new quilt in progress

My mom lives in a tiny little house on a small island. She's very crafty and has impecable taste, and just this week taught herself to knit (without a book or any instructions-- she just thought about it and applied her extensive crochet knowledge). Her queen sized bed takes up most of her tiny bedroom. The point is, a quilt could really change the way her room looks, especially a nice bright fresh one. Like this one in progress.

The pieced back has 4 stripes: pale aqua oxford shirting, orange Paula Prass, a tiny strip of IKEA canvas, and brown swiss dot. I love that canvas, but didn't want it to be itchy or too hot. Plus, I didn't know how it'd work while quilting, so I figured I'd start small. I never pre-wash (that's another post altogether) but I'm curious to see how this will hold up. Here's the back: And here's a sneak peak of the front:
It's hanging over my bannister, anxiously awaiting basting. I actually made the top sometime last year, but I wasn't crazy about it. Plus, it was just a little too small for my own queen sized bed. Then, I pulled it out, and after a good sale find of the Tula Pink fish fabric, it cam together. It's not a very complicated quilt pattern, just some framed squares, but I think my colour choices are what makes it a little more interesting.

Once I actually get this quilted, I'll be sure to take a full-length picture. Apologies as always for the bad picture-- the background is white, and the rest of the colours aren't quite so harsh in real life. This is a big quilt-- nearly 90" long, which was actually really nice for cutting my batting.

Grandpa Fred quilt update: my dad delivered it to him, and according to my dad, Grandpa "really liked his blanket and was surprised but asked for it to be taken to his house so it wouldn't get stolen from the assisted living facility". I'll take that as a compliment, for sure. Even though my dad called it a blanket, which we all know is inferior to a quilt. As I mentioned before, I come from a non-quilting culture. I guess they'll get it eventually.

Grandpa Fred

Here it is, all washed and fresh from the dryer: I'm happily surprised with this one. At the last minute, I added the border print that I used in Max's quilt, and it framed it really well. I'm in love with those big orange polka dots. In true "nothing but scraps" fashion, here's the back:Half of it is the green polka dot (leftover Christmas clearance fabric) and the border print was $1 a yard from Hancock Fabrics. I thought it was just retro enough for my grandpa. Plus, there are ladies on it-- Grandpa loves the ladies. I quilted 3" wide stripes to make diamonds. With all of the seams, I didn't want to stipple. The binding is more polka dots. I wish I had some striped fabric instead, but I didn't have enough for the entire binding.
I'm pleased not only with how it came out, but also with how I didn't have to buy a single new thing for this entire quilt. I've made quilts involving numerous expensive trips to different quilt shops, and haven't had as much success as this. Yay!

PTQB-- March

For the Pieced Together Quilting Bee, this is the fabric that Stephanie sent me. I took the pictures at night, and if you know me in real life, then you know that my vision is absolutely horrible (that's my apology for the bad picture). These were some interesting fabric choices-- I know that everyone got an alphabet block-- which I ADORE and have no idea where Stephanie got them-- and are supposed to construct some sort of block around the letter.I made this block last night, but I don't want to post it until I know that Stephanie has received it. Plus, I'm still going back and forth on whether or not I'm brave enough to embroider that cute V.
I'm also in the process of making the quilt sandwich for my grandpa's quilt. I've decided to keep in the true scrappy style and pieced my batting and my backing. I've pieced my batting before, and while it's probably not my first choice, it's nearly impossible to tell after it's been quilted and washed. If you've never done it before, try it once. I'm thinking about quilting it in straight lines on the diagonal, to make diamonds. Stippling with all of those tiny pieces is making me tired, and it's gotten to be a little larger than I expected. I seem to have a problem of making long, skinny quilts. I added some of Max's "macho border" to make it a little more of a realistic size. Pictures soon, I hope!

Also--thank you guys so much for all the blog love! It's just so motivating and makes me want to continue to create and write about it. I hope I don't disappoint!

nothing but scraps

Here is what I've been up to lately-- more quilting for men. These are my blocks for the "Nothing but Scraps" challenge. Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes a scrap vs. stash. I say it's a scrap if it's smaller than a fat quarter, and something that has previously been cut by me. I have a hard time throwing away any piece of fabric, no matter how tiny or odd the shape may be, and I have all of these scraps loosely arranged by colour, in those three-drawer plastic rolling containers. It works well for me, especially because they fit under my sewing machine and cutting tables. Even the white for this quilt came from my scrap collection. Here are my 15 blocks. I did some free piecing and then trimmed the blocks to 12.5" square, then added 2.5" white borders. I'm not crazy about long pieces of sashing, and so this is my way around that (this time).Here are some of the blocks laid out on my living room floor, not yet sewn together. I'm not sure what I'll use for the backing. If I'm to stay true to the Nothing but Scraps spirit, I'd sew together my batting scraps for the middle and some of my bigger pieces for the back. We'll see. My 84-year-old grandfather recently fell on the ice and broke a few ribs, so he's recovering at an assisted-living facility (which he hates, naturally). I'm going to surprise him with this quilt. I figured it's bright and colourful, and will hopefully raise his spirits, at least a little bit. My family and culture really doesn't have any sort of a quilting tradition, which is good for me because that means that my family continues to be amused/amazed.

Update: Max got his quilt in the mail, and he was impressed. He called the cheater print a "macho border". He's anxious to use it on his couch-- before, he said, he'd get cold and put on a hooded sweatshirt and smush his feet under his basset hound. The quilt is a much better option.