Another Secret Surprise!

It's that time again!  I've made another Mini Quilt for an unsuspecting victim person!  I can say that there are so many amazing people in our little quilting world.  People who inspire, people who have become friends, people who support, people I can't imagine living without. You know the saying 'there is nothing like quilty friends'.  So true.  

I decided a couple months ago that I would start thanking random people for making my journey a hundred times better than I ever thought it could be.  In May I made my Crystallized Glacier Mini Quilt for one such person.  They were truly surprised, shocked and it made their day!  

Let's do it again, shall we?!  Rainbow hearts are everywhere and I gotta say I'm honored to have been a part of the quilt drive sponsored by  The Orlando Quilt Guild.  I'm sure many of you have saved and even used the sliced off corners from the hearts.  I couldn't let them linger or get tossed away.  And in the end, they inspired me to make my next secret surprise quilt.

14 3/4" x 14 3/4"

A warm welcome to Mama Heart and Baby Heart!  How could I resist showing both together?!  

I grabbed the rainbow corners and stitched them together giving me one big stack of half square triangles.  I was able to pick and choose my rainbow colors which was harder than I thought it would be!  I trimmed the HST's to 3" square, arranged the heart shape, and then added the low volume squares.  The rest was a breeze. Sew the blocks, press, sew the rows, press and done. 

Which left only the quilting and binding.  I had just read a blog, A Quilters Table where Debbie had quilted her quilt using a grid design.  It obviously stuck in my mind, because that is almost exactly what I decided to do with this heart.  Sweet inspiration!

The squares are roughly 1/4", and the grid is just in the inside of the heart.  I quilted the vertical lines using a neutral thread, but I still wanted to bring in some color and fun.  I decided to quilt 1/4" horizontal lines in each heart color using a matching thread, and carrying it through the center with double lines.  

I ended up using 12 different thread colors in the center.  The corners and center were finished off with the neutral thread.  I couldn't be happier, I do love dense quilting!

I couldn't stop there, now could I?

I've done this before, its been a while...piecing the binding to extend the color.  One more fine detail!  I can't say I didn't struggle, cursed a few times, or even that it's perfect.  Do you ever get to the point when you want something done?  You work too fast, make mistakes and it usually takes twice as long?  It wasn't even that I was sick of this darn thing either!  I was so anxious to see it finished and get the binding sewn on!

So yeah, it's a little off here and there.  Aren't we all?!  Let's not go that far, won't speak for everyone!

You can see the quilting a little better on the back.  And that my friends, is just what I was hoping for!

(Tutorial for Hanging a Mini Quilt)

The backing is Architextures Crosshatch in grey (Caroline Friedlander).  A fat quarter that has lingered a while in my stash was perfect for the backing and the corners.  

This is a simply simple, delightfully delicious way to use those corner HST's you have stacking up!

LINKING:

TGIFF

Oh Scrap!

Can I get A Whoop Whoop

Fabric Frenzy 

Graphic Second Chance Quilt

Something got in to me!  I thought it would be easy to take a stack of blocks from a previous quilt, blocks that I messed up and couldn't use, and make a quick and easy quilt.  I thought a small quilt, baby size.  I thought....let's not go down that rabbit hole!

Quick and easy was thrown out the window in no time.  Keeping it simple was replaced by 'just one more'!  One batch of blocks was just not hitting the spot.  About the only thing that remained the same was black and white.

It's the way I like to work.  Plan...what plan?!  Make it up as you go and in the end it'll look like I knew exactly what I was doing or wanted.  One thing always leads to another working this way.  

These blocks were the starting point.  They provoked me, prodded me and in the end forced me to 'make them pretty'.  They were intended to be a part of my Optical Illusion quilt from last year, but didn't quite make the cut.  How could they...I totally messed them up!   

4" blocks

It didn't take but a second to know I needed (or wanted) to add color.  A solution presented itself and I went with it!  I had a pile of 1" strips already cut from a previous project and decided they would be the perfect way to bring in some color.

I framed the center blocks with the 1" strips and added the outside border to make each block 7 1/4".  Not real sure how I decided on that size!

I also had some black and white strips cut, so I quickly made some nine patch center blocks for another added element.  I like where this is going!  

I placed them on my design wall, twisted, turned and wracked my brain to make it work...it didn't. I considered using solid black and white squares to 'grow' it bigger, it just wasn't working.  

Back to the drawing board in my head again.

Which resulted in these blocks.  I picked white as the background so that the quilt didn't become heavy.  I didn't want the quilt to become weighed down with dark, black would not have been a good choice!

More blocks were still needed.  Really?  Where did the 'quick' finish go?!

That block on the bottom right...it was a valiant effort on my part.  I thought I could introduce the polka dot fabric in to the design, but it wasn't meant to be.  Talk about weighing a quilt down!  It felt like a lead weight and they were quickly set aside.

