Dreaming of Dresdens Quilt- FINISHED!!!

Back in August I blogged about a Dresden Dilemmaa I was having.  After staring at those dresends for what seems like forever, I decided to make a quilt that looks very much like the quilt in the Block Party book.  I think mine is probably bigger though... I think it ended up being 80x100!  I had lots of ideas if I didn't already have the blocks assembled by my Aqua and Red bee group.  I really loved it so I felt like I needed one of these quilts as well!  Like I said, not an exact likeness but really close. :)

As I mentioned, each of the dresdens were assembled by my bee mates and then I added the blue or red background fabric and made them a little "WONKY". 

 Here is a closeup.

 For the dresdens, I used Riley Blake's Sugar and Spice.  For the background fabrics I used Michael Miller's Mini Mikes along with Kona Red.

 I wanted to include this picture of me showing off the quilt top at one of my quilt groups because it shows how huge it is. 

 For the back I used a plaid print from the Moda and I used red, white and pink polka dot fabric from Riley Blake's Sew Cherry line. 

Here is  a closeup of the quilting on the back.  I'm not sure I chose the right pattern to use, but it was  a new one that I was eager to try it.  It is pretty though... looks like ribbons throughout.  After much thought, I decided this beauty belonged in our family room.  We aren't hurting for blankets around these parts but this quilt is so big that our whole family can snuggle under it and that certainly is worth while!

For the Love of Solids Preview

 I joined a group called "For the Love of Solids" which is a swap.  You are given a secret partner and their information about what they would like in a swap.  The person I got is completely lovely, makes wonderful things and has great taste.  However, she requested a bag, purse or a tote and wants whatever she gets to have lots of pockets and zippers and pockets with zippers.  I have only been sewing since February and leaped into piecing quilts right away.  So, my skills for sewing items besides quilts are rather limited.  I can make a very small bag and maybe could put one zipper together on several tries and could probably figure out how to make a multi-pocket pocket, but it just wouldn't look very good.

SO- I had a huge dilemna on what to make.  So, I told myself to go ahead and make something that is generic enough that anyone could find something to like and make it the best you can.  Hopefully she will love it as much as I do.  I can't show it all since I haven't mailed off the package and this supposed to be SECRET, but these are the previews that I put up on flickr.

So, I plan on sending this item, along with a pile of fabric and hope the extra yardage will make up for me not making exactly what she wanted.  I am very nervous about the reaction, but I think she will like it.

Alzheimer Quilts

 The West Houston Area Quilt Guild, which I just joined in (my momma's a member) is very active in making charity projects and asks their members to participate in one or two every year.  Well, I was excited about the Alzheimer quilts charity because these small mini quilts are just like mug rugs which take hardly any time at all to make and they are for a good cause!

I used my fabric and pieced them and my mom did the quilting... so it was a duel effort and both our contributions to the guild.

Quilt 1:

 I got a new dresden template a few weeks back and I LOVE it.  So, I used the mini dresden for the first quilt.  I used Riley Blake's Sugar & Spice fabric.  I also used a fabric from the same line for both the backing and the binding.

Quilt 2:

 Awhile back I participated in a string block swap.  I didn't make enough of them to make an entire quilt, so I have been using them in various projects that need a little something.  So, I sewed four of them together for the top of this quilt.  I also received some fun japanese fabric from my May ALFALC swap and chose to use that for the back of this one.  I bound this one is plain Kona White.

Blockwork Orange Quilt-FINISHED

 This was a great quilt to work on.  This quilt is the product of a swap I did called, "A Blockwork Orange".  We all used Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial of a crazy nine patch block and made as many as we wanted to swap. 

 I got mine back a month or so after handing them in and was very excited at all the great blocks!  I incorporated some more of the blocks that I made that included a square containing grey because I knew I wanted to used Kona charcoal for my sashing and border.  I love how it ties into the blocks so well.  I also bordered the block groupings with Kona Snow.

 This ended up being quite a big quilt and for some reason, the picture below is the best I got of the front of the quilt... (seriously!?!)

 It was really hard to find the right backing for this quilt and I am not sure I did it, but I found a fabric that had orange on an off white background.  I think it works well.

I bound the quilt with a scrappy binding made up of my leftover orange fabrics that I used for my own blocks.  I love it, it looks awesome. 

Still don't have a plan for this one yet!

Mod Bento Block Quilt-FINISHED- thank goodness!!

