framed strings

Posted on January 9, 2017

I almost forgot to show you the finished project! This one has been framed and up on our wall for a while now, and I love looking at it. You might remember that some of these fabrics were purchased in a Denyse Schmidt scrap bag many many years ago. I had hung onto them, wanting to make something I liked out of fabrics that weren’t necessarily my go to prints or colors.

Happily I can say that I was successful, as I really do love this mix of neutrals and prints. And of course you already know that I love me a string block!

I decided to keep this one as just a quilt top, and built (asked Morgan to build) an inner frame that I wrapped and stapled the quilt top around. I stained a bit of thin wood for an outer frame and attached it to the wrapped piece.

I hesitate to show you the real life photo (as I didn’t even bother to declutter or attempt to fluff the notoriously unfluffable couch pillows), but there you have it! We think it makes a nice addition to the living room.

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pink tips

Posted on January 3, 2017

Happy New Year! I certainly didn’t expect to be here showing you a quilt top in these very early days of 2017. As much as I love sewing and quilting, I haven’t been able to find the time to sew as often as I’d like. Lately my sewing table is more a catch-all than a place to create new work. I finally decided to clean it off, and in so doing, found a pile of neutrals – a bunch of Robert Kaufman yarn dyed fabrics, a big piece of one of Carolyn Friendlander’s Euclid fabrics and a few other white/off white solids.

Thanks to school vacation and Morgan being around, I was able to start this quilt. I started this neutral log cabin block, which began with a piece of hand printed fabric from Lucie Summers. I wasn’t really sure where this was going, and considered a mini quilt/wall hanging, but really felt it should be large enough to be usable as a quilt. Even as I considered various placement options for this section I had already pieced, I kept on adding strips in a somewhat log cabinish fashion.

I was able to piece in a bunch of saved special neutrals – prints from Maze & Vale of course, plus some fun pieces from Spin Spin and even some long hoarded Yoshiko Jinzenji.

I often think that I’m going to limit myself to just solids, or in this case, just neutrals, but truth be told, I just can’t do it. Even here, not only could I not just limit myself to just solids, but I also couldn’t even stick to just neutrals. I made it very nearly all the way, but then felt it needed something to give it a little pop – some hot pink on linen, in this case! The x print at the top is one by Lucie Summers and the pieces in the lower corner are some I purchased ages ago from Jones & Vandermeer. I’m so pleased they’ve found their way into this quilt!

The pink may be a bit predictable, but really the hot pink on neutral linen was just begging to be used. Maybe some random color for the back? We shall see…

I hope 2017 is off to a good start for you!

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underline

Posted on December 30, 2016

I’m sneaking in here with one last quilt top from 2016. It’s actually been done for some time now, and I even took photos during the fall, but then apparently failed to actually post about said quilt top! We got some snow today, so I took the opportunity to snap a couple extra photos of this one. Snowy quilt photos are always good, no?

These fabrics are beautiful screen printed fabrics by Karen Lewis, and were available through her fabric club in the fall of 2016. I was honored when Karen asked me to select 12 Kona colors for her club, and was so pleased when I received this bundle in the mail.

I immediately set to work making a quilt with them. I initially paired them with a solid gray, but then decided I liked this patterned gray print better. From afar it reads as a solid gray, but up close there’s a little extra pattern going on.

I can recall now what prompted this design – I suppose it seemed like a good way to get the most out of my fq bundle! I cut all the strips by hand, and love the wonkiness it lends to these lines.

After using up all the prints, I decided the quilt needed a bit more width, so I made up these mini blocks using similar solids.

It’s not going to be a finished quilt for 2016, but I’m glad I snuck at least one more quilt top in for this year!

Wishing you all a very happy New Year! Thank you to all who continue to read and a giant thank you to those who take the time to comment! I look forward to sharing many more quilts (or quilt tops!) with you in 2017. And hey, maybe this is the year I’ll finish up some of those quilt tops from 2012… heh!

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