilt!

I quilted diagonal lines about 2.5″ apart to convey chicken-wire for my little coop. The quilt-front is exclusively made out all the fabrics from Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander.

For more information about the piecing of the quilt top - check out this previous post.

The backing fabric features the cross-hatched black and white print from Summersville by Lucie Summers for Moda. The quilt is bounded in a solid royal-blue fabric, hand-stitched.

Each block finishes to 7.5″ square. The quilt is about 53″ x 60″ – big enough to wrap around my shoulders.

And that’s just what I’m going to do with this quilt! Wrap up in it every day. I work from home early early early in the morning, but cuddling with this quilt in my office will make it all not seem so bad.

Fun little label.

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Filed under Fabric, Quilting

February 18, 2013 · 11:22 pm

Quilting an Owl Blanket

I didn’t get the best pictures of this project, but a friend of a friend hired me to quilt this adorable owl blanket…

And I just wanted to share a close-up of these adorable hand-embroidered birds.

The background fabric is a fleece that is so comfy and soft. The border fabric is the same as the backing and looks like a vintage sheet, but could be a recent purchase – I’m not sure.

I did loopy swirls and some detailing in the border. Very cute blanket.

Mornin’ Kiddo Quilt

Another kid quilt, for another friend of the family!

I call it “Mornin’ Kiddo!”

Very much inspired by this quilt by Red Pepper Quilts

I sort of feel this quilt tells a story…

Wake up in the morning, head to the kitchen for a cup of coffee…

Grab the newspaper (kids like coffee and reading about Vietnam, right?)…

Look out the window into the woods…

And see some wildlife! Hedgehogs are on the back…

Pieced back

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Filed under Fabric, Kids, Quilting

· 8:30 pm

Rose and Mint Baby Quilt

Here is a sweet little baby quilt I made for a friend of the family. A Swoon block with Kona Ivory in the background with a spearminty and light pink border. Candy pink binding and rounded corners for an extra girly touch.

Fabrics from the Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley line.

Really proud of this filler quilting

I have to say, I think this is my best free-motion quilting yet. You can see the block details better from the back…

Climbing flower vine in the borders…

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Filed under Fabric, Kids, Quilting

January 2, 2013 · 2:10 am

Happy 2013!

It’s been an amazing year for me, quilting wise. I definitely learned a couple of new tricks and improved my skills. I also pushed myself and created my first ever quilting pattern and hosted my first quilt-along. No regrets!

In 2013 I hope to finish my swoon blanket and a Granny Squares quilt – both which would be for ME to enjoy in MY home. I will be honored sending two of my quilts off to QuiltCon and to hopefully receive some nice feedback. I also am looking forward to doing a couple of commission quilts, and am looking forward to maybe cooking up some other special occasion presents as we watch how the year unfolds.

I would also like to try and get more into garment sewing. I would certainly love to have some custom-fit items in my closet : )

Happy New Year, everybody!

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Filed under Holiday, Quilting