Textured Flannel Quilt

One of the projects I've managed to start and finished in my blogging absence was this flannel and fleece quilt.

Before I started quilting I always relied on down comforters to keep warm in winter.  I have finished several quilts now that fit this bed, but none of them were particularly warm for frosty Midwestern nights until now. 

The top is made entirely of thick and cozy flannels, it has cotton batting, and a thick fleece back.  I would have gone with a thicker poly batting except that at a whopping 115" square, there is no way it would have fit through my machine.  But it is that size for good reason.  My husband and I have a nasty habit of fighting over covers in our sleep on cold nights and he has mastered the "tuck and roll" technique.  This quilt is so huge it has solved that problem entirely.  :)  No more cold nights for either of us!

Each block finishes at 12" square and the pattern is deceptively simple.  A square-in-a-square with two graduated layers of raw-edged strips sewn down with the quilting.  It's simplicity is what allowed me to cut, sew, and finish this one in just a few weeks while under a pile of deadlines.

It gives it a very rustic feel and makes me want to get one of those big knotted pine beds that you find in cabins all over the West.  And I'm sure you've noticed by now that I also sewed down a variety of buttons across the quilt.  Again, it was mostly to add texture and another level of detail.

I placed the buttons at the on every other block and used a bunch of different ones... mostly a combination of wood and metal buttons.  I think it would have been a little over-kill if I had done them all, plus finding and purchasing 81 buttons was a little daunting.

I think this could be down-sized and adapted nicely as an easy tactile blanket for a toddler or kids room.  You'd just have to ensure that those buttons are nice and secure!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2012

It's that time of year again.  Time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

This has got to be one of the most inspiring weeks in blog land and the reason I started blogging in the first place.  I can't wait to see what everyone has been working on.  As for myself, I haven't finished as many quilts as usual since the last festival, but this one is definitely my favorite since then.  

I made this for a friend of mine who was having a baby and I love it for it's simplicity.   I think for me this was a great example of working smarter, not harder.  I have a tendency to over-think things (my friends out there are laughing hysterically at the under-statement in those words) and for this quilt I finally got smart and let the fabrics do most of the work.

I just love the birds and apples in the two coordinating prints I found and I was afraid of chopping them up too small or having them lost in a bunch of other prints.  I wanted them to really steal the show.  And I think they do just that in this quilt.  Certainly not my most creative layout, but it makes me happy just to look at it.

Pairing those two fabrics with just the right solids was all this quilt really needed.  I called the finished quilt Apple Baby.  Obvious, right?  :)

Some simple quilting, snuggly fleece for backing, and satin blanket blinding made it easy to put together in a hurry and perfect for baby.  It was very well received and has since been put to good use.  :)

The finished quilt was roughly 48" square (I believe in generously-sized baby quilts) and the solids were all flannels.  Speaking of flannel, I did manage to finish a very large queen-sized flannel quilt for my own bed which I hope to post soon.  It had a lot of tactile embellishments which I look forward to sharing.  

I really can't wait to see what everyone shares for the festival and reading all of the lovely stories.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the fest!  I know I will.

A Little Bird for Inspiration

Well hello there!  Remember me??  I know it's been a while... like maybe about 4 and a half months since I've posted, but don't think I haven't thought of the blogging/crafting world often.  Since my last post I have finished my last semester of grad school and graduated.  I'm still looking for a full time job, but good things come to those who wait, right? 

And my hands have not been still over the last few months.  I have needed to craft in order to keep myself sane and most of it has come in the form of knitting since it is so portable and cathartic.  I have some projects to share, but it will take some time to get them posted.


In the meantime, my husband and I spent this last weekend in Galena, IL and I was inspired to paint.  I had a larger piece in the planning stage and was working on some practice color runs and placement when my mom saw them.  She fell in love with one of my practice birds so I came up with this painting for her on a spare canvas I had.  It's 8" square and is a mixed media piece: acrylics, pastels, marker, and a page from a perfectly aged Mark Twain book from the 60's or 70's. 

I was struggling to find the right way to break back into blogging and I think this piece reminds me why I love it.  It's the ability to find inspiration and share inspiration within a world of familiar, crafty, artsy souls that just need to make things and share them with others because it feels good.

I'm glad to be back and I can't wait to catch up on everyone else's projects.

One Stitch at a Time

It's been a little while.  I needed to take some time away from blogging over my semester break to take care of my family.  I finished one Christmas gift over break, but neglected to take any pics of it.  Other than that I've been working on a few random projects, mostly of the portable variety.

Earlier in my break I had been searching some sweater patterns on Ravelry and then several blogs and searches later I found some beautiful images of granny square afghans.  

