The End and the Return - A Finished Quilt

I started this quilt sometime in 2017. I had started this quilt with a destination for it in mind, but my unexpected hiatus made it never to be. I also had the intention with this quilt to do some stash busting. I grouped all the strip scraps of like sizes I had and sewed them into rows and then joined the long rows. I really like the way this combines all the different fabric, making it a treasure hunt of looking all all the varied patterns and colors. Many of the scraps are vintage, extremely old, or reclaimed fabrics.

For the backing I used a single piece of a vintage sheet. This is just the kind of sheet I like to keep and use on our beds, but it was only a twin size. I loved the pattern so much, and the vintage feeling of the fabric, I couldn’t pass it up at whatever thrift shop or rummage sale it was found. I like that such a busy fronted quilt has a single backing fabric.

I can’t remember what batting was used for this quilt, but the binding was made by folding over the backing. This is my favorite way to bind a quilt and what I most often use. This is a baby sized quilt and as with all my quilts is an irregular shape. It measures approximately 40 1/2” by 41 1/2”. The folded binding helps make this quilt have wobbly edges, which I always enjoy. I quilted this with intersecting freehand fans, which as also one of my go-tos.

I labeled this quilt with our newest acquired fabric, that was given to us by a friend. It’s a goal of mine not to buy new fabric before using a lot of what we already have. We have so much fabric and so much of it is amazing. Even when we aren’t seeking out new fabric, it finds us, somehow.

When I started playing with sewing again, piecing scraps here and there, I knew this was the quilt I wanted to finish first. Bc it had seen the end of my quilting, before several years off, I wanted it to be the return as well. There’s nothing so satisfying as a finish but when you are finishing an old quilt, sometimes you are not as in love with it was you once had been. This was not so for this little baby quilt. I might like this one more than I did as I was working on it over three years ago.

I’m so excited to get back to quilting and get back to linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy Quilts, one of my all time favorite quilt blogs.

What are your go to quilt patterns for stash or scrap busting?

TOM is a Cat Mat - A Finished Quilt

Last year (was it only last year??), I made a mat for Elvis. He was our 24 year old cat and he loved to sit in front of the radiator, but he needed some padding for his old bones. Almost as soon as it was completed, one of our other cats, Tom, wanted a mat, too. It took that year, but I finally have a nice mat for him to use. 

For Tom's mat, I used a lot of older fabric from my stash and a lot of vintage fabric. When I was done piecing the "TOM", I decided it needed some extra size and added some fun boarders. As with all my quilts, Tom's mat is completely hand pieced using no pattern. 

I used one of my go to backing fabric, which was gifted to me by my Brother in Law. I wanted this mat to be extra cushy and soft, so I used two scraps of batting to make it extra lofty. I hand quilted this mat with cream colored cotton thread. 

I'm sure most people do not use regular sewing cotton as quilting thread, but I use it just like sewing, doubled and knotted. The only issues I've ever had with this is that it can bunch, and the doubled thread can get off balance, so that you have a longer loop from one of the doubled threads. But with careful slow stitching, I usually catch this with no problem. Sometimes, pulling the thread taut, I have broken the thread at the eye of the needle. When this happens, I simply rethread both the loose ends and keep going. 

I bound this mini quilt by folding over the backing. Again, there is no measuring when I do this process so often the boarders vary in width on each edge. This mat had one little edge that was cut off, not square and I just folded the boarder accordingly, so one corner is snipped off. I had not intended this, but that was the way the quilt "wanted" to be, so I went with it! I really like the way it turned out and might try this technique again (on purpose!). I labeled this quilt very simply using another piece of the backing fabric. I liked the way the edges of the label were frayed, so instead of tucking them in, I sewed the label on the back of the quilt in such a way as to show them off. 

The morning I finished Tom's is a Cat Mat, which measures approximately 37" x 26 1/2", Tom himself was sitting by the radiator and I put the mat down ASAP. Of course he didn't go near the radiator again! But Flounder took advantage of the new, soft and warm, mat! Cat mats are for everyone to share!

Tom likes his mat now and I'm happy to have a finish before the end of the year! This mini quilt is also on my Q4 FAL list so check one off for me! 

Linking up around the web this week. 

Whale Teeth Mini - A Finished Mini Quilt

Back when I made my last two minis, I pulled out an old block that I had made years ago. I think I recall that this block was made, just for something to make out of precut scrapes I had. Since I was in mini mode, I slapped a backing on and got to quilting. 

