Thursday, January 9, 2014

Finished Blue Plus Quilt

The third quilt I finished for Christmas is this blue plus quilt for my brother-in-law. While my sister-in-law had been quick to respond to my request for favorite colors, my BIL didn't say a word (so typical...just teasing J!). Since blue is my favorite color and I have at least two times as much blue fabric in my stash than any other color, I figured it'd be a good, manly choice for my BIL's quilt.

I made a plus quilt for a friend's baby in 2012 and I really loved how it turned out. (Funny how such a simple pattern can be just what the doctor ordered.) I decided to use that pattern for my BIL's quilt too. So, I pulled out a variety of blue prints ranging from light blue to royal blue to navy to teal and cut them up into five-inch charm squares.

Blue Plus Quilt

One of my goals at the beginning of 2013 was to make more pieced quilt backs, which is not something I like doing. For this quilt, though, I used up some larger blue and green cuts of fabric to make a simple back, nothing fancy.

Blue Plus Quilt

I quilted straight lines on each of the seams and bound the quilt in a variety of blue prints. The quilt measures about 67 inches square.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Finished Labyrinth Quilt

Next up is the Christmas quilt I made for my sister-in-law. We usually rotate through the adults in the mister's family so I knew well ahead of time that we'd have this particular couple for Christmas.

I asked my sister-in-law what colors she wanted and she requested brown and blue to match her bedroom. I had a fat quarter bundle of Riley Blake's So Sophie fabric that matched perfectly with what my SIL asked for. I added in a few more brown and blue prints and used the Labyrinth quilt pattern by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.

Labyrinth Quilt

I quilted the centers of each block with a flower design that radiated out. In the negative space, I quilted meandering loops.

For the backing, I used up the rest of the So Sophie fabric I had along with a couple other larger brown and blue cuts of fabric.

Labyrinth Quilt

The quilt measures about 70 inches square.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Finished Pixelated Camera Quilt

This week I'll be sharing my Christmas quilt finishes. I made four quilts for gifts this year. First up is the pixelated camera quilt for my father-in-law.

When I first started attending family functions with the mister's family before we were married, I had to quickly get used to all the cameras being used by various family members. Knowing I was getting my picture taken, it was hard not to pose or at least make sure I was presentable for the picture. See, the mister's family likes the candid shots. After a year or two, I finally got comfortable enough that I rarely notice now if I'm having my picture taken. And a bonus is that my kids are comfortable around cameras too and we'll have a lot of photos of them during all stages of their lives.

In the years that I've been quilting, I've never made a quilt for my father-in-law, while my mother-in-law has three quilts from me. So this year I decided to remedy that and a camera quilt seemed the most fitting for him.

I went with a mix of gray prints for the camera and background and a few blue prints for the lens.

Pixelated Camera Quilt

The backing is a great camera print from Robert Kaufman. I decided to leave the selvage on, but can't decide if I like it or not. I was trying to be frugal, but looking at the backing in this print, it jumps right out at me.

Pixelated Camera Quilt

I quilted the lens in a spiraling circle. The rest of the quilt is comprised of meandering ripple quilting. I used two light blue prints for the binding.

This quilt was a big hit with my father-in-law when we celebrated Christmas with the mister's family, and it was my final pixelated quilt for the year.

Friday, January 3, 2014

X-Factor Pillow Swap Received

Back in November, I shared the pillow I made for the X-Factor Pillow Swap on Flickr. After my wrist and elbow surgery in October, I was itching to make something, but couldn't yet use my rotary cutter or sewing machine. Instead, I did some English paper piecing that ended up being a good form of physical therapy.

The round ended the first of November and we all had the chance to vote for our favorite pillows. This was my first choice and I was so happy to see it arrive in my mailbox!

Tina from the UK (Cottilello on Flickr) made this amazing low-volume wavy pillow cover. The fabrics she used are so fun - clothespins, barcodes, cameras, text, needles and thread, scissors. I currently have the pillow sitting on my couch, but plan to put it in my sewing room if I ever get one of those.

X Factor Pillow Swap Pillow Received

This was a fun swap to participate in this year. It was low-key and not as time-consuming as some of the other swaps I've participated in. I could make a pillow that I wanted and *hopefully* it would be well enough received that I could get my first choice pillow in return. I'm hoping to participate in more rounds in the future.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2013 Quilts in Review

2013 was a pretty good year for me in terms of quilt production. I made 23 quilts this year and two more quilt tops, but I'll count those as 2014 finishes when I complete them.

Quilts 2013

When I look back at these quilts, I think the theme for the year was patchwork. There are a lot of pixelated quilts, simple patchwork quilts, and other designs using 2" squares. I wonder what my theme for 2014 will turn out to be.

I'll be back to share some of the quilts I made for Christmas gifts. Hope you're all starting the year off just the way you want to. I'm hoping to get my first 2014 quilt finished today!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails