Modern Circles and Squares Quilt

 

It's finished! This queen sized modern circles in squares quilt is done. It may be my favorite quilt so far. I based it off of this baby quilt I made last year and made it bigger and better. You can't see the quilting in this far view, but the quilting is the best part.

 



I thought I'd take you through the process, in case you'd like to make one for yourself!

 

First, decide on how many blocks and what sizes of circles you'd like. For the baby quilt my circles were smaller, but for this one I made 5, 7 and 9 inch cardboard circles.

Next, put the circles on fabric squares and rough cut about 3/4 inch around the whole circle. Cut slits around the circle so the edges will bend nicely, but not very deeply. Then get a piece of tinfoil and layer it like this: tinfoil, then fabric, then cardboard circle. Quickly fold the tinfoil over all the way around and press it flat. Iron well.

And when you unfold the tinfoil, voila! A perfect circle to applique. Continue until all circles are ready.

Applique all of your circles to blocks in random places until all blocks are ready. Then sew together in rows, as desired.

You're ready to start quilting. I didn't mark any circles to quilt, I just eyed it and made as many circles around each as I felt like. I tried to go slowly and treat each block as its own mini-quilt. I did mark straight lines by rubbing a ruler back and forth to make an indent to follow.

 

I added a heart to this one (above). For fun. I used embroidery floss when I quilted inside the circles.
 
This one I quilted as a guitar. Five string. See it?






 The back was red, so it made it's own reverse image and was just as cool as the front!



Crown for a Prince

I just can't stop!  I enjoyed making a princess crown for Gigi, and then my sister wanted one for my nephew Ty so 24 hours later, here it is!  I used the same tutorial from juicybits.

I like it!  That's supposed to be a snowflake so his crown is seasonal.  Not such a great snowflake, I'm afraid. I tried three different times, but this is the best I got! I bought new crystal beads for ice and a robot (?) for the middle.

He'll be four in January.  Happy almost birthday Ty!

A Cat Finish

A kitty cat finish!  This is the comissioned cat quilt for a friend to use as a gift.  It features the actual five cats of the intended recipient, complete with nametags and correct coloring.  You can see the cats more closely here and here and here and here.

I really enjoyed making it, it was lots of fun!

I chose a gorgeous soft flannel for the backing that perfectly matched the green/blue batik.  It has blue stars around the edges and green stars in the middles.

Like this, see?  Merry Xmas everyone!

I Finally Understand Embroidery Stitches!

Thanks to the blanket stitch tutorial and the whip stitch tutorial offered by the amazing Alice at her futuregirl blog! As a self-taught quilter, i've never quite understood how to make the embroidery stitches. My friend Sarah tried to teach me the split stitch and I just kind of use that all the time. The futuregirl tutorials are very clear, you should check them out!

Futuregirl also offers these free downloads with detailed pdfs instructions on how to make felt sea creatures including octopi, seahorses and starfish using those stitches.

As if that weren't enough, she also offers this tutorial describing how to make a hilarious clean/dirty dish indicator for the dishwasher. Love it! That would be a fun Xmas present for a friend with a good sense of humor!

Trip

This is the first in a series of five cat blocks coming your way this week! All five are based on actual cats I was asked to replicate. The description of this guy, Trip, said "swirly grey and black fur, brown collar, and orange eyes." Ok, that's what ya got! Plus an embroidered name tag.


The green will be the back ground of all the cats, and they are going to alternate with heart blocks for a cat lover.

Paw Paw's Coffee and Cream Quilt

Finally! This one is done and almost out the door. I wanted to make my father in law a couch snuggle quilt but I agonized forever over what I wanted to make. I'd never purchased a plaid knowingly in my life, but I wanted it to be flannel, plaid and suggestive of warmth. I chose a coffee theme and when I saw that gorgeous dark brown flannel I show here in the border, I knew it was perfect. By the way, the first photo doesn't do the border flannel justice. Look at it in closeup in the last photo to see how it carries the colors over.

The light brown print is a Civil War reproduction that is super soft. I like the colors, they are supposed to represent coffee, cream, black coffee and coffee with cream mixed in. The red is just for 'pop'. I painstakingly embroidered the curling steam coming from the coffee cups and the ID tag on the back: my second and third attempts at embroidery, respectively! (Ignore the pen marks behind the embroidery, they will come out the first time it's washed.) I even splurged on Warm and Natural batting, which is so lovely and blanket-like. I kind of copped out on the quilting and tied it very minimally.

I hope he likes it! What do you think? Click on the photos to see them larger and please leave me a comment!

Wendy