Whale Teeth Mini (thanks for the name @crimsonrobot!) measures approximately 11 1/2" x 12" and uses a scrap of a shirt as backing (thanks @internettrevor!). The batting is also scraps and it was quilted with green and blue cotton thread. 

What does everyone do with their mini quilts?

Moth Moon Mini: A Finished Mini Quilt

This might be my favorite ever mini quilt (so far!). After winning @gypsymoonquilts mini and scraps I was quickly inspired to make some simple log cabin blocks and turn them into mini quilts!

Moth Moon Mini didn't come together as quickly as the first mini I made with these scraps, Gypsy Moon Mini, but it was a pretty quick project. After making the log cabin block, I found some scraps of batting and used a current favorite white geometric fabric for backing. I love sandwiching a mini bc it only take a few safety pins to get it ready for quilting! I quilted this mini with simple straight lines in grey thread. 

I added a simple label using the same fabric as the backing. And tada! A new mini finish! This year I've been completing a lot of small projects. They are pretty satisfying, but for June I'm ready for a big finish! 

How about you all? Are you feeling the mini finishes this year, or are you sticking with big projects?

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching, Monday Making, Move It forward Monday, Oh Scrap! and more!

Gypsy Moon Mini: A Finished Mini Quilt

I was so inspired by my new mini and the little scraps that came with it, that I got right down to business making a mini of my own!

I rarely can make any work to completion in one day, so this was an especially fun finish! All the pieces needed fell into place. First, inspiration: The scraps from @gypsymoonquilts gave me were lovely and easy to work with. I happened to have a few other scraps right at my fingertips that I used to round out this mini. 

Second, I had time! I had a fairly free day to sit and sew! The top came together quickly, the batting scraps were on top of a pile, I used one of my favorite prints as a backing. The quilting and basting goes so fast with a mini!

I hope my inspiration hangs in there! I love the feeling of a finish! 

Linking up with Move It Forward Monday, Monday Making, Oh Scrap and more. 

Pillow for Pit - A Finish

I swear, I have been working on other things besides presents for my cats! 
Our boy Pit has taken to sitting in a box that we had partially filled with items to go into the basement. Before we could bring it down, he adopted it as his favorite napping place and now the box is so collapsed he's paractially inside of it. I thought a pillow would help him be more comfortable. 

I rummaged in the scrap bin and decided on some brown and orange squares. Since these were still a little smaller than I wanted, I added some floral borders on two sides. 

I used a scrap of  cotton batting to baste this tiny top. I hand quilted the two layers criss cross with off white cotton thread. 

I used part of a vintage sheet as backing. We have a bunch of vintage fiber fill which I used some of to stuff Pit's pillow. I didn't over stuff this pillow bc I know he likes to sink down in his box a bit. I finished it with stitching all around.  

This isn't on any of my goals for January, and it was a spontaneous finish! Since it was quite quick, no one got a chance to help me sew. But Elvis gave me a hand with the photos!

Now I have to get Pit to leave his box for a few minutes so we can try it out!

Mat For Ollie - A Finished Mini Quilt

I made this small mat for a dog friend I've never met. I have met his owner, who happened to be my secret santa at work! 

I'm not sure exactly how large this mat is bc I forgot to measure it but I would guess it's about 18" x 20". This O mat is completely hand sewn using fabric from my stash. I know Ollie's mom loves elephants! I used a scrap of cotton batting for the sandwich, and a vintage fabric that was given to me as backing. 

This mini was hand quilted with turquoise cotton thread. I basted it by folding the backing towards the front on the sides, and rolling it on the top and bottom.  I didn't want to have big borders all around. I like using the back as binding to show the backing. I like that I can do a very wide boarder, or thin, or like this quilt, a combo of both!

I intended this mat as placemat for dog bowls, as it's too small for Ollie who is quite big (even tho he's still a puppy!). But this mat could be used as just a classic mini quilt. 

This was a quick finish and the first finish of 2017. I did manage to put it on my 2017 FAL Quarter 1 List. I'm also linking up with Finished or Not it's Friday, Finish it up Friday and Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday, and more.
Flounder was most helpful in the creation of Ollie's mat. Hope he doesn't mind a little cat hair. 

