A New Charity Quilt Emerged

A couple of years ago I bought two fat quarters on sale that I thought could be used for something. It was not love at first sight, on the contrary the fabrics were not my cup of tea, at all.

The fat quarters were lying around for a long time, taking up shelf space. This week I wanted to do something about it, gathered matching solids and started cutting. Five inch squares were pieced together, and the Veggie Tales fabric and the blue long-legged birds were surrounded by colorful, matching solids.

I found a perfect spot for the photo shoot, an old, red abandoned farm shed. The snow has just melted, and the grass is dead and grey. The quilt is brightening up the location.

Weather-worn wood is a good backdrop for the little charity quilt.  It is approximately 40" by 50", and will suit a young child.

DS2 was my good quilt holder/assistant in the photo session.

This is my 12th charity quilt to the Children's Ward at my local hospital. It feels good to transfer "unwanted" fabric for me to a quilt that will be cherished and bring comfort to a sick child.

Tomatoes, cucumbers and blue birds with red legs and beaks  are looking good together with solid squares. The quilting is swirls and loops done in a rust-colored thread.  The backing is an Ikea fabric with big raspberries. I used an orange/multi-colored striped binding.

Keep on quilting, and Happy Easter!

Five More Blocks for the Splendid Sampler

These are the latest 5 blocks in the the Splendid Sampler QAL hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson. Twelve 6 1/2" blocks down of 100, only 88 to go...

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil March Block

Christa Watson from Christa Quilts is this month's Aurifil Designer of the month. The above block is my version of her Improv Star.

The improv piece is made of lots of scrap pieces. I obviously have a lot of blue fabrics!

This was a completely different block from last month's block with a lot of tiny 1 1/2" HSTs and a lot of seams that had to be matched. Improv piecing is fun, and I really have to do more of it!

Let 2016 be a blue year!

Keep on quilting!

Fifth Block in the Modern HST Sampler

This is the block Mountain designed by Jess from Elven Garden Quilts .

The fabric I use is Good Neighbors by Amanda Jean Nyberg. The different fabrics in the collection match so well  together, and I like the modern touch this will give to the quilt in the end.

The Easter vacation is soon coming up, and this means time for a lot more sewing; lucky me! I will try to keep up with all my blocks, and maybe finish a few items.

Keep on quilting!

Double Stars for Katrin

As this month's Queen Bee, Katrin chose the Double Star block. The colors she chose were among others citron, mustard yellow, bright orange, with the occasional accent of aqua thrown in.

The blocks were received by our Queen  Bee yesterday, so it is perfectly OK for me to reveal them now.

I went hunting in my stash, and I couldn't stop with just one block, I had to make two.

The first block has some cute daisies in the center on a light blue background. Well, it isn't completely aqua, but close enough. The center of the flowers, though, match the yellow and orange of the star, perfectly, if you ask me. The neutral blender livens up the block, and the off white solid calms everything down.

For the second block I found an interesting charm block from Kate Spain (Cuzco) with lots of aqua in it, and with a nice design. The yellow of the star is mixed with black, so it turns out looking dark mustard. The dark blue looks even darker on the photo than in real life. The neutral in this block is a Cotton + Steel print.

Katrin is pleased with the blocks, and she is looking forward to receiving blocks from the 10 other members of the Bee Hive. I think she will make a gorgeous quilt in the end!

Keep on quilting!

Seven Splendid Sampler Blocks finished

These are my first seven Splendid Sampler blocks. Actually, I also finished number eight last night, but I was too tired to get a good picture.

As you can see on this photo, we have still got some ice on our porch in the shaded area, winter is far from gone here. You should see the big piles of snow in our yard!

Anyway, today it is mild and raining, so maybe spring is coming?!

Keep on quilting!

Hooked on the Splendid Sampler QAL

It is difficult to resist temptations, The Splendid Sampler is one of them. Lots of cute 6 1/2" blocks for free.

Here are my blocks #4-6:

Happy Happy designed by Jen Kingwell.

Simple Simon designed by Celine Perkins.

Focal Point designed by Natalia Bonner.

Another one came out today, but that one has to wait a little bit.

Keep on quilting!

Second Finish for 2016 Finish - A - Long

This is my second finish for the 2016 Finish-A-Long. The original goal post is  here.

This is my first attempt of English Paper Piecing a complete quilt, even though is not very big, only 17.5" x 24". But, one has to start on a small scale, right?!

The quilt "First Love" is designed by Lynette Anderson, that's easy to see in her characteristic style of stitchery design. I used fabrics from Birchtree Lane by connecting Threads. I chose the fabrics to get a good 3-D feel of the "cubes" in the pattern, and I think it was a good choice.

I hand quilted the whole piece, in green thread on the cubes, and with a neutral thread in the stitchery design, mimicking the shapes of the diamonds. The low sun rays in this picture shows off the quilting very well. This was before the binding was attached.

An outdoor picture is always good, but the winter light is kind of difficult with all the snow we still have.

The English Paper Piecing was a relaxing project, and I enjoyed doing some sewing by hand for a change. The hand quilting was also rewarding, even though I got some sore fingertips from time to time. I am not quite comfortable using a thimble when hand quilting, yet.

Keep on quilting!

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