Giving Handmade

Giving handmade gifts can by tricky.  If you are a maker you know what I mean.  You work hard on something and you're never really sure the receiver will actually like it.  You've picked out the fabric and pattern and decided what to make.  You put yourself out there and give a gift you love.  I guess this is true of all gifts, but the material and time it takes to make something raises the stakes.  For the most part I've got a decent radar for who will appreciate a handmade gift, so I try not to worry too much about it.

Last Christmas I received a charm pack of fabric from a colleague who knows I love to quilt.  The pack was the Gooseberry Lane line from Kansas Troubles Quilters.  I know this person loves handmade things, and the gift was actually a bit lucky, I'll tell you why.  She picked the fabric, so I had to assume it was something she would like.  This little piece of the process made me feel confident in making her something as a gift. 

I decided to make a small mini quilt using my Temecula Minis Postcards patterns (unfortunately no longer available).  The pattern really fit the country style of the the fabric.  I used a matching red thread to quilt in the long strips, and stitched in the ditch around the blocks.  I also used their method for binding a small quilt, which you can see here along with some other tips. 

And in the end, she loved it.  A win for me and a win for her.  Now...how to get other people to buy you fabric...hmmmm.   

P.S.  She also got a cute market bag, free pattern by Sharon Holland here.  

Happy Sewing! 

LIMQG Inspiration Board Swap

At the November Long Island Modern Quilt Guild meeting we worked on creating inspiration boards that highlight a particular color scheme.  We shared our boards and our inspiration at the December meeting.  We then each picked a secret partner, to make any project for, to exchange with at the January meeting.  

This was the inspiration board that Kim @lelandavestudios created.  Such a pretty board!

I needed to decide what to make that was pink, green, orange, floral and feminine, AND that would live up to this gorgeous inspiration board.  I started with some inspiration from Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  She has a very pretty Big Block Star quilt pattern using her Mostly Manor collection.  After fussy cutting for the star block I then created some improv made fabric using fabrics from Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, and Katy Jones.  

Some straight line quilting with the walking foot...

Some free motion quilting...

I love how this small quilt finished.  I think it's perfect as a large table topper or a wall hanging.  I loved this challenge and would recommend using an inspiration board and no rules to create something.  It's a real skill builder!

And here is my inspiration board and the AMAZING bag I received from Kim:

Made By Kim @lelandavestudios

Have a great week and happy sewing!

Two Color Challenge

The LIMQG had a challenge for November to create a mug rug using only two colors.  I chose blue and green because I think it's a classic combination and I decided to try out a paper pieced star from Carol Doak's 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars.  This is a great book if you like paper piecing, you can make so many different combinations of stars and you can change the block size using your copy machine/printer.  I have a small pinterest board for star inspiration you can see here.

This mug rug/mini finishes at 7 inches square.  It was definitely challenging to (try to!) get all the points and seams lined up when working with such small pieces.  I also found that the ends of the seams stretched a little, so an even smaller stitch and paying attention to stops and starts would help the finished look.  I enjoyed this challenge, it's great to try something out on a small project.

Have you worked on any skills or challenges recently, I'd love to hear about it!

Mini Off the Rail

Here's a finish for the 2016 Finish-A-Long!  The pattern is the mini Off the Rail from Jaybird Quilts.  Although the pattern has directions for using all different fabrics for the rails, I went with strip piecing for a more consistent look in the blocks.

Fabrics are from Priory Square by Katy Jones for Art Gallery Fabrics.

And a pretty back from Joel Dewberry's Bungalow fabric.

 Linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation, and Amanda Crazy Mom Quilts (and with 2016 FAL when it opens!)

Cluck Cluck Sew Mini Pow Wow

One of my Christmas presents this year was the Cluck Cluck Sew Mini Quilts pattern booklet.  I don't usually do color order projects, but when I started choosing fabrics from my Anna Maria Horner stash, the fabrics just seemed to go together that way.  I really like this mini quilt, it was fun to put together and I love how it highlights the fabrics.  I will definitely make this again!

I used this tutorial from Twiggy and Opal to put hanging pockets in the corners.  Background fabric is from Dear Stella, love their dot basics.  Check out their new Hearts basics here.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, and Crazy Mom Quilts.

This project is also part of my Quarter 1 2016 Finish-A-Long list.

Mod Block Log Cabin Mini

I love mini quilts because you can work on something new without a lot of commitment in time or materials. In this case I decided to work with some different colors than I would usually put together. I went to my scraps, started to pull and wound up with this bunch of purple, orange, yellow and reds...

... and here's what I came up with...

I love how the round log cabin block looks, it's a nice modern take on a classic.  I used the River Log Cabin pattern in the Mod Block issue of Block magazine from Missouri Star.  I quilted with straight lines, a little closer in the middle and gradually farther apart towards the outside.  I love that I got to experiment with color and quilting for this quick finish!

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Crazy Mom Quilts.  

Best of 2015

Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs is hosting a Best of 2015 Linky Party.  There are many ways to pick your five best, and I've decided to go with my own favorites for this post.  This is my highlight reel...

1.  Honey Honey Quilt - Such beautiful fabrics by Kate Spain

2.  Mod Hexagon Quilt - Amazing design by Rashida Coleman-Hale with Cotton + Steel fabrics

3.  Flour Pouf  Great book/pattern by Anna Graham, Everyday Style with Cotton + Steel (again!)

4.  Color Wheel Star mini-quilt - Pattern by Camille Roskelley from Simply Retro

5.  Lotus Pond Quilt - In love with this fun, bright fabric from Rae Hoekstra

Looking forward to 2016...see you in the New Year! 

Small Finishes

It's finally starting to feel like Fall here in New York.  The light is changing and so are the trees.  I've been working on some small items this past few weeks, hoping to get some gifts together.  It's been fun having fast finishes.  Also good for using up some scraps.

A small doll quilt:

Some JETS mug rug/coasters for football season:

And a bunch of key fobs:

Linking up with crazy mom quilts.

LIMOD Improv Scrap Swap

My guild had a secret swap this summer where we all brought a bag of scraps, picked one and had to make anything we choose as long as it used improvisation.  The scraps I received were all Kaffe Fassett which I had never worked with before.  It was a real challenge not having a project in mind to start with.  I 'made' fabric using the scraps and sliced and re-sliced the fabric as I went.  Another challenge was that the scraps varied between warm and cool colors.  Once I had a few improv blocks put together I found a fabric that had the same color in all the blocks.  I decided on a table runner for the final project.

 I made a template in a straight line spiral and quilted each block in a different coordinating thread.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I love the improv blocks.  I'd like to go further next time on the layout/design of the project.  I think the blocks and runner make the project more traditional and it would be good to keep the improv style with the whole project, not just the block parts.

And here are my scraps in a totally improv design by Kim of Leland Ave Studios....my scraps never looked go good!

Look at this amazing piecing!

Thank you Kim!

Linking up with crazy mom quilts.