Strippin' in Black and White

Nope...it's not what you think.

Or...maybe it is!

It was recently brought to my attention that my Etsy shop is overloaded with (ahem) 'girly stuff'. 

Vintage sheet Pink Rail fence

I realized..... that's very true.  There's a lot of pinks and pastels and shall we say, more feminine quilts and things on there. Not so much for in the Manly Men department.

So I am working on that discrepancy this week!

Here's a sneak peek:

Strip Quilts come together quickly!

I cut some of my fav black and white fabrics into varied widths

 

 

I don't know...felt like someone was watching me....

So I have a few planned to work on this week, and a few more finished tops that just need to be quilted up.

Heading up to sew for awhile, get some work done!

OOOOH and I almost forgot...finally finally finally 'they' are printing ALL the superheroines onto fabric!!  When I cut into this darling, I will DEF let you all know what it's turning into!

Batgirl, Supergirl AND Wonderwoman, together at last!

 

 

My finished Wonderwoman Quilt; a gift for my bestie!!

Which comes first - fabric or pattern?

I have a question to pose to all the quilters out there.... what 

 comes first for you?

Do you find gorgeous fabrics INSPIRE you to create and then you grab the pattern?

Or do intricate design patterns INSPIRE you to pull fabrics and then you create?

I found this fabric and fell in love. I didn't want to cut it at first.

For me, I think that it's the fabric that inspires the pattern. But wait...sometimes when I peruse blogs online I see patterns that just yell at me to pull fabrics from my stash. I don't know....laugh.

I put it to the interwebs: What comes first??

The fabric, or the pattern?

And of course. Like all my quilts, Muffin Approved.

One Day Wonderwoman Quilt

A very good friend of mine recently turned 40, and so of course, I knew exactly what to get her. 

Wonder Woman is a shared hero of ours, and when I found this Wonder Woman fabric in Lens Mills, (despite the crazy high price) I decided WHAT THE HECK you only turn 40 once!!!

I already had the perfect navy blue with white stars fabric kicking around, and added some bright red & gold cotton solids from my stash.

So here is the trick for making A Quilt in a Day.

1. Start early.

2. No one else around (cats don't count).  A luxury, I know.

3. Have a solid plan/pattern in mind, draw it out & have the math done.

4. Have your batting & backing ready to go.

5. Free Motion Quilt to finish it up and use purchased binding strips.

So I had the pattern already sketched out; a basic "Strip Quilt" design with varying widths of fabric.

I knew I was making a larger sized lap quilt,  and the width of the fabric 45" was perfect for this.

I cut strips using my handy dandy Olfa rotary cutter. I had just put on a new blade...let me tell ya. Ain't nuffin' like using a new blade to slice through fabric. Like buttah.

The strips measured out cut easily and I just draped the strips in the order I wanted them across my cutting table. I sewed them together in order and folded the quilt in my lap as I went.

Once sewed together iron the seams down.

All laid out in the familiar sandwich. I use spray baste 505 to baste layers.

Heading downstairs to put on the batting & backing. I recently have been going through all the blankets and flannel sheeting I have and whittling it down by using it for batting. Why not? 

It washes well and as we know already, it's cozy and warm. So I used a cozy fleece blanket for batting.

The backing is this amazing fabric I blogged about before; it is African Wax Print fabric and wow. Stunning colour (yes, I know it's B&W) and patterns; and the perfect neutral to even out any crazy front pattern.

I use painters' tape to tape down the backing layer on the floor. Then I add the batting, smooth out all wrinkles and baste them together with Spray Baste 505. I love this stuff. It works like a dream and even if you have to leave a project and come back days weeks later; it's still adhering.

 I digress.

Add the top layer by repeating process of laying, smoothing & spraying baste.

 I also use some pins on the edges, just in case. A few more in the middle and I'm all set to go back up and Quilt!

The Finish.

I love the scrunched up look.

I love to Free Motion Quilt (FMQ). Adjust your stitch length to a longer stitch, slow down your speed and put on your FMW foot.

Closed toe; I use the Janome cuz that's what machine I have.

Technically the Darning Foot; but well, it's my FMQ foot. I actually prefer the closed toe rather than the open toe; I found the open would sometimes catch on the thread pattern if you weren't careful. Learning, always learning!

I chose to do a "WW" loose pattern, big sweeping "W's". I used an off white thread and it nearly disappeared on the backing side.

A bright blue premade bias tape binding finished this one off, and a wash on the gentle cycle and air dry had this quilt all set, in less than 10 hours!

................. and of course, it's Muffin approved.

So there you have it. I started around 8am and finished snipping the threads around 8pm.

And it was given with lots of love, and I know it is appreciated & will be cherished for years to come....

Sphinx reclining gracefully on the Wonder Woman Quilt in its new home.
XOXOXO Kelly!! Happy Birfday!!!

Quick & Easy Summerweight Quilt

These pics were taken at sunset, and I didn't notice the shadows until after.  And it IS actually a rectangular quilt, laugh. I am just working on my photography posing skills.

This is a summer weight quilt I made for my Mom. She's in a home and it's so beige and institutional she asked me for something bright for the bed. 

As you can see, this fits that bill!!

 I used fabrics from my stash for the front; it's a mix of Moda prints and other prints that I have acquired over the years. 

I used this print as inspiration - it was so varied these two squares below are actually the same print.

A Moda print called "Guatemalan Floral" I've had it for easily ten years or longer.

For the batting I used a flannelette winter sheet for just enough added weight & warmth. It was so easy to FMQ, it came together really quickly.

For the backing: 

I found an AMAZING textile shop near where I live; and they have ooodles of wax printed fabric for AMAZING prices. I fell in love with this really striking black and white print.

