New Quilt Ladder and Another Finish!

I'm on a roll here! Whoa! That's what happens when you don't post for a while.

I want to share the most awesome quilt ladder I recently purchased online from Generation to Generation Heirloom. I ordered the Convertible Ladder, featured under the link Quilters Treasures. Chuck was super quick to get back to me, he found me the best shipping price, and I got it in no time at all. I had it shipped just across the border, in Blaine, WA, to save on the shipping. Shipping was very reasonable and quick.

The ladder was easy to put together and it is just gorgeous and very well made. Double bonus, it matches our furniture just perfectly! If you are looking for a high quality, hand made quilt ladder or stand, I highly recommend Generation to Generation Heirlooms. LOVE IT!

Do you see the pink quilt on the ladder above? It's another baby quilt I finished recently! I still don't know what this block is called? (If you know, would you please leave a comment? Thanks!)

A friend posted a picture of the block and asked if anyone had the pattern. I looked at the picture and whipped her up a quick block tutorial. I enjoyed making the block so much, I knew I would be making a quilt with it!

Lucky me, I had won a bundle of fat quarters as a door prize at our modern guild (thanks Hedda!). I loved the bright colours in the bundle, orange, yellow, red, pinks. I didn't have quite enough to make all the blocks, so I dug in my stash and found a striped fabric with all the colours, and another pink that went well with it.

I made a pieced backing, all with fabrics from my stash (the yellow fabric with houses was bought on sale from Connecting Threads). I bought the fabric for the binding. It's Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman.

I love it, it's the perfect finish! I think I'm caught up on posting!

 

Happy quilting!

A Quilty Finish!

I am excited to show you a quilt finish today! I finished this quilt several weeks ago, but the weather hasn't been great, and indoor pictures just didn't do it justice!

 

I may have mentioned this before, there have been a lot of baby announcements in our small office. We've had three babies join us, and a fourth one due in March! How exciting!!

This first quilt is for a beautiful little girl, who arrived in early November! Mom and her proud, big sister came to the office this last Friday to show her off! We all got a chance to cuddle her and share in the joy! She is adorable! The shower will be in January, so I can't wait to give her this quilt!

 

The pattern is The Missing U, from the book Sunday Morning Quilts, by Cheryl Arkison and Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts.  My previous post can be found here.

 

 I love the little bits of whimsical fabric in it. It can be used as an I-Spy quilt, too!

 Check out this jazzy dude. Proud daddy is a music teacher, so this'll make him chuckle!

 I quilted it with an all-over meander using variegated thread. I am very happy with how it turned out!

Linking to Lily's Quilts - Small Blog Meet and Sew Many Ways.

Challenge Quilt Revealed!

I have a Challenge quilt finish to show today!

Our modern guild partnered with a Canadian on-line fabric company, Warp and Weft, who put together a bundle of fat quarters for us. Our challenge was to make whatever we wanted with the fabrics. No other rules or restrictions, just go for it!

When I received my bundle, it took me quite a while to come up with an idea. I was in the midst of working on the two quilts (shown below), and the colour choices in this bundle left me puzzled. I searched the internet for inspiration, and then my Pinterest board to peruse my quilty pins, and found this one and I knew I could make it work.

I don't have quilt design software, so I re-created the pattern using Word shapes and changed the colour placement so I could work with the colour palette we were given. I added in the orange, lime green, and purple/pink burst fabric, along with a tan, cream, grey and black.

Did I mention I have helpers?

Rather than strip piecing, I cut individual pieces and then pieced the blocks, using just the picture to guide me. I liked the process of 'puzzling' my way through the maze. There are 392 pieces in this little quilt, finished size 1.25" x 2.5" each and the quilt, with a 2" finished border, is 38" square. I plan to hang it at the end of the hallway so we can enjoy the full effect of the design.

I quilted the coloured bricks close to the seams, even Lizzie thought I should take a break on this one!

 

 

On the back, I used a piece of (I believe) Indonesian batik. These batiks come in lengths of about five feet. I bought several of these when I was at Quilt Canada...in 2004!

 

 I am very happy with the results!

Sunday Afternoon Makeover: Re-upholstering a Footstool

Sunday afternoon, hubs and I re-upholstered this old footstool that belonged to my granddad. It was covered in a rust-coloured 60's tweed, obviously very dated. We do use the footstool, as do the furry ones, so we thought it was time to give it a makeover.

 

It really wasn't that difficult, we watched a Youtube video (which wasn't very helpful) so we just kind of winged it. It didn't take long either, about an hour, and in the end, we think it turned out great!

Measuring

Trimming to size

Figuring out the corners

A tuck here, a tuck there

Three more corners to go!

Details!

We decided not to re-finish the legs. For one, we wanted it done today, and two, because we wanted to keep some of the original character. Something from Gramps!

Ta-da!

