I've been very productive lately. I'm caught up with the Tewksbury Piecemaker's guild mystery quilt. All the yellows in this quilt are making it very happy! I'm loving how its coming together.
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| Tewksbury Piecemakers Guild Mystery Quilt |
One of the quilts I finished yesterday has a bit of a sad tale associated with it. Here it is...The Ugly Quilt....
We received a collection of fabric at the shop I work at that can could never be described as attractive. Some might even use the word ugly to describe it. I took it as a challenge. I figured if I could use this fabric in a great pattern, people would flock to it and buy this as a kit. Alas, even after being made into this really cool Turning Twenty pattern this fabric did not sell (in shop or online). The quilt top sat around the shop unfinished for a few years and when I got back from Abu Dhabi I noticed the lonely binding sitting in my binding tote. I inquired as to the whereabouts of the "ugly fabric quilt" and the shop owner knew exactly what I was talking about. I had my mom quilt it and I finished the binding yesterday. I have no idea who to give this to because I don't think it will go with anyone's decor, but this is actually a really soft, snuggly quilt and would be great for snuggling with while watching TV. I may end up donating it to charity. The cats really seem to like it and don't think it is ugly at all. I think the quilt looks better with cats on it, so I didn't shoo them away while I was taking my photos.
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| The princess and the pea? |
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| The cats don't mind this fabric at all! |
My next finish is a fun little throw I made using a layer cake of Moda's Sweet Serenade fabric. I love the colors. This fabric features birds and music notes on it. I had my mom quilt it with birds using Fabulux thread in the color Meditation. This pattern called for a jelly roll, but the layer cake worked just fine for making this 4-patch quilt. I bought the layer cake some time ago along with a couple yards of coordinating fabric. I had to look for a pattern that didn't need more background fabric than I had since I REALLY wanted to use what I had and didn't want to have to purchase more. This pattern fit the bill nicely! I had enough for the border and binding with no issues. The backing is another story....
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| Sweet Serenade Layer Cake Quilt |
I also wanted to use what I had for the backing without purchasing any additional fabric. I used leftovers from the border and some extra 4-patches to piece the backing from yardage I already had. Alas, I used every trick in the book and was JUST A COUPLE INCHES too narrow. Agh!!! I had to go online and purchase a half yard of coordinating fabric (the light one shown below) to finish the backing. This also gave me enough to make the coordinating label triangle, so it all worked out in the end.
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| Pieced backing using all available scraps! |
The final quilt I finished yesterday is my first-ever Bargello. I didn't start this quilt when I wanted to because I couldn't find a good pattern that didn't require me to buy a ton of extra fabric for background, borders, etc. I'm trying so hard to use what I have and I also find that getting background fabric to match batiks is a challenge. White solid didn't work for this collection and doesn't work for a lot of the batik jelly rolls I have. I searched all my patterns and just couldn't find anything that would work. For the first time ever I saw quilting magazines in an airport news stand (Baltimore airport!). I snatched them up and low and behold, a pretty bargello pattern that works PERFECTLY for the Tonga Treats strip sets! The Tonga Treats strips come with two sets of 20 matching strips. This bargello pattern (Fons and Porter, Fire and Ice Bargello) calls for four sets of 20 matching strips. I rushed to my LQS to get another pack of strips. Luckily this is a current collection and luckily the shop also had coordinating fabric for the binding!
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| The cats feel their presence in quilt pictures adds to the artistic value. |
I love how the quilt came out. This bargello went together nicely and the whole process was easier than I imagined. I will probably make this quilt again. I had my mom quilt this using Fabulux Meditation thread and it blends in great with the quilt top. I bound this by hand and will enter it in the Tewksbury Piecemaker's quilt show. This is my final entry into the show, so as of now I am ready for the show with time to spare!
We received a collection of fabric at the shop I work at that can could never be described as attractive. Some might even use the word ugly to describe it. I took it as a challenge. I figured if I could use this fabric in a great pattern, people would flock to it and buy this as a kit. Alas, even after being made into this really cool Turning Twenty pattern this fabric did not sell (in shop or online). The quilt top sat around the shop unfinished for a few years and when I got back from Abu Dhabi I noticed the lonely binding sitting in my binding tote. I inquired as to the whereabouts of the "ugly fabric quilt" and the shop owner knew exactly what I was talking about. I had my mom quilt it and I finished the binding yesterday. I have no idea who to give this to because I don't think it will go with anyone's decor, but this is actually a really soft, snuggly quilt and would be great for snuggling with while watching TV. I may end up donating it to charity. The cats really seem to like it and don't think it is ugly at all. I think the quilt looks better with cats on it, so I didn't shoo them away while I was taking my photos.
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