Japanese Squares and Frames - Quilt Festival Entry

Thanks for stopping by! It's Quilt Festival time again! Go to Amy's Creative Side (Park City Girl) and check out everyone's entries. I am an all-by-hand quilter, I've never owned a machine and don't know how to use one, so everything you see is hand sewn. Feel free to check out my finished quilt gallery down the left side of the blog.

For my entry I have Japanese squares and frames. I'm a modern quilter and my absolute favorite thing to do is to highlight tiny motifs by framing them. I love that an overlooked, unassuming little animal or plant or whatever can get its moment in the sun.

Like this apple, for example.

Or these circles. Who ever highlights circles? They are the overlooked workhorses of the quilt world. Lol.

Or how about these cute little guys peeking out of the letterbox? Or the bird in the cornerstone?


These are mostly Japanese double gauze fabrics and organic Cloud 9 fabrics, with some Mingle and others thrown in. I made it for a baby named John William, who is Amber's new nephew, on commission. Amber, a non-quilter, picked out all these fabrics to go together! Good job Amber!

And here's John William on the quilt. Super cute!

So here's the pieced back, with the double gauze and a few more squares.

Back closeups. Cute Japanese orange dot for binding.

Well, now that you've seen it, I hope you say:

Thanks for coming and please leave a comment if you've made it this far. I solemnly promise to visit your blog and leave a comment if you comment on mine. Every comment gets a comment. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Wolfgang!

The boy who made a mother out of me turns 7 today. Sigh...that's when they turn from a baby into a real kid. My baby boy!


Well, happy birthday my little love. You are the world's best boy. You are messy....


And curious...


And sweet (such a good big brother!)...


But most of all, silly. I love you so much, you'll always be my little wolf cub.
Happy Birthday, from Mom

Starry, Starry Night

So did the title of this post make you think of the famous painting or the famous song by Don McLean? If you click the link to the song, it's actually an analysis of the lyrics compared to Van Gogh's life, very interesting!



But i'm not here today for a fine art lesson, i'm here to introduce the new quilt i'm working on! I keep a bunch of photos of quilts I've found interesting over the years, just in case I want to make them someday. My younger stepson Corey is having a baby now and picked this photo out of my files. I searched the internet for hours trying to figure out who made it or where I got the photo, and no luck, even on flickr, so if you recognize the quilt, speak up and I will give credit!!!

I don't use patterns when making quilts, so it was fun trying to figure out the measurements, considering if you look closely, it's not really pieced in rows. I just used a 5" measurement per unit to get the measurements I wanted, for example I counted the corner small square at 5" and the long piece next to it at 5X10". I'm going to piece it in chunks, starting in the middle.


I'm really loving the cute little stars i'm making! I love the twinkly yellow one...


And the apple dots star...


But I want to know your honest opinion of the star above. What do you really think? Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Click to enlarge and maybe that will help you form an opinion. lol.


Best for last....my favorite. Japanese froggies dancing in a flower circle with Park Slope yellow green goodness. That's Corey, Ashley and the baby dancing. Love it! Which one do you like?

Easy Rider

It's a monumental day! Here's my almost seven year old the bike rider! I came home from work today and he had taught himself. I guess he was just ready, seeing all his friends riding. Enjoy!

Quilts for Homeless Families - Can You Help?

Our good bloggy friend Bumble Beans in New York just got done doing a house block gather to the tune of 501 blocks that she has pledged to turn into quilts for charity. She's now started a new gather for actual finished quilts for homeless familes in the Bronx (some above) that are getting placed into new housing. Won't you go over to her site and pledge a quilt?

Here's some text from her site:
"700 families are on the the list for housing. Approximately 20 families a month are moved out of shelters, and back into homes with whatever then have managed to carry with them. They depend upon donations to get the barest of necessities... A mattress, a table, a few utensils, medical care, get the children back in school, school supplies, clothes, food, job searches and training...A smile, support, and knowing that people care. Our goal is to make 700 quilts, one for each family."

I'm going to try to make a quilt, but as an all-by-hand person, even a simple quilt is a major investment for me. I will try though! How about you? This would be a good place to send all of your UFOs, just bind them up and send.