Scrap Bags and Kitty Beds

It's been a while since I posted. I have been sewing and quilting, though. I'll start off with just a few little projects I've worked on recently! I'll post some quilts in the next day or so.

A cherry pit heating bag I whipped up as a door prize for our local modern quilt guild meeting. Last year, I bought three boxes of cherry pits online from Norton's Okanagan Harvest. The boxes were bigger than I expected, so I was really happy about that! I've made quite a few of these bags. They make great gifts, and sold very well at our guild quilt show boutique. Here is the tutorial I used. Sorry for the crappy picture, but I snapped the pic just before I ran out the door.

A kitty bed made using Cluck Cluck Sew's Sprocket Pillow tutorial. I used flannel scraps and made the 16" pillow size. I stuffed it (not too full) with fabric scraps and batting bits that guild members have been giving me for the beds. This one received Lizzie's seal of approval immediately!

I had enough scraps to stuff another bed. This one I made a bit larger and more oval. I used the same construction method as the sprocket pillow, except I made a pillow insert (check out this snake fabric...what was I thinking when I bought this?!) and then made a removable cover, with a zipper!

I haven't sewn a zipper into something for years, so the cat bed was good practice. I have had the pink checked fabric for way too long, easily 20+ years, but I guess you get around to using it eventually, right?

All the cat beds I make receive the seal of approval from my capable testers! We actually have three cats, but our smallest one, Monty, is such a Chicken Little, he's afraid of his own shadow. I gave this bed to a co-worker who has a heart of gold, and cares for several stray cats in her neighbourhood. She tells me her kitties love it!

A Tote for the 2013 Pacific NW MQG Meetup!

I signed up to make a tote for the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Meetup Tote Bag Swap. I wish I was going to the meet up, it sounds like it will be so much fun! A few ladies from our guild are heading there, so they are taking our totes for those of us who can't attend.

I wasn't able to pick up the challenge fabric until last Thursday's guild meeting. I got started on the tote on Saturday, but was busy all day Sunday, so really had to hustle to have this done for Tuesday morning to drop it off to one of the gals as we were heading out of town. I stayed up till 3 am Monday night, before I finally packed it in. I finished the handle in the morning, a bit bleary-eyed, I might add.

I am a little concerned that it does not look modern enough, but I really tried! I found this fabulous "The British Are Coming" fabric by Michael Miller, that goes perfectly with the Robert Kaufman denim fabrics. I had some scraps of plaids that went really well with the scooter fabric, and I tried to do an improvised 4-patch, but messed up with the measurements, so sliced every other 4-patch to make thin sashing strips between the squares. I like to think it looks like cobblestone streets for the motor scooters on the fabric!

 

 

On the reverse side of the bag, I used two of the demin fabrics to make chevrons, but as the colours are so close, it doesn't show up too well, so I quilted in red thread down the centres to enhance the piecing. I "quilted the crap out it" (aka Amy's motto).

 

 

Imagine my dismay when I held the bag up and the handle was twisted through one of the loops. Grr! I was grumbling and uttering a few expletives, as I had already done the top stitching and was not looking forward to unpicking and taking the handle apart. When my hubby asked me what was wrong, and I told him (with a bit more griping), he said to me, "This might sound stupid, but why don`t you just take off the loop and untwist the handle?" Smart cookie! Thank goodness he was thinking!

On the inside pocket, I stitched on a label, and a Canadian flag, of course! I really hope someone likes it!

Pattern: Newport Tote by Lazy Girl Designs (love this pattern! This is the fourth bag I've made using this pattern and it is so fun to make!)

~Happy Quilting~

Kat

Aloha! Surf's Up!

This behemoth is finished! A start AND finish in the same year, let alone the same summer? I almost can't believe it! I finished hand stitching the binding down last night and I am so happy with this quilt! It is big! 

I would have been too intimidated to try and quilt it myself on my home machine if I thought it was almost a double-size quilt. In my mind, I thought it was just a twin-size. 

When I showed it to my dad he thought it would fit on a double bed. Sure enough, that sucker is big enough! The quilt measures 74" x 94". It just goes to show you...what you don't know, won't hurt you! :)

This quilt is for my nephew, who is nearly 7 feet tall! He is recovering from a very serious accident, and I wanted a quilt that would be long enough for him (his feet hang over the end of the bed!). I think he'll like it! We'll be delivering it in person on Friday. Makes me happy!

I quilted in the ditch through all the sashing and free-motioned the surf boards. Not perfect, a bit wavy and wobbly, but hey, considering they're surf boards, a few waves can be a good thing!

The back is more Hawaiian fabric. I remember coming back from Hawaii, with my suitcase crammed full of fabric. When the airline staff slapped the HEAVY sticker on my bag, I thought, "Oh, no, I'm going to have to pay extra!" Thankfully, they let it go through! Whew!

~Happy Quilting!~

Kat