2014 Sewing

2 Quilts from 2014

Same quilt pattern completed two different ways.  The pattern is from Plum & June via the In Woods tutorial on the Birch Fabric blog.  A quick sew-up.  I made it larger with a wider outer white border.  Used a puffier batting with polyester in it.  

Happened Upon Some Sewing

Introducing Oakley’s Lonestar Quilt!

Love My Oakley

It really is a Navy Blue, not as bright as this pic depicts

So, Oakley is my fabulously brilliant 21-year-old son.  For his birthday I made him this quilt.  Of course completion was past his birthday date, but I'm okay with that.

I saw this quilt here on Karamat Sews and followed her link to an additional inspiration on flickr.  Utilizing Better Off Thread's Scrappy Lone Star Quilt Tutorial: Part 1 it all came together.  When I sent the inspiration photos to Oakley he thought it would look cool with an additional star in the upper right corner, so voila- 2 lonestars!!!

Well-loved

Then to get even cooler than collaborating with my son on a quilt design, I utilized fabrics from the original quilt I made him for his first birthday! 
As you can see it has been well loved.  There is barely any batting left in this quilt and he has outgrown blankie size.  I used the same navy-blue planet fabric and green fabric that I'd kept all these years, which is a miracle that it made it through the Great Purge of 2012.    I stuck with the same inspiration- boy & outer space though updated to man and a more subtle planetary theme.

Upper right star as requested by Oakley

Now, it is getting it's final wash & dry before sending it off to him.  He was in Colorado just a few days ago and he said it was "Perfect", as I was stating its imperfections.  I'm going with perfection then- from a mother, and received by a grateful son.

My heart melts with the addition of fabrics used on his very 1st quilt

The back

Squeezed some in here & there...

Well, it's been a bit since I've been on here...  That would be changing jobs, and taking time to balance my new job responsibilities while I learn an entirely new way of nursing.  From the hospital to home care is a major change people!  Expectations, time commitment, creating relationships with new colleagues and clients.  I've been tired, and finding it difficult to get to sew.  Let me say, that sewing is therapeutic for me, so not sewing has not been good for me.

I've squeezed some in here & there:

For do. Good Stitches Humility Circle that I participate in we have completed and sent two quilts up to the reservation since November!  The January block is below, and we utilized this tutorial: Freshly Pieced Ribbon Star Block Tutorial

I participated in the first Kate Spain Charm Swap on Flickr in the fall.  My charms sat all wilting, and needed to be sewn together!  It was sad.  So I spread them out to look & discover how to, what to do with them all.  I decided I did not want to cut them any smaller so each fabric could be happily seen.  So, in keeping with that decision I sewed them together in blocks of 4.  This is what I've got so far.

The swap on Flickr included Kate Spain fabrics from all of her collections excluding holiday collections.  I then purchased the Sunnyside Jelly Roll from a cute little Etsy shop: Handmade is Heartmade.  Thinking I will frame each block of four in white possibly, and then frame all of those in with another solid color.  After that I will use the jelly roll as an additional mixed up lovely border.

Also have gotten started on two blocks of the month:

So far, I had issues with the Sugar Block February BOM, I haven't completed January yet.  My seams are like 1/8" as the points of the diamond squares would have all been cut off, that was a bit depressing to me...  I'm not clear on what I did incorrectly, and haven't received great feedback on the flickr group site... I surely don't want to be wasting that gorgeous Tula Pink fabric!

The Vice Versa BOM is 2 blocks- one set of directions to make the block, and then the inverse of the block.  Easy, clear directions with an excellent result.  Gives me faith, especially after the failure the Sugar Block turned out to be...

There's more, but I've got to get going.

I sent a quilt off to be longarmed by Abby at Latimer Lane.  YAY!!

Liz

Quilting & Joy

Well, I do have Christmas songs drifting through my mind:

Comfort & Joy

becomes

Quilting & Joy!

So, on that fabulous note I hereby introduce you to the January blocks for the Humility Circle of do. Good Stitches.

Our quilt host, Vickey sent us the following:

Our quilts will be going to the residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. A friend actually got me involved in this worthwhile cause. For those of you who are unaware the Pine Ridge Reservations houses approximately 18,000 Native Americans. The reservation is stricken with alcoholism and poverty. The unemployment rate on the reservation is 80 percent. One in every four children on the reservation will be born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Many of the homes are nothing more than shacks with no heat or electric. Some may ask why these people would not leave the reservation but we all know how difficult it is to break free from generations of this type of behavior.

I chose the name Humility because I was told in Native American culture to give a blanket shows Humility. Our quilts will go to those in need in all stages of life but the social worker who delivers these is aware that our focus is more toward the children and teens. 

Anyhoo, ten of us make two blocks each month as posted on our Flickr page, and it is truly exciting, and I am learning lots, and introducing new blocks into my repertoire.

Vickey blogs over at Gingersnaps Quilts.  A sweet site.  I'm going to follow her pillow case tutorial when I complete the quilt for our guest room.

Our quilter asked us to make two blocks from the Autumn Star Quilt Block from Fresh Lemon Quilts.  Specifications included colors: aqua, blues, gray, and white.  The first block was trickier than the second.  I had a harder time cutting the inner star points equally, but managed to figure it out by finishing the block.  The next inner star points are more equal as I used the 45 degree angle mark on my ruler to line up with the diagonal seam and then I cut half of what needed to be trimmed, rotated to the other two sides and cut half again, trimming to a 2.5" square.  Confused?  Feel free to ask for more specifics.  I did find a couple helpful resources including fellow quilters of the Humility Circle.

Back at the end of October, and now it's the end of November, I made this Vera Bag put out by Green Bee.  I purchased it from Pink Chalk Fabrics.  I didn't fully appreciate the stiffness of the fusible interfacing, and I got a couple bubbles and wrinkles that have disappeared while it's been hanging on my doorknob for a month now.  Hoping to use it, as the Go Anywhere I use now is most awesome, but heavy for my current shoulder/neck issue.  This one is a bit smaller with a double inner pocket that is stitched to fit my phone perfectly.

More to come soon, as I've been sewing away over here.

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet!

Tidings of Quilting and Joy!!

Liz