My favorite quilt

Over at Sew Mama Sew she's having a contest where you talk about your favorite quilt that you've made. It seemed like fun.

Tell us about your favorite quilt. When did you make it? What pattern did you use? What fabrics?
My favorite quilt is my log cabin rainbow quilt. It took a long time to make because it was my project in between other projects, the thing I took to quilt guild sew days or worked on when I couldn't move forward on another quilt because I needed more supplies.  I love it, though. I used a traditional log cabin block, and the quilt is made almost entirely of scraps. I did have to buy a green fat quarter and an orange fat quarter to keep the colors balanced, but everything else is remnants from other things.

 Have your shown it at any quilt shows or entered it in any contests?
Nope, my skills aren't that great. Plus I make quilts that are functional, not show pieces.

 What memories or people does the quilt make you think of?
When I was doing the quilting portion of it, I wanted to fill it up with whimsical pictures that were free-motion quilted into it. At the time my grandparents had passed away, and my mom was in the process of dividing up the estate. I had gotten some things my grandmother had sewn, and it made me realize that when I pass away, my quilts might be the only things left of me. So I included messages written out to my kids, pictures to represent people in my life (a robot for my son, an anchor for my grandpa who was in the navy, etc), and stuff like that. Someone in my quilt guild pointed out that the quilting wouldn't show on such a busy background, but the kids can see the pictures when they curl up with the quilt, which was exactly the point.

 What do you like best about the quilt? 
The thing I like best is that my kids love it. They like all my quilts, but they refer to this one as "the rainbow quilt" or "the beautiful quilt."

 If you could make this quilt again, what (if anything) would you do differently?
Maybe I would have waited until I had enough green and orange scraps to make it entirely out of scraps, so I wouldn't have had to buy those two fat quarters. Whenever I explain how it was made I always feel like I have to mention the fat quarters, just to be honest.

Where is the quilt now? 
 It's on the floor in front of my couch. One of the kids took it to bed and then brought it back out this morning and put it on the couch, but they kicked it off while they were playing with the iPad. Like I said, my quilts are very functional and I like it that way.

Finally finished!

After 18 months of work, I FINALLY finished my scrappy log cabin quilt. 

It's made entirely of scraps, except for two fat quarters that I purchased.  And, to be honest, there was another fat quarter that I took a little square out of, and then used the rest for this.  But the vast majority of these pieces were just scraps. 

I adore it.

I pieced it mostly on my Singer 66 hand crank and bound it with my Singer 27 treadle.  I did free motion quilting on it with my Singer 115 treadle.  The quilting isn't an overall pattern...there are lots of hearts, stars, and swirls, some pictures of things the kids would like (our house, a t-rex, a robot), words (the kids' names, "I love you," my name and the year, etc), and other things.  My hope is that in the years to come the kids will spot these things as they curl up with the quilt.  And since there's the possibility the quilt might exist after I've passed away, I hope the messages will make them happy after I'm gone.

You can't see the quilting unless you really look.  I think that makes it more special...like a secret message.

The quilt is around 64" by 64", which is about right for curling up on the couch.  I'm so happy to start 2014 with a finish I'm so proud of.

Projects!

I've been busy lately (always!) but I've been sewing more. I think not having a bee block due this month has freed up some time.  I also think that we're finding our rhythm between work, school, and the baby, and now I can carve out more sewing time.

I finished my mom's quilt...pictures of that will be forthcoming!

I also sewed up some winter gear for my son in his favorite theme...robots! 

A hat, scarf, and mittens. They were fun to sew, so soft and cozy, and since they were all made with one yard of fleece, the whole project only cost $7.00.  I'll be making a winter set for my daughter next...it'll be fun to take her to the fabric store to see what she picks!

 I've also been working on my scrappy log cabin quilt.

I'm still working on free motion quilting it.  I haven't done free motion in FOREVER, and I was surprised how rusty I was.  However, I'm back to my old ability level...which, granted, was still pretty low.  But I'm having so much fun doing it.

I'm glad things are settling down and I have regular sewing time again.  I missed it so much these past few months.

Quilting the Log Cabin

I haven't been quilting much lately - why is that a constant statement on this blog?  Jeez.  My school year is almost over and I'll have about three weeks before the baby is due, so I hope to get some progress done on these quilts...plus the baby blanket I still have to make for her...plus the baby blanket I have to make for my cousin...

...I should do less blogging and more sewing.

Anyway, I basted my scrappy log cabin quilt and finally got a start on quilting it.  I was stuck on how to quilt it...I figured straight lines would make the most sense since they would just follow the lines of the quilt.  But I'm planning on doing straight line stitching on my mom's Carpenter's Wheel quilt, and I didn't really want to be doing tons of straight line quilting.  That would be boring.

So I figured a free motion design might work well on this one.  I thought and thought about what to do and felt totally stuck.  I looked up free motion designs on Pinterest and Leah Day's blog, but nothing clicked.  Then I found a blog called The Inbox Jaunt where she posted free motion quilting tutorials where she stitched things that looked like real objects.  That kind of clicked for me...when I thought about how I wanted this quilt to be used, I thought about my kids snuggling under it for years to come.  I wanted them to be able to be able to look at the beautiful variety of fabrics I used to make it, but I also wanted them to be able to spend time cuddled under it, running their fingers over the quilting.  My daughter loves the pink and red quilt I made, which I quilted all over with spirals.  I thought they'd love this too.

