Thank you for the great response to the announcement of the QAL. I can’t wait to see the wonderful quilts that get made from this. Many of you said you planned to use scraps. Even better. As you start selecting fabrics, you something that provides a bit of a contrast so the plus stands out.
Since I don’t have enough going on in life I’m going to make two versions of this during the QAL. I want to use a different size square for a bundle I’ve been hoarding and I want a scrappy version at 2.5″.
Bundle Version
This Lucky bundle by Lotta Jansdotter is the winner for my selection. It will look similar to the quilt in the tutorial once it’s completed. Notice the similarities in the fabrics?
What do you think of this contrast? It’s bright and will work great.
Scraps Version
I had these scraps set aside for a project in a box ages ago. Surprisingly, they will work great for this quilt. For the background of the plus I will use white or gray fabric.
The plus will be scrappy within each color way. More details to come on that. Wondering how a scrappy version may look? Here is one from last year.
Hashtags
Grab those fabrics and let’s see what you’re thinking. Share on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with these hashtags:
Shock is the best way to describe the morning we learned what took place in Orlando overnight. As I listened to the news stories later that day I was stunned. Mass shootings make zero sense to me, that is a whole other topic not fit for this blog.
Previously, I have mentioned that my brother in law is gay. This hits too close to home.
Well, quilters make things when people are in need and the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild has organized a wonderful quilt drive. They are projecting over 1,000 quilt will be received. Here are two I am contributing, my friend Rachael is sending along another. Look at that crinkly goodness.
Let me iterate that number again…
1,000 quilts
That is amazing. What is even better is what the OMQG is going to do with them. They have identified over 800 people directly impacted from the shooting. Survivors, deceased family members, first responders, and the medical community that served the injured.
With the three quilts Rachael and I pieced, we have still have some blocks leftovers. After a discussion with the OMQG and their current workload I’m not sending the remaining blocks. Instead, I will keep them here and make a quilt to donate to a local organization supporting the lgbtq community. This wasn’t an easy decision to make but still supports the original mission of the quilts.
Thank you to my wonderful friends and family that wanted blocks made and those that contributed to getting these finished. You guys are awesome.
Finally a shout out my coworker Christine. She sent me these wonderful blocks. Once I talked to OMQG I decided to make her own quilt and rock it. Digging through the stash there were lots of solids just sitting there.
Check out the back using all solids. Reminded me of Tetris as I was putting it together.
These are going in the mail today and heading to Orlando. My wish is that they provide comfort and peace to a person or family after this event.
Simple patchwork is always some of my favorite. Cut up some 3″ squares and start piecing. It can sometimes feel too easy, but is also therapeutic. All of these fabrics are from my stash and I still can’t figure out what the actual fabric line is.
Do you happen to remember this line? I want to say it’s a Michael Miller or Timeless Treasures line. I just know it’s been in my stash for a few years.
While my main machine was in the shop this beauty was pieced on my original Brother CS6000i. It got quite the workout. Amazingly, it’s still pretty fast and didn’t skip stitches. The quilting was kept simple so I didn’t wear the old machine out.
The back of this quilt may be my favorite part. Even better, used up some fabrics that have been lurking around in my stash. Those Dimples in Pink have probably been with me since 2009. Time for them to be put to use.
Baby boy quilts are up next on my docket so this quilt needs a new home. It’s available in my ETSY store for purchase.
Care to play 27 Dresses? How many bridesmaid dresses do you have in your closet? I have really enjoyed taking a dress from a wedding a creating something for the family on their next steps. Plus it’s a great personalized baby shower gift.
For this quilt I got clearance to go girly. I got a glimpse of the nursery and the overall aesthetic. LOVED it. Plus I had some fabric in my stash that was a great starting point.
By the way…if you adore metallic colors in your fabric, now is a great time to stock up. I knew I wanted gold metallic in this quilt and there were so many options. The collection I curated was a great from StitchStashDiva. Their service was perfect and their selection is comprehensive.
Grabbed some scraps and other fabrics from my stash to help round out this collection. Can you guess what size I cut my blocks?
If you guessed 2.5″ you are correct. From there I started strips of 18 blocks. 12 strips of 18 blocks gives a good size once you add borders. I foresee a few quilts in my future without the borders though.
It makes me so happy when I start seeing the quilt come together. That vision is becoming a reality.
Tip for patchwork quilts like this one: IRON with steam. It’s your friend, use it. Starch could be helpful too.
The name of the baby starts with a K, using some of the dress, I cut out the letter K. Then went zig zag crazy.
