Mary's Latest Quilt

My neighbour Mary has been busy quilting - and she recently showed me her latest creation. 

So beautiful! (It reminds me of art by M.C. Escher.)

Here's what Mary said about the quilt:

This is my latest quilt.  It was a pattern that my daughter really liked.  So I thought I would try the smallest size which was classed as crib size. I then added a five inch border all around to end up with a 48 x 64  inch (122 cm x 163 cm) quilt.

The initial cutting of the pieces was easy.  It started out by cutting out numerous 1.5 inch (3.8 cm) strips by the width of the fabric in the two colours. Then made into the four types of blocks that were not all that easy. Particularly the one where you had to match the pieces on the diagonal.  All the squares had to be a precise size so when you put it together the seams would match.

When you did sew all the squares together they were done on the diagonal (kind of twists the brain a little bit) and then you cut all the triangle edges and square it up.  

The back of the quilt was kept simple.

The pattern is called "Interwoven" and it is from a company called "LO & BEHOLD" loandbeholdstitchery.com 

Another Beautiful Quilt!

My neighbour Mary has been busy quilting - and she shared her latest with me. The colours remind me of sunrise and sunset...

Another really beautiful quilt! Here's what she said:

My latest quilt is also the latest release from The Blanket Statement  https://theblanketstatement.ca/.  It is called Falcon Ridge and as with all her quilt designs they are named after places in Manitoba.  This time I not only purchased the pattern but also the fabric bundle that would make a large throw. It measures 68" x 72" (172 x 183 cm).

The back of the quilt is a flannel top sheet.  When we got a new mattress last fall, very few of our sheet sets fit.  So I kept the top sheet to use as a backing.

Maybe I will take a break from quilting!  Or at least only wall hanging  or pillow size.  Too many ideas in my head.

Mary

Mary's Latest Quilt

My neighbour Mary recently told me about another quilt she has finished. Here it is... (I think the botanical paintings on the wall may be ones she did as well...)

For quilters out there, are some details about the quilt: 

Here is my first quilt of 2024.  Again it is from "The Blanket Statement"  https://theblanketstatement.ca/.  This time I followed the pattern as was intended.  

The pattern can be made multi-coloured or two coloured.  The instructions are included for both versions in various sizes.  This one is 90" x 90" (228cm x 228cm).

For the back of the quilt I chose a flowered flannel.

Unlike Mary I have not been doing any quilting this winter... Maybe this will inspire me to start! I have piles of fabric in my sewing room, ready to go... but little motivation. I know that starting a project sometimes energizes... Perhaps some rainy day in spring!

(There's a season - and a reason! - for everything!)

I do love the colours she has chosen - and the design. Beautiful!

JOYFUL Tasks

These coldest days of winter has set me on a search of JOYFUL things to do.

Maybe that's why I'm working on a puzzle with lots of yellow and lots of flowers.

I also came across this quilt pattern for an optimism quilt - called that possibly because it's made of bright, cheerful colours. Maybe I should search through my fabric stash and make s simple cheerful one like it.

I need to search for JOYFUL things to do!

The sun is out - though the temperature is cold - as I write this... Sunny days cheer me up as well!

Mary's Latest Quilt

Now that winter is here, there's lots of time for doing things indoors. My neighbour, Mary, has been quilting, as well as working on jigsaw puzzles.

She recently showed me a picture of her latest quilt and told me how she made it. I usually stick to square and rectangular shapes...

This is my latest quilt that I completed in early December.  It is more of a lap quilt in size.  It measures 42" x 68" (107cm x 172cm). 

There seem to be a lot of patterns recently that have circles in them and I really like the effect .  So  this was really a test run and used mostly fabric from my stash. 

I didn't follow the pattern exactly mainly because some of my stash pieces were not that big, and I wanted to see if I could make the quarter circle easily using the acrylic template. 

In conclusion, making the quarter circle was not difficult at all.

