The Bzzzzzz Quilt 🐝

The Bzzzzzz Quilt is a pattern from Whole Circle Studio.  I made the mini version of it for my daughter-in-law's birthday.  My daughter-in-law, Allie, loves bees and a bee is also the mascot of the school that she works at as an SLP.  

When I started this quilt I thought that I had plenty of time to finish it in time for her birthday.  The four of us had just gotten back from a voyage on the Halcyon Galactic Starcruiser.  This is an immersive Star Wars experience at Disney World. You can see my nails for the trip in the next picture. 

The Starcruiser was about to shut down the last of September and was booked out for its remaining dates.  We had so much fun on our voyage that we tried calling in again to snag another cancellation.  I actually got another one and had to put this quilt aside as my husband and I prepared to go again.   

  

Allie's birthday came and went but I told her she had another present coming.  I had also purchased a matching sticker and note cards from Whole Circle Studio that had been on  backorder.  These arrived and were ready to be gifted  along with the quilt.

I finally sat down and pieced the quilt together.  It involved paper-piecing, 

y-seams and normal piecing. 

I used two layers of scrap batting to make the quilting pop.  I used white polyester Quilter's Dream and another piece of polyester batting.  I used Isacord Linen colored thread and Aurifil monofilament to quilt it on the longarm.  

I finally finished the quilt and now we're trying to get yet another cancellation for the Starcruiser.  Wish us luck!

Remember to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some love into your life❣️

 

The Florida Quilt 🌴

The Florida Quilt 🌴 is a quilt that I made for my niece and godbaby, Tiffany. She's getting married in May.  She grew up in Florida, so, I made this quilt using hand dyed batiks in all the colors of the beach and skies of tropical Florida.  

The pattern is one that I've used before.  It's a log cabin with a twist.   As you sew rectangles around the square in the middle you trim them off at an angle giving the finished square a wonky touch.  Some call this a hippie quilt.  Only instead of jean material, velvet, satin, beads and ribbons I used hand dyed batik material.  

In the past I used my own templates to cut each round off at an angle. But Creative Grids now has a 10" Wonky Log Cabin Trim Tool.  This works the same as my hand drawn templates and finishes with a perfect 10" square.  It's a very easy tool to use.  

I chose not to do much quilting on this quilt because I wanted it to be more cuddly than the normal quilt.  The more stitches used to quilt a quilt the stiffer the quilt becomes.  At least, until it's washed a zillion times.  So, I chose to just stitch in the ditch around the pattern to showcase those wonky angles.

I did have trouble this time with my stitches on the longarm.  Everything was going great and then the stitches started skipping. I was using MicroQuilter thread and I thought it might be dried out so I added thread oil to a "sponge" on the machine.  The thread runs through the oil and then isn't so dry.  That seemed to work for awhile but then went back to skipping.  I just had to work with it.

I used Quilters Dream Orient Batting which is a blend of bamboo and silk and is very soft and pliable.  

I hope my niece enjoys her quilt!  Remember to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some love into your world❣️

                            Master Quilt Holder in action!

BLUEBERRY FEATHERS QUILT

This quilt is called Blueberry Feathers.  The pattern was designed by Kristy Lea of Quiet Play Designs in Australia. 

I followed Kristy online on Instagram as she designed this paper pieced feather step by step.  Quite some time later she came out with the pattern which I purchased and then made a quilt for myself.  It hangs on my wall in my sewing room.  

Once I made it for myself I decided I would make it again for my nephew and his wife.  My nephew is a musician who has traveled the world with his band.  He is married to an award winning chocolatier who opened up her own bakery. He also works in the field of library sciences bringing all sorts of media to life.  Because he and his wife are both so talented and creative I didn't want to make them a traditional quilt.  I wanted something with more of an artisan vibe to it. That's why I chose this quilt.  This quilt is made using the art of paper piecing.  It's an art you have to master but once you do it becomes easy to sew all the little pieces together. I also chose fabrics that aren't your normal everyday fabrics.  I purchased fabrics designed by textile artisan, Karen Lewis, from  Leeds, England. She designs and dyes her own fabrics and screen prints them by hand. Her fabrics are very modern and beautiful.

There are 28 paper pieced feathers in this quilt.  Each feather is made up of 28 small pieces of fabric which are sewn together in a very unique way onto the back of a paper pattern.  

When you are done the paper is ripped away and you're left with a beautiful little feather.  Here are some photos of each step that goes into making just one feather ...

Once on the longarm I did one inch straight stitching for the quilting using Glide thread in white in the top and bottom threads.  With paper piecing there is a lot of bulk in the seams so straight stitching works well.  

I used Quilter's Dream White Polyester Batting because of the white background fabric.  Using a regular batting would make the quilt appear dingy.  I didn't want to waste any leftover fabric so I used the scraps in the backing of the quilt. 

And here is my "Master Quilt Holder" holding up my quilt to photograph.  

Remember to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some love into your world❣️

 

THE MERMAID QUILT 🧜‍♀️

This is the second Mermaid Quilt that I have made. I quilted this one as a baby gift for my friend, Ashley. Her baby girl is due in December.

Although, this quilt has the look of an appliqué quilt it is actually a quilt panel from Hawthorne Supply Company.  Hawthorne Supply prints digital fabric and can print this panel any time you want one.  The backing is also a digital print of tiny mermaids.  

