Dreamcatcher {a finished quilt}

This quilt was made with Kate Spain’s new Daydreams line from The Intrepid Thread.  The colors are deep purple and pinkish corals with a hint of orange thrown in for good measure.

I modified the Criss-Crossed Quilt from February to make this quilt appear to have wonky 4-patch blocks, like this:

Or wonky crosses like this:

I don’t know which one my eye sees better when I look at the quilt.  But either way I like it!

What do you think of the texture of the quilting?  This double loop pattern came straight out of Angela Walters’s first free motion quilting book.  I never was able to do loops on my domestic machine, but I practiced on a drawing pad and then drew a diagram on an index card which I taped right on the front of my longarm machine.  After a few minutes I was able to take the index card off.  My brain knew what it was doing (for the most part).  Of course my quilting is nowhere near as good as Angela’s, but not too shabby for a first try!

The back is pieced with leftover gray fabric and pink striped fabric long forgotten but re-discovered to finally fulfill its destiny as the back of a quilt, along with a big section of Arcadia in Scarlet.

Arcadia features hummingbirds, rabbits, butterflies, and roosters and has such a fanciful feeling.  One thing is for sure, pieced backs always take longer.  I put this one together with four girls running amuck through the house this past Saturday and, for the hour or two it took, questioned my sanity several times, but the effect is worth the effort in the end…right?

I framed the cloth label in leftover purple and coral.  This quilt is for Veronica so I will write her name on there with an indelible fabric marker and date it.

She loves the quilt and even volunteered for a photo using it.

It finishes at 70” square.  The binding is Kona Punch.  The lattice is Kona Silver and the background is mostly Kona Shadow, but I ran out and had to improvise with some other grays from my stash.  I owe one to Bea for coming up with the idea of ombre.  How did she even know that word???!!!  I tried to cluster the darks in the bottom corner and have the color attenuate into light gray.

What do you think?  Would you classify this as a modern quilt?  Wonky with an edge?  I loved every part of making this quilt and hope it shows.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Fort Worth Fabric Studio on Friday. 

Criss-Crossed Quilt

Criss-Crossed is the name of my latest finish.  It was made with an assortment of pink, plum, and golden fabrics.  Many prints are Denyse Schmidt of course!  Others are Lori Holt Daisy Cottage, some Thomas Knauer, Joel Dewberry, and even fabric designed by fellow DCMQG member Jessie Aller for In the Beginning.  All of the fabrics including the backing and two shades of gray are from my stash!!!  How often can a quilter say that?  The binding was purchased online and luckily it coordinates beautifully.

The back is an Anna Maria Horner roses print from her Innocent Crush collection and a gray, yellow, ivory Midwest Modern print by Amy Butler.  Pieced backs are definitely my favorite!

This is the first quilt I quilted on the new long arm.  It was an experience.  I had some issues with the edges of the quilt and a few times I had to unpick a lot of quilting.  But overall I was pretty pleased with how the final quilt turned out despite all the extra handling during quilting.  A final trim and the binding hid any imperfections.

Normally I don’t wash any quilts before gifting, but this time I ran the quilt through the washer and dryer just to make sure everything held together, which it did! 

Who can resist a big-eyed bunny?  Not my daughter!

Have a great week!  Linking up to Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Crazy Mom Quilts.

A good day

Last night Bea’s lunch did not get packed in anticipation of a snow day.  The weather was iffy, but around midnight there was already 2 inches on the ground, so I didn’t set the alarm either.  When I woke up, the voicemail and text confirmed it…snow day!

We had a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, then romped around in the snow for as long as we could stand it, came inside and built a fire, then I popped in a movie for the girls and headed upstairs to my sewing room.  My lovely feline assistants soon joined me, probably not so much for my company as the intense heat that emanates from a workhorse of a space heater I like to turn on when I’m sewing.

Double Stuf is in the top bunk and Oreo is in the bottom bunk.  They are not buddies yet, so they need separate sleeping quarters.

I finally finished putting together this baby quilt.

It’s ready for the backing.  There is one leftover cross block I want to include on the back.  Then this thing needs to be quilted because the little girl who it’s going to was born a few days ago.

And the day just keeps on getting better.  Bea and I are sewing a new quilt’s strips together now and watching conspiracy theory shows on the History Channel.  Thank goodness my husband was able to go to work or he would be driven out to the garage by these shows.  So far we’ve learned about the Knights Templar (twice), the Holy Grail, American Stonehenge, and now a mystery rock wall in Texas. 

Hope you are enjoying your Friday, too!  Have a great weekend!