Finish It Friday: Liberty Lake

 

Several months ago, I received a bundle of the Lakes collection from Oakshott fabrics. Oakshott describes the fabric in this way: "A collection with a luminous blue warp set off by 16 different, shimmering colourways woven into the weft." Just like all of their fabrics, these are stunning.

I gazed at them for quite awhile, and then when I ordered some scrap packs of Liberty prints, I knew they needed to be in the same quilt.

With 4" blocks, this is a fairly small quilt, 24" x 28". I ended up cutting 1" strips of the Liberty prints, and inserting a little square of Oakshott, then randomly cutting squares of Oakshott and inserting the little strip. Improv, but still controlled. With a couple of blocks, I made the cut at an angle. And didn't like it at all. But that's just me...living within a nice square box.

Then I handquilted the whole thing with a combination of 12 wt Aurifil and number 8 perle cotton. And took some pictures at Huntington Lake.

I hadn't stitched the binding down at this point, and you can barely see the lake in the background

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF. Have a lovely weekend.

Finish It Friday: 9-Patch Puzzle

One of my favorite quilters is Nikki from The Girl Who Quilts. A really long time ago Awhile back, she asked for pattern testers for the 9-Patch Puzzle, so I volunteered (pattern here). She had several versions of it, one of which required a lot of piecing. I loved the look of that version, and thought I had the perfect fabric that would give that look without all the piecing, the Kona Modern Quilts line by Cynthia Frenette for Robert Kaufman.

See all that intricate "piecing"--those are just 8" squares sewn together. Fabulous, right?

I was able to quickly piece the whole quilt top together. I even had the back nearly completed. And then some time passed before I finally had it ready to be quilted. Nikki graciously agreed to do the quilting. And wow, did she do a spectacular job!

Here is the front.

 

For the back I used up some 2 1/2" jelly roll strips along with the wedding ring print.

When it came time to bind, I couldn't find the fabric I had set aside specifically for the binding. So I pieced together the trimmings left over when I squared it up in preparation for binding and just sewed them together.Of course, as soon as the binding was on, I found the set-side fabric, but I really like the pieced binding better.

 

I really love this quilt. Thanks, Nikki, for letting me test the pattern, but especially for being patient while it took me forever to show it off!

Of course, I had to do a "waterlogue" app version too. Isn't it pretty?

I'm linking up Crazy Mom Quilts at Finish It Friday and Lorna who is hosting TGIFF. Have a lovely weekend.

My Favorite Thirty-One: Round-About Caddy

Today is the last day of May, the 31st, so it's time to share my Favorite Thirty-One.

The Round-About Caddy is definitely one of my new favorites available from Thirty-One (see everything they have to offer here).

It is a super versatile little caddy that is made of laminated fabric on the outside, making it water resistant. The bottom is mesh. I know that as sewists, we make lots of items like this ourselves, but summer is a busy time and sometimes it's nice to treat ourselves to something already made (VERY well made) at a reasonable price. The size is 8.5" high, 7.5" wide and 7.5" deep, and sells for $25. There is boning inside the top so it always stays open.

It holds a lot of stuff, so here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

Keep it nearby, filled with napkins, cups and plastic cutlery for those spur-of-the-moment outdoor meals.

Keep it stocked with sunscreen, insect repellent, and those other essentials so it's always ready to take to the beach, the lake, the mountains, or the pool.

Our daughter-in-law, Christa, took these two pictures--which is why they are so cute. And you can buy this cute caddy directly through her!

I have one in the sewing room. It's great as a thread catcher, but oh so handy for on-the-go sewing. Grab it the next time you go to a retreat, or keep it stocked with hexie papers, scissors and thread for the next time you want to do some hand sewing at the ballgame or on the road.

The possibilities are really endless.  I'm currently totally in love with this navy/aqua color combination, but look at this new pattern available--flip flops!

Check out the entire catalog--they always have great monthly deals. And say goodbye to May and hello to summer fun!


Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored ad and there is no monetary gain from this. All information and views are my own.

Finish it Friday

I made a few things for a 5-month-old who could currently be called the Super Soaker.

It was fun. I "upcycled" an old terrycloth bathrobe.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Blogger's Quilt Festival, Spring 2014: Lanyard

If you are here by way of Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome! Twice a year it is such a wonderful place to find inspiration.

 Awhile back, I saw a picture of some carpeting in an ad for Flor carpet tiles.

 I knew instantly that it needed to become a quilt. I gathered a lot of my neutral/low volume scraps, some Kona cotton and some Essex linen, and started working on some blocks.

Four different, but similar, blocks.

The very fabulous Krista Withers did the machine quilting.

 After getting permission from the design group at Flor, I gathered up the courage to submit it for publication. It was in the Winter 2014 issue of Modern Patchwork.

So remember--inspiration is all around you.

Name: Lanyard
Size: 42" x 64"
Quilted by: Krista Withers
Blogger's Quilt Category: Original Design

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy all the beautiful quilts.

Blogger's Quilt Festival, Spring 2014: Swooning with Oakshotts

If you are here from Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome!

If you have been here before, you might be aware that I really love sewing with solids. And I'm also a huge fan of shot cottons, particularly those from Oakshott in the UK.

Every other year, I make a king-sized quilt that is donated and auctioned off with proceeds going entirely to Third World relief efforts. Swooning with Oakshotts (with a name change to Amish Stars for the auction) was my donation this year. You can read more about it here.

Have you ever made a Swoon block? Although by now I have made over 25 of them, I'm always surprised at how large it is--24 inches!

This picture gives you more of an idea of how large the finished quilt turned out to be:

It took a really large wall to get a decent picture!

It's just so very hard to photograph the absolutely gorgeous Oakshott fabrics, but trust me--they are stunning. 

It's hard to choose a favorite block but it might be this one:

I also couldn't resist turning it into a "watercolor" with the waterlogue app on my iPhone:

Name: Swooning with Oakshotts
Pattern: "Swoon" by Camille Roskelley
Size: 116" x 116"
Fabric: Oakshott shot cottons and Robert Kaufman organic black
Blogger's Quilt Festival Category: Large Quilts

Thanks for stopping by! There are so many wonderful quilts to see--enjoy the rest of the show.

Friendship + and X block exchange

It is hard to believe that the exchange of + and x block between me and Carla is winding down to a close. This is the last Friday of the month, and the last time I will show you a set of four blocks, but not the last time you will see these blocks! I'm excited to put the blocks together.

Here are the blocks I completed for this month, two of each, one set for me and one set to send to Carla.

The blocks I have sent:

 And all the blocks I have received from Carla.

It's fun to look at them all grouped together. You can see what a difference value and fabric placement makes when you seen them side by side.

I think they will play very well together. Just like good friends should. After a break, I hope Carla and I can come with another block exchange to do together.

You can check out the flickr group here.