2016FAL Q4 Wrap Up

For all my Quarters in the 2016FAL, I had 5 goals, except in Q4. Since little got done for Q2 and Q3, I decided to take it easy in the last part of the year: 

1. Finish quilting, bind, and label Maybe Lyz Quilt. 
Worked on, but not finished. 
2. Baste, quilt, bind and label Alabama Quilt Top. 
I did baste this quilt, so one less step for next time. 
3. Make a back, baste, quilt and bind the Vintage Squares quilt.
 I think I basted this quilt?? The end of the year was such a blur, I honestly can't remember. 
4. Finally finish Ohio Stars quilt.
Finished!!

Many of my 2016 finishes were gifted. What a great feeling!

For Q4, I'm 1 out of 4 and for the year only 4 finishes on my FAL (5 finishes total this year). This was my second year participating in the Finish Along, and I feel like I did better than the previous year. I may not have made more, but I made some and stuck with it and had a great time. I wish I had had time to look at, comment on, and take inspiration from other quilter's posts more. There's always next year. 

Thanks to all who participated, ran, or followed the 2016FAL and special thanks to those who visited my posts about it. 

Bring on 2017!!

Ohio Stars: A Finished Quilt

This quilt has been in the works for many years. It has been in every quarter of both Finish Alongs I've participated in and now, in Q4 of my second year, I've finished it!! Here is my Q4 List.

The inspiration for this quilt started when I wanted to try making a Ohio star. Later I decided I would complete the quilt and gift it to a certain someone. So I worked diligently on it... for a while. 

But then inspiration ended. Somewhere between basting and quilting, I lost my nerve, so to speak. I liked the quilt, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to give it to whom I had intended. It took me ages to finish once doubt was in my mind. 

Now that the quilt is finished, I love it! I don't know where it will end up, but I'm happy that it is complete. 

Ohio Stars Quilt uses new, vintage, and donated fabric. I tried to incorporate colors that are rarer for me with tons of yellow and green. The backing is a single piece of vintage cheater fabric that lived its former life as a tablecloth. 

This quilt measures approximately xx x xx and has a new cotton batting, and a rolled binding. It is completely hand sewn and hand quilted using cotton thread. 

Having had this quilt in the works for so long, I think all my cat helpers worked on this one with me at one time or another. 

I'm linking up today with Needles and Thread Thursday, Finish It Up Friday, Finished or not, It's Friday, the 2016 Finish-A-Long, and more!

Elvis Sings the Blues Mat: A Finished Quilt

This floor mat, in dark blues and contrasting reds, was my November and December OMG goal. I made this mat especially for our elderly cat, Elvis. He's 24 years old!

This mat was started many months back, and I wasn't sure what it would become. placemats, perhaps? A table runner? But when Elvis took to laying on the hard floor rather than a comfy couch, or chair, I knew he needed a good old floor mat. 

I started this mat by finding a lot of blue scraps. Most were already cut into strips for one reason or another. I pieced them together and made four or so "squares". At that point, this WIP sat around for a while. Once I decided on making the mat, the smaller pieces got joined together to make a rectangular top. This top contains new, vintage, and repurposed fabric in cotton, denim, poly and more varieties. 

I used a large piece of purple and white dotted cotton fabric, which had been gifted to me from a friend's destash, for the backing. The batting is two larger cotton batting scraps all sandwiched together. Two layers of batting make Elvis' mat slightly more cushiony but not too puffy.

I quilted this mat using a dark blue embroidery thread. I know I did not want a lot of quilting, but that I did want the quilting to stand out, especially on the backing. I used an alternating cross pattern. I folded the edges of the backing to make a wide binding on the front. 

Elvis Sings the Blues Mat measures approximately 35 1/2" x 28". Elvis himself certainly did help me while making this quilt, but ironically doesn't sleep on it too often. He's discovered the bed and his life is forever changed!! Luckily, other cats in the family are enjoying this finish. 

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the final OMG2016. This makes x of 12 goals finished for my 2016OMG. I wish I had added this mat to my 2016FAL but alas, it wasn't on there. I am linking up for the first time with My Quilt Infatuation's Needle and Thread Thursday. Still, I'm glad to have a lovely finish to gift at the end of the year.  

Original Mini: A Finish

I started this mini on a visit to AZ way back in 2010 (I think... I had to call my friend bc I honestly couldn't remember). She was taking a sewing class and was going thru her fabric stash. I helped and got to pick put what I liked (which worked out to be things she didn't like, mostly) as a reward. I started hand sewing this mini then and there on her guest bed. 

