Black and White and ...

 A couple of months ago, the RIMQG issued a challenge. We were to use black and white and one additional color of our choice. Hmm. What color will Tina add? That's a tough one!

I wanted to keep it simple with a disappearing nine patch. I drew it out in EQ7 which was a great help in deciding how to use various oranges. The only thing that ended up being very different from the drawing is the binding.

I played with some extra squares for the back, and used up some more of that DS Quilts orange print.

I wanted to do something fun and interesting with the quilting. Plan A included some pebbling and matchstick quilting in the oranges. I hated it! I had gone through two full bobbins when I decided to rip it all out.

It took hours to unstitch, but it was totally worth it.

I'm much happier with Plan B. The only problem that remains is a hint of the gray chalk that I used again on the medium orange. I marked a grid to guide the petals and it just won't wash out completely. I will never use that chalk again!

 In this shot of the back, you can see the orange stripe binding. I will run out of orange fabric and move on to something else, but it won't happen any time soon.

My little quilt is currently hanging in the kitchen, adding a little Halloween cheer.

Black and White and Orange All Over

October 16-18, 2014

37" square

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Tangerine and Teal

 Tangerine and Teal is my entry in the small quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. 

I started piecing this quilt in a class with Marianne Hatton in September 2013. Marianne calls this workshop, "It Takes Two Triangles." Well, it takes two sizes of triangles, but actually 432 pieces! We were asked to bring a gradation of six fabrics in two colors. Each quilter chose her own block design to add to the variety. We then pieced 36 unique blocks from our 12 prints.

I played and rearranged for a couple of days before deciding on the final layout. The top was finished within days of the class, and then it sat for several months. Ripening.

 

I was finally ready to quilt it in July. The spiral quilting was more fun than I expected. This quilt really was a joy to work on from start to finish.

I was happy to rescue the orange DS Quilts print from the clearance rack at JoAnn's for the backing. For the binding, I used two V & Co ombres that were in my stash. If you're new here, orange has become my signature color and turquoise is my daughter's color, so there's plenty of both in my stash.

Tangerine and Teal

by Tina Craig

Rhode Island

September 2013 - July 2014

36" square

Inspired by Marianne Hatton

Enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival! Don't forget to nominate your favorites for Viewer's Choice.

Safari Baby Quilt

 In honor of Julia being on expedition to the Serengeti, the safari baby quilt has been completed.

In this post from a couple of weeks ago, I described the panels and how they were sashed and pieced together. I used another panel and coordinating prints on the back.

For the quilting, I decided to mimic the shape of the flag garlands in the border print.  I marked a 2.5" square grid across the entire quilt top to guide the swoops. You can clearly see that the quilting was done by hand (on my Bernina) and not computer driven. Imperfections are good, right?

I had the hardest time cleaning off the chalk I used to mark the grid. I used everything imaginable, and I can still see some lines on the pink border print. The quilt is so crinkly because it has been washed at least 4 times already!

 

I had fun with the zebra stripes in the sashing and binding.

That lion is just the cutest! 

Baby Safari

42" square

Started 9/30/14

Completed 10/23/14

Fabrics: Hello World  from Blend Fabrics

  

OK, maybe this lion is the cutest!

Sunnyside Mini

 I finished two more small quilts yesterday. I'm avoiding other work like the plague.

Back in June, I designed this mini in EQ7 for the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap.

 

I used Kate Spain's Sunnyside Buttercup Blaze as inspiration and pulled the rest of the fabric from my stash. The little top was done in no time.

 

When I decided to work on it yesterday, I went a little crazy with quilting!

 

 There's a pretty Kaffe print on the back. The binding was attached by machine with a little help from Elmer's washable school glue. (Watch Sharon Schamber's video for perfect competition-ready binding.)

It looks great on my front porch, if only for the photo shoot.

 

Last one, complete with dirty pumpkins and porch steps.

 

Sunnyside Mini

19.5" square

Started June 15, 2914

Completed October 23, 2014

Original Design

A is for Alphabet

 I finished a very old WIP last night. It is so satisfying to move this to the completed list! I must have started this alphabet quilt at least 12 years ago. I know I bought the daisy print in 1999 or 2000 when Julia was a Girl Scout Daisy. 

