Continuing with the Giant Quilts Theme...

Meanwhile I'm hand quilting the giant Swoon quilt, this Farmer's Wife quilt is sitting and waiting (much like it usually has since 2011 when I started it...) Yes, these are colours you don't usually see on my blog. It's a gift for my parents.

I'm pretty happy it is all together and I love all those little blocks.  But.  How, how, how shall I quilt it?  How.

 
I think I did myself a favour by making it in two parts to quilt separately, and then join after quilting. I hope this is a favour to me and I don't mess it up. I also think I might use something with a bit more polyester for batting than my usual. I don't want this one to crinkle as much as I want most of my other quilts to.

Any other tips for me?

Swooning in Progress...

So I'm now hand quilting my king size Swoon!

Since the summery picture above (did we REALLY have grass out there?!  It's now under 3 feet of snow and ice) I added a border in October. (And bear with my iPhone pictures below...for some reason I can't seem to manage pulling out the real camera until the quilt is done).

Finally, after a monster basting job which used up all my pins and all my floor space...I am quilting! I am using heavier threads, such as DMC perle cottons in size 8, and Aurifil in size 12, in a variety of colours and I'm liking it so far!

The blocks have all finished at 16.25" square, a reduction from the pattern's original 24".  If you haven't come across this pattern yet, it's Swoon by Camille Roskelley and can be found here.

For more Swoon inspiration, be sure to look at the Flickr groups of fellow Swooners.  And again, join us, won't you?

Sunshine and Showers Baby Quilt

Oooh, I like this one. My first foray into *LOW VOLUME* (for the background!).  I have to jump on the bandwagons, it's the only way I get out.  It was fun to make too, once I sorted out how to construct the blocks the way I wanted to!! Like this:

Back in November, I began with gusto and my blocks startled me when after constructing many, many, they all flipped *themselves* around like this:  The one on the left is whackadoo.  The one on the right is *perfect*.

Naughty little things. Some seam ripping... what am I saying... I just tore those little suckers apart and we were back in business.

And here you are! I'm pleased with the cheerful name I picked. And I think I must be loooonging for Spring, or something.

 

I used a nice snuggly flannel on the back, from Riley Blake's Hooty Hoot line:

  And I went bold with the binding, a Kona cotton solid in....hmm. Not sure. But purple.

  I pieced and quilted it all in Aurifil 50 wt in white. As I do. Hopefully this will brighten further some rainbow baby's arrival, or add joy to a nursery wall (but who would put something snuggly up where it can't be touched...!!)  At any rate, it's for sale in my shop!

 

A Quilty Look Back...

...at some of the things I made in 2013.  This is by far only a fraction of the beauty and happiness that was a part of my 2013.  But since this is just a quilt blog, here are the quilty bits of my year at a glance!

Hope you have a lovely holiday celebration this winter and a beautiful new year. Thanks for visiting my blog and for all the kindness and prettiness you have added to my year!

A Jelly Roll Quilt!

I finally finished off this quilt what's been hanging around for a year or so!

I love Lauren and Jessi Jung, the pair that designed this fabric line (called Flora) for Moda. One of my all time favourite lines of theirs is Hideaway, it's so cute. Here is a quilt I made with a bunch from that line last year (don't you love those little swiss houses?):

This one I just finished is made with a jelly roll in a very simple pattern that goes together fast. I just sewed groups of 4 jelly roll strips together, cut those strip sets into squares, arranged, and sewed together with the two borders. The quilting took me the longest (no, that's not right...just deciding what to do with the jelly roll first, and deciding how to quilt it came in a close second for longest stage!)

I decided on an all over free motion swirly, whirly... umm... loopy design. I did feel a little out of control at times, not quite sure which way I was going, and do I now swirl right...or left?? Oh well, I love it anyways. And it turned out much softer than I expected, even with the stitches crossing over themselves so many times. I do love a drape-y quilt.

The backing is half of an Ikea duvet cover I ripped apart. I bound it in some more Flora, a lovely binding print with all those little leaves. As usual, I pieced and quilted it all with Aurifil in a 50 wt., this time in an Ivory.

The final dimensions are 56" by 71", a great size from just one jelly roll plus about a yard and a half for the borders.

Maybe you even have time to whip one up for a Christmas gift!  Here is one I made from this same pattern, last year at Christmas, in a Reunion from Sweetwater jelly roll: