giant flying geese

Why do geese fly in a V?  

Because it would be too hard to fly in an S !! (sorry, I couldn't resist)

:)

Once in a great while, when the seasons are changing, I'll hear distant cries.  I quickly run outside to witness the majestic site of a flock of geese, migrating to some distant location.  For a few moments, time stands still, and my heart sings.  

 Giant geese

This is my new "go-to" fast quilt, and a great option for donation quilts.  I can get one done in 6-7 hours (maybe faster for you, I'm pretty slow),   a good "purge exercise".

The idea is to use as much of a fat quarter as you can.  So I've done 17 inch squares, but 14 inch is my favorite.  When time is of the essence, it's an easier size to work with, and I like the finished look.

I was skeptical about this tool, then I tried it, and it was amazing.  No ink showing through, and it is easy to see.  Available at the big box or your LQS.

I dug through my box of "left-overs" to make the back.  A left-overs box is what happens when you divert from pattern directions frequently :)

If I don't have much white fabric in the top and back, I use my batting scraps, spray basting them well so they stay close until quilted.

 My current go-to free motion quilting design has been this big scroll with a large empty center.  After it's washed, the middle puffs up creating a nice contrast, and soft finished feel.

 

stats:

10 light fat quarters

10 dark fat quarters

or 20 - 14 inch squares 

66 x 54 finished, washed

What's your favorite quick quilt to make?

linked:

fabric addict

she can quilt

5 favorite finishes for 2017

I'm joining Cheryl's linky party - 5 favorite finishes for 2017.

1.  i-spy value quilt



It was made for a 3 year old and is also perfect for playing the matching game, since there are 2 of all the fabrics on the quilt.


I used some pearl cotton in my bobbin for labeling on the back.  You can read about this quilt here.



2.  pink baby gingham quilt




you can read about Rosie's gingham quilt here.




3.  lonestar baby quilts for twins

the girl quilt features Wonderland by Rifle Paper Company.

 the pink one has this cool grafiti quilting, you can read about these quilts here.

  4.  59 and four quarters is a scrappy log cabin

made with sweetwater's Road 15, and has some chunky stitching.

The labeling was fun too.

 5.  flowering snowball - has no blog post yet since it was finished a day ago.  But it has a sample of most all fabrics in my house,

 including some rarely seen Heather Ross fabrics and one that was used to make our children's Christmas PJ's over 30 years ago.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about this flowering snowball quilt.

linked:

meadow misty designs

59 and four quarters

One day I was wearing my favorite apron, when I realized that if I didn't make something else out of this cute fabric, my world would be lost.

so I went on a hunt . . .

And found a couple jelly rolls.  

I had a scrappy log cabin in mind . . .

I'm a little too OCD for true scrappiness . . .  I have to have SOME order. . .

I wanted some chunky lines 

This is where this quilt got bottle-necked for a few months . . . on the dining room table, waiting for the chunky lines.  

Someone in our house just turned 59 and four quarters !! (can't say that other number :)

 That is "T-bone" in the back ground, he's probably in the freezer by now :)

quilt stats:

76 x 84 (washed) - made to fit a twin bed

top - log cabin with 2 1/2 inch strips

blocks - 10 "

fabric - "road 15" by sweetwater, and a few others thrown in

back - scraps for the blocks and "ink" by Zen Chic (gray and black)

quilting - fmq random spirals

chunky stitching - No. 8 in white

batting is 80/20 comfort by Winline

Linked:

finish it up Friday

by crazy mom quilts

African Quilt

A client brought me this beautiful quilt top earlier this year that she had made from fabrics which she had purchased while living in Africa.   She made this quilt top for a memory of their time there.  

She wanted to have the option of being able to wash it.  I was VERY concerned about the colors running since she had not pre-washed her fabrics.  So I asked her to take it home and gave her some specific washing instructions (cold water,  delicate/hand wash cycle to minimize fraying, with a box or two of those Clorox Color Catchers, and to repeat the process until the rinse water came out fairly clear)

It sat on my dining room table for a few weeks while I came up with a quilting design.

The focal fabric was this gorgeous elephant in the middle.  It's one of those waxed prints from Africa made like a batik on a soft canvas.   I free motion quilted around all the parts of the elephant, especially those ridges on his trunk, and buried the threads.  

I knew I wanted to incorporate a diagonal tile design to repeat the lines of the log cabin blocks.

My client asked that I incorporate this African design into the quilt.  So I sized it to fit in 4 corners.  

I copied it onto that special thin paper used for quilting, pinned it down and very slowly quilted over the design, burying the threads.

I added an echo around it, separating it from the tile quilting.  I stitched over the design several times to make it stand out.

My favorite fabric on her quilt (besides the elephant) was this border batik.  I love the contrast of the bright yellows and red/orange against the black (it was also used for the backing) I knew that free motion quilting around the fish and curved lines would add a nice contrast to the rest of the quilting and would make these fish pop.

I was very happy with how it turned out.