Category: Projects

School has started, which means I’m back at my stitching in the car while waiting for my kids.  I started on the Collection quilt several months ago, and shared the first two sections here .  For this quilt I’m working entirely from my stash, exploring color, but also loosely following the color scheme of the original Collection Quilt.  I have now finished sections three and four (there are a total of nine sections) so I’m close to half done with this project.  Section three is hard to photograph because it’s long and skinny and fills in some gaps between other sections, but I did snap this photo of section four:


These fabrics and colors are some of my favorites.  Each one of them has sat patiently in my sewing room waiting for “the perfect project.”  I don’t know how “perfect” this project will be, but it is fun to use them and to see how fabrics designed at different times and by different people can work so beautifully together.

I feel a pull in my quilting.  The desire to cut and explore without plan or pattern is growing in me, but I also have a number of projects I’ve planned to make, purchased fabric for, and I feel loyal to making those quilts.  Using some treasured fabrics in this project is making me happy.  I have already made good progress on the next section and am excited to complete it.

This year has been a year of sewing through Carolyn Friedlander patterns.  So far I’ve finished the following quilt tops:

Aerial Grove Quilt top Catenary Quilt top Botanics Quilt top Applique mini quilt Facing East quilt blocks (this was the start for a traveling quilt and I’m excited to make a full quilt in this) It has been a fun journey to choose a designer and work through all the patterns I’m interested in making.  I have a few more on my list of quilts to make and look forward to beginning them soon!

Lone star quilts are popular right now, and I love seeing them!  It’s a great block for every quilter to master, and the results are always striking.  I’ve been making lone star blocks for several years now, and this is my most recent project, the Lucky Lone Star Quilt.


This lone star was a joy to make!  After writing my lone star quilt block tutorial a few years ago, I’ve wanted to make a traditional lone star quilt.  The challenge was, what should it look like?  I asked myself this question: “If I walked into an antique shop and found the perfect vintage lone star quilt top, what would it look like?”  Then I made it.


The red, white and blue color scheme was an easy decision.  I went through my fabric stash to find prints I liked together in the proper amounts so the star could be made using what I already had (“make it do” seemed to play along with my vintage theme so I ran with it).  I strip pieced my fabrics using the same principles in the basic lone star block tutorial , adding the necessary number of fabrics and strips.


Once the star was pieced, I pondered background options and asked myself, “What would be the surprise about this quilt top that would make it my perfect vintage lucky find?”  The answer was a beautiful royal blue (and the question inspired the quilt’s name).  The bright blue took a bit of courage – I kept wondering if it added a vintage or a modern edge and concluded it was both –  but I took a deep breath and went for it.


I love it!  I added a couple of top and bottom borders and now this Lucky Lone Star Quilt is ready for quilting.   I’ve also written the pattern, which is available here , so you can make your own.

Jennifer

A friend of mine recently went to London, and while she was there, posted a video of the gorgeous collection of tana lawn available at Liberty of London.  London is my dream destination and yet I’ve never been there….


When I saw her video I remembered a project I started last spring at Kathy Doughty’s workshop.  These prints are from the quilting cotton collections that Liberty released several years ago.  I have carefully saved every little scrap and was excited to find I could cut 36 long wedges from my pieces!


For this project I used a ten degree wedge ruler that is 25 inches long.  My fabric pieces weren’t quite that long, and on a few of them I added a strip to make them longer.  The dresden is 49″ across.

I had a number of ideas in mind for the background of this quilt – NONE of which included this purple Mostly Manor Stripe by Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  I had a smaller piece on hand and it happened to be sitting nearby when I was selecting the background.  On a whim I tried it out and to my surprise I loved it!


I loved purple as a second grader, but have avoided it since.  I am learning that it has it’s place in design and sometimes is just the right color to complement a project.  The bold navy stripes in this print turned out to be a beautiful contrast to the small scale prints in the wedges.  I waited impatiently for yardage to arrive so I could assemble the top.

I hand appliqued the outer edge of the dresden to the background.  Now it’s just lacking a center, which will be this awesome yellow.  I am currently debating quilting ideas before I decide when to applique the center circle in place.


I love the colors and prints of these designs.

My Fireworks quilt was the original project I made with them.  It am happy to have made another quilt top using leftovers.  This was a refreshing fast project to indulge in and now I want to make more dresdens!