The only disadvantage with the template was that it was slippery and wanted to slip when I was using the rotary cutter.  So if you look at the template you will see lines of circles.  They are actually the leftover sheet pieces from silicone pads.  Once we have used all the grippy feet from the sheet, I save the sheet for this purpose.  Works really well.

Not sure when my next quilting adventure will be because the table I use for cutting the fabric is also the table that I do puzzles on.

Beautiful!

Mary's Summer 2023 Quilt

My neighbor Mary has been busy quilting. 

This is her latest quilt that she finished in August.

It doesn't have a name like some of her other quilts as it was not part of an official pattern.  So she just winged it.  It is approximately 72" square (183cm x 183cm)

She purchased some plastic 'Scrap Crazy Templates' and wanted to try them out.  Each template makes a finished 6" block (15 cm).  In the quilt there are nine squares.  Each square contains  four 6" blocks from the templates.  

Everything after the nine squares were made was where she really winged it - with no planned idea of how she wanted to complete the quilt.  She thought navy was a good contrast with the oranges and yellows so she used four inch (10cm) borders around the squares.  But after doing that, the quilt was still too small so she then came up with two, one inch (5cm) yellow and orange borders to help expand the quilt size.

At Mary's

My neighbour Mary has been doing a lot of quilting recently. 

She invited me over to look at some of her new pattern acquisitions...

Later, when we went outdoors, I met this friendly little chipmunk who drops in for snacks!

Cute little guy!

Mary's Latest Quilting Challenge

My neighbour, Mary, has been working on a beautiful - but very challenging - quilt! Here it is, hanging on her clothesline...

I asked her about it. Here is what she said::

I finally finished the "Aurora Borealis" quilting kit (which included the fabric) that I received at Christmas.  The finished quilt is approximately 183cm x 183cm (72" x 72").

The quilt consists of 12 square variations and you need to make 4 of each. Plus one for the centre for a total of 49 squares.

I started it with great enthusiasm, and did the first three squares variations and quit for several months.  The frustration started when trying to make the centre of each square lie flat.  When you have 8 pieces of fabric colliding together in the middle it is quite difficult to minimize the lump.  I did look up some Youtube videos which helped some.  When I did the final quilting on top, I did everything to avoid going over the centres.  I probably would have broken many needles.

The other challenge with this quilt was the fact that the instructions were written for the "Alaskan Quilt" which is basically the reverse colours.  So when reading the instructions for the pattern, the colour mentioned is not the colour used.  Example: There are two shades of dark blue.  In the instructions one is identified as "Cream" and the other as "Oyster".  There were 23 different colours in the pattern.  So to keep everything straight in my mind I had to write the colour name on a slip of paper for each fabric colour as per the Alaskan quilt pattern.  The whole thing was a mind game.

Wow! I'm so impressed! One thing I've learned over the years - from trial and error is that I'm not good with fine details and complex patterns like this.

I have so much admiration for those who can do it...

So I just stand back in awe when I see something that complex! So very beautiful!

More Quilted Projects

It's always interesting to discover what crafter friends have been up to during the long Canadian winter months.

My neighbour Mary has been quilting. She recently showed me her latest quilt. (I think this is her third since last summer.)

It was so stunning, I asked her if I could share it here. Fortunately, she agreed:

This is my latest quilt.  It is a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman called "Arctic Feathers".  

The size is approximately 70" x 80" (178 x 203 cm).  I chose a rainbow of colours.  The background fabric I recently purchased just for this project.  The feathers were about 50% from my stash and 50% new fat quarters.

To best show the whole quilt I decided to hang the quilt on the clothesline.

Before making this quilt, I chose to tryout the pillow version first.  Since I liked the results of the pillow, I then went on to make the whole quilt.

After making the quilt and having a fair amount of material left over, I chose to make another pillow with some of the same fabric.  This time the pattern is from "The Blanket Statement" and the pattern is called "North Cross" (https://theblanketstatement.ca/). The pillow is the smallest of four pattern sizes in the instructions. 

