Kaffe Fasset - Sashed Boxes Quilt

Kaffe Fasset's version of an old hexagon quilt... I beginning to think I might be in over my head. But if I manage to get my head above water at some point it could end up being a stunner.

Hand pieced star quilt is done

I present to you the hand pieced star quilt. My Mum and I started it this winter entrigued by the thought of making a quilt together despite living in different countries. Can't say that the road wasn't bumpy. Can't say it was easy-peasy. But that we're done it does not seem so bad after all.

Although I like modern prints we went for an old fashioned look and used small FQ of different blue and brown colors.

It's 175x175 cm so quite a large sofaquilt - and that how it will be used once we decide who should have it. Right now we both want the other one to take it, so in reality it is a poor, homeless quilt. I'm more stubborn than my Mum so lets see  ;)

We decided to use wool rather than cotton so its light as a feather and very comfy. It is machine quilted - very basic - just around the stars. The effect is that the stars 'pop'.

As a final litte fun feature we decided to sign the quilt. We each wrote our names so the letters came out different. I think it adds to the personality of the quilt.

A quick quilt travel roll...

I signed up for a quilt course/retreat this autumn and winter. 9 Saturdays and one Sunday with som incredible and experienced quilters. It will be so much fun and propably a steep learning curve for me. Looking forward  :) So what better to do on a Thursday evening than plan ahead and make a roll for all the quilt accessories I need to bring.

It only took a couple of hours to make. The fabric is Prince Charming except for the border, which is from Moda's 'Oh My' collection. The string is my ever faithful teal solid from Kaffe Fasset. The batting is double cotton so the roll feels nice and soft. 

The frogs were just too cute to cut into smaller pieces so I am happy I could use them in a big piece like this.

I finished way too late yesterday and I still have to cut some threads and I also need to give it good press but when that is done I'm ready to rock 'n roll Prince Charming.

Me.Like.It.

Happiness and sadness...

Yesterday I gave two quilts away. The first one was for my friend. It was the happy summer star quilt. My friend loved it. She was very surprised, very happy and I have no doubt it will be put to good use in her summer house. Felt good  :)

The other quilt I gave away was very different. A little background... One of my relatives is very ill. He is old and tired and has no desire to live more. He hasn’t been out of his bed for months now. It’s sad. We went to visit him on Sunday and I noticed he had only a shappy, old towel to cover his thin legs. I asked him why and he explained that the duvet was too warm so the nurse had found a towel instead – no blankets around. He didn’t seem to mind to be honest, but I got more and more upset thinking about it. He looked so fragile and poorly with only the towel to cover him. Just not right. (I have difficulties finding the right words in English, but I hope I’m making sense anyway). On the way back I cried and cried and just got more and more sad. No relative of mine should have an old towel as a blanket. But I also knew that I most likely would not have time to make a new quilt for him. The sooner I could get a quilt to him the better. So I went straight into the living room when we came back, got the only quilt I have ever made for myself and drove right back to Copenhagen to give it to him.

 

Now, I am not trying to stand out as a saint (because I'm certainly not). As much as I care for him this was a 100% TOTAL selfish thing to do. I did it for my peace of mind, not his. My relative does not know the effort that goes into a quilt nor does he appreciate the colors or the pattern. And  he doesn’t know it was made of my last Moda Freebird fabric either. He would have liked a cheap fleece just as well. But for ME it makes a huge difference to know that he has a good quality quilt that will keep him comfortable. And even if the quilt it self doesn’t mean much to him he was VERY happy about how the quilt felt and of course that I came back with it. It was better than the shappy towel, that’s for sure!

So, it was two quilts given away in one day and in very different situations, but for both quilts I know they are being put to good use… and that’s really what they are made for anyway  :)

Weekend at my casa...

Wednesday WIP

Before moving on the this weeks Wednesday WIP (and the lack of progress on my parts) go over to Connecting Threads who are are having a compitition. The winner gets to design a fabric line. If you have not voted for Wednesday WIP's host Lee's fabric already, then hurry up and do it. I love the color combinations in the sample and would love to see a whole line from her hands.

And now back to this weeks update...

This week was very, very busy with both boys starting school, getting into the routines and an insane amount of projects at work. But I made a little progress with the quilts though.

The quilt I play the most with is the 'Bird's meet Bento' aka the 'Plan-as-you-go" quilt. It's a lot of fun and I'm *this* close to finishing it. Because I am dead tirred at night these days the quilting is taking a lot longer than I prefer. Can't wait until this quilt is ready to snuggle with on the couch....
 
