WIP Wednesday: Charity quilt blocks

This is the beginning of my latest charity quilt for the children's ward at my local hospital. Actually, the third block is almost done, it just needs to be assembled.

The modern Buzz Saw blocks are fun to make, and the construction is a fast one; I started out with four squares of 8.5", and that yields a finished block of 15" square. There are several tutorials out on how to make them, for instance this.

I only use scraps, recycled shirts and stash for this quilt. My plan is to use a 3 by 4 block layout for the assembly. In the end this will become a colorful quilt. But, being a mother of two boys, I try to stay away from typically "girlish" color combinations.

I will also use pure white as background in several of the blocks, because that really makes the colors "pop", and creates a more interesting quilt.

Keep on quilting!

Linked to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, Let's Bee Social and Oh Scrap!.

The Optical Illusion Quilt is Finished

The quilt I made from the book Optical Illusions, by Kansas City Star Quilts, is completed, and ready for gifting at the wedding in a week's time.

Here is the quilt Blurred Vision in all its glory in the late summer afternoon sun. DS1 is the quilt holder this time. The lilacs gives a nice backdrop to the quilt in the photo session.

The quilt is designed by Penny Layman. Its dimensions is 64" x 80" before the wash and dry cycle. This is my first two-colored quilt, ever. I used solids in teal and light aqua.

The quilt is constructed with 4 1/2" squares offset a little bit from each other, creating a "dizzy" feeling. This type of optical illusion grabs your attention because of its simplicity, boldness and effectiveness.

Although all the rows are the same width from one edge to the other, they appear to be smaller on one edge and larger on the other edge. The quilting design adds to this effect, it is done in wedges; they follow the width of the quilt in each horizontal row to accent the illusion that the rows are narrower on one end than the other.

A detailed picture of the quilting after wash shows this effect. I did all the quilting freehand on my domestic sewing machine with a small throat space. One row is filled with wavy lines widely spaced, and the other is filled with wavy lines with a higher frequency. After washing and drying the quilt gets a crinkled and cozy look.

The quilt back was pieced together with the main fabric being Britten Nummer by Ikea. The bride and groom will be able to keep count of the years they have been married by looking at the back. I added a few teal/blue fabrics to get the backing wide enough, and put in the pieced initials of the happy couple with a cute pink heart in between.

I added a hand embroidered label with the name of the bride and groom, in addition to the wedding date, August 1st.

It is easy to see the quilting on the back side of the quilt.

The newly weds will enjoy cuddling under their new quilt for years to come!


This is my ALYoF goal for July, and also my second goal for the 2015 Finish Along for Q3.

Linked up to Needle and Thread Thursday and TGIFF.

Quilt Doodle BOM 2015 - July's Block

This is the July block for the BOM My Favorite Things; a cute cabin in the forest.

I decided to make it as far from 'Christmasy' as I could, this is a real "log cabin". I think the tall tree looks the best, made of a fabric that looks just like a Lumber Jack's shirt.

The stars are also subtle, just like they are in the Northern Hemisphere, close to the Arctic Circle during summer.

My Itty Bitty Owl Found a Place to Stay

Here is my first finish for July; made in a break in-between quilting of the wedding gift. The pattern is the Open Wide Zippered Pouch by Noodlehead. On the front I used the option for the Contrast Bottom Pouch, but divided the top panel in three to make room for the cross stitched owl. The fabrics plays well together with the cross stitch motif. Notice the pink zipper pull.

For the back the top panel is just one fabric. I lined the pouch with a marigold solid which compliments the colors of the top panel.

This is how it looks all zippered up. My Itty Bitty Owl can keep a lot of stuff under its wings, and help me stay organized with my sewing gear.

Not only my first finish for July, but also the first finish from my 2015 Q3 - Finish Along List; starting early this quarter!

Happy quilting!

My 2015 FAL - Q3 List

It is the third quarter of 2015, and a new list of projects I want to finish is due. Thanks to Adrienne over at On The Windy Side for keeping us in line.

For the second quarter I managed to complete two of three projects on my list. The last, and biggest, project on my list had already been transferred from one list to the next. Last quarter it had to be postponed again, since there was a wedding gift that suddenly had to be made. 

So, here is my plan for the finishes of the third quarter:

The Blurred Vision quilt is now basted and I have started quilting. This will be a wedding gift and it must be finished by the end of the month.

My Itty Bitty Owl is to be incorporated into a zippered pouch.

I am also planning to make a scrappy Modern Buzz Saw quilt for the Children's Ward at my local hospital. This will be a good scrap buster.

And last, but not least, I am again putting my Love Squared quilt up on the list. 

Happy quilting!

Colorful inspiraton + progress

Lately, working on the Blurred Vision quilt and the set of Swoon pillows, there has not been an abundance of colors here on the blog. There has mainly been teal and aqua around. Since this is July with plenty of flowers in bloom, I feel I have to incorporate more brightness into my blog.

Firstly, I stumbled onto this gorgeous piece of fiber art at my local hospital:

It is an amazing piece, a wall hanging that seems to consist of wool threads in different colors glued (or fastened, somehow) onto a background fabric. The wall hanging was behind a reception desk, so I was not able to check it out in more detail. Maybe this will be the inspiration to a new quilt?

I just had to include the two last pictures; two flower arrangements I spotted outside an office building.

The summer flowers show off so nicely against the grey slate on the ground, these are the real colors of summer!

Then it is back to my two-colored world; DS2 helped me basting this quilt on a big conference table at work this weekend. I have just started quilting the Blurred Vision quilt; more details to follow...

ALYoF 2015 Goal for July

During May/June I have been working hard on the wedding gifts for my nephew and his bride to be. The pillow set is done, and the Optical Illusion quilt top is finished.

Yesterday I finished piecing the backing for this quilt, and late last night I embroidered the label to put on the back.

My goal for July is to baste, quilt and bind this quilt. The wedding is the first of August, so I am in a bit of a hurry!

Linked up to ALYoF July Goal Post over at Sew BitterSweet Designs and Needle and Thread Thursday