 Thank heaven that this quilt is FINALLY finished.  It looks great now, but it has been my nemesis since its birth.  It was one of my very first quilts too!

 I used the Moda Bliss line of fabric.  It quickly caught my eye at my LQS and I grabbed it quickly and got a quarter yard of each!  I found the free tutorial for these blocks at www.filminthefridge.com. 

 The first nightmare with these blocks was that I was using a guide on my cheap Walmart machine (before my newer machine) and it was constantly slipping so my seams were never quite right.  So, some of my squares were smaller than they should have been.  However, with lots of starch, some stretching and also some trimming, I finally ended up with 9 blocks that were all the same size.

 When I went to sash this in Kona Snow, I didn't have enough fabric... UGH! So I had to make another trip and do a little sash piecing.  THEN I realized that it just wasn't big enough... I don't really like to make quilts that someone can't wrap themselves in, so I made a border.  BUT, I wanted something more than just a plain border, but I did not have a lot of scraps left.  So, I settled on this simple border.

 In my head, I imagine the 4 pieced sides connecting at the corners, but I failed to do mitered corners, so they don't.  Which isn't a huge deal, because it still looks fine, but it wasn't how I had imagined it.

 THEN I had ordered 5 yards of backing fabric (also Moda Bliss), but because this is a square quilt, I had to piece, but even with piecing I was about 4 inches short and had NO scraps left to piece... and I didn't want to throw in some random fabric on this back.  SO, I went to go order some more.  Except that I had ordered it relatively cheaply because it was on sale and now I couldn't find it in stock. GRRR.  So, I had to order a yard of it full priced on etsy. 

After all of that, the quilt actually came together well.  My mom, the wonderful mama that she is, custom quilted it for me and I think it looks nice.  I have plans to gift this quilt to a really great couple.  I mean, it has a lot of white in it so there is no way it would last in our house!

ALFALC Swap- May

One of my newest swaps is the "A little fabric, a little chocolate swap"...sounds right up my alley, huh?  The idea is you send some fabric (at least 3 fat quarters worth), a notion of some sort, some chocolate and a handmade item.  For my handmade item, my partner requested/mentioned a table runner. So, that's what I made!

 I tried it on my table-- just to see how it would look.

 Here is a closeup of the front where you can see the quilting better.

 I used Moda Central Park charm squares and did the sashing/borders with Kona charcoal and a Kona orange color (not sure what color).

For the backing, I used a Moda Eden print.  I really liked it and it makes me want to do an entire quilt from the Eden line, but it is a little hard to find.

PURE baby quilt

 Here is a baby quilt that I just finished up.  I originally started it thinking that I wanted to make a quilt for my own baby, but after doing an inventory, the boy has PLENTY of quilts already so I plan on this going to a friend who is having a boy. 

 I saw the Moda Pure line in my LQS and it was just one of those lines that every time I was at the store, I found myself over by it.  The local shop only had a couple of the fabrics, so I went the cheap route and bought a couple charm square packs online.  I cut up some of the charms in half and left the others alone and just sewed them all together!  Really easy, really simple and really fast.

 Even though I had plenty of squares left over (I used about 1 1/4 packs of charm squares), I went for the plain backing.  It is the light blue striped fabric from the same line. 

My mom quilted this quilt using a curl pattern of some sort.  I think it is simple and perfect.

Here is a closeup and I think the blues and browns look really great together.  Should be a nice gift!

Twelve Month Quilting Bee- March- Finished Quilt!

 In my Twelve Month Quilting Bee, I started our group off and sent off a bunch of Ty Pennington's Impressions line and was so pleased with what came back to me!  I had them all do wonky log cabins and they were so fun to make and receive back!

 I had the quilt top finished a couple weeks ago, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the back.  I ended up settling with the cheapest option and went with some Kona Black... the same as is on the borders.

 Here is a closeup of the quilt top and a few of the blocks.  I've really gotten a lot of compliments on just the quilt top.  I like it too.

 My mom did the quilting on her long arm machine and I think the pantograph that we chose is perfect for this. She used a varigated chartreuse and yellow thread but it kind of looked the same color.  Regardless, I think the light thread on the black is really striking and beautiful!

Here is a closeup of the quilting.  You really can see it all so well.  It looks awesome!

So, big thanks to my swap buddies.  I hope I can provide them with as nice of blocks as they provided me. 

