Blue Geo Baby Quilt

It was bound to happen sooner or later!  Finished!  It's easy to put off finishing a quilt when you are given months advance notice.  I would think to myself that I have plenty of time, I'll do it next week, it won't take too long...but I also knew that time flies and that deadline would be here before I knew it.

BABY GEO POP
34" X 45" 

I finished piecing the top at the end of July (Baby Blue Geo), at which time I set it aside waiting for the quilting bug to strike.  It finally did and now it is off my list and out the door!



With so many quilts I often have no idea how I'll quilt them.  I try to go a different route, but always end up with the same quilting design...especially with this pattern.  



While each 'Geo Pop' quilting design is different, I use the same ideas.  Straight lines and grids.  It's effective and I always enjoy the final results.



The back always is the best place to see the detail!  I used Kona Navy on the back and choose a dark blue thread for the square and rectangle and a light blue for the rest of the quilt.



Between the front and the back, this quilt doesn't lack in geometric department!  I kind of like the lighter thread on the dark backing.



I hope my sister, who asked if I'd make a quilt for her friend, will love it.  But mostly I hope the expecting parents and eventual baby boy will love it even more!  



I just love this design...can you tell?!  I'm a Half Square Triangle cult member...willingly and happily!

PATTERN AVAILABLE HERE:  GEO POP

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Girly Delight :: Baby Geo

I can't resist the color combination of pink and coral!  I'm sure it's obvious that pink is my it color and has been for some time now.  This Baby Geo quilt was my first project in my new work space and it showed me that even with limited space and a high traffic area, I can still manage to create.  There are challenges, but it can be done!

BABY GEO
34" X 45"

To piece a quilt like this it takes less than a day.  Perfect for someone who wants a quick finish.  Half square triangles are good for that!

The part that takes the longest is the quilting part!  That is if you want to go hog wild and quilt it to death.  Which is my preferred method with these geometric HST quilts.

This was the first time that I did a special kind of motif in the center of one of the squares.  I figured I may as well play a little bit and change things up.  It's basically a pretty simple design, but it added a special touch to the finish. 

The back shows the detail a little better.  It seemed like the perfect place to embellish with quilting.

For the square and rectangle I used Aurifil Peony (2440) and the remainder of the quilt is Aurifil Bright Pink (2425).  There was an exception made for the center of the square where I used 4 different colors.  Other than that...I kept it pretty simple!

 

There's a lot going on here!  Diamonds, grid, 1/2" lines, 3/4" lines and free motion quilting.  However it all works together I think.  I really like to quilt this way.  The kitchen sink of straight lines and all you can do with them.  Since I don't really have a concrete plan when I quilt, half the fun is making all the sections fit together seamlessly.  Like I actually did plan it out! 

Some people love taking photos of their quilts with a twist in the middle...I love throwing it in a pile!  It seems to be my go to photo!

My next Baby Geo will be using a dark blue for the rectangle and lighter blues surrounding each shape.  It'll happen soon as it's a custom request for my sister.  She knows a friend who is expecting...and I'm here to help!

PATTERN AVAILABLE HERE:  GEO POP

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY  

A Softer Side :: Pastel

I'm going soft!  In the never ending exploration of quilting I've decided it's time I try a different color avenue.  One that I really haven't done, but have always wanted to.  I'm testing the waters so to speak.  Don't get too use to it, I'm still a huge fan of bright, bold and saturated colors!

It isn't that I haven't thought about making a quilt in pastels, because I have.  Maybe I had to have the stars line up, but actually I didn't know what quilt design to go with!

'SWEET DREAMS'
30" x 41.5"

Then one day out of the blue, it hit me.  There was no reason to reinvent the wheel, so I decided to stay in my comfort zone.   The good old Half Square Triangle!  

This quilt is one of my go to designs.  Bright and bold with a neutral gray border.  I always match the center blocks with the same color but different shades and top it off with the center accent.  Completely opposite from the soft pastel quilt.  



One of my favorite things about this design, besides the simplicity of the block, the uncomplicated layout and the color options, is the quilting options!



If you have followed along with my adventures, you know that quilting is the one area that stumps me!  Mostly with free motion, but I've had my battles with the old walking foot too!  With this design I know the only thing I'm going to do is geometric straight lines.   



That philosophy works with my usual color combination, but it wasn't going to cut it with this one!  I think it had to do with the fact I used Kona Snow with the pastels and it created a very loud and proud grid!  What to do, what to do?!  

Well, to start with concentric 1/2" lines in the white squares of course!  I used Aurifil white thread in those blocks.

The blocks with color needed a bit more pizazz!  I hunted for thread in six magical pastel colors before I knew where I was going, but it happened.  I don't know what you call the quilting design, I'll call it Sun Rays until I know differently!  

