Disappearing Orange Peel

 This is my attempt at Modern Traditionalism. I started with a traditional orange peel design with scrappy orange prints hand-appliqued on a scrappy low volume background. 

I replaced some of the peels with ghost shapes that are hand-quilted with perle cotton. 

 

I machine quilted with a cream 50 wt Superior So Fine thread. I left the peels unquilted, but I considered quilting some orange fill designs in the ghost shapes. 

  

I thought I had started this project early last year. When I searched the blog, I found this post from 2012! This was supposed to be my Tangerine Tango project. I completely changed direction from my original plan which shows how my quilting style has evolved over the last four years.

For the back, I had a perfect tree print in my stash from Central Park by Kate Spain. The orange dot from Oliver + S is the perfect binding.

 

I have to say I really enjoyed all the hand stitching on this project- from the applique to the perle cotton quilting to stitching down the binding. I was able to finish it up in just a few days. Gotta love those minis!

Disappearing Orange Peel

Started 1/27/12

Completed 1/21/16

16" X 16"

 

 With a snowstorm on its way, I'm flashing back to these cuties. She started her final semester of college this week and he left for his first overseas deployment. Wish they were here to play in the snow (and do the shoveling!)

Christmas 2015

 It's a little late to be blogging about Christmas, but I just finished my new Christmas quilt. I had hoped to finish it in time to cuddle up under on Christmas Eve, but it wasn't meant to be.

I used 2 charm packs of Flurry by Kate Spain plus about 1.5 yds of Kona white cut into 5" squares. I also bought some yardage for borders and binding. The pattern is Jewel Toss from the Moda Bake Shop, but I modified the construction quite a bit. I cut up the white on 12/22 and pieced the whole top on 12/23. I made 4-patches from one charm pack and half-square triangle units from the other pack.

 

I finally had a chance to get it basted and quilted yesterday. The backing is another Kate Spain print from her Jingle line. Funny story about the quilting. I forgot to drop the feed dogs before I started the free motion quilting. I didn't realize it until I was ready to attach the binding and went to set the machine back to normal. oops! Turns out it didn't make much difference.

I used Superior So Fine! 50 weight #401 for the quilting. Gladly, I didn't have any trouble with thread breakage. Last winter, I was having trouble with that thread. We thought maybe it was the dry air, but maybe I was using the wrong needle. For whatever reason, the stars aligned, and all went well.

It was such a joy piecing and quilting this beautiful fabric.

Christmas 2015

started 12/22/15

completed 1/16/16

51" X 75"

interface

My first new project finish for 2016 is interface. When we quilters think of that word, fusible interfacing comes to mind. This is a much different interface.

My husband has worked in a Navy lab for 25 years and has become an expert in the air-water interface. It is his job to find or develop new technologies to help submarines communicate through that interface- no small task!

On our way home from the Gathering and a wonderful exhibit of the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild, I asked Bill how we could represent his work in a minimalist quilt design. This is what we came up with. The blue is the water, gray sky, a sliver of red represents the interface. The yellow thing could be a UUV or a buoy.

The quilting tells the story of a signal coming from a submarine and being relayed by the UUV. Bill assured me that when this quilt is hanging in his office his colleagues will immediately recognize its significance. For us quilters, I hope it is just a cool design.

It was quick to piece, with just two seams. Granted, it is not easy to piece an accurate 1/8" seam, and this one is not perfectly perfect. It looks good from a distance, though. The yellow UUV is appliqued.

I quilted along the red first, then started the echo quilting from the red line each time. That was a lot of tails to bury, but I think the effect was worth the effort.

Bill purchased the print on the back many years ago on one of his working trips to Hawaii.

Even though we designed this quilt in November, I didn't start stitching until a few days before the RI Modern Quilt Guild solids challenge deadline. You know how much I love a deadline! I brought it for show and tell to Ninigret last night, too. Thanks to Catherine for holding and Pat for taking the picture.

interface

24" X 36"

Designed 11/8/15

Pieced & appliqued 1/6/16

Quilted 1/7-8/16

Bound 1/8/16

Kona solids: silver, navy, tomato, grillow and black

Aurifil 50 wt: 2600 Dove and 2784 Dark Navy

First Finish of 2016

 There were a few small table runners that didn't get quilted before the craft show a month ago. I really didn't want them to sit in the UFO pile for another year, so I pulled them out yesterday. They were already pin-basted and the binding was cut, so it only took a few hours to finish them up.

Can you tell I had fun playing with my stash of Christmas prints? I was in use-it-up mode!

 

I love that blue and green one.

Fun prints on the back, too. I'm getting better about remembering to include my printed labels.

The two larger ones are about 12" X 36" and the three small ones are 6" X 18".

Miscellaneous Crafty Catch Up

In keeping with the end of year catching up, here are some crafty projects I was working on. I'm tired just looking at it all! I honestly don't know how I did it all in two months.

I was really pleased with my craft show set up. Don't look too closely at the prices. I already know they are too low. 

The princess totes went to Abby & Olivia in Denver. The 2 mug mats were commissioned. I like that they are similar, but different. The two pillowcases were for Mollie's new pillow.