Bee Connected Next Month

For my new Bee Connected Bee, I am doing the first month... how awesome right?  Well, actually it was mostly because I had enough fabric and was ready to send out to everyone at a moments' notice.

Anyway, this fabric come from the Theory line as well as Modern Affair.  Those are also some solid Konas in the background.

This time I am asking for improv blocks.  I think that these quilting bees are best used to bring others' talents and abilities to everyone.  So, I love it when members can be as creative as possible.  The only real requirement I gave was that it needed to be 12.5" squared, needed to contain a bit of one of the solid fabrics and it had to include one square in the block.  I am eager to see what everyone comes up with.

This is an international bee so I probably won't get around to make this quilt until July or even August, but I will post as I finish things up.

Aviary Quilt

 I recently purchased Joel Dewberry's line of Aviary 2 fabrics in the yellow/granite colorway.  I just really liked the fabrics.  I purchased them from Hawthorne Threads who I find often gets some of the newer lines sooner and also has some other hard to find lines.  I also used Kona Charcoal and Bella Snow.

 I saw a pattern in a magazine that I loved, cut out and changed a few things.  I made the blocks a little bigger, and changed placement and layout a bit.  But I really love how this design shows off the fabrics.  I love this line so much that I didn't want to hack it up and lose the fabric design... I like this so much that I will likely use this or a similar pattern (because I didn't write down exact measurements-- I like to wing it:)) again in the future.

 What I like most about this is that the frames/borders/sashing (whatever you call it), are not all even.  One side is thicker/bigger than the others on most of these blocks.  I think it adds a dimension and a character to the quilt.

 My mom out did herself on this quilting.  It looks so good and fits the quilt fabric perfectly.

 It is a little easier to tell in the above pictures that four of these blocks actually makes up one large block.  I like that and think I will do something like that in the future as well.

 Close up of the quilting.

For the back I used Moda Bella Snow and pieced a section in the middle with the fabric I had left over.  I did the binding in Kona Black and I think it is really striking.  I love it!!

The beauty is going to my friend Laurie.  She saw it, loved it, wanted to BUY it (she is so silly) and said she had to have it.  I was like "Really!? My quilt?!?" So we are working out a trade.  She makes great bags so I think I will be swapping for some bags in the near future!

Charms Framed

 I have to tell you, this quilt has turned into one of my favorite quilts!!  I just love how bright it is!  You really can't be in the company of this quilt without being happy!

 Lucy, who just can't help herself, on top of my completed quilt.

 This quilt was completed using 2 charm square packs of Free Spirit Fabrics' Tea Garden collection.  For the top, I cut each charm square in half and sewed in either Kona white or the pink colored Kona (can't remember what I used!).  I put the squares in groups of four, sewed them together and then framed them with Kona Corn Yellow.  Then I used that Kona green/blue (I'm sorry, don't remember that name either).  Really easy, and great result!

 For the back, I just used whatever left over charm squares were available and sewed them all together into a square.  Then I did the opposite framing as the front.  I love a pieced back!

The quilting was done with a varigated thread and I love it!  It shows up awesome on the bold/plain Kona fabrics.  I used the pink fabric as the binding and I love the way that it really pops!  I think it's great to be able to buy a couple sale packs of charms and throw in some on-sale solids and have a great quilt!

This beauty resides in our family room, usually found with a child inside :).

Lattice Quilt-FINISHED

 Awhile back, I finished this Lattice Quilt.  I got the inspiration from Oh Fransson, but made a few modifications.  I wanted it to be bigger than her instructions called for so I made the blocks a bit bigger, added an extra row of blocks and added a border around.

 The fabric is Moda Sandy Gervais Lovely.... I used a fat quarter set and then bought the yellow and blue you see for the sashing and border... both are Moda but a different line... sorry not sure what.

 I've seen on a lot of blogs that husbands hold of the quilts for their wives and they look pretty happy to do so.  My hub was not so excited about it so this will likely be the last time he helps model my pretties.

 I pieced the back with what I had left!  I used the extra 5 blocks I had and strips of extra fabric along with Kona Snow.  I did a scrappy binding done with the leftovers I had of the fabric from my fat quarter stack... I am telling you, I had JUST enough!

 The quilting is gorgeous.  Done with a varigated thread... thanks mom!

 The quilting is especially striking on the solid colors.

I really love this quilt and it is currently being used in our family room.  The kids cuddle up in blankets every day and it always makes me smile when they've got one of mine on them!