Here we are 6 years later and I've finished it! This mini was a big inspiration to start quilting again. And it holds a spacial place in my heart

The quilt top is made up a various vintage, reclaimed and found fabrics. The backing is mostly a piece of lizard skin-ish green batik. Both were pieced in Chandler, AZ, at the house of my BFF, where she lived with her parents at the time. I had to add a bit of new black fabric to the backing to make the rolled binding.  

Original mini was basted with a few scraps of vintage poly batting, and quilted with light grey cotton thread in a stripy pattern. I added some black thread as well. The binding is rolled from the back. This mini finishes approximately 27" x 27 1/2" with a very wonky edge. 

I added a new little tag, with the name of the quilt, dates, and my name. This little mini is on my Q1 list for the 2016 Finish Along. I made it just under the wire (last day for links ups!). But I'm feeling good about it!! It was also my OMG finish for April, so that deadline is ahead of schedule!

Original Mini has been hanging around so long, I'm sure all my helpers had a hand in it. So here is Tom on the day I finished. 

Baby, Birds & Stars: A Finished Quilt

Last year I was commissioned to make two baby quilts for coworkers. Baby Blue was the first that I designed and completed at the end of 2016. I was inspired by it's simple, modern design and some of it's fabrics to make Baby, Birds & Stars. 

I used some scraps from Baby Blue plus more new fabric to make a simple but bright, large squared quilt top. These two tops are the first ever quilts I've made using no reclaimed or vintage fabric. I really like how both of them came out, but I will also be glad to get back to using vintage, thrifted, or reclaimed matierials as that makes me feel more at home. 

For the back, I had found a really inspiring yard and wanted to make that the focus. I also wanted mitered edges, and stripes. I incorporated light grey striped cotton as well as a strip of baby blue striped flannel. 

For Baby, Birds & Stars, I used a new cotton batting to make it really soft and snuggly. 

Although, the quilt top and back were of a very simple geometric design, I wanted this quilt to be whimsical and fun! I quilted the center squares with free hand stars, boxes in boxes, and stars in boxes. Then I made a star boarder on the outer boxes, and a few straight lines around the parimeter of the quilt. I used vintage yellow pearl cotton, bright blue cotton thread and grey cotton thread for the quilting. The quilting is a bit spread out making this quilt puffy, fluffy and soft. 

I used my fold over method to bind this quilt, so that the grey stripes bordered the front. I used a light grey thread to bind the edges. This quilt measure approximately 46" x 39 1/2". 

I have been making very simple labels for this quilts this year so far. I like to put the name of the quilt, my name (Mad Cat Quilts), and the year it was completed. This label also has a message from our workplace to make it extra special for baby and family. With some labels I also include the month it was completed or add a special Mad Cat stamp.

Almost all my helpers worked on this quilt, but Tom was especially helpful when basting and quilting Baby, Birds & Stars.    

This quilt was my March goal for OMG (One Monthly Goal), so I'm linking up with Red letter Quilts. And It's also on my Q1 list for the 2016 Finish Along. 

I'm also linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, as this quilt was completely hand sewn. 

Baby Blue - A Finished Quilt

Baby Blue is my very last finish of 2015. It was down to the wire, too. I made Baby Blue on commission and had to wait to post about it until I had delivered it. 

This quilt is different than many quilts I've made in several respects. Firstly, I really tried to make this quilt modern and simple. I made this quilt for a coworker's baby, and I know that the mom is interested in modern quilting. I think you could call all my quilts modern, in that they use some modern fabrics, some modern blocks, are made in the modern age, etc... But I specifically try to use non modern techniques, age old quilt blocks, vintage fabrics. My quilts don't look "modern" to me. But for this commission, I tried really hard to get a modern look, while still retaining the feeling of my quilts. 

I made this quilt what I would call more "gender specific" than my other quilts. I knew this quilt was going to a little boy and thought the dark blues would give this a more modern feel. Of course, this quilt could be for a baby girl, or anyone else! For other baby quilts I've made I consciously tried not to use traditional gender binary representing colors. This was the opposite.   

The last major difference in this quilt from my other work is the fabric I chose to use. I used all new modern fabric for this quilt. I also used flannel for the first time in this quilt. I'm glad I did this for this particular quilt, but over all it's not how I get my favorite results. 

