quilting Archives - Page 11 of 53

My Choreography, or “Go Confidently” Quilt

October 28, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

I designed and pieced this quilt top back in January and finished it in September, but am finally sharing pictures now. Made of half square triangles, I had in mind the movement of different dancers on a dance floor when I designed it. As I quilted it, however, it took on a slightly different meaning for me.

I decided to gift it to my sister as a birthday gift, and as I quilted it I ended up thinking a lot about her and the things I admire about her. One of the qualities that stand out is her willingness to boldly pursue dreams she has for herself and for her family, and as I thought about this, the movement of the quilt top became less a representation of pre-meditated movement in a dance and took on the road map of a life’s journey with intersections and turns and decisions. The color and prints in the quilt also seemed to fit her, as she has always been bold and confident in her use of and love for bright colors.

I really love the quilt back. It may be the closest I come to making a rainbow quilt, and I love the contrast of the arrows with the IKEA text print.

I quilted this before trying the flower quilting on my On a Whim quilt and my Early Bird quilt, so I guess this is my first real attempt at free motion quilting. I kind of wish I could do it over again because I felt like she deserved better than my first efforts amounted to, but then, that’s part of life’s journey too. I outlined the arrows and did a back and forth line in the negative space to help create more movement in the quilt. Overalll I’m happy with how I quilted it; I just wish I was better at it.

As I quilted, a quote from Thoreau kept coming to mind, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” It seemed to fit perfectly what I was thinking and admiring in my sister, so I quilted it into the bottom corner square of the quilt. Not exceptionally executed, but it was fun to try and I hope will be meaningful to her. She has brought a big dream to life this year and I hope that this quilt will help her remember the victories she’s experienced, for they were won with a lot of hard work and persistence.

As for me, I’m happy to have this project completed and grateful that the completing of it ended up being a special experience for me because of the thoughts that accompanied it.

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Early Bird Quilt

October 15, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

Another quilt finished!

Almost two years ago I posted pictures of my Early Bird quilt top , and it’s hung in the closet ever since. Until last month, that is, when I summoned the courage to try an all over free motion quilting design on it. I actually quilted this quilt before quilting my On a Whim quilt , because I wanted to practice on something I wasn’t as attached to.

The quilting went far better than I anticipated and I succeeded in making myself love it all over again. In some ways this quilt feels more “back to school” than just “fall”, perhaps because of the ruler prints in it. Either way, it’s perfect for this beautiful time of year.

For the backing I used a solid green with a couple of strips of pieced scraps for added interest. I love how well the flower quilting shows up on the green.

Another favorite detail on this quilt is the zig zag edges on two ends of the quilt. It makes me smile.

The whole thing makes me smile, actually, and fills my heart with joy and gratitude for the privilege of creating things. I am grateful for the talents of others and the beauty that blesses my life, grateful for the opportunity to make things that I can wrap around my loved ones to warm them. Grateful for useful, beautiful things. Grateful for the opportunity to learn new things, try things we’ve never tried, and to improve. Grateful for that small place deep inside me where determination lives. For color, texture, design and pattern. Grateful for all of it.

A simple red print from my stash was used for the binding and I’m very pleased with it. Pleased that at last it’s finished and in use around the house.

Stats:
pattern:

Merry Go Round by American Jane fabrics: Early Bird by cosmo cricket, and some Tailor Made quilting: allover flower design, taught in Free Motion Quilting by Angela Walters (Flower Power is what she calls it.)
size: approximately 65 x 74 inches

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Fireworks Quilt Blocks

October 9, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

Months ago I made my first block of Camille Roskelley’s Fireworks quilt pattern , then got busy with other things and most of the year flew by. Hoping to finish a few things before 2014 rolls around, I pulled the Bloomsbury Gardens fabrics back out and made a few more.

I think this second block might be my favorite so far. The floral print looks so pretty in this pattern!

Blocks three and four are the reverse of one and two. At first I planned to mix them all up but then decided to just reverse them. I think it will look great.

The four blocks together:

I am now 1/4 done with piecing the blocks. Working on them got me excited about the project again and I hope to find time to make a few more in coming weeks. While these blocks seem to take more time than I expect them to, they are very pretty when they come together.