Other than that I picked up my birthday gift up today and I have a lot of fun playing with different options. Although I intended to use Heirloom for Swoon I considering to use Prince Charming instead because I've got more options for dark/bright color combinations. No final decision just yet. I'm not in a hurry and really should finish off some of the other projects first anyway. Well, at least I have good intentions :)

So here's the status of this week:

 

  ’Birds meet Bento’

• The bird blocks are made
• Backing made
• I started quilting.
• Picked out the binding - it is some 'Oh My' from Moda that I had in my stash. The little leftover will go into the 'Flyiing Geese quilt'

Stash ‘Flying geese’
I’m cutting away and have gotten to the deep end of my stash. Tho colors are bright and plentiful - lots of orange, turquise, brown and blues. I will combine with solid Moda Snow (off white). I think it will be perfect cutting the million or so sqaures when when I'm supervising the boy's homework.

‘Stars quilt’
I finished this some weeks ago but now it's even washed, dried and ready to give away. It will be perfect for my frinds summer house and her two princess daughters will put it to good use I am sure  J

Hand sewn stars quilt.

• 
  Quilting in progressing slowly. But hey, I did manage to pick out a binding this week
  

Birdie Nam Nam...

The last blocks are decided and made - birds it is. Here a picture before I made the birds legs and border. It was so windy outside I asked my sons to hold the quilt up. That however meant they were forced away from their computer and tv for half a minute and that did not go down well. The odd postures are their way to protest. Sigh... it will be a brutal wake up for them when school starts next week.

I made the legs right after. Dug out my embroidery box that has been hidden away for the past 5 years or so. I had forgotten just how many wonderful colors there were:

Today I also started cutting old stash into 2x4 inches blocks. A 'Flying Geese' is underway. I think this willl be for my yongest son so its a project I will be working on when he is not around so I expect slow, slow progress.

This is the reason I'll stop cutting tonight... or the reason I should get myself an Go Cutter. I'll survive though. It looks worse than it is.

 

"Plan-as-you-go-quilt"

Indeed a WIP Wednesday. I am almost hesitant of showing my WIP project just yet. It needs a lot of ironing, fitting and cutting still. However this is WIP Wednesday after all so here you have it as it looks right now. Be kind  :)

I started this quilt end of last week. I kindly refer to it as my "plan-as-you-go-quilt". I started of by making big square blocks of 50 cm totally random design. Then I cut the blocks in quarters. Then added the flower appliques (from the Material Obsession 2 book). Not sure what will be in the rest of the blocks. I'm thinking birds... We'll see  :)

Me@work... not a good combo today

This is not good. I supposed to design a website and end up drawing quilts instead.

Must get back to work.... PRONTO

Quilt mojo is back

A while ago I decided that I needed to ’back to basic quilt school’. Overall I think I have been a pretty good girl. But some of the quilting happiness disappeared along the way.  

I am definitely not a pattern type of girl. I can follow an instructions but I always end up making different sizes and apply some changes. And I love the improvised, modern quilts most of all. As an example I have the Strip Smart book, the ruler and fabric. And yet I just can’t get myself in gear because I know exactly what it will end up looking like.

So yesterday I brought my quilt mojo back by digging into a pile of fabric (intended for the pinwheels) and just started making big blocks without a plan. No pictures yet as I didn’t stop until well after midnight, but I’m excited!

Yesterday I also signed up for a quilting class/retreat over autumn and winter. 9 whole Saturdays of quilting! I plan to (finally) start on one of Sarah Fielke’s quilts or at least my take on one of her quilts. I spend hours and hours looking in the books and yet I have not dared to start. This is a golden opportunity to get support and guidance and also test out new techniques.

Want to see my birthday present from DH? He’s a keeper for sure! The fabric will be perfect for this winters quilting brightening up the dark days. 12 FQ of Heirloom and 30 FQ of Prince Charming. That's around 11 yards of fabric! Holy cow! 

Its actually the first time ever I selected my own present - normally he always surprises me. Not very romantic but he just did't dare to pick out fabric himself and in a way I'm glad that he didn't. And hey... I still got champagne and roses from him like he has done ever since we first meet so the romance part was not completely gone..

(Pictures from freshsqueezedfabrics where I got it from)

Getting ready for pinwheels

After the quilt for my friend I decided that learning some basics would a really good idea. Not kidding... I tend to just jump in head first and make it up as I go. So I'm forcing myself to learn some quilt basics at this point.

I’ve done enough stars for a while now so I’m going to give it a go with pinwheels.  I was planning to join this quilt-a-long  but due to some unforeseen events it might be delayed or not happen at all so I might just go ahead on my own. We’ll see in the next couple of days.

Here are the fabrics I’m thinking of using. They have a retro feel and the colors are dusted blues, greens and chocolate brown. I found various bits and pieces in my local quilt shop. The more colorful ones are Hab-i-tat (a philosophy...a refuge) while some of the solids are from Moda.

It will be fun - looking forward to get started.

I also just bought a lot of Prince Charming and Heirloom (citrine color) fabric and are planning to do a more modern quilt after this one. But my mind is going in thousand different directions at this point and I have no idea what I will end up doing. I see so many fun and beautiful quilts out there that I want to make.