Bonus HST's For The Win!

I've been neck deep in so many projects lately, most on their way to becoming patterns.  That being said I haven't even started writing said patterns!!  It's really hard for me to psych myself up for the arduous task!  I feel like I'm putting undo pressure on myself!  I have issues!

Back in February at our Guild Retreat I brought along a stack of fabric for my Flying Geese quilt.  I was pretty excited because I was finally using my bundle of Alison Glass Handcrafted fabric.  

Making flying geese is a repetitive process.  Even more so when you sew an extra line for bonus half square triangles.  It's totally worth it though! Adding the extra stitch line will keep all my triangles together and when I'm ready to use them all I have to do is press and trim.

After stitching from corner to corner, sew another line 1/2" from the original line.  Then just grab your rotary cutter and ruler and cut between the stitch lines.  Now you have a bonus HST ready to rock and roll whenever you are!

This is what I came up with.  First, I got to use all my blue HST's and all my Kona Celestial scraps.  All this came from a hefty stack of flying geese!

I store my bonus HST's in a tote to keep them nice and neat.  I've always had the need to use every scrap from a project right away.  I have a fear that if I don't, I might never use them or they will get shoved in a dark corner never to see the light of day.  This also explains why I might have two or three quilts back to back in the same color!

The hardest part was picking a design.  As you well know, there are so many possibilities with half square triangles.  Part of my predicament was that I had three different sizes.  

I had trimmed the bonus blocks to 1 1/2", 2 1/2" and 3 1/2".  Easy enough, but I had to make all three sizes work together.  Eventually...I did.

To make maters a little more complicated, I set the blocks on-point.  I planned on stacking each set of sizes for something a little different. 

Blocks pieced, blocks trimmed.  Three blocks, three sizes.  

  

The 1 1/2" HST's finished at 1" for a 10" block, 2 1/2" HST's finished at 2" for a 20" block and the 3 1/2" HST's finished at 3" for a 30" block.  Now I had something to work with!

Afterward, I grabbed the background fabric and filled in.  By the time I was finished I ended up with one small piece of background fabric and I used all but two HST's!

I did have to make half a dozen small and maybe a dozen large HST's to complete the squares.  But it was still worth it and a win win for me.  I got to use even more of the Handcrafted scraps!  Whatever was left will get pieced together for the back.  

Now to get some backing fabric and quilt it!  Story of my life!!  The top finished at 46" x 65"!  Not a bad size for scraps!  I kind of like how it turned out.  It feels very Bohemian to me!

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Mod Quad :: HST

I'm captivated!  Obsessed, smitten, enamored and gaga with Half Square Triangles that is!  It's not just about this quilt or the seemingly hundreds that I've made.  It's the fact that you can take a simple block and configure it into so many different things.  Simple or elaborate.  Big blocks, small blocks or combined.  

This latest quilt was inspired by one I made in January: Bye Bye Hand Dyed, where I used the last of my hand dyed fabrics.  I very well could have done an exact copy of it, but why not try something different!

Mod Quad
36 1/2" x 49"

As you can see it's a simple design focusing on different shades of yellow and light orange for the main rectangle.  Using negative space puts the emphasis on the shapes allowing them to be front and center.  Which is what I like about this particular design.  

You can add HST's to make your shape larger, or smaller - a square or rectangle - or both.

I like to play with straight line quilting when I make this type of design.  I tend to use 1/2" to 3/4" wide lines on smaller quilts and 3/4" to 1 1/2" on larger ones.  And I love trying to create interest with the lines.  

Focusing on the shape.  Or making a 'ghost' shape that is like a block in the quilt.  In this case it was the smaller block.  

I ended up quilting a series of blocks in a row.  This picture of the back shows what I mean by 'series' much better.

I've always had a special fondness for the combination of yellow and gray, so I grabbed my Aurifil 50 wt. spool of Canary (#2120) for this quilting adventure.  I love how it stands out against the Kona Shadow gray.  

I recently confiscated a stack of solids from my daughter Britt's stash and thought the bright orange would be a good compliment to the design.

I usually map out sections before quilting focusing on one large section for lines and then working the other areas with either a different width of lines or a different direction.

This was the first time I added the double lines in the corner.  Something different, yet it worked.

What's a post from me about a quilt without the usual 'pile' picture?!  The only think that would be better than this is if it had that dreamy crinkled look after washing!

Do you get sick of seeing the same old block in quilts?  Can there be too much of a good thing?

I think too much of a good thing can only be food related!  Too much ice cream, too much chocolate, maybe too much wine...but never too much when it comes to the creativeness and inventive ways of HST'S!

LINKING:

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Finished or Not