My 2015 Quilts

There was one additional quilt in 2015 that I cannot yet show.  More to come on that in 2016!
Happy New Year!

Gretchen

Baby's Pink Diamonds

     A pink quilt for a new baby girl!  I cut 5-inch squares from various pinks in my stash, as well as squares of Kona white.  I then sewed 50 of those together to get the 99 half square triangles used in this quilt. 

My 5- inch squares in a variety of pinkish fabrics

     I had some adorable Alexander Henry "calico cat" fabric from 2008 (!) that I finally found a use for as the back of this quilt.  I could never bring myself to cut up these elongated cats, but backing was a perfect use!

     I quilted it using a very free form orange peel pattern on the triangles.  Some are fat, some are thin, but overall, it turned out fine.  

Before binding and washing.  The binding is a pink Kona cotton. 

 After washing, the quilt turned out nice and crinkly.  

The finished quilt is about 40 x 50 - a nice size for wrapping up a baby!

Here is a better look at the cats on the back!

 Welcome to the world, baby Natalie Mae!  

Merry Christmas to all and I am looking forward to lots of quilting in 2016!

Take care,
Gretchen

Baby Lumberjack Quilt

     I have only nine first cousins, and they are all dear to me.  The first of us is now a grandmother - and I wanted to create a quilt for that new baby boy!  His parents were married in a forested park, with everyone wearing lumberjack jackets and apparel.  I decided to try to make a quilt which had the same vibe.  I had remnants of many homespun fabrics which had been used for a number of quilts such as this one.  I decided those would work!

      I cut the strips into 12 inch long pieces, and then sewed them together randomly.

        I then cut two 5 1/2 inch wide strips from each piece, which I sewed together into 8 long rows.

      The random width of the strips made for a very scrappy look.

      I finally got a Tiara II, after years of dreaming.  This is my first finished quilt on my new machine!

      I still have some practicing to do, but was pleased over all at the ease of quilting with all the room on the table, and pretty happy with the stitching (I did not buy the stitch regulator yet)

      I tried a new free motion pattern, and I like how it looks.  I certainly do it again.

      The backing is a mix of two fabrics I have been hoarding, both of which seemed perfect for this quilt.  Below is an Alexander Henry fabric, showing kids camping.

      The other is also an Alexander Henry fabric, full of little mushrooms!

      Here is my trusty quilt holder on a calm November day, showing off the back of the quilt.

      It washed up nice and crinkly.  It is a bit big for a baby quilt, 50 x 38, but will certainly keep him warm!

Welcome to the family, baby Theo!

Take care,
Gretchen

Finished Christmas Table Runners!

The finished runners on a beautiful fall day!

     My project to use up yards of my Christmas fabric stash by making some Christmas table runners is complete.  I've written about my efforts here, here, and  here .  Before putting on the binding, I calculated that these 14 runners used up about 15 yards of fabric.  I think the binding used up at least 4 more.   I have not yet run out of fabric (although these made a huge dent in the pile), but I may have run out of steam!  I finished these a few weeks ago, but bad weather, the time change and a busy workplace hindered my blogging updates!

All the runners on the deck. 

One of the runners in a more realistic setting.  

I remembered to add my tag to each of the runners!

Following are more pictures of the fronts and backs of these runners. 

     Glad to get these done!   I just got a Tiara II, and am spending time getting used to that, and I have a few non-holiday projects that I must get to.  It is hard to believe, looking at those calm waves, that last year about this time (11/17), we got hammered with 7 feet of snow!

View of the deck last November.  Hmmmm, the lake looks the same.  

Here is hoping for a less snowy November.

Take care,
Gretchen

Christmas Fabric #3

     Whew - 14 table runners backed and quilted.  Next step - binding!  
     Here is the original huge holiday fabric stash!  The runner tops used up about 10 yards of fabric.    

The stash before starting. 

The seven chevron runner tops.    I also made four checkerboard tops and three tumbler runners.

These got used up  for backing

     After I got pieced the backing, I also used up lots of batting strips, using some Heat Press Batting Together Batting Tape.  I pinned the first few, then I took advantage of the nice weather, and used quilting adhesive spray (outside) to stick the rest together.  I used a can of 505 that I had on hand, and got another of Dritz.  Both worked fine.  

     On to the quilting - I started with the first runner, trying a leaf motif on each strip of fabric.  That took way too long -  I am giving these out this Christmas - not in 2020! 

The time consuming (and not particularly beautiful) leaf pattern.

      I had to come up with a easier quilting motif.   What came to mind was that colorful ribbon candy -

     Using that as an inspiration, I quilted the rows in the big loopy loop -

The ribbon motif on the back.

    For the tumbler block runners, I quilted alongside the seam lines with a walking foot.

For the checkboard tops, I used a big zig zag stitch with my walking foot, and spaced the lines fairly evenly. 

   Quite a lot of fabric (about 7 yards) got used making the backs. Here's a look at all of the backs - 

 

Chester - the Christmas cat elf! 

      It turns out that I have many more yards of Christmas fabric to use up.  I'll keep you posted!

Enjoy the start of Fall!
Take care,
Gretchen