I adore the look for the finished quilt.
Backing and binding were mostly dress. Do you see the seafoam green and gold arrows on the back? I was swooning.
Quilt was baby shower approved and now awaits a little girl to snuggle on. Have you re-purposed a bridesmaid dress for a quilt? Considering one as a gift, but don’t want to do the work? Email me quiltytherapy @ gmail .com.
**Warning, not explicit content. However, if you don’t accept gay marriage you should probably stop reading here.**
Now on to the good stuff.
Sexy lumberjacks and flannel. Who wouldn’t swoon over that? Maybe lumberjacks aren’t your thing, but it’s more the visual. Do I have your attention? Wonderful. This flannel explosion was made for two very special men in my life. Kevin & Drew, my wonderful brother-in-laws.
They were married in 2014 in Upstate NY. The idea for this quilt has been floating around in my head for a while. It’s nothing lavish or hard to piece. It’s simple, just like them. Well and their love of flannel. Only thing better would be including some sort of khaki shorts on the quilt.
No clue where all the flannel came from in my stash, but I’ve been storing it in a Charles Shaw wine box from their nuptials for the last couple of years. Nagels know how to drink some cheap wine. I found the box as I was digging around for something in my sewing room. Probably a monster truck that P left in there. Maybe I should actually make them their quilt.
Prior to an Indy Modern Quilt Guild meeting this month I walked into Crimson Tate to just look for some scrap packs. It was the day after the Pride parade here in Indy and the morning we were all learning about the tragedy in Orlando. Looking through the bolts I found a few of this Alexander Henry line and burst out laughing. The fabric is perfect for my brother in laws. Seriously, this is the perfect fabric for the backing of their quilt. They love outdoors, camp in Yosemite, own an obscene amount of flannel, and generally lack these awesome bods. I bought four yards and came home to immediately start on this quilt.
via ahfabrics.com
On the way home from our meeting I listened to a press conference as the details of the early morning tragedy started to be pieced together. It’s very unlikely my brother-in-laws would be at a club like Pulse. They are more the chill at home and stream TV type of couple. However, you never know, they could be out on a random occasion. I held back the tears as I thought about the families waiting to hear any updates and learn about their loved ones. Horrific, tragic and just awful.
I want to wrap my brother-in-laws in love and support. The motivation to start and finish their quilt was even stronger given this event. It shouldn’t matter what someone’s sexual orientation is honestly. Would you care that your vet is gay when your dog has swallowed something and in grave condition? Or your cat needs to be neutered? How does that impact the performance of the job? It does not.
LOVE THE BACK!!!
This is something I refuse to debate. I’m open to listening to your thoughts if you feel the need, but I’m not going to debate gay marriage with anyone. I fully support it and laws against it directly affect my family.
The quilt now lives near San Francisco, better get used, and go on many adventures. Kevin & Drew, I want documentation that this quilt went on adventures. They didn’t know this was coming and LOVE it! Hell, take it to concerts, maybe The Decemberists.
Bright birch quilt at the Decemberists @ Ommegang Brewery July 2015
To help spread the love, I will be making blocks for #quiltsforpulse. Blocks to spread love and comfort. More on that later.
Well that project got completely scrapped. Something about the colors wasn’t right for me. Maybe it’s that coral pink. Too soft for me? Not sure, but my gut instinct wasn’t liking this quilt. I’m not going to put something out there that I wouldn’t be proud of or want to rip to shreds everytime I see it.
In a late night frenzy I started over again. Digging through scraps and stash I found a darker pink and a better yellow. Less mustard, more orange. The colors worked better together.
This is much better. Once all of the strips were pieced the quilt top wasn’t quite big enough. So I added a gray border. Perfect spot to incorporate the first part of the bridesmaid dress. A little “G”.
The darker pink is a nice contrast to the softer pink from the dress. For quilting I went with straight lines, not sure how the dress on the back would hold up to FMQ.
It’s backed in a big portion of the dress and the lovely jade solid. The binding is a double binding with the liner of the dress and the overlay. It was challenging to pull off, but I adore the finished result.
This finished quilt is more my style and I was happy to pass along for the baby shower. Apparently, it was a huge hit. It’s all in the details. Taking bits and pieces from someone’s wedding and then transforming it into something for their baby.
It pays off to go with your gut as an artist. While the triangle quilt would have been okay, this is perfection and more reflective as me as an artist. It feels weird and it’s hard to say you really don’t like something. Great concept but not the right project.
Now I have some fabrics added to the stash that I’m not sure what to do with.