Baby Blue uses a variety of new fabric in a simple large square pattern on the quilt front. I chose dark but bright colors, hoping this would give the quilt the modern feel I was after.   

The back of the quilt uses some of the same blue and grey fabrics from the front as well as a blue and white striped flannel. Baby Blue uses a new cotton batting. I quilted Baby Blue with straight lines using bright blue cotton thread. The simple grid pattern quilted was also chosen to evoke a modern feel.

For the binding, I used the fold over method that I prefer. This shows the soft flannel on the quilt front. I sewed two lines on the binding, but used an new (to me) applique method for the one closer to the interior of the quilt. I feel that this makes the binding a little softer and pliable.

I made a simple label for the quilt. I didn't know the baby's name at the time of attaching the label, but I wanted to include a special message for mother and child. 

 This quilt was my last finish for 2015, and the only finish on my 2015 FAL Q4 list.  

Bippi is always a very helpful quilting assistant, but Flounder also took an interest in helping with this one. 

I'm linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching today! Can't wait to get slow stitching!

Scrappy Little Hearts: A Finished Quilt

This little strangely shaped quilt started out when I saw Cluck Cluck Sew's heart block pattern. I know a lot of people fell in love with this block this year. I didn't really have a plan after I made the blocks. 

But after I made them, I couldn't let them rest.  I had other projects I was working on but the little hearts called to me. 

I knew I also wanted to scrap bust this year, so I pulled a ton of green scraps and started to create wonky courthouse steps around the hearts. I linked it all together with some 9 patches in purples, mimicking the checks in the hearts. The quilt was looking a little crazy at this point so I added some calming solid boarders. 

I used the last heart block, and most crooked and crazy, for the back, as well as more solids. I sandwiched top and back together with some scrappy batting.  I used purple pearl cotton to go around each heart on the top and each 9 patch. Then used light green cotton thread to densely quilt the rest of the top. I embellished the boarders and back heart. 

I made a thin rolled boarder to finish it all off. Bc of the improv piecing, this quilt is a crazy shape and all crooked. It kinda averages at 37" x 37" but is measures as wide as 39" in some places. 

Pit was the biggest helper on this little quilt. He knows it would make a cute baby quilt, or play mat, or wall hanging. 

I washed this quilt and it got nice and crinkly. I was a little worried about how it would wash bc I used a bunch of different fabrics for the top. Mostly cotton but also some velveteen, and wool, as well as blends. This quilt doesn't have a label yet. 

This is my first finish of Q2 of the 2015 Finish Along. I have a feeling I'm not gonna get as much done this quarter, but I'm happy with this little finish!

All Gingham All The Time

Or, A Not Very Good Quilt. A Finished Quilt - with a story!

I heart gingham, can you tell? All Gingham All The Time uses almost all the gingham from my stash, most of it vintage. I found everything I could, from pre-cut vintage squares and on, to make a bright and cheerful courthouse steps design.

It's the largest quilt top I have made to date, all hand pieced! The backing for this quilt is a vintage gingham table cloth that my husband used in an art piece in college. It had a minor stain (something to do with apples, I think), so I cut it apart and reassembled it with a strip of pieces from the front.

When I went to baste this quilt, I saw that the top was quite a bit larger than the back, my first idea was to make the folded binding fold from front to back. Instead of back to front, the way I usually do. But  by that time I had found some more vintage gingham and was eager to add them to the quilt, as well! More Gingham!! (Don't count how many times I use the G Word in this post, please!) I added an outer boarder with the "new" pieces to the bottom. Now the bottom was bigger than the top. 

I basted the quilt with some vintage poly batting that I had. It was a very large one and left some scraps. AGATT was hand quilted with white pearl cotton thread over quite a long period of time (more on that below).  I went around the inside of each "box" of all the courthouse steps. Bc of the batting and the nature of the super soft vintage gingham, and weird fluffy texture of the vintage table cloth, this quilt is very puffy and fluffy. I didn't really try to keep it ultra smooth and tight when quilting as to add to this effect.   

For the binding I used my fold over method and bc the backing was quite a bit bigger it made a extra large fold. I quilted and secured the binding with more pearl cotton, mimicking the top by going around each side in a "box" motif. It gave the quilt a heavy, soft, floppy edge all around.  

All Gingham All The Time measures approximately  58" x 84". Almost all the cats helped me on this one, but notably Bippi (here), Tom (here, and here) and Pit (here and here). 

