Where does time go! General quilts

 I remember my grandmother making that comment.  The older I get the more I understand.  It feels like just a few weeks since I updated this blog, but here it is June and it's been five months.  And 24 quilt tops.  Obviously I've been sewing (and remodeling a kitchen) but not much else.  I'll tackle the adult themed quilts first.

I recently took a class at my local quilt guild, taught by Nadine Watson called Perfect piecing.  This quilt is the result.  It was an excellent class and I do recommend it.  I especially loved learning about making flying geese that can be trimmed to the exact size.

I found some great magazines on the donation table recently and have been trying out some patterns from them.  This pattern by Pat Forster was in Quiltmania (what a great name for a quilting magazine). I changed it to blues, planning to hang it in our newly remodeled laundry room to help deaden the noise.  I had planned to call it Windmills, but after all the struggles with the quilting, I've decided to call it Learning Curve.

I wanted to do the quilting the same as in the magazine, which was all custom.  I learned to be careful and not lean my head against the screen on my long arm or else the stitch length might change.  I learned it's really difficult to remove stitches at 32 per inch.  I learned to make sure your machine foot is tight and centered with the needle or else the width of the line behind the needle is not the same as in front.  I learned to BREATHE and stay loose on meandering (tho I did NOT learn to like meandering).  I learned that I get better on ruler work by the bottom of the quilt vs the top.  And ultimately I had to learn to be satisfied with not perfect. 

All in all it is very nice quilt for a laundry room wall.  And it's got so much work in it, I think I'll enter it

in our local quilt show in September.

This quilt called Towers by Wendy Shephard was in AQ magazine.  I fell in love with the optical illusion and the bright colors.  It now hangs in my hall way and is very dramatic.   This one might go in the show too just because it looks so cool.  Anyone have idea for all the black & white tiny triangles left over?

I've also been having some fun trying out some new patterns using either donated fabrics or left over backing pieces or fabrics in my stash so long I cannot remember where they came from.  It reminds me of making a casserole with whatever you can find in the pantry.  

This is a standard disappearing 9 patch, but the fun is the narrow sashing that matches the center patch.  The inspiration I saw had a more narrow sashing, but I didn't feel like fighting to keep a very narrow one even.  The seam allowances can cause problems and visual wobbles, so I went with larger just to keep things easy.  The white fabric was a wide backing purchase from several years ago and has been used on a number of backs - but I still had lots of long left over strips.  I now only have one FQ sized piece left.  The blacks were all out of my scrap box and the yellow was off the donation table.  A great casserole!  I think I'm going to get some Minky for the backing, it will make a great sofa cuddle quilt.

The next pattern is called Tile Time, a design by Amanda Wilbert from APQ magazine.  I liked the secondary pattern which is intended to look like tile work.  The flamingo fabric was from the donation table and I just barely had enough.  Raiding my stash for coordinating colors I discovered I really need to buy some more teals and coral, this quilt used up the very last bits but they sure matched nicely.  The pale purple was from the trimming from a wide backing.

I've made the following pattern several times and I enjoy it every time, except for the bias on the setting triangles - but starch is my friend.  The pattern is called Chain letter by Daniela Stout.  These fabrics were all donation fabrics, some of them decidedly ugly.  But they came together for a very nice overall design.

Warm Wishes is such a great quick pattern and depending on the colors, can be very dramatic.  I found the striped border fabric in a donation pile and the colors matched perfectly.  I had to piece a few of the sea shell blocks as there wasn't enough, but no one will ever notice.

This pattern is one of my favorites.  It's basically an attic window block, constructed using half square triangles, but then arranging the blocks in a rotating pattern rather than straight.  You get such a fun pinwheel effect. the 4 inch squares were from a stash of donated novelties where many were flowers.  The dark blue pinwheels were very faded but I was able to cut around the fade marks.

So, it has been a very productive first half of the year, even with a four and half month kitchen remodel in progress - which will be completed in two more days - yippee!  Then on to the back patio.  That's one of the benefits (and downsides) with working at home.  You come up with so many projects while sitting in your home office, looking.