Somewhere along the years I was 'gifted' my daughters unfinished quilts. There came a point where I was determined to finish what she started because they were definitely worthy. I've worked one or two in between my quilts, but there is still work to do!
The latest is a quilt called Lilly Pilly. It's a beautiful applique quilt that was begging for progress! And progress is exactly what happened!
I rarely jump into the applique world, but for this I made an exception. When my daughter started this she was living in Bloomington and working at a fabric store. She brought it home one weekend and she and I cut and fused all the tiny pieces onto the tree. I'm going to say it was probably 2009-ish...I have very little sense of time gone by!
The fabrics are Kaffe Fassett and the applique is raw edge. I can handle zig zag stitching around edges! Britt had the branches and trunk and a couple dozen leaves done, but I had the bulk of the remaining foliage to complete. I had to match her stitch length and thread color, which isn't exact! Close enough to make the mad dash to a finished top though!
Stitching around each leaf went surprisingly quick! And that fueled me to keep going until every leaf, bird and wing was done.
I wasn't going to let applique or the knowledge of applique hold me back. Whether or not I did it the right way wasn't the point, getting it done was!
The top is done...the top is done...the top is done...and one day I will quilt it! This was a big step and a huge accomplishment. I wouldn't want to push it too far all at once!
I'm pretty sure I'll dust off the FMQ chops and see if I can't take it to another level. You will be hearing and seeing about that when it happens! I am excited about finishing this for my daughter. Or me. I'm not sure where ownership changes hands after all this time!
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I had a plan. Pin baste and quilt my Kona Highlight quilt and get it off my design wall. Unfortunately, I didn't have the right backing. It's on order and I'm patiently waiting for it to arrive.
With spare time on my hands, I was looking through my box of 5" blocks (cut from left over scraps) and came across three pretty butterflies. They have hovered in my stash for years, literally years! I kept pushing them aside not wanting to do anything with them and certainly not wanting to through them away! Heaven forbid!
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| 12" Spewing Butterflies |
The colors match perfectly fine with the Birthday Quilt I made for my daughter a few months back, and since she is moving into her new place...I decided to whip up a little surprise for her! A pillow! A small pillow ~ it's 12" square.
Once I decided the layout, I fused the butterflies to the background fabric. I used Pellon Wonder Under (#805R) because that's what I had on hand. Everything in this pillow is something I had on hand, no special treatment just because it was for my daughter! With the butterflies fused to the fabric, it was ready to quilt.
I think the stitch I used around the edges is called a blanket stitch, its one I use nearly every time I do applique, which isn't very often.
Now you see why I call this pillow 'Spewing Butterflies'! The lines coming from the butterflies represent antennas, lots of antennas!
The rest of the pillow, I free motion quilted wild loops. What do you call that?! Loopy loops? Meandering loops? Let's just say it was a good try and move on!
After I wash and dry, all was good again! I was shocked that there wasn't even the slightest fraying around the butterflies. Is it the Pellon?
The back is 'Wanderer' by April Rhodes. One of the many fat quarters I had left over from the Birthday Quilt. I went with an envelope closure because with a fat quarter that was the best I could do!
The good news, she loved her pillow and it sits upon her bed on top of her quilt! I really spoil that girl! The truth is, this is really super 'cutsie'! Which I'm not known for! Fun and fast was just what I needed at the moment!
I have one more surprise for her...see...spoiled! It's my first hand quilting project which I'm still working on, but I'm super excited about it! Here's a sneak peek!
Do you applique? What do you use when doing applique for the fusing part?
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How about that?! I've actually been ahead of the game and have a post and quilt ready for Throwback Thursday! Thanks Jenn for the gentle reminder! Maybe not by much, a half a day, but that counts and it seems to be the way I operate.
Pink. Yes it is! It doesn't happen often, but I've been known to make a quilt with prints occasionally!
This one was made for my Great-Niece Kailee. Way back in 2009 when I just wanted to make, make, make...it was suggested I make a quilt for Kailee. She loved pink then, now I'm not sure, but I knew I couldn't go wrong back then.
If I recall, as it's been a few years, this pattern was in an issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. The circles are applique using the freezer paper method.
This was my first attempt at applique. My first run in with freezer paper. My first shot at blanket stitching. And my very first time at quilting anything other than straight lines!
The fabric is by Kumiko Sudo - Haru Kaze (Spring Breeze). This fabric reminds me of a water color painting. Soft and delicate, a touch of Asian and not to little girl pink!
How about this for a first time 'design'?! I knew the big circles needed something other than the usual, and if I was oh so careful...I knew I could do it. Slowly, slowly, very slowly I went.
The back in this picture is rather dull. In real life it wasn't...bad camera and inexperience played a big part in this! It's hard to believe that I use to quilt the bare minimum back then! Now it's quilt until it's dead!
I would embroider my name, city, state and date on a triangle for each quilt I made. My family was not going to forget who made this quilt for them!
A matching pillow case was needed for a little girls first quilt. I don't remember how I made this pillow case. I wonder if I winged it or found a pattern somewhere. It doesn't look like it, but just under the circles I machine embroidered Kailee's name across the pillow case.
I often wonder if she still uses her little quilt. Has she out grown it? Did she snuggle in it when she was sick or cold or watching T/V? Kailee lives back in Portland Oregon, where I lived before Tennessee. We rarely get back to visit, but it doesn't mean I don't think about all my family back there often. Especially this time of the year.
Really the only Holiday themed quilting I have done were these Christmas stockings. I hunted for the picture in the deep, dark depths of the horrible photo archives!
One was for my daughter, one for her then boyfriend and one was for a friend of my son. I don't often sew anything other than quilts, especially in the early days! These looked like fun and I could get crazy with the fabric!
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