It was great weather to take photos and my husband held the quilt for me! A first! I'm linking up with Kathy and Slow Sunday Stitching to share this quilt today. All Gingham All The Time is also one of my 2015 Q1 Finish Along finishes!

And now, more to this story:

I started this quilt January of 2014. I worked diligently on it....until I hit a snag. I had made the top, was pleased with the bottom, decided to baste it with one of the vintage poly batting I had. All good so far. But when I started quilting it, I wasn't happy with the job I was doing. I'm sure all quilters run into this problem, and I'm sure they all see the two possible roads to fixing it.  1) Tear out the quilting and start again. 2) Put it out of sight and out of mind and try not to think about it (until you decide what to do). I ended up doing the latter, of course! I didn't want to rip out all the quilting I had already done. But I knew I wasn't doing my best work. 

I know that I shouldn't be telling you all this. 

I know that when one doesn't do their best, they should not alert people to that fact and take away from the enjoyment the viewer might get from the work. Perhaps the viewer didn't notice, or sees nothing wrong with the work... Perhaps they enjoy it and it's imperfections. By drawing attention to what the artist feels of as their short comings, the viewer enjoys it a little less or perhaps feels bad for liking it the way they do. I know we should not take away the viewer experience of the work. 

But, on the other hand,  It's often helpful for fellows in our craft to hear about mistakes we make, so they can learn and grow, as we have done. 

So I put the quilt aside for a while. Once I had had some space, I took it back out. It still wasn't as nice as I would like it to be, but I wanted to continue with what I had. To me, the mistakes seemed huge, and maybe they would to other quilters, too. But I would rather move on and than go backwards. I tried to be better as I moved forward. I still made some mistakes and there are still techniques that I need to learn to hone my craft. I'm looking at this quilt as not a salable or giftable quilt (maybe a second, or really close relation, who will love my work no matter what...), but as a learning experience. Not to mention I like this quilt! It's all crazy colors and bright pattern! 

Stormy Friendship Star: A Finished Mini Quilt

This is the first finish I'm posting for 2015. I've had a few others but with the snow stormy weather it's been hard to get any good photos. I was able to snap a few for this when the sun came out for a brief moment. 

This is also the first finish for Adrianne's (On The Windy Side) 2015 Finish Along. 

I started this mini when I was working on  another mini quilt top, so it's been done for many months. I used many of the same fabrics, vintage gingham, dots, and hearts, hand printed red cotton, and new anchors.  I added new storm cloud fabrics for borders. I made a plain red back with a vintage floral strip. When I layered them, I realized that I had made the quilt back too small, so added some dark blue borders on the back. 

I made a really scrappy pieced batting then I used cotton thread in matching colors to quilt inside the friendship star. For the rest of the quilt I used white pearl cotton.  I bound the edges with the fold over method that I like. I only bordered three sides in blue, so on the finished quilt front there's one red side. 

Stormy Friendship Star Mini measures approximately 29 1/2" x 29 1/2", but you can see, it's not exactly square. Is there a standard size or size limitation for mini quilts? This would be sweet wall hanging, or to drape over a chair or couch back. But it would also make a cute baby mat for a nautically inclined wee one. 

Bippi was probably most helpful on this quilt. But she did get disgruntled that it was so small. She prefers a larger size quilt to really give her room to sleep under. 

I'm also linking up with Kathy's Quilts today for Slow Sunday Stitching. Today she's talking about stress in stitching. Although the deadline for the Q1 finishes for the 2015 Finish Along is fast approaching, I feel pretty good about what I've accomplished the quarter.  Now I just have to make the time to blog about everything!

Belated Xmas Finishes

In November of 2013, we went to visit our Family in Tennessee. I had the idea that I would work on some mini mini quilts (table toppers. mug rugs, wall hangings, what have you) to give for xmas that year. I sewed diligently before hand and on the plane, but I couldn't finish them in time. When I did get them finished that xmas was over and the mini minis were far too Christmasy to give as late gifts. So I held on to them, and they were wrapped up for xmas 2014!

Back of Four Trees.

I made Four Trees specifically for my Mother in Law. It was the piece that I tried hardest to finish that year, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I used as many favorite scraps of red, xmas themed greens, and blues as I could find. The binding on the back got a little wonky. I used scraps of batting and quilted the mini densely with white pearl cotton. The only thing I added before gifting was a small label (which does not appear in the pics as they were taken way back at the beginning of 2014). This very small mini measures approximately 19" x 18 1/4".  

