Category: Projects

At last, another quilt is finished.  I quilted my Come Round Right Quilt, stitched the final few inches of the binding, and managed a photo on a sunny day.  That feels like a win in February.  Come Round Right surprised me, though I can’t fully explain why.  But I feel that surprise again every time I look at it.  And guess what else? I also wrote the pattern, which is available here.

Lately I’ve been quilting more than piecing.  I really need to get going on some unfinished quilt tops.  But custom quilting my own quilts – on my Juki, no less – has been really satisfying.  This one is no different. I wrote here about some of the meaning behind the design.  It began with that black and white print which reminds me of a wrought iron gate, surrounded by a plaid that reminds me of a chain link fence.  Am I on the inside or the outside of that fence?  Does it matter?

I invested many hours in quilting the white of the background with tiny organic lines to make the black design really pop, and also to enhance the chain link feel of the first border.  In the photo above, I love the texture and dimension it creates!

I quilted a simple leaf design in the pink border and echoed most of the pieces in the flowers.  Again, the texture is great.

Such dense quilting certainly takes extra time and work, but look at how the flowers come to the forefront of the quilt now!  They were already there, obviously, but more pronounced.  I kept the quilting super simple on the applique pieces so I could preserve that dimension.

It’s lighthearted and whimsical.  Part of me is still surprised that this whimsy came from the heaviness of a long carried struggle.  Even as I created it, I didn’t picture how cheery it would be.  I like that part – the idea that simple gifts can be even better than we hoped.

Regarding the matter that inspired the quilt, I have no idea what’s next.  I am equal parts committed and ready to quit.  Energized and completely wrung out.  I don’t know if it’s the extremes, or the constant back and forth that drain me most.  But I’m also learning, trying to grow.  This is why there is so much green around the edges.  Bowing, bending, turning.  Growing.  And hopefully, one day, we’ll come round right.

I quilted my “10” border with vines and leaves to continue the theme, and bound in an old Julianna Horner design.  Green with little circles of stars.  The backing continues the theme with leaves climbing dark stripes.  Another fence, perhaps?

Come Round Right quilt is a new personal favorite.  It reminds me to be flexible, have a little faith, and see where things end up instead of worrying.  To ask, “what’s the best that can happen?” and pay attention.  And also, I kind of want to make another, but maybe with a bright background?  Hmmmm.

Happy Sewing!

Who were you ten years ago?  I finished a book recently and happened to skim through the acknowledgments at the end, and last few sentences struck me.  The author finished by writing, “And to the woman I used to be.  Thank you for getting me here.  I’m so grateful for you.”  I’ve been thinking about it ever since.  What would you say to your past self?  What are you grateful for? And who will you be ten years from now?  It’s an interesting thing to think about.  And that’s exactly what I did as I put the final stitches in the binding of my Decades Quilt.

As I wrote about here, this quilt means a lot to me.  It’s a tribute to my cherry tree, and a fun modern take on the tree of life quilt.  It’s also a reminder of growth and becoming someone better.   To make it more fun, I also wrote the pattern, which is now available here.

I had my Decades quilt quilted in large stacking circles, which I wanted to represent fruit.  So much fruit, all stacked up to overflowing.  It reminds me of my cherry tree last summer, so covered in cherries that it looked more red than green.

I bound the quilt in the same blue I used in the border.  I like the way it matches the corner star background.  This Dresden border originated with my Awake Quilt, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to use it as a full border.

I also pulled out a lovely linen blend print I’ve been saving for years to use as backing.  It’s a pretty floral and geometric design which will only get softer with time.  The colors are perfect.

Mostly I’m happy to have my Decades quilt finished.  It’s one of those “me” quilts, very personal, and was also fun to design.  I need to make more of them.  For now, we will enjoy this one while we wait out the winter and hope the cherry tree survives.

Happy sewing!  I hope you’re working on something fun!

A few years ago my daughter Marian and I took a trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  Neither of us had been there before, and my brother invited us to join him and his family for spring break.  I loved it.  Sunrise at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, long walks on the sand, sea birds, and lighthouses.  When we got home I decided to make a quilt to preserve the memories as a thank you gift for my brother’s family.  This is it.  My Signal quilt.

I chose lighthouses as my focus for several reasons.  One reason was the memories our kids made together at the Bodie Island lighthouse.  To this day, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen my daughter laugh harder.   Additionally, I wanted to explore the shape in a quilt.  Two of the three lighthouses, Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island, are reflected in the stripes.  The other I used to create symmetry in the design.

The colors are all from Art Gallery Pure Solids, (my favorite solids since making this quilt) and they represent my sister-in-law’s favorite beachy colors.  I used them to compose a quilt that feels a little bit like a vintage postcard.  The checkers remind me of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. I used them as a center line across the middle of the quilt, and then created a “reflection” in the bottom half, a nod to our time on the beach and my love of the ocean.

That cute little diamond strip makes me smile.  Also, it pulled the whole quilt together.

As for the quilting, I thought of a windy evening when I was out alone on the bridge, watching the flash of the Hatteras lighthouse from our rental.  It was SO DARK, and that signal was beautiful.  I stood there in the wind, watching it go off and on in it’s own unique pattern.  Appreciation settled deep in me, and I dearly wanted to remember the moment.

Therefore, I decided to quilt my Signal quilt using the light patterns of the two lighthouses.  For the top row, and then every “odd” row after that, I quilted the pattern of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.  Tall loops represent one second on, short loops one second off, straight lines for 1/2 seconds.  Beginning with the second row, and through all even rows after that, is the signal for Bodie Island.

I paused many times to double check my loops, but gratefully I got the signals correct.  I suppose it could be an odd quilting pattern.  But at least it’s meaningful!  I like the way it pulls my eye to figure out what the pattern is.

I completed the quilt with an ombre binding, going from the warm orange to a burnt red.  It’s the same red in the middle of the quilt.

Do you label your quilts?  I want to get better at it.  I couldn’t mail the Signal quilt away without one.

When I finished this quilt, I felt so much gratitude and pride.  I’m grateful I could design and make something like this to preserve a memory.  THIS is why I quilt.  And oh, how I love it!