Wedding Quilt for T & S

This quilt was made for my nephew T and his fiance S.  It is inspired by the artwork of Piet Mondrian.  I shared how I made the quilt top in my previous post.  

  

I got it loaded on the frames with a gray minky backing.  Then I quilted it with simple wavy lines like Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.  

I thought that the wavy lines would hold it together without taking over the modern design.  

I think I accomplished that.  

It is bound in a solid black to blend in with the border.  

While it has been finished for awhile, I had a hard time getting some good photos of it.  I'm happy to share it today.  

  

I'm excited to give it to T and S this weekend!

Even if it does look right at home in my piano room.  ;)

XX,

Jasmine

Bear Tracks: My Original Design

My husband's Christmas quilt, "Bear Tracks" is now finished!  Jan unknowingly helped me name this quilt when she referred to it as bear tracks in her comment on my first post about the quilt.  I am so grateful for her help, because I couldn't figure out what to call it.  The names that came to my mind were "Walk in the Woods" or "Bear Walk."  I like "Bear Tracks" much better. 

I designed this quilt because I couldn't find any outdoorsy prints to do a simple patchwork.  I decided to use bear paw blocks to match the fuzzy minky I wanted to use for the back. 

After I sketched it out, I went to buy the fabric when my LQS was having a great sale.  I tried to select fabrics which would give the quilt an ombre feel, and I think I succeeded. 

I just love taking a pile of fabric and turning it into a cuddly quilt.  It turned out even better than I imagined.

It was actually made at my husband's request.  He asked me, "Do I get a fuzzy quilt?"  So this is his Christmas present, finished nice and early.  But now I have to wait three months before giving it to him. He requested a longer quilt (7 feet instead of 6) and an outdoorsy look.  I think I fulfilled his request.  He has officially been banned from reading my blog until Christmas. 

Because this is to be a cuddle quilt, I quilted it simply by stitching in the ditch. 

I love the way it looks on the back. 

I added a label to one corner, and used Leanne's tutorial which has you stitch around it before hand sewing it to the quilt.  This extra step was so worth it. 

I used the same green from the corners for the binding which I sewed down by machine. 

It looks great in our family room. 

But he better be careful, because other people may try to confiscate his quilt.  I had to reclaim it from Cheetah to hide it until Christmas.  (Good thing Cheetah will receive his own quilt this Christmas.)

Quilt Stats #113
Name: Bear Tracks
Pattern: Designed by me
Quilting Design: Stitch in the ditch
Fabric: Miscellaneous browns from my LQS
Amount Used: 8 yards
Batting: Warm and White
Size: About 60 x 84 inches
Date Finished: September 2014
What I Learned:

• I like stitching around the edge on the label before hand sewing it to the quilt.
• It is easier to ban my husband from the craft room for sneaky sewing than my children. 
• It is fun to design a quilt with someone special in mind. 

So now I have one Christmas quilt finished and three more to do.  It will be a bit harder to find my sneaky sewing time.  Hopefully my husband will take them for more long bike rides and other father/son activities.   And my husband is now able to come in the craft room, as long as he doesn't start looking in the boxes or other containers where the quilt may be hiding.  ;o)

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Finish it up Friday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop. 

P.P.S.  I am also linking up with Jennie of Porch Swing Quilts for her Santa's Sweatshop linky party. 

Elk in the Woods: An Older Finish

I was right that I wouldn't have time to quilt during Spring Break, so I thought I would post about a slightly older finish.  :D 

I finished this quilt in January, but I didn't want to blog about it until after someone's birthday.  I call it "Elk in the Woods" and gave it to my sweet husband for his birthday.  He was really surprised, and wondered where I got the fabric.  ;)

[Panda loved the little quilt (coaster) that came with it, but Monkey was more interested in helping daddy open the next present!]

The fabric is a Riley Blake and actually came from the scraps of these two quilts which I made for the grandfathers last year.  It was their Father's Day/Birthday gifts last year. 

The only thing I had to purchase was the backing.  It is a Thimbleberries print. 

I think it is so funny that I could surprise my husband, because I know he saw me cutting out the fabric once or twice, and it did hang on my design wall at one time.  Sometimes I am glad he is a little forgetful. 

I cut out all of the squares at 3 inches except for three which I cut out at 5.5 inches.  I kept three big elk in the quilt.  I was careful when fussy cutting out the elk fabric, because I didn't want any squares with just elk behinds.  Having three boys, I did not want to go there.  Lol. 

I really like the way it turned out and my husband loves it.  He plans on hanging it in his office at work.  What a sweety! 

I had four left over 3 inch squares, so I used them to make a little coaster.  Panda thinks it is so cool and likes to use it to rub his face.  He told me that his Pooh Bear now needs a little quilt. 

Quilt Stats #84
Name:  Elk in the Woods
Pattern:  My own scrappy design
Fabric:  Riley Blake and Thimbleberries
Amount used: 2 yards of fabric
Batting:  Warm and White
Size:  about 25 x 30 inches
Date finished: January 2014
What I learned:

• I love making smaller quilts with scraps that are all from one line (especially when they don't play so well with my other scraps). 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday.  The buttons for these fun linkys are now on my side bar. 

P.P.S.  I am also linking up with Oh Scrap at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

My Original Seasonal Wall Hangings

I love the Thimbleberries Cover Story Quilts (mentioned in this post), but I was disappointed that there wasn't one for every month.  They only included the seasons and some holidays.  I was determined to change that. 

I found a cute calendar which had sweet, innocent pictures similar to the ones used in the Thimbleberries panels.  I scanned them in to my computer and designed quilts to go around them.  I made each quilt finish at 32 x 34 inches, so they would be the same as the other nine quilts.  They were all finished in 2006 and 2007. 

I made two of each of these four quilts.  There is one for my mom and one for me.  I printed the panels on a iron on transfer, but wish that I had purchased the more expensive pre-prepared fabric to print on.  Regardless of what the panels are made of, I love them.  It gives me warm fuzzies to know that I designed and made them. 

I will be showing these in order of the months, rather than in the order I finished them. 

Welcome Spring

 

 

Orchard Blossoms

 

 

A June Bride

 

 

Gone Fishing

 

 

These quilts all have a light cream or muslin on the back.  They were made with Warm and Natural cotton batting.  They have simple machine quilting, mostly stitching in the ditch. 

 

I love having a quilt for every month to hang behind my door.  Have you ever designed your own quilts?  This was a first for me. 

 

XX,

Jasmine