Katagami Bricks Quilt

It's been so long I'm kind of blanking at the moment as to how I do this.  How do I put pictures in, again? :)

Here is an actual finish after 7 months!  A quilt for a teenaged nephew.  Parson Gray can be relied upon to produce manly but elegant fabrics perfect for boy quilts.  The latest line, Katagami, is what I used for this twin sized quilt.  Scroll down for quilt stats!

QUILT STATS:

Dimensions: 70" by 90"

Fabrics: Katagami by Parson Gray for FreeSpirit

Backing: Kona cotton solid in Navy

Thread: Aurifil 28 wt in Grey (for the top) and Navy for the back.  (Yes, it worked for machine quilting!  I wasn't sure whether this thicker thread would work, I usually use a 50 wt, but it gives a nice bold stitch line a bit reminiscent of sashiko.  A good fit with these Japanese inspired fabrics!)

Batting: Warm and Natural

Owls and Trucks for Oliver Finished!

I finished a commissioned quilt today for my friend's little boy!  I'm really happy with how it turned out, especially with my first experience machine binding a bed sized quilt!  I always believed in the nobility of my walking foot, and used that to sew my binding to the front of quilts and I hand sewed to the back.  However, I have noticed that here is where a thread is often likely to pop.  And especially with a quilt that will undergo use by a little boy, I thought I should entertain the idea of machine binding some of my quilts.  I had seen a post somewhere about a dual feed edge stitch foot and the benefits of using one on machine binding.  I do have an edge stitch foot, but was afraid of losing the feeding action of the walking foot.  Well, I tried it and am happy to report that it worked BRILLIANTLY.  I couldn't be happier (or have finished faster!) with my new little best friend.  I still like the look of hand sewn, but this is a great method and one I have confidence in for a quilt I am sending out to someone!



Here is my little friend in action.


And here is her work. The blue fabrics are on the back and the yellow is on the front.

 

There are several tutorials on the internet of how to machine bind a quilt, this one by Crazy Mom Quilts describes exactly the method I used for mine. And here is the back of the quilt!



I wonder what my friend will say when I tell her I've decided to keep the quilt for myself? ;)

Owls and Trucks for Oliver!

This quilt top I finished this morning!  I have done this pattern a couple of times before, so I was able to go pretty quickly!

 

It is colourful and fun, and I hope the little boy who it's meant for likes looking at the trucks and cute little owls it frames.  There is nothing sweeter than tucking a little child under a homemade quilt in bed.  I hope he feels the love from his mama when he snuggles under it.  Can't wait to quilt it and send it off!

The fabrics are from Moda, the Ten Little Things collection by Jenn Ski.  I mixed it with some Bella Solids, also from Moda, in Blue Raspberry, Betty's Red, Leaf, Earth, Sea, Lemon, and Orange.

A Quilt Makeover

This quilt was already made and shown on this blog once before. However, the binding wasn't making me happy. And, since this quilt is in the heavily used category in my home, it was already starting to fall apart. Notice that my quilting was very sparse. Those long, lonely, lines of stitching pop quilt easily, I discovered, as I heard that tell tale sound more than once when this quilt was tugged and pulled by my boys (and me).

So I ripped off the binding. And picked out all the quilting. And re-did it along all the seam lines. And here she is again.



The fabric is Fox Trails from Riley Blake and binding is Kona Solid in Lake. The backing is flannel, an argyle print from Riley Blake as well in blue. The pattern is one of my favourites: Small Plates from Elizabeth Hartman's book, Practical Guide to Patchwork.

Minecraft Quilt

I haven't shared this quilt on this blog yet, but it happens to be my most popular quilt on Flickr! I give you the Minecraft Quilt:



If you don't know, Minecraft is a computer game which happens to have very pixelated graphics (is that correct grammar?) much like the Ninetendo games were of my youth. My older sons were dreaming up quilt ideas last year when I got into quilting and offered to make them quilts. Initially they had complex plans for "map" quilts with plenty of appliqué and fancy stitches... yikes, I thought. When I watched them playing Minecraft I suddenly saw quilts! And the idea was born. It was relatively simple to design with Kona solids (thank goodness for my colour card) and some graph paper. It changed as we went along and put it up on the design wall. But it came together and we think it looks pretty neat. (I also sewed this before I learned about pressing seams to the side and nesting them together! Ai yi yi... how did I manage to match up the corners? Well, often I didn't!!)



The other day my son had the idea to google "minecraft quilt"! I was shocked to see my pictures on Flickr linked on many minecraft blogs and sites! (It felt good to have my son look at me with a bit of awe, his mother being "found" on the internet). Anyways. Don't ask me for a pattern or to make you one, though! It wasn't something I care to repeat right now, as fun as it was. I found another lady's interpretation of minecraft in a quilt and was wowed, she did some things I'd like to try. In fact, I DO have a slightly minecraft quilt in the works right now for my other son. I just keep putting it aside for "prettier" things! Ooops.

Oh! And speaking of "pixelated" quilts! Have you seen this book coming out by Emily Cier? I love her quilts and was inspired partly by her work to try the minecraft quilt! I love the quilt with the roads she gave us a peek of on her blog. What a brilliant idea! My little sons already use patterns on my quilts as roads for their cars and landscapes, etc! Must make one with real roads and forests and lakes...

Baby Quilts with Solids and Charms

More baby quilt tops! So quick and easy with some Kona Solid yardage and some charm packs!

The yellow squares are made with Kona Daffodil and Wee Woodland charms from Moda. The blue triangles are Kona Lake with Scoot charms from Riley Blake. (Anyone else notice that Riley Blake charms are *quite* exact? No problems with the Moda ones, though!)

Fox Trails Charm Quilt

Working on a simple, simple charm baby quilt from cute, cute Fox Trails fabrics from Riley Blake.  I can't stop straight line quilting a quarter inch from the seams.  It's my favourite way to quilt, what can I say?

Fox Trails Done

Adapting Elizabeth Hartman's Small Plates pattern, this was made with some Riley Blake charms and a roly poly from their fabric line Fox Trails.  I tried a raw edge binding this time, not sure how I feel about it.  The quilting is loose diagonal lines, since the batting in this is just a flannel sheet and the backing is a piece of flannel this makes it very drapey and not in need of much quilting.

Fox Trails Pin Basted

Tonight I am pin basting another version of Small Plates by Elizabeth Hartman. Sorry about the colour of the photo, I am taking it at night!  This one is using fabrics from Riley Blake (actually two charm packs and a roly-poly).

Here is my first one, done last year, in owl prints and some others from Riley Blake.


And here is my second, in Robot Factory by Caleb Gray.

Robot Quilt

Just finished quilting, hoping to get the binding on the front before I have to say bye bye to my Bernina for a few days during her regular service check :(