Current Projects!

Life is a little bit crazy for me right now.  Who knew that having grown children would require more time than when they were little? Lol - I think I was warned about this, but the time it takes to walk through life as they are figuring out their own is a joyous and sad journey. Life is a good and beautiful mess and while we try to focus on the good, it doesn't mean there are never hard times.  Anyway, with a lot weighing on my mind and heart, I am getting little to no projects finished.  It's frustrating, but at the same time, it makes the finishes more exciting!  I have been trying to get through each one of the pieced quilts for my Juju's Petals Fabric Collection. 

The blocks above are from my Butterfly Dance quilt.  This pattern is so fun!  There is a lot of piecing in this quilt, but the instructions are so easy to follow.  I know you will enjoy piecing this quilt, and I look forward to sharing this finished project soon. 

I am also working on the quilting of my Juju's Petals quilt.  This pattern was a lot of fun, I loved piecing this quilt, it is traditionally pieced without "Y" seams, but there is a new method to piece the corners on each of the blocks.  It is explained well in the pattern and I hope you enjoy the challenge of learning something new.  The quilting has been a lot of fun and it's really showcasing/highlighting the blocks.  It is always fun for me to be able to "go to town" so to speak with the quilting. I hope to be able to finish this project soon.

Happy Quilting!! 

 

Mama Tillie is finished!

 

Mama Tillie has been one of those quilts that I intended to finish a long time ago, but with the year I had last year, it didn't happen.  I started a quilt along #mamatilliequiltingqal for the quilting part of this project, you can find 7 videos, on my Youtube channel. I go through the detailed elements of the quilting.

It's really fun, so I hope you join in on your own time. 

 

This quilt was designed to showcase the quilting.  I made sure that the borders were large enough so that I could play, and boy, did I play!  It was a lot of fun using all my rulers, including my QuickMarkCurve for this project.  This quilt is made with my own fabric, Curated Blooms, which is my first fabric line. I wanted to showcase the fabric as well as the quilting, so you will see that in the blocks, the quilting is more simple with straight lines. 

Every time I piece a quilt I am thinking of the quilting possibilities. This quilt was no different. The quilting in the pieced blocks is mostly straight lines emphasizing the elements in the piecing.  This also helps when you have a detailed fabric, it isn't worth doing detailed quilting if you cannot see it. 

The border though, holy moly! - I love how it came together.  I used my A1 ruler and my QuickMarkRuler with my purple marker to draw and quilt all the lines in this quilt. 

 

I used two layers of batting for this quilt.  It does make the quilt heavy, but it definitely isn't stiff.  It feels really nice and the quilting design shines through.

 

 

It has been a while since the sun has been shining enough for me to get a good shot of this quilt, so I was thrilled when the sun shone through the back of the quilt to show all the piecing.  It really is fun to look at how I quilt beyond the lines of the piecing.  Look at the center and the corners in the borders, this on-point square design is so fun. 

 

This is awesome - another view with the piecing.  I am pretty happy with how the piecing allowed me to press most of the seams to one side.  It takes a little longer to figure out which direction the seams get pressed to, but it is so worth it when you take the time because traveling in the ditch is a lot easier for me.

If in doubt though, press your seams open.  I admit, I have been pressing my seams open a lot more lately. 

 

 

I used a neutral 108" backing from Riley Blake Designs.  The fabric is marbled and so gorgeous.  It shows off the quilting fabulously. 

You will be proud of me, the binding was hand sewn and now that I see it, it was worth the time it took. 

 

 

There is something magical about seeing the front and the back of the quilt together. It's like a beautiful symphony, can you hear it? Lol.

The pattern for the pieced quilt is available here.  I will have it available for $5 for a limited time. 

I also have a few kits left, that link is here: Mama Tillie Quilt Kit

 

Butterfly Kisses Quilt Completed

Butterfly Kisses!

The interesting part of designing fabric and using my own fabric is that I don't get to make my patterns until the fabric comes in.  Juju's Petals fabric line came out in September this year and I absolutely love this collection.  It's perfect if you care for butterflies and a cute color palette and the patterns that go with it are so much fun. 

I have had a lot going on this year, including the marriage of my daughter and so quilting has been on the back burner for a bit.  I am happy to get back into the swing of things and on Saturday I finished up this darling quilt. 

The butterfly blocks are so much fun and really showcase Juju's Petals well. I used my Flower Swirl panto for the quilting on this quilt, and it is just gorgeous! 

I used a teal fabric for the backing and the purple stripe for the binding.

The pattern is available in paper and PDF form. 

Carry All Tote, a fun new project using Curated Blooms fabric.

Time for a new project! 

There is something fun about making tote bags and I still just love my pattern, Carry All Tote.  It's such a fun and relatively easy pattern. 

The first thing to do is to sew a bunch of 2 1/2" strips together, I used one Rolie Polie (jelly roll) of my Curated Blooms fabric.  I really loved piecing the strips together in what looks like a natural ombre effect.  I also did a little bit of strip piecing and moving those strips in a kind of bargello effect for parts of the bag.  You can see in the photo above how the piecing looked.

I love how it turned out with the piecing and the quilting. I used a simple muslin for the backing, knowing it would be covered up, and one layer of batting.  I did a quick and simple edge to edge swirl on my computerized quilting machine.  

The outside of the bag has a fun little pocket and I got to add my favorite green fabric as a nice little accent. It goes well with the bargello look. 

It is so fun having all 21 patterns of Curated Blooms fabric line in one project like this.  The orientation of the bag and the flap complement each other nicely. 

I admit I was a little worried about the flap of the bag going well with the back of the bag, the side with the green shown above, but once I got the whole bag situated it looked a lot better. 

The main cream print of Curated Blooms is perfect for the inside of the bag.  I really love how it came together with the auburn and blush prints. 

This bag is perfect for me to carry my computer and my graph paper for writing patterns.  I take it with me when I travel. 

It really is a fun and simple pattern and it was so lovely being able to finish a project.  I don't get into the studio as much as I would like to, so this was a treat.