Category: Quilting and Sewing

We have the best neighbors.  One of them celebrated the wedding of their youngest daughter in June, and I had to make Lindsey a quilt.

I made quilts for her older two sisters when they got married (you can find them here and here ).  Lindsey loves animals and works at the zoo, and I happened to have a layer cake of Sarah Watts’ August fabric collection, featuring lions and gazelles.  It was the perfect fabric, so I needed to make a layer cake quilt.


I chose a simple layout due to time constraints and went through my stash to gather a few more prints so I could make it bigger.  In the end I settled on a patchwork style layout using the layer cake squares and added a triangle in one corner to create the white accents.  I cut a few of my 10 inch squares in half for the side borders and got to work!


I used a combination of spiral and straight line quilting to quilt it.  This was a really fun layer cake quilt project, and I was able to finish it in time for the wedding (barely!).  I am filing this layout away as a good option for quick layer cake quilts – sometimes you need to finish projects on a tight schedule and I would certainly make this again.


Something I love about these friends is knowing the quilt will really be used.  It also made me smile to have my children give it to them and to watch them open it up.


We backed it in a lovely plaid and finished it with an orange binding.


We are happy for Lindsey and Alex and I’m sure many wonderful things are ahead for them!

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