Batik Double Wedding Ring Quilt

April 10, 2012March 19, 20134 Comments

Here is the double wedding quilt I made for my husband’s sister Cortney. (I blogged about the other sister’s wedding quilt last week). It was a learning curve for me in so many ways. It was the first quilt I sewed using curves! I also learned a ton about machine quilting and marking.

I think every quilter should make at least one double wedding ring quilt as a sort of right of passage. I made this quilt using a precut Quilt Kit from Benartex. This made the top go together easily. The pieces were notched so I could match the seams with lots of pins.

The blocks were sewn a few at a time in partial rows. Melon pieces filled in the edges.

For the machine quilting, I wanted to try a few new things. I stitched around all of the pieced blocks near the ditch with a decorative serpentine stitch. Then I used a washout marking pencil and a stencil to mark a heart motif in each of the block centers. I used a heavyweight variegated thread for the centers and filled in the backgrounds with black metallic thread from Superior Threads.

To get out all of my markings, I filled a small bowl with water and used a toothbrush to scrub them out. It worked pretty well I think. Because this fabric has so much black, the batting bearded a little and I had to use a lint roller on it (next time – black batting!!)

I named this quilt Los Novios (The Lovers) because of the backing fabric. My sister in-law loves the Alexander Henry Day of the Dead fabric so I thought it was a perfect match for the back! When I entered this quilt in a show recently, the quilt judge loved it until she saw the backing. She didn’t think it was appropriate for this quilt, but my sister-in-law absolutely loves it and that’s what’s most important!

Hearts and Stars Wedding Quilt

April 6, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

I recently made wedding quilts for my husband’s two sisters. The first one I’m blogging about today was for his sister Cresen who got married about two years ago. (I’ll show pictures of the other one next week.) I titled this one simply Hearts and Stars.

I made the blocks in a quilting class years ago but was never quite sure what to do with them. When Cresen got married they matched her home decor nicely!

Both sisters are really into the Day of the Dead theme, so of course I had to include that fabric on the back. This red fabric is from Alexander Henry, called “Paseo De Los Muertos”. An alternate title for this quilt could be “Americana De Los Muertos.”

For the star quilting I made a template out of a sticky label and stitched around the outside edges. I also added lots of micro-stippling for texture. Click the pictures to see closeups.

For the borders, I played around with some loopy stitching and used a stencil to mark a double-wedding ring motif around the outer border. It took5 hours to mark the outer border and 4 hours to quilt it. But I was loving every minute of it! I used wool batting because it seems to show of the quilting more. I quilted it with Superior Threads Highlights TriLobal polyester (40 weight) in the top with matching Bottom Line thread in the bobbin. I changed threads to match the fabrics so the texture would show, rather than the stitches.

Here it is hanging up in a my guild’s quilt show. Alas, it did not win a ribbon because there were so many other more beautiful quilts in the show. But my sister in-law was happy to receive it and I was thrilled to get in more free-motion machine quilting practice!

Mini Baltimore Album Quilt

March 27, 2012March 19, 20133 Comments

Today I wanted to share pictures of a miniature Baltimore Album Quilt I made recently, for my quilting guild’s miniature quilt auction as part of our quilt show held earlier this month.

I love machine applique and lots of machine quilting so I combined both to make this little quilt, measuring approximately 20 inches square. Here’s a closeup of the back where you can see the quilting a little bit better.

My friend and show auctioneer Georgi bid on and won this quilt for a friend of hers for her birthday. I was very pleased that this quilt was the highest selling mini quilt (it made up for the fact that I didn’t win any ribbons on my other entries, but more about that later!) The quilting shows up better in this picture I think.

For the applique, first I appliqued all of the blocks, matching my thread colors as close as possible to the fabric.

I used Superior silk thread for most of the applique because it’s very thin and blends well. I didn’t mind switching threads at all.

Once blocks were sewn, I added the swags and appliqued them as well before basting and quilting. I use an open-toe foot to see where I’m going.

This quilt was actually a remake of a quilt I made about 10 years ago for myself. It’s taken me that long to make another! The original quilt had more blocks with different sashing.

I used a busy back and appliqued the same time that I quilted.

My techniques are much better now!

Happy New (Quilt) Year!

January 1, 2011March 3, 20143 Comments

For 2011 I resolve NOT to make any new resolutions! I will however, try to sew more, hang with my kids more, and stress less.

Here are some pictures of a couple of quilts I finished recently using charm squares, embellished with some alphabet applique.

I made this quilt using very boyish plaids, tiny 1 inch setting squares and fusible applique for the letters. It’s about 36″ x 46″.

I just let the letters lie casually on each fabric square so I didn’t have to be too precise on placement.

I used my favorite moon stencil for the border – check out earlier posts for a closeup look using the same quilt design.

I used one Moda Charm Pack in girl colors for this cute quilt:

Just like the blue quilt above, I enlarged a computer font and made my own stencils for the lettering, placing them haphazardly on the background charms to give it a more whimsical look.

This quilt measures about 32″ x 36″ – perfect for a snuggly baby on the go!

My local quilting guild has encouraged its members to complete 12 projects this year – one for every month. These won’t count for 2011 but just looking at them is getting me excited to start my new projects. If I complete my goal, I’ll be rewarded with a gift certificate to a local quilt shop.

Hey – even though I run my own quilt store, it’s still fun to go shopping somewhere else!