Quilting 101

I have officially started to learn to quilt..

Other than 2 baby quilts over the years, my sewing has been more clothing and home decor..

My bucket list has had quilting on it for years..While I enjoy cutting something out and making it in one day..I can see that quilting can be very therapeutic, let me clarify and say making quilt tops..

I have not gone into the world of machine quilting..and the two baby quilts I did were o.k.  the first one I bought a panel and quilted around the characters..the second I did 4″ blocks and quilted a heart in all of the white blocks..which were few.]

I have decided to conquer piecing and then go on to hand quilting and machine quilting..

So, here are my first attempts..

a quilt for the girl’s futon bed, it is made from one of our popular clothing lines we made with these prints..

I saw this pattern, called French windowpane by a woman on Etsy and a friend with a quilt shop in Chardon helped me lay it out and instructed me on how to “build” it.

 So, it has memories, including the memory that it is my almost first attempt!

I then followed it quickly with a single version for my youngest daughter’s top bunk..hers was mostly pink..they are  both at Ruby Blue Quilting studio..she is going to machine quilt them for us..

The next day I grabbed one of the charm packs that we have for sale in our fabric shop and started trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it..I wanted to move up to another level..I came across this sweet English lady, the gourmet quilter, and she has you tube tutorials, so I followed her instructions and made this quilt with one charm pack..charm packs are pre-cut 5″ squares usually of a designers collection..This charm pack had 30 pieces it is by Dena Designs..called Little Azalea..We are selling it in our fabric shop on Etsy

 This is how it turned out with the sashing and post technique shown on the you tube tutorial..

I then added the blue print for a border and it is ready to sandwich with batting and backing and quilt..I know the terms but don’t know what I am doing 🙂

Unfortunately, I am not a photographer 😦 and so the blues look LOUD when they are  really soft, calm, and restful like a tropical sea!!!!

This has been fun!  I am happy to have learned something new, and to get some practice in..

Creativity is such a gift and an outlet, whether you cook, sew, craft, scrapbook, decorate…whatever..The Lord is creative..we reflect His image when we create and it is good..

Creating…

My firstborn had his birthday last week.

His sister made him this linen shirt..

We are getting into linen here!  I really like natural fibers, cotton and linen!

I like the colors that don’t use a lot of dyes.  I use all colors but for our family, I think about those things.

Then the girls and I had a hair piece making day on Saturday.  I had visions of having so much fun and just being together.  Little did I think of the stress the mess would give me! 🙂

Being such a neat freak is not so conducive to creativity!  We did get some sweet hair pieces in the end 🙂

By:  Olivia…

By:  Victoria…

By:  Kezia…

By:  me…

Some singles…

                                                                                                                 

I can definitely say that my three daughters have surpassed me in this area.  But it is fun to watch how things turn out!

We are thinking of adding these to our online boutique as they match our outfits.  And even if they didn’t I am thinking they are still pretty!

Any thoughts??

A baby quilt…

My last pregnancy, I was forced to be on bed rest for 17 weeks.  I made this quilt for him.  I could hardly stand to be down that long.  He is worth it.  I just like to be doing.

This quilt was pieced with 8″ blocks and then I  hand embroidered the little sea creatures.

I was pleased with how the creatures could be semi- recognized in the back of my work.  I know I could have done them on the quilt top then added the backing, but I wanted to kill 2 birds with one stone and make my embroidery my quilting.   These fabrics were given to me by a quilter in Florida when we were living there for a year.  This last baby was brought into being in Florida, hence the sea and sea creature theme.    Chrissi