BLUEBERRY FEATHERS QUILT 🍃

Finally ... I made a quilt just for me! I've been busy making quilts for my family but I've wanted to make this quilt for a long time now and so this one is just for me!

I first discovered this Blueberry Feathers quilt by Kristy on her website quietplaydesigns.com but it was some time after that before she published the quilt pattern and teamed up with Karen of karenlewistextiles.com based in Leeds, England for the fabric for the kit.  Karen does screen printed fabrics by hand.  I absolutely love, love, love her screen printed fabric! 

Isn't this fabric gorgeous?

These gorgeous little feathers are all paper pieced.  There are 28 feathers in the quilt and each feather is made up of 28 small pieces of fabric which are sewn onto a paper pattern from the back.  The paper is then ripped away and you're left with a beautiful little feather.  Sounds easy, but I probably only made 2 - 3 feathers a day.  Here's all the steps that go into making just one feather ...

While paper-piecing this quilt I decided to treat myself to a new ironing board cover! I hate when they get all stained so it was time for a new one.  

This was my second time doing paper-piecing for a quilt.  There are different ways to paper-piece.  I used the method where you use the Add A Quarter ruler.  I find this method much easier than the traditional way.

For this quilt I used Micro Quilter thread on the top and at first I used So Fine in the bobbin but it wasn't running well so I switched to Isacord and all went well from there.  This was also my first time straight stitching a quilt on my longarm.  That was easier than I thought it would be.  I used my channel locks and it was a breeze.  And since this is a relatively small quilt I floated it on the longarm using my Grace Company pink quilt clips for tension.

I also did something different with this quilt that I've never done before. I didn't bind it.  I faced it.  There are several tutorials out there describing this process.  I chose to do it this way because I'm going to be floating this from a modern quilt hanger above my desk in our computer/longarm room and I thought that facing it would give it a cleaner look and it would lay flatter.  

I enjoyed paper-piecing this quilt.  This is the 13'th quilt that I've done on my new longarm.  I'm having fun!  And here is my Blueberry Feathers Quilt  all hung up and floating from it's new quilt hanger! 

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

FACETS AND FRACTURES PINEAPPLE QUILT 🍍

The Facets and Fractures Quilt is a traditional pineapple block quilt designed by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.  It has somewhat of a contemporary twist because it uses pearlescent fabrics from the Shimmer On line.  I know about the shimmering fabrics now but I did not know about the oh so shiny fabrics when I ordered it. When I first saw a picture of this quilt online it did not look shimmery nor was it mentioned in the teaser that I read.  It does not look shimmery in my photos either, but trust me, it is.
  

On Black Friday last year I bought some quilt kits on sale.  My specific guidelines for purchasing any quilt kit was that it had to be  at least 60% off and (very important) it had to be a quilt that I liked enough to have purchased it at full price.  There was only one quilt that I was on the fence with using those guidelines and that was this quilt. It just really wasn't a quilt that I would have made for myself.  I was, however, looking for something to make for my baby brother's 60'th birthday and I know his tastes are traditional, so I was on the look out for something with "boy colors" using a traditional pattern.  This quilt was mentioned in a blog as a perfect quilt for guys. It has blues, browns and silvers in it along with some plaids.  I eventually bought the kit and when it arrived I tucked it away because I was working on other quilts and was busy with all things Christmas.  I opened it up last month and found myself disappointed.  Most of the fabrics were shiny with a pearly gloss to them and the plaid fabrics had metallic threads running throughout. This was not the traditional boy quilt I wanted to make.  Don't get me wrong, the fabrics are gorgeous, just not the "boy" look I wanted.

Binding wrapped onto the Binding Baby

In my disappointed state, however, I remembered back to when I opened up the fabric for my sister's birthday quilt and really disliked a few of the fabrics included in the selection.  They were floral fabrics that I would never have chosen myself, yet the finished quilt was beautiful and you really didn't notice those few fabrics that I disliked so much once they were cut up into little pieces.  Soooo, maybe if I made this quilt with its shiny fabric it would look okay in the end???  Not so much. It was still pretty shiny.  Beautifully shiny, actually, just not what I wanted for my brother.

On the longarm

This is the first pineapple block quilt that I've made.  It has over 550 pieces. I think because I wasn't happy with the fabric in the  beginning I just didn't do my best work.  In the back of my mind I was already thinking of it as a "quilt to donate" instead of the gift I had intended it to be.  I actually made a mistake in quilting it on the longarm and didn't even pull it out, something I would always normally fix.   

The secondary pattern 

The quilt itself went together rather quickly. I used the Windham Fabrics, "Uncorked Fabric" in Teal for the backing.  This looks like cork with flecks of gold in it.  Might as well match that shiny front, right?  I also used it for the binding instead of the black plaid fabric that came with the kit.  

I used Quilter's Dream Orient batting so the quilt would be snuggly. And I used MicroQuilter thread top and bottom, hoping the thread would not show up so much on that dark backing. Once on the longarm I did mostly stitch in the ditch work with rulers and some designs with rulers in the medallions.

This quilt was intended for my brother's birthday.  He turns 60 this year!  This quilt will go to a good home but I'm on the lookout for something else for my brother.  I'm thinking something with Giucy Giuce Quantum fabric! Or his new "Declassified" line which comes out in October. 

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