Because I knew that I would have to roll this quilt back and forth on my longarm to get the background elements stitched in I basted the quilt first on the longarm.  Once I got to the bottom I released the quilt top from the bottom rail and floated it for the rest of the time. 

I did all of the stitch in the ditch quilting first.  I used Aurifil Monofilament thread on the top so that it would not show and MicroQuilter white thread on the bottom.  These have a similar thread weight to them. Once I finished that I went back and filled the elements of the quilt in. I started with the Mermaid's hair.  This is my favorite part of the quilt.  I pulled the basting out as I went so it would not get stitched down in the back.  I left the basting in to the sides where I hadn't quilted and pulled that out as I got there.

For the hair and the rest of the quilt I used Glide thread on top.  White for the background, Buttercup and Honey Gold for the hair and Amethyst, Magic Mint, Pink Rose, Celery, Cobalt and Slate for the rest of the elements.  

Once I finished quilting the elements I worked on the white background. I wanted it to look like the mermaid was pushing waves of water with her hands.  I also wanted waves of water around her tail as she splashed in.  I only quilt with 24 inches of the quilt top showing at one time, the rest is rolled up.  To make sure that I got a seamless "flow" of the little waves I traced them onto the top first and then just sewed over my markings.  

Next, I scattered little flowers all over to mimic the flowers in the quilt top.  Then I made sea weed to meander between the flower stalks and petals.  I did use a small circle template for part of that.  Then I put in the baby's name and then pebbled around everything.  

The tension on the back of the quilt where it was pebbled had some eyelashing.  Next time I think I will use Glide thread top and bobbin and perhaps tighten the stitch length a bit more.  I used 11 but maybe 12 would work better.  

I got this quilt finished just in time for Ashley's shower.  I hope she enjoys it!

Make sure to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some love into your world❣️

THE TINY HOUSE QUILT 🏡

I made this Tiny House Quilt for my sister-in-law, Millie.  Millie is one of the most gracious women I have ever known.  She always opens up her home for people to stay and feeds and loves them.  She is also beautiful, with black hair and a porcelain complexion.  She has always reminded me of the bride on top of a wedding cake.  With her coloring she looks gorgeous in jewel tones.  So, these little houses in the colors of the Caribbean were just perfect for her quilt.  And all the little houses reminds me of her hospitality!

This quilt is also my 50'th quilt!  And the 41'st one done on my longarm. 

This quilt pattern comes from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  The owner, Jenny, named this pattern by using a combination of her own name and "Penny Lane" to get "Jenny Lane."  It's 71" X 82.5" and is made with a stunning collection of batik fabrics called Hummingbird Lane. I also purchased some white batik fabric for the background.

The houses are divided up into little, medium and large house blocks and go together fairly fast.  Then there are five sets of tree blocks to make. Then you stitch them all together into five rows. You add a small white sashing border and then a larger border in a batik print.

After assembling the quilt top I put it on my longarm.  This is always my favorite part.  I used Glide thread in Magic Mint for the backing and Glide in Sea Green for the sashing.  I used Glide in White for the background and Aurifil Monofilament thread for stitching in the ditch and the quilting on the houses. I turned my tension down to 1.5 for the monofilament thread.  And when I did the background in the orange peels I turned the tension down to 3.0 to help the thread from the backing to not show.  In the sashing I kept the tension to a normal 4.0. 

I used Quilter's Dream white poly batting.  With the white background in the quilt top it's always a good idea to use white batting.  

I did the backing of this quilt completely in orange peels using a 1.5 circle BERNINA ruler.  This took forever and you have to tuck the orange peels behind the houses.  But it has such a nice effect when it's done.  

I hope my sister in law likes her quilt!  It was stitched with love!

Don't forget to stitch some love into your world❣️

My Master Quilt Holder!

DIVIDED BLOOMS QUILT 🌸

The Divided Blooms Quilt is one of my favorite quilts.  The pattern is by Carolyn Murfitt of Freebird Quilting in Australia.  Carolyn is a longarm quilter so she designed this pattern with lots of negative space in it so that there is lots of room to do free motion quilting.  

I hand appliquéd all of the petals and then pieced the quilt together.  

While I did all of the appliqué I binge watched all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother on Amazon.  Then I put it on the longarm to quilt. All in all it took me almost three months to make this. 

When I started to quilt I found that I couldn't free motion quilt any more.  All of my muscle memory was gone.  I had just had brain surgery where they removed a tumor from my head and something must have messed with my brain.  Everything looked liked the first time I had ever tried to quilt.  I sat down and cried.  Especially since I had saved this quilt to do until now when I would be a more accomplished quilter because I wanted it to be perfect for my niece. 

Finally, I just decided that I had learned it once and I could learn it again, so I went out and bought yards of cheap fabric and practiced. 

I finally put the quilt back on and went ahead.

I used Quilter's Dream Wool Batting so that when I quilted in the ditch around the petals they would pop out.

I used Isacord 40 weight thread.  #02922 Muslin on the top and Glide #38201 Steel Blue in the bobbin.  I used a Schmetz Topstitch 90/14 needle.  

I cut the borders larger than the pattern required.  I cut them at 3.5 inches which left a 3" border after stitching.  This gave me room to FMQ my signature leaves around the border.  I did the top and bottom border and then took the quilt off the frame and turned it ninety degrees so that I could do the side borders.

I got this quilt done the day before we left for up north.  My sister and her husband were celebrating their 50'th Wedding Anniversary and this quilt was for their daughter.  

Remember to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some love into your world❣️

My Master Quilt Holder at work.