I kept making, experimenting, trying to make this 'quick' quilt come together.  A few improv, some wonkyness and some normal blocks made the final cut.  In the end, I used ever piece of white I had on hand!  I just barely, barely made it!  

It should end up to be about 40" x 54", not huge, not small...just right!  It has a scrappy, graphic, funky vibe to it.  When I started it felt like a race car theme was developing. 

That was not at all where I wanted this quilt to end up!  Luckily, I don't think it did!  For now, it is sandwiched, pinned and ready to quilt.  One day it will happen.

All blocks deserve a second chance.  They need not sit in a dark corner, on a dark shelf, way in the back, forgotten.  A little imagination, determination, configuration...and time on your hands can develop and evolve in to something amazing!

LINKING:

Main Crush

Sew Cute

Let's Bee Social

Needle & Thread

Me & Modern By The Yard E-Zine

I have kept this big news under wraps for a while now, but today I can share it with you!  

If you haven't heard or seen, Benartex Fabric has a FREE E-Zine (yes, I said FREE) called 'Modern By The Yard'.  

I was contacted and asked if I would be interested in making a project for Issue #2.  I needed to use a newly released fabric, make a project and write a tutorial.  It was an opportunity I couldn't refuse!  I am so thankful and beyond thrilled!

Check it out!

The fabric I used is called 'Circle Play' by Ann Lauer.  A mixture of circles, geometrics and loads of color!  I picked four prints to highlight from this collection.  The prints are totally out of my comfort zone, but pairing them with solids is a good way to get over the fear while still having that 'comfort blanket' next to you.

Here is 'Twisting Tiles'!  I wanted to keep it open and airy, yet controlled and modern. The squares remind me of tiles and once I decided on the quilting design, Twisting Tiles was born!  I quilted pebbles in the very center, with fans in the corners.  Adding the concentric circles around the center medallion seems to have been a great option.  It adds the perfect amount of flow and keeps with the 'twisting' of the tiles.

I'm so happy with how my quilt looks in this picture!  It is so pretty above that gorgeous teal table! Honestly, I need some help in the staging department.

I wish I had had more pictures of the process to share, but it was a very, very tight deadline for me!

I hope you take the time to check out the new E-Zine - MODERN BY THE YARD and maybe even make a project or two! There are some really great ones include in issue #2 and not just from me!  

LINKING:

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

TGIFF

All Good Things Must End ~ For The Moment!

I get tunnel vision when it comes to some things.  Like my hand dyed fabrics!  I tend to dye a big old stack of every color in the rainbow, cut them in to squares and make a ginormous pile of half square triangles.  There's something about the texture, the subtle variation in colors that never seem to bore me.  Which always leads me to make a quilt, or two or three, until every HST has been carefully sewn in to one big (or small) quilt!  (Here is Quilt #1)

33" x 45"

One of my all time favorite designs, my 'go to' baby quilt, is this one.  I arrange and rearrange the blocks until I get just the right combination.  Pink, yellow, purple, green, blue and orange.  

The key is to pick four different shades of one color for each block.  The half square triangles were trimmed to 7 1/2" and the center squares are 2".  I layout the HST's into color groupings, pick four 2" squares for the centers, mark a diagonal line, sew and trim. 

The block itself is pretty simple, pretty basic.  Maybe its the colors, or the hand dyed fabric, perhaps the borders or quilting?!  I'm going with all of the above...it can pack a punch when it's all said and done!  

I often add an inside border, usually 1 1/2" to 2" and finish it with a 3"  wide border in grey. Quilting is another way to add some punch!  My favorite quilting is straight lines in a geometric design.

This was the first time I used 'wild colors'!  By wild I mean, pink, green and aqua.  I thought it would be a fun twist and something different for a change.  

Once I have divided the quilt into sections, I grab my 24" ruler, my trusty Hera marker and proceed marking 1/2" to 1" lines in each section.  Marking the lines gives me a guide to follow while I'm quilting.  They are rarely perfectly perfect!  I can only imagine how they would look if I didn't mark first!  

   

I like the effect, especially when they converge and make a grid!

The cherry on top is always the magic of a 'wash & dry'!  

That was quilt #2...this is quilt #3:

53" x 77"

This baby is all HST's!  Not randomly placed, there was actually order involved!  

And this is quilt #4:

54" x 79"

When I say I get tunnel vision...I'm seriously not kidding!  I used every single HST I had! And when that wasn't enough, I added grey to the corners.  It made for a nice frame and also, different from my usual!  

Maybe I'm afraid if I don't use all the fabric or HST's all at once, I'll never use them?!  I don't exactly know, I can't figure myself out either!  What's done is done! 

What is your 'go to' 'fail safe' design or block?

LINKING:

Let's Bee Social

Needle & Thread
TGIFF