Night Trees

Night Trees is an even tinier mini I made for my Aunt using much the same techniques.  Although these minis are xmas themed and red and green, I tried not to make them too much about the holiday and more about the solstice. Night Trees measures approximately 16" x 12 3/4". 

Night Trees back. Pardon all the cat hair in these pics. 

I took all the pics shortly after they were finished in early 2014 and didn't look at them again until preparing for this post. If I had, I might have taken some more shots before they got wrapped. I hope everyone who received them as gifts enjoys the quilts as much as I enjoyed making them! 

One Tree. 

One Tree mini mini quilt is the smallest and most bright and was gifted to my Grandma. Most would consider this a "mug rug" I'm sure. I've never been entirely clear on what those are (over sized coasters?) and I like my work to have multiple uses, so whatever works, works. I'll have to see what my Grandma comes up with for it. 

One Tree back.

One of my first finished small pieces was a wall hanging using scraps of batik fabrics. I put various strips together and backed them with a mostly cream backing. I quilted it with cream embroidery floss in a diagonal pattern, and added little hanging loops. This piece moved around the house for a while and I thought to put it up on one of our doors. But I never felt quite right about it for some reason, so it never got hung. When I pulled the xmas minis out, I rediscovered it and thought to give it to my Sister in Law. That idea felt right!!

Batik Wall Hanging. 

As well as these, some other hand made gifts were given this year. I felt very happy that many of our gifts were home made, and that much of our time in 2014 was used creating, not shopping. I hope to keep that tradition up, and that more and more of our days are for making things, for ourselves and for our families and friends. 

Batik Wall Hanging back. I struggled with the little loops for this wall hanging, but ended up liking them. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their 2014 xmas season and has a happy and healthy new year!

Mat Finish

I can't even tell you how long ago this finish was started. It must have been several years, at least. But in early December 2014, it was finished!

As I dimly recall, this "quilt" was started by just having lovely pieces of fabric near each other and the uncontrollable urge to sew them together. I remember that these were sewn together long ago with no real plan. And I remember later forming a plan to make an insanely long quilted strip of pieces like these. That plan never came into fruition, and the top for this mat was left to the WIP bin. After being bagged, un-bagged, tossed around, etc... It eventually made it's way to a chair top for many months where Flounder became quite taken with it. 

A few months ago, I cleaned it up, tried to get as much of the cat hair off of it as I could, made a back for it, and basted it. Then it sat in a new WIP pile, for a few weeks, and was later quilted while my friend was in town. 

I had been looking for a project to do a fan style quilting on and this was perfect. Having never used a fan design, I was worried it might be hard, or slow, so starting with something small was great! The quilting actually went surprisingly fast. I used acrylic black thread for quilting the fan designs, and I think that made a difference. Acrylic really glides thru the quilt as opposed to natural thread, whcih sometimes get caught or travel slowly. The hardest part of quilting this quilt was that some of the fabric is quite dark and made it hard to see the stitching while sewing.   

The fabrics in this quilted mat are mostly new from various fat quarters, but there are also some recycled clothes and a bit of vintage. I pieced the back with most black, some old but not vintage stars, and a bit of vintage purple which was also a backing on another quilt.  The batting was also a left over scrap. Since my quilts are never any particular size, and certainly not a standard size, I seem to always have batting scraps laying about. I folded over the backing to make the binding but only did one line of stitching, where I usually do two. This is partly laziness on my part, but also I envision this quilt to be super soft and easy to fold, roll, and carry. 

This mat quilt is approximately 50" x 22", Which is a pretty weird shape for a quilt. I see this quilt being small and portable and taken where ever you go. It can be used as a mat for yoga or exercise, taken to the park or beach and used as a seat, folded as a chair mat or to give you a little extra back support, laid out for a cat or baby mat. It could also be used as a table/dresser topper or bed runner, but I picture it being more versatile and utilized. It's really soft and a little puffy. I really love the way the fans are very clear and noticeable even though sometimes they are black on black. 

I still have to label this quilt and write up it's entry in my quilt journal. But it was very satisfying to finish such an old WIP!! It definitely made me get out my unfinished works and assess them for potential finishes! It was also nice that this quilt had some firsts: First oddly shaped finished quilt and first fan quilting design.  