 My niece asked for collars and leashes for her girls' doll pets. Lily's dog is wearing the new collar, but Anna wanted to put hers on her new unicorn. It's a good thing I made them adjustable!

I liked the NYB postcards so much, I put them in tow blog posts! I spent one night in front of the TV making origami stars for a small Christmas tree. I need to get my paper folding fix from time to time! The brownie trees were my go-to party contribution. The candy cane bow tie is for my super cool son.

 

Twelve key fobs made from my father's ties were gifted to all of his kids and grandchildren.  Some people cried. Mission accomplished.

In addition to all the crafting and quilting, I did take a few breaks to cheer on my kids. Pete participated in the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps birthday ceremony. He's on the 45 yard line on the left, 6th from the front. (Julia and I watched the ceremony live streaming on line.)

That's Julia, number 11, playing in a rugby tournament that her team won. We also went to her Christmas concert to hear her sweet solo. She has the most beautiful singing voice, but can throw a mean tackle!

 

 There was some beautiful color in the house: birthday roses, pretty poinsettia and anniversary roses. Someone knows my favorite color!

Quilty Catch Up

I'm so sorry that I've been away from the blog for almost two months! November and December do seem to be the busiest months of the year, what with all the holidays and partying. Here's what I've been up to on the quilting front.

 

Two of my quilts were accepted for exhibition at A Quilters' Gathering in New Hampshire at the beginning of November. Engineer's Wife was awarded a codirector's ribbon from Kate Sussman. She liked the Morse Code anniversary quilt, too.  

  

During the same weekend,  the Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild presented an exhibit during the Fine Furnishings Show in Pawtucket. Three of my quilts were included: Diamond Party, Sugar Wave and Picture Perfect.

 I had an opportunity to meet Mary Fons! 

  I quilted up an old WIP/UFO before to fill out my craft show booth. It was made from a really cute collection of Debbie Mumm lighthouse prints and coordinates. I think I pieced it in 2008. It can be a baby quilt of small lap quilt, perfect for a beach house.

Finished size: 48" X 54" 

 Another pre-craft show finish was the scrappy pyramid quilt. I really like this fun collection of modern scraps. The green binding works because green goes with everything!

Finished size: 48" X 64"

Started 2/22/15

Completed 12/2/15

While I was in a free motion quilting mood, I quilted up a guild quilt for a Habitat home dedication.

 The RIMQG hosted a postcard swap in November and there were the 2 fabric postcards I sent out. I bust out a paper pieced New York Beauty whenever possible!

On December 23rd, I decided I wanted to make a Christmas quilt for our cuddling up on the couch on Christmas Eve. Well, I got the top done that day and haven't taken another stitch since. I hope to quilt it this coming week. I used two charm packs of Flurry by Kate Spain and two yards of solid white Kona. Yummy!

And there you have it!

Bits and Pieces

As I was pulling photos for today, I realized I hadn't shown you my mini challenge from the Ninigret Quilters show. We were provided with a fat eighth of the brown print with polka dots. Since I had taken a class with Vanessa Christenson, I was eager to play with her ombre fabrics. I used Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles to prepare the applique. After a few days of hand work, I went to town with some tiny machine quilting. I used up a full bobbin of 50 wt Aurifil on this 12" square! I added the yellow ric rac under the binding since that was the only color from the print that hadn't been used yet. 

Now on to the random projects...

I'm putting together an English Paper Piecing kit for a friend who had surgery last week. When She's ready for visitors, I'll give her the kit and a lesson.

 

When I was browsing for EPP stuff, I stumbled upon this hexagon starburst block on Stitchery Dickory Dock.  I couldn't resist giving it a try and I absolutely loved the first one (on left). I do not need another EPP project with two others waiting to be finished, but I can't help myself!

I printed and cut enough paper pieces for 22 blocks. They are all laid out on the piano bench until I dig out my tiny baggies. I'm not planning ahead with fabrics. I'll pull scraps for one block at a time and we'll see what happens!

Last weekend I taught a fabric box class for my co-workers and/or their families. It's a small office, but it's a very crafty group! We had a fun morning and everyone did a great job with their boxes.

This ticker tape birthday card was really fun to make! With crazy mom quilts celebrating her 9th Blogversary, Ticker Tape was fresh in my mind. I tacked down the pieces with glue stick and then stitched around in a square spiral.

Why do scrap projects make such a big mess?! Here you can see the stitches on the inside. I kind of like the wonky lines and texture of the perforations. Now I just need to write a message and sign the card.

I've been teaching private lessons to my friend's mom, Sandy. She is making her first quilt from her granddaughter's t-shirts. Yesterday, we laid out all the blocks and she learned how to piece the rows. It was a fun puzzle to put together, and I think we were successful in distributing the colors and sizes.

 

Last one. I quilted an outreach quilt from Ninigret that will be delivered on the 14th. Now I have 6 labels to make and attach before then. I'll print them on my ink jet printer, so it will be a quick job.

 

I need to stop playing with fabric for a few hours and get busy on some computer work. My procrastination became this blog post!