I also had some scrap yarn all sitting next to each other in these pinks and mauves and browns that looked really pretty together.  Thus, another project was born.

Of course, I have had to buy a bit more filler yarn to pull it together and to ensure I had enough.

They're REALLY addicting.  

I've been carrying this basket with me all over the house in my free moments, trying to whip up just one more... I've got quite a stack going at the moment.

I'm hoping this will be an easy project to just work on a little at a time, whenever I can get to it.  On Monday I start my last semester of school and between classes (including my master's project), a new assistantship, my internship and my family I am really not sure how exactly I'm going to pull it all off.  I think I will probably working basically 6 days a week to pull it all off.

So if you don't hear from me much over the next few months you know why. 

Up for Air

This past week was high tide for my semester and I survived.

A friend of mine was helping to host an auction for a friend of hers so she could help raise money to adopt a child from Haiti.

I'd like to be able to live my life and say that, when push comes to shove, I am never too busy to help a friend. This baby quilt was my donation for the auction.  I pulled it out of the dryer and made it to the auction in time, and survived my week of deadlines and was happy to be able to do both. 

It was roughly 40" square with white flannel alternating with the "Spring Fling" Moda charm squares on the front, fleece on the back, extra-loft batting, and satin blanket binding. 

One last week before I can see this semester in my rearview mirror and, let me tell you, that is a view I am looking forward to.

Apple Baby Quilt

I know I've been unusually quiet over here for a while.  I'm taking 4 classes this semester, still working at my internship, and have been working a few hours a week as well and will basically be underwater from now until the first week of December.   But I have been occasionally working on a knitting project that is slowly making progress and every now and then I have been able to quilt.

I have to admit, this time it was because I was under the gun.  A baby shower kinda snuck up on me when I wasn't looking so I had to come up with something fast.  Fortunately, I had already set aside a pair of prints that I was in love with... the rest of the fabrics I pulled out of my stash.

 The solids are all flannels, the back is fleece. 

When I found this apple/bird fabric at a quilt shop a couple months ago I fell instantly in love with it and bought a couple yards of this and it and a coordinating bird print (the outer border).

I didn't have a ton of time (I started this baby on Friday and finished it last night - I think that was about 48 hours) so I decided to let the pretty prints do all the work and keep it simple.

I'm pretty pleased with the results and I think it's future owner will be too.  When this post goes live, I'll be at the shower.  :)  I threw in a couple taggies too, of course.  Hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Recycling Blues

I am so excited to participate in another Blogger's Quilt Festival! 

For those of you who read my blog regularly, this is not a new quilt.  I was really hoping to finish a new quilt for the festival, but it just wasn't in the cards for me this time.

Instead, I am linking up our families favorite quilt.  I designed it around the idea of using a pile of blue fabrics from my stash in addition to some upcycled fabrics.  The quilt includes some upcycled work shirts belonging to my husband, some old jeans and a bunch of non-standard quilting fabrics.  Unfortunately, one of those fabrics in particular did not work out as planned.

See that shiny fabric (roughly in the center)?  The one to the left of my husband's initials from his work shirts?

It was a Chinese brocade made of polyester/nylon.  I knew it probably shouldn't have gone in the dryer, but... well... sometimes these things just happen.  And sometimes they happen more than once.  I didn't realize when I made it that it would become the house favorite and greatly abused.  It has been used as a picnic blanket, a throw, a dog bed, it's gone camping...

... but the dryer has destroyed that brocade and, clearly, it needed a rework.

But what to do?  How do you fix an old quilt?  I really didn't like the idea of trying to somehow replace all of those pieces.  Should I try and patch it?  Then I thought about how hideous a patch would be.  And then I thought some more... and realized that an applique is basically a fancy word for a "patch."  Eureka!

So, I carefully went over the quilt and marked every troubled seam and tear with a pin (and made them really obvious so I wouldn't miss any).  Then I dug out the only applique template I own.

After I sewed them all down by hand, I quilted over the top of each applique to help give the underlying fabrics a little more stability.  It worked.

I think I like this quilt more than some of the others I have made because it was a product of truly leftover and used fabrics, more like how quilts used to be made long ago out of whatever fabrics women could scrape together.  That fact that it is a bargello doesn't hurt either.

Did I mention that this quilt is much loved in our house? 

When I spread it out in the grass to photograph it originally, I only had about 3.4 seconds to snap pics before my son came running over to make use of it.  It sort of became a great big bulls-eye.

 

Oh.  And it also climbs trees.

 

I've washed and used the quilt dozens of times now since I added the applique hearts and it is holding up beautifully and is still the most well-used and well-loved quilt in our house.

I hope you enjoyed my entry to this seasons BQF... and I can't wait to see all the other beautiful entries!