I don't know what's next.  I have taken a bit of a break for the moment.

Mary's Winter Quilting Project

I don't talk to neighbours much over the winter, but I happened to hear that, while I've been trying to master mosaic crochet, my neighbour, Mary has been busy quilting. 

Send me some pictures, I asked her - and tell me about the project. 

This is what she shared:

Late last year, when my friend here in Ottawa found out that our friend's daughter in western Ontario was having a baby, I suggested that I could make a quilt.

The pattern is from a quilt designer in Winnipeg with a company called The Blanket Statement (https://theblanketstatement.ca/).  I really liked the pattern in general for a larger quilt but when it came to the baby quilt size, the pattern was turned sideways and not logical for me who likes symmetry.  So I changed the look a bit.

The quilt is made from one single patch x 12 turned in various directions.  The finished product is approximately 36 x 48 inches (92 x 122 cm).

I really didn't want to make a pink quilt in this day and age but we found out that they had already painted the baby's room in a light pink.  I also didn't want to make the quilt too babyish since she is only having one child. My hope is that it can be used as a lap quilt (or blankie) for several years. 

Gorgeous!

Memory Joggers

I enjoy making things - and, like most crafters, make far more than I can ever use....

So it was gratifying to see these quilts - that I made years ago - being put to good use!  

(They date back to my "2-color quilt" phase!)

Quilting Transformation

I made this quilted wall hanging the year I first learned to quilt.

In the fall of 1985, I took a "night school" course on making "quilted gifts." The hanging was one of the gifts that I made. I sent to my mother.

Here is another "gift" I made. Only this one I kept for myself. I still use it.

Thinking back, that first quilting course was so useful. Not only did I learn the basics of quilting, I also learned how to make cloth hangings and shopping bags!

Now I've decided to transform my mother's wall hanging into a pillow. Our family will get more use out of it that way.

There! One rainy afternoon... and it's done!

Another Quilt!

My neighbor, Mary, showed me her most recent quilt. It’s a little smaller than the one she showed me a few  weeks ago.

The design reminds me of a cozy plaid flannel shirt. Made up of squares, the quilt is square, too.

The backing is cut from an IKEA duvet cover that shrank…

(I see I’m not the only one to repurpose bedding when looking for quilt backing!)

Quilts take a while to assemble… I’m impressed that she’s made not one, but two, so quickly! They’re both  beautiful!

Mary’s Quilt

I haven’t quilted all summer, but my neighbour Mary recently mentioned that she had been working on a quilt.

It’s now finished!

It’s challenging to assemble - and machine quilt - a queen-sized one like this. 

Thats why the only queen-sized one I ever did was my first quilt  - a sampler.

A really big sewing table helps.

It’s a real work of love! So beautiful! I love the colors!

Next Quilting Project?

Now that spring is here, I’m not sure what creative endeavours to pursue. But a new quilt pattern recently caught my eye…

It’s called “Fat Eighth Flapjacks.” I first noticed it on Pinterest. It was easy to download from www.FatQuarterShop.com.

Now to sort through my bins of fabric for matching strips I could use! (I wonder if I could make it totally out of fabrics I already have…)

That would be great!

How to Decorate With Quilts

The October edition of Canadian House & Home had an article on “How to Decorate With Quilts.”

I was interested! I have more quilts than I know what to do with!!

To cover a table? No, I’ve never done that!

On a bed? I’ve done that!

A wall hanging? I’ve done that in the past… but have none hanging right now… I do have one hanging over the upstairs banister…

And another on the back of a rocking chair…

Hopefully they won’t get bleached by the sun!

I’d really love to have a large frame on the wall… like the one in the picture on the right, where several quilts can hang.

Not sure if I’d have enough wall space for that. Instead, I just pile them up!