I'm linking this post up with Kathey's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Friendship Mini: A Finished Quilt

Right on the heels of making my first friendship stars, I started playing around with the scale of the stars. And this mini quilt was born!

This quilt has a name and was made for someone. But if I revealed the name, it would give away the surprise!

This mini measures approximately 31" x 31" and the star is about 25" x 25". The center of the star has vintage heart fabric and new anchor fabric. The points are the same vintage polka dots that I backed the First Friendship Quilt with. The background for the star is vintage green gingham. The sashing is a new dark blue fabric with multi colored bubbles. 

The backing is a deep green floral/paisley that was a gift from a friend. It has stripes of the same anchors and bubbles from the front. Both are new fabric bought on Fabric.com, I believe. 

I did a lot of hand stitching with light blue pearl cotton in and around the star, but left the dark blues un-quilted. I used my fold over double stitched method for the binding.  I like how heavy the quilting is, but there are still areas that are blank. 

I'm pretty sure that I used a scrap of batting left over from the First Friendship Quilt for this mini. All the quilting makes this one pretty snuggly. It would be perfect for a baby quilt or baby mat, and it makes for a nice pet quilt, as well. 

Tom was most helpful in the making of this quilt. Bippi wanted to help, but it was too small to work on and have her sit under, so she was mostly just annoyed. 

I haven't labeled this mini, yet, but I have washed it. It's very soft and supple.  Unfortunately while taking these photos, I noticed that the binding did not catch in one part of the quilt!

I knew I was cutting it pretty close,  but I've never had this happen before!! So, along with a label, this quilt will need a little repair before it heads to it's new home. 

Since all my quilts are hand pieced, basted, quilted and bound, I like to link up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday when I can!

First Friendship: A Finished Quilt + Blogger's Quilt Festival

The First Friendship Quilt started around April of 2014. It was intended for a friend, but was so well liked by my husband it will not make it to it's original destination (don't worry, there's another quilt in the works for that person). Although that would be an interesting reason for it's name, the actual reason is much more simple. I named this quilt First Friendship bc it contains the first Friendship Star blocks I have ever made, and symbolizes the beginning of my foray into traditional quilt blocks. 

Although, truthfully I did make a log cabin quilt in 2013. You can see it in the portfolio section. 

As with all my quilts, this one is done entirely by hand. It's cut, pieced, basted and bound by me, by hand with one or more cats in tow. I started making the stars out of vintage heart fabric, fat quarters and scraps I had in my stash. I also used a collection of hand printed fabric I bought on ebay. I put them together with more printed fabric, more FQ and a vintage green floral for sashing. I mitered the corners of the outer sashing. 

The back has one friendship star, but in more of the same volume as it's self. I guess it would be considered low volume or low contrast, at least. The star is surrounded by a sea of green vintage polkadot fabric. 

The back has one low volume start on the back.  

I can't remember what batting I used. I think it was some that I had had left over from another project. I really enjoy using Quilter's Dream, but I often have vintage batting, or other varieties that I have tried or that were on sale. I do piece my batting when needed, or to use up scraps, but I do remember that this one was whole. 

I tried to keep this quilt relatively free of cat hair, but that never really works out. Several of the cats helped me with this quilt, but surprisingly there wasn't a stand out helper. 

I quilted this quilt with white pearl cotton. I went around the piecing of each star and then did an X design for the sashings. To bind the quilt I folded over the backing. I usually use either a folded over binding with two rows of stitches, or a roll over with one row of stitches, but this binding is somewhere in between. 

The quilting on the back doesn't match up with the back star, but still makes for an interesting design. 

one backwards star, unintentional. 

Red, tan, green, and blue. 

I'm calling this a September finish, even though the last few stitches of the binding were done October 1st. I even brought this quilt on vacation with me, in order to get it finished. The house we stayed in was pretty cute, so I was able to take some photos there!

First Friendship Quilt is approximately 45" x 57". 

Although I'm calling this quilt done, I haven't put a label on it yet. I am going to try and label all my quilts going forward and be more diligent about keeping my quilt journal. I haven't made an entry about this quilt, yet!

Finished quilt hanging out in Cape May, NJ. 

I'm entering this quilt in the The Bloggers Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side in the Hand Quilted category. This will be my first year participating and it's been wonderful to see all the amazing quilt work. I can't wait to start voting!