Just a quick post to show my finished Maple Leaf quilt. I really enjoyed the McTavishing as the quilting design. It was faster once I got going and I love how it looks like swirling wind.
I hope my son and DIL like this one but if they don't I think it would look just as nice in my home!
Funny how the lightning changes the color. I think the true color is somewheree in between.
It has been a busy few weeks but not much stitching has been going on. My son came in for a visit which was great. He taught at Quilting Live here in Atlanta and it was wonderful that he was able to combine his work trip with a family visit. While he was teaching I decided to tackle my own Patchwork Of The Crosses block. I have seen so many of these around blogland that I had purchased the EPP papers a few months ago. I found a small piece of a bright striped fabric and a few other fabrics and came up with this block for my bright sampler. It is really fun arranging the pieces for this block and I like the finished result, a perfect reminder of one of the quilting trends of 2014.
I also appliqued a few bird blocks for the same quilt. These blocks are my son's design from one of his first quilt patterns. It is called Bird Crossing by Feed dog designs and remains on of my favorites. I really wanted a reminder of these birds as I made the sample of this quilt and don't really want to make another whole quilt but want these blocks as a reminder of his work.
Finally, today I have been practicing my Free Motion Quilting. My son was kind enough to help me baste a few quilts so I was all ready to go. I decided that I wanted to try McTavishing as my background fill. It kinda looks like swirling wind which I love with these fall leaves. I am really having fun with this design. Much easier than I expected and very forgiving though I am finding it pretty time consuming. I am really anxious now to try this pattern on a smaller scale on an appliqué project. I have so many tops sitting around ready to quilt that I need to get busy!!!
Wow, I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted. I have spent less time blogging lately and more time sewing so at least I have a bit to show for my time away. First up is Soupçon which I finally quilted. I had actually planned to make this one larger but after moving into our new home I decided it would be the perfect thing to hang in the powder room once we got around to painting the walls. Painting was finished yesterday, a lovely teal color, so I got this quilted and bound right away. I had planned some interesting filler quilting but ended up just doing lots of ditch work to highlight the piecing. Simple quick and I like it.
I have also been appliquéing the pomegranate blocks for my Jacobean elegance quilt. These were all prepped about a year ago and I have been rather slow with them. I had saved them as a good transition project during our move and had even cut out the parts for piecing. I took a quick count of my finished blocks this week and was surprised to discover that they were almost done. That was just the incentive I needed to get moving on this UFO. The flying geese are all pieced and the appliqué blocks just need to be trimmed and I can get this assembled.
Since the flying geese were made using the sew and flip method, I used the trimmings to make 1/2 sq triangles which will be used in anther small project. Turns out I prepped one extra pomegranate block so I will use it to make a little pillow or wall hanging.
And finally I finished piecing the maple leaf quilt top. Since fall colors are not my favorite, I was unable to come up with a backing in my stash and trips to 3 different quilt stores were unsuccessful. Finally out of desperation I headed to Joann's and found one on sale that seems to work. Best of all my DIL approves!
First up I just have to share the fun little fabric basket that I received from my SIL in the mail this week. A few weeks ago I sent her a tote and some fabric and made a tote for myself. And look at the adorable basket she sent me - a perfect match to my tote!
I am using for my thread scraps on my handwork table. Love it!! Thanks Sherry. It is such fun having a quilting buddy.
I also finished the appliqué on my batik quilt. Though the lighting is bad in the photos, I love how it looks in the room.
I intend to change out the pillows and table runners in these rooms so this quilt will be perfect for this subtle pillow fabric.
And working with batiks got me thinking about a few more that I had in my stash. I have several in leaf colors that I have used in appliqué and With fall coming I wondered if I had enough to make a fall quilt for my daughter-in-law. She had casually mentioned some time ago that she would love a fall throw for their family room. I knew she wanted something that was not specific to any holiday and as I am Canadian, I thought perhaps a Maple Leaf quilt would be fun. I found a pattern on the Moda Bake Shop site for a Super Sized Maple Leaf Throw and started pulling fabrics. Here is my first test block. The pattern has no stem so I just drew a stem and hand appliqued it to the square before sewing the block together. The instructions were a bit confusing but I was able to make it work after a bit of trial and error.
I made several blocks and took them over to her house to check the colors in their room while babysitting. Unfortunately due to a comedy of errors that included showing my DIL photos on my phone, she saw something that gave the surprise away and we ended up just pulling the blocks out and throwing them on her couch to see how they look. Fortunately she likes it and we all had a good laugh about how I cannot seem to manage a surprise! Seven more leaves to make and arrange in a fun setting and I will get another quilt made using only my stash.
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