I remember making the letter templates on my computer, either in Word or Powerpoint. I can't find the file, so I'm not sure which font I used. I had a big collection of novelty prints at the time, so most of this fabric came out of my stash. The print for each letter represents that letter. A is for alphabet, B is for balls, C is for crayons, etc.

The letters were hand appliqued over the years at ball games and whenever I had a few minutes to spare. The applique was finished and the top was assembled in August 2013. Last week, I added the border and pieced the back from some Dr. Seuss prints. The blue binding is from the same Dr. Seuss collection.

I quilted around each letter, then added swirls in the background.

I like the way you can see the letters on the back.

 

A is for Alphabet

34" X 46"

Started c. 2000

Completed October 22, 2014

Original design

Hexies from the Archives

The theme this week for Tuesday Archives at Val's Quilting Studio is Hexagons. (Theme number 2 is Houses, but I don't have any house quilts.) Digging through my archives, I've uncovered more hexie projects than I remembered!

Nonna's Garden from 2011 is my favorite. You can read more about her here.

This hexie runner was a major turning point for me, which is one of the reasons it is still displayed in my blog banner. The modern prints and natural linen is so 2010 and I still love it so!

 

I dug out my mother's unfinished GFG blocks from the 1990's and finished the quilt for her birthday three years ago.

I really love this foundation paper-pieced table topper that I donated to a silent auction. I still need to make one for myself.

I do have this hexagon table topper that I made in 2007.

I made some rose stars for a swap in 2012.

This was the cutest pouch I've ever made and I gave it away. Some swaps are so difficult to part with!

My current hexie WIP. These fussy cut rings look like gears to me. I might applique them to a background, leaving lots of negative space.

Phew! That was a lot of hexagons! Head on over to Val's to see more.

Funny Story

 

I met a guild friend at a Habitat for Humanity home dedication today. Jane and I were there to present this quilt to the family as a housewarming gift from Ninigret Quilters. I noticed on the program that the gift presentations would take place immediately following the homeowner's remarks, and ours was first. This was an emotional group. The volunteer family partner and the homeowner both teared up during their talks, and got everyone else going. And now it's my turn? Great.

I had the speech planned in my head that started with, "Jane and I are happy to be here..." Then the MC asked us to come forward and introduce ourselves. 

 

I said, "I'm Jane. Wait. No, I'm not! She is Jane." We all laughed! They called me "Not Jane" for the rest of the event.

As Bugs Bunny and my brother Vinnie would say, "What a maroon!"

Patchwork Batting

 It's Friday, and that means I will be machine quilting. I have four small tops standing by. As I sorted through the available batting, I found some big pieces and some not so big pieces leftover from other projects. Batting scraps are great for table runners and mug mats. 

This little black, white and orange piece is only about 39" square. Certainly I have a piece of batting big enough. Not. What to do? Piece some together.

I'm sure you've seen other people piece batting, but I'm going to show you again anyway. I'm stalling.

Lay out your batting scraps on the quilt top, making sure they overlap a little and extend a few inches beyond the edges.

 

Before you piece them together, you need straight edges, so trim them up.

 

I set my machine to a wide, long zig zag. Butt the edges together, do not overlap, and stitch. The zig will catch one piece and the zag will catch the other. You shouldn't see any space between your pieces when the stitching is done. (I pulled them apart for the picture so you could see the two pieces.)

I must have stretched one piece a little, even though I tried not too. Those baggy bits (below) will get quilted flat. It's OK. I make every effort to use just one type of batting, but I did need to use one piece of a different brand for this one. It will be a wall hanging, so no one will ever know.

That's all there is to it. Quilt as desired!

I joined another quilt guild recently so I made a new nametag with the guild logo. I made such a huge mess in that one hour! And my nametag is lopsided and enormous! I wore it last night and felt like a quilted clown. Oh, well. 

P.S. I'll tell you all about that orange quilt when it it done.