I bound the quilt with a soft pink that worked really well with the backing. In fact, I *almost* like the backside of the quilt best!

This was a very easy and very quick to come together quilt. A simple 9 inch square of one of the primary colours, and a 3 inch brick of a contrasting colour.  And I am pretty sure Mom will love it.

I promise to take better photos!

 

Works in Progress

Black & White & Red all over Disappearing 9 Patch Baby quilt. Not quite finished, WIP!

Summer Quilt for my Mama; layout stage. Muffin is a good helper.

Ever have a moment when you see fabric and you OOOOH out loud?! Yeah. This one I might have to keep! Muffin approved.

My sewing room; the cutting table is a fold up that goes away  so we can still use the room for guests.

Update & Happy Mardi Gras!!!!

Lots going on here at The Quilt Cave. Christmas was lovely, gifts exchanged and everyone enjoyed the Big Turkey Dinner. (That I nearly dropped on the floor, but that's another story a la Mr. Bean).

I haven't had much time for sewing, we are in the process of selling the house and so, must keep everything contained and neat and orderly. *Snort*

I do have a few WIPS (of course) and plenty of UFOS....

A new favourite full sized WIP

! I did finish a whole bunch of Bloomers however for the shop, to go along with the Custom designs, and  I think I will be adding more colours this summer...keep your eyes peeled!

Well y'all, as they say down in N'awlins.... Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

Someone has claimed this Sprocket pillow as his own.

A few pics for you on this blustery cold Feb Mardi Gras....

The BEST spelling mistake ever....read carefully...a little sewing humour

MY favourite couch blanket made with Moda and Bernat yarns, it's twin sized, took me almost a year. Ha. Perfect to snuggle under...

Checkerboard Top Finished!

Just a quick catchup on the progress of the Checkerboard Quilt.
Not the best pic; sorry. It's a bit rumply.

The top is done; it is a bit bigger than I originally intended; it's twin sized, and I was going to make it a lap quilt but;
sometimes they have their own minds.

I used a jellyroll of Moda 30's solids and Kona Cotton in ash for the checks and some border and then Kona Coal for the darker grey border. I think I am in love with Kona Coal, yessiree.

 I only used HALF the roll; so you could easily make this quilt with the full roll to a queen sized quilt;
and with creative borders push it to a king I don't doubt.

It goes on the pile of To Be Quilted; there are a bunch to be quilted for the May 5th HBBA Home show. Yay!

(It's my first show since Christmas; that show completely burned me out but that's also because I wasn't truly prepared. Read about that fiasco here. )

Enjoy your weekend folks!

Checkerboard QIP!

Hi there!

I've been wanting to make this pattern by Molly Deschenes over at Apple Cyder for awhile now.  When I found the Moda 30's solids jellyroll combined with Kona Ash; well... I knew it immediately;  THIS was the fabric!

Isn't it amazing when you find the fabric and have that AH HA! moment? When you know *exactly* what you're going to make with it? I love that.

And this pattern is super easy to follow; once I figured out the whole left/right things. Ha.

Here is the QIP: (Quilt In Progress)

All the Strips; it made a pretty flag!

 

ly stages of piecing. You can see the tape I use to keep track of the A Blocks.

I'm going to work on finishing this today. (And nope, this one is mine, you can't have it. Nyah.!)

Have a great Sunday!

My first WIP Wednesday of 2012!

I Did It!

I finished my Vintage-y Rail Fence queen sized quilt. I used several bits of Bunny Hill Designs mixed in with some fabrics I had and others whose names I don't remember (sorry!).

This is a custom order for a FABULOUS gal pal of mine for a gift for one of her equally fabulous gal pals.

Work in progress; the layout process. Too bad these pics don't do the colours justice

These colours are gorgeous; pinks, browns, creams, golds and blues

I FMQ'd in a big swirly pattern, bordered it with a nice print, backed it with a heavyweight cotton, white

And finished it off with caramel coloured binding!

Sewed on my BRAND NEW Janome QDC 4030 which I'm LOVING....this is probably the best quilt I've ever done...straight, even, edged....THANKS, Santa...it's PERFECT!

I've been kinda stalled on a lot of projects; INCLUDING getting really good pics up of all the baby quilts I did for the craft show, and some other pics of the various Christmas projects - little drawstring bags and my all time fav - adult Onesie Pyjamas...oh yeah. Hysterical. So awesome though...totally worth the cost! Stalled cuz I have a Very Painful tooth ...ouchie...yeah it needs a (shudder) root canal but first the meds...whee! Anyway. It's hard to sew with a throbbing molar.

Hopefully more sewing to come cuz I still have ONE MORE quilt to make...then...maybe I'll catch up on some personal UFOS. My scrap bin runneth over; and the Quilt Cave is still a disaster from the Christmas chaos.

Let's see; these are my WIPS:

Clean the Cave
Organize my fabrics & scraps
Purple Queen Quilt - to start
Finish MY rail fence - needs to be fixed and quilted
Take better pics of finished quilts
Sleep!


Have a great week everyone, I hope yours is happy and bright!

Mom's Quilt is Finished!

Wellllllllllllll It's all finished!

All the threads trimmed, bound neatly and ready to go! It's a bit too square than I had first planned but, I'm pretty happy with it. 

's favourite colours are coral and rust and coppery colours; I hope she likes this.

She told me about the heavy quilts she slept under as a child; and I used a heavy blanket and batting for the fill. It's nice and toasty warm; I tested it out watching TV last week and it worked really well. Nice and warm. :)

I hope she likes this!

I just used big squares and stitched in the ditch, added some sashing and hand stitched the hearts. There's also a "I love you Mom" in the border by the corner. Let's see if she finds it.