Wednesday 30 August 2017

Star Wars and Star Trek quilts

These two quilts were my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for the month of August.  They were completed and given as gifts by August 19th for David and Jodi’s Canadian wedding celebration, their actual wedding was in Jamaica in July.
  




David likes Star Trek and Jodi likes Star Wars, so over the last couple of years every time I found some Trek or Wars themed fabric I would buy it, thinking/hoping one day I would make them a wedding quilt.  I also always wondered how to combine these two themes into one quilt.  As the date drew near I finally settled on the idea of two TV cuddle quilts, one for each of them in their favourite theme.

Jodi loves purple and David prefers aqua, so I backed each quilt with flannel in their favourite colours, as well as using some of the extra blocks, for a little back embellishment.



A special label for each quilt.


They are both quilted with the Shooting Star pantograph by Sue Schmieden.  For Jodi’s quilt I used a purple Glide thread called Raven and David’s is quilted with a mint coloured Glide thread.


The pattern I chose for the quilt is called ‘All about me’ by Terry Atkinson, a nice way to feature fabrics in a quilt.

They sent me these pictures after they opened their gift, I think they like them.



You can see my initial OMG blog post with these quilts here, and if you like you can check out what other bloggers have accomplished this month at Elm Street Quilts.

Saturday 26 August 2017

Neutral Mile a Minute

What is this?
 

A whole quilt top of neutral mile a minute quilt blocks.  Here they are laid out ready to be sewn together.

And here we have a quilt top completed for the month of neutrals with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
 

What fun this was to make, I’m rather excited to just jump into some of my other little bags of scraps and make more monochromatic Mile a Minute quilt tops.  I love making the Mile a Minute quilts block, in fact you could say I’m obsessed, and being that I love it so much I have blogged a tutorial, which you can find here.

Here is what my neutral bag looked like at the beginning of the month and then at the end when I had all the blocks sewn for this 52 by 82 inch quilt top.  This was a little 10 x 10 inch bag of scraps and I already had 9 blocks sewn before August.
I’m so pleased with this top and have an idea for some custom quilting, so finishing it will appear in a future blog post and most likely be included in a One Monthly Goal (OMG) or in a December post of completed Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts, or both.

Thursday 24 August 2017

Studying in Colour

Linda made this quilt for her daughter who was studying nursing at Mount Royal University, a lovely cuddle blanket for late night studying.
 

The Wild at Heart pantograph by Jodi Beamish and an orange coloured thread are excellent complements to this quilt.
 


Just the right backing finishes Studying in Colour.
 



Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. ~ Pele

Wednesday 23 August 2017

Two quilts by Donna

Donna always likes to make Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery quilt, and this is the 2014 version.  I’m certain that most of these fabrics come from Donna's stash.
 

For the mystery quilt Donna selected the Blowin’ Wind pantograph by Jodi Beamish and a Rainbow variegated thread. 

Donna also likes to shop her stash in the backs of her quilts.

The second quilt is this charming Zig Zag quilt.

For Zig Zag we used the Crazy Puzzle pantograph by Dave Hudson and a khaki coloured thread.

Donna makes many of her quilts for charities.

You are the only person on earth who can give what you can give.

Tuesday 22 August 2017

Perpetual Motion

A quilt by Janet.  Made with bright Kaffe Fassett fabrics, Janet found this pattern is in the book Scrap Basket Beauties by Kim Brackett.
 

We used the Chantilly Lace pantograph by Norma Sharp and a peppermint pink thread for quilting.


A lovely and bright coordinating pieced back, a great way to use the fabric stash.


Be bright, be happy, be you.

Monday 21 August 2017

One Block Wonder

 

Evelle called this her One Block Wonder Blues quilt, and she was so inspired that she wrote a song as well.

As you can see by the words in the song, the actual fabric used is incorporated into the back of the quilt.

Quilted with the Blowin’ Wind pantograph by Jodi Beamish and a teal coloured thread called Persian by Glide.

I just love how these One Block Wonder quilts turn out, and I know a big part of it is picking the right fabric.


This is yet another quilt that I want to make, I think my son would claim it as he loves this design, I should start a ‘to do’ list.

Saturday 19 August 2017

Neutral Mile a Minute quilt blocks

This morning these were on my cutting table


… because I did it, I finished 50 neutral mile a minute quilt blocks.  It was a bit obsessive, I sewed a little every day this week.  These along with finishing the quilting and binding on my One Monthly Goal (OMG) quilts.  It’s been a busy and oh sew fun week.  Five piles of 10 squares each.


All these blocks came out of this little zip-lock bag of scraps and there are still a few small scraps for some future projects.  Last week this bag was full, it’s amazing that there was a whole quilt (and then some) in that little bag!


I did add the odd little zing of colour in a rainbow theme to some of the blocks.


What a fun week for me, next I’ll lay them out to see how it looks.  The little squares measure 7 ½ inches unfinished, I’m not sure if I want to sash them, as I think I might just want the blocks to just blend into each other.  I'm also not sure what I would sash a neutral quilt with?  We’ll see how it goes and perhaps next week I’ll post a picture of my end results.

I made these blocks inspired by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, we are playing with neutrals for the month of August.

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. ~ Maya Angelou

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Cabin Tracks quilt

… is the name of the pattern for this scrappy quilt. Doreen has an amazing knack for using scraps and putting colours together. 

So many things about this quilt intrigue me, like the piano key border whose strips finish at half an inch.
 


Doreen picked the pantograph Blowin’ Wind by Jodi Beamish, and a variegated blue thread for quilting.

As she often does, Doreen incorporated some of the extra bits into the back of the quilt, resourceful and creative.
 

The pattern is from American Patchwork and Quilting, it was their 2003 sampler.  This is one quilt I want to make.

Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others. ~ Orson Welles

Monday 14 August 2017

Stephanie’s Mumbo Gumbo

In greens and blues.
 
I’ve quilted a couple of the Mumbo Gumbo quilt, and each has their own flavor.  You can see a Jane’s blue yellow one here, and Doreen’s completely scrappy variety here, they are all so unique.  I like the crispness of Stephanie’s blue and green quilt.
 

Stephanie chose a pantograph by Patricia E. Ritter called Easy Orange Peel and a thread called Marine by Glide.
 


The quilting shows up nicely on the back of this quilt.
 

Mumbo Gumbo by Pie In The Sky Quilts is a nice way to use up some of your scrap strips.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Saturday 12 August 2017

More Low Volume

I worked on a few more low volume (neutral) mile a minute blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I actually have a big project for this month’s One Monthly Goal (OMG), however I needed a diversion and I love making Mile a Minute blocks so I sewed up 12 in a few stolen moments this week.  I thought I was making 9, however when I laid them out there were 12 – bonus.
 

I added a pastel dash of colour in some.
 

After a couple of weeks, and 21 new blocks my scrap bag still seems just as full, perhaps there’s a quilt in that bag.
 

Last night I got diverted again and started 50 more of these blocks which will give me 80 in total when I’m finished.  Should be enough for a quilt top.


If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. ~ Henry Ford