Also, wow, was it ever nice to get my beautiful Singer 115 out of its cabinet.  I hadn't used it in forever!  Free motion quilting is such a pleasure on that machine...smooth, speedy, wonderful.  It's by far my favorite machine.

I used one of her tutorials (the flower one), but mostly I'm just making up pictures as I go.  It's like doodling with thread.  It's fun and low-stress, since the design is so busy that the quilting really isn't center-stage anyway.  It's slow but enjoyable.  I'm making flowers, some meandering lines, some shapes like hearts and concentric circles, phrases and words in cursive, and some random pictures.  It's kind of hard to photograph, but below you can see one of the things I did tonight - a happy cat.

It's a long way from perfect.  It's a long way from beautiful.  But if I can fill this quilt with designs like this one, I know I'll be so much better at the end than I was at the beginning.  That's really what it's about...that, and creating something cheerful, colorful, and warm that my husband and kids will use over and over again.

I think both of those goals will be met by the end.

At last!

Things have been really busy with wrapping up the school year (three weeks to go!) and getting ready for the baby (six weeks to go!).  I haven't been sewing a ton, but I did manage to finish another quilt top.  I've been working on this one FOREVER, so it's such a relief to get it basted.

Although pin basting on your hands and knees in your eighth month of pregnancy isn't the easiest thing.  That belly gets in the way!

I did manage to get it done, though.  Now I just have to baste my Carpenter's Wheel quilt, and start quilting them both.  I'm going to do straight line quilting on the Carpenter's Wheel one at my mom's request, but I want to do free motion on the log cabin quilt.  I have my Singer 115 set up for free motion work and it feels like it's been forever since I've used it!  I can't wait to get back to it!

I also made a baby blanket for the new arrival.  I planned on making two, so I have one to go.  I used this tutorial...it's simple and it works really well.  My kids still use the flannel blankets I made for them, even though they are really small now.  One of the blankets will be orange with yellow-striped backing, and this one is a bicycle pattern!  Not very girly, but too cute.

I really want to get going on FMQ, but first things first...tonight I need to make my bee block.  May is nearly over and I haven't started it.  It's not hard, I just need to do it.  It's so hard to go and piece another block when all I want to do is baste and quilt!

Starting to assemble the scrappy log cabin quilt

Yesterday was the sew day for the Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild.  I went and got a lot done (although I think I ate as much as I sewed - we had a potluck dinner and the theme was Italian - too good!).  I made a lot of headway on my scrappy log cabin quilt.  I'm not done piecing blocks yet - I have 16 more to go - but I just feel like I've been piecing blocks for ages.  I want to see some progress!  So I started taking the blocks I had and putting them together to make the quilt top.

I'm glad I did, because seeing the project come together has provided me with some motivation.  This is the quilt top, half completed.  I'm going to finish piecing blocks and put two more rows of blocks on the top and two on the bottom.  I would love to have this basted and quilted so I can spend the next sew day hand binding it.  We'll see!

I still need to finish my bee block for the month.  Apparently I'm one of the few people in the bee who hasn't already mailed it off!  Come on people, how can I be the only slacker? 

Bee Block #1

I joined a quilt block bee over on Threadbias.  It's a bee for people who are new to quilting, or new to bees.  I figured since I can answer yes to both, it would be perfect.  They posted the January block already.  The woman in charge this month wanted scrappy, brightly colorful log cabin blocks with logs of varying widths.  Even though I'm in the middle of my own log cabin quilt I was excited to try this because this is the first time I've mad a log cabin block where the logs were different widths.  It was an interesting experiment! 

I hope she likes it.  Scrappy and colorful?  Yes and yes.  She named the colors she wanted in the block and included every color of the rainbow (except purple), plus white and gray.  I tried to include it all.  I'm also trying not to pick it apart in my head and criticize it.  This is for beginners, after all.  Hopefully everyone will be kind.

Continuing the log cabin

I'm nearly halfway done piecing blocks for my scrappy log cabin quilt!  These aren't all of the blocks, but it's enough to get an idea.

When you're close to the blocks you can't really see the pattern...it isn't until you step back that it's apparent.  That's kind of neat.  Once I reach the halfway point I should start pressing the blocks, because pressing will take forever if I wait until the end. 

I had wanted to make the entire quilt out of scraps, but I think I may have to break down and get a couple fat quarters of green and orange fabric.  Those are two colors that I don't have many scraps of, and I'm trying to get all of the colors of the rainbow represented at least once in each block.  I don't know if I have the patience to sew a green quilt and an orange quilt just so I can finish this project.

Tomorrow if the kids cooperate I'm going fabric shopping to get, among other things, border and backing fabric for my double slice quilt.  I'm going to try quilting it on my Singer 27 treadle...I'm apprehensive about the idea of using it for quilting, but I'm going to try.  It'll be an interesting experiment either way.

Scrappy much?

Fabric is expensive, so I hate to throw any of it away.  I've been saving scraps of fabric and cutting them into strips for a log cabin quilt.  I need 64 squares to make it a good size.  I'm not there yet, but last night I arranged the squares I do have on the floor to get an idea of what it'll look like.

I think it'll be a really cheerful quilt when it's done.  Instead of the blocks being half light and half dark, I'm making mine half warm colors and half cool colors.  It won't be as obvious a pattern as the light/dark blocks, but I think it'll look good when it's done. 

The only problem is that it'll take a while to get enough scraps to make all of the blocks.  I'm really eager to get this quilt top done!