Make a Mini Make a Friend - 2023

This year I joined in with the Modern Quilt Guild mini quilt swap, it's the 2nd time I've participated, and it did not disappoint! This is a fun swap and I enjoyed creating something for my partner @margaretfleisher. I wanted to incorporate improv curves, and combined that with some paper piecing too. 

I started with some doodles, playing with the arrow shapes and then drew them out so they could be paper pieced. Other than a dislike of purple, I had free reign for color and started pulling the green and yellow from my stash, then added in the blues for contrast. After piecing the three arrows, I auditioned several fabrics before deciding on the orange dots.

I love free motion quilting, and once this was all together, it was fun creating different designs in each section! The middle design is a new one to me - and I'll use that again!

Swapping with Margaret at QuiltCon was fantastic! We pulled and flipped our quilts at the same time and I think both of our eyes lit up at what we saw. This is what Margaret made for me - and it's perfect. The curves, the colors, the fabrics, I love it all and can't wait to add it to my wall of quilts.

Many thanks to our swap fairy @lovinglissa as well. There's a huge crowd of swap groups and partners, so you get to see what others have made and there are so many amazing quilts being shared!

#mqgminiswap2023 

Make a Garland

Back in December I won a kit for the Garland quilt by SuzyQuilts and in January she hosted a Sew Along for the pattern. So of course I joined in on that! 

The kit fabrics were solids, in a Christmasy color way, and I added some grunge metallic stars in red and green to the mix. I can't resist adding prints to all solids, and was glad to have just the right shades of the stars to include. 

Making the scrappy strips took some time, but it was fun to mix and match pieces without a plan in mind. Once those strips were finished the rest of the top came together quickly. So far, it's still a top, but it'll be fun to quilt and have ready for winter.

Camp Memories

This piece brings back memories of camp trips out at Rocky Gap State Park. We went most summers as a family; swimming in the lake, canoeing, hiking, campfires, and all that goes with camping & being outdoors! The best weekends!

Sometime back my Momm was giving me some of my mementos from childhood, and this napkin/bandana we colored after a girls only camp trip surfaced. I knew I wanted to keep it, but wasn't sure what to do with it while keeping it....until I realized I could turn it into a quilt!

I had this jungle themed fabric in the stash, and while our camp trips weren't in the jungle - it had the right style to it! I had fun matching thread colors and free emotion quilting the design. It needed a little extra, so I went all in by adding seed stitches throughout the background and really love how it looks. A perfect way to cherish good memories in a mixed style. Even the back has style!

Hello 2023!

Happy New Year friends!

Hope yours has started out well. Mine has been busy getting back into the normal routine, grocery runs, laundry, and work. After 2 weeks off and crossing time zones, waking up for work has been rough this week!

I thought I'd take stock (like many other makers) of my WIPs at the start of the year. This is not a promise or guarantee that I'll finish each of these pieces this year, but it certainly helps me to revisit the WIP pile and see what's there.

Finished Tops:

Improv City - from the 2021 Improv QAL

Bee Bears

GS Quilt

*have to get a photo of this one!*

Star Cluster - 2 tops- from the NQM 2020 QAL

Improv Tree mini

Mini Moda Love

Loose Geese

Mardi Gras round robin

*Not sure I have a current photo - will get on that!*

Currently my oldest WIP so far as I can tell.

Not Yet Tops:

NQM BOTM Round 4 Quilt - need final blocks completed

New Projects:

MQG mini swap due in Feb

A Temperature Quilt project! Starting in spring, Momm & I are working on our own quilts, using the same color palette and design

This month I'm joining in with @SuzyQuilts for the Garland Quilt Sew Along since I won the pattern and fabric bundle to make this one in a giveaway!

I'm sure there will be lots of quilting this year and I'm looking forward to it all!

Goodbye 2022

This year has been full of fun, friends, adventures, family, smiles, and quilting! It was a year of laughs and big moments, as well as quiet moments found in nature and in prayer. Quilts for gifts, for swaps, for me, for fun; alongside movies, music, bakes, biking, walks, and creating joy. I enjoyed traveling to see friends & family coast to coast and getting to hug some of my favorite people this year. 

Here's a few of my fav snapshots from the year. Looking forward to discovering what 2023 has to hold - Happy New Year!

People & Places

Quilts

Star Gazing - the 100days project

Remember my star blocks from 2020? Well, let me introduce you to 'Star Gazing,' the finished quilt!

A quick recap: in 2020 I did a 100 days project, making a star block every day. I tried to keep them under 12", but otherwise didn't put any limits on size or shape for the blocks since I knew I wanted to put them together in a non-grid layout. The fabrics in the individual blocks all came from my stash - a fun way to really dig in and see what I had!

Some blocks have ties to specific days, or events, while others were chosen to showcase the star theme. It was fun to search for so many variations of  a star block, and I used a variety of techniques: hand applique, machine applique, reverse applique, fusible applique, raw edge applique, english paper piecing, foundation paper piecing, machine piecing. 

Assembly of the top required a lot of partial seams and quilt math. The filler/background fabric is a low volume star print; and of course the backing fabric and binding fabrics also are star prints to continue the theme. :)

The top sat for a little while as I decided how to quilt it, and so I could get this beast basted. To counter all the star points and angles, I quilted an all over, curved fan design with a variegated yellow thread. This type of design needed to be pre-marked, so I gathered some specific tools: EZ Circle Cut Ruler, Dritz purple marking pen & lots of patience!

From the bottom of the quilt, I marked about 8-10 rows of the largest fan curve. Then I free motion quilted across those markings. Once the initial marked rows were quilted, I continued to mark a couple rows at a time and quilt them. This created a foundation of quilting across the whole quilt. From here I was able to then mark the smaller, inner fan curves a row or two at a time before quilting. Rinse and repeat until the entire quilt was quilted. Whew!

While labor intensive and exacting, I'm really happy with how the quilting turned out, and how it looks on the quilt itself. It really shows up well on the backing too!

Binding is hand stitched to the back, and this quilt measures up at 86" x 86"! It's ready for snuggles which is good timing since it's getting chilly outside again. I enjoyed the process of this quilt a lot and would like to do another 100 days project in the future.

You can see all of the individual stars here or on Instagram with #bumblybs100days.

Syncopated

I find myself admiring quilts made with all solid fabrics, and wanting to emulate that in my own quilts. However, when I try to stick to an all-solids palette, prints work their way into the mix every time! (Not a bad thing at all)!

When thinking of a class project, I decided to challenge myself to make an all solids quilt. Of course, that meant the class was going to make all solid quilts too. The wedges are freehand cut, and machine pieced. I love how the colors blend into each other across the quilt.

It's quilted with coordinating Aurifil threads in organic, wavy lines. My signature bee was added into one of the corners too. Binding is hand finished, and final quilt size is 39" x 52". this was bought by R to brighten up a blank spot on the wall at home and I know it'll be lovely there!

The title 'Syncopated' came from my love of music, and the way the wedges create their own off-beat rhythm of color.