Joyful Meadows

 My first finish of the year is this beautiful baby quilt. At the end of last year I learned that some friends of mine were expecting their third baby. I have made quilts for their first two kids, so naturally I had to make another one for their latest.

 I was lucky enough to win this Joyful Meadows pattern by Happy Cloud Creations at the right time I was searching for a pattern. The pattern comes in five different sizes, from Baby to King. I made the baby size of 48" x 48".

The finished quilt was taken out in the forest for a photo shoot. I we were lucky that sun gave us beautiful photo light after the snow showers.

 

I used my (almost never ending) stash of Birchtree Lane fabrics from Connecting Threads for this quilt, with solid white for background. These are the prints I chose, the feather print is my absolute favorite.

 

The pattern is very well written, and the quilt top came together quickly .

I quilted it on my domestic machine with loops and swirls in white thread. The quilt got a great texture. The pine was a good quilt holder.

My first finish for the year looks good in the winter snow.

Keep on quilting!

 

 

Hearts On Fire Blog Hop - My Day

 

 Welcome to the fifth and last day of the Hearts on Fire blog hop hosted by Carol of JustLetMeQuilt .

The rules were:

'Make something with a heart in any color, BUT NOT RED...get creative!'

 

 

Due to a time consuming  project I started towards the end of last year, I only had time to make a couple of small projects for this blog hop. But, anyway, here's my entry: a pouch and a pincushion.

For this blog hop I searched through my stash for suitable fabrics, and I found these two with heart print and absolutely no red. In addition I added a sturdy fabric for the bottom of the pouch. I quilted the pouch with straight lines in a neutral color, and then used raw edge applique to add the three small hearts to the pouch.

I used a recycled zipper, and made my own zipper pull with a little heart attached.

 

Who has got enough pincushions? At least I needed a new one to keep next to my sewing machine. The back of the pincushion is the other heart print.

 

 

Last but not least I have to show an oldie but goodie: A couple of years ago I made this tote with rainbow hearts. This is bag I use often, it has a recessed zipper and is very practical. The tote is colorful and bright against the fresh fallen snow.

 

Here's the full schedule of the blog hop, go check out the projects from the other participants!

January 18

Creatin' in the Sticks

Life in the Scrapatch

Freckled Fox Quiltery

All Thingz Sewn

Den Syende Himmel

That Fabric Feeling

 

January 19

MooseStashQuilting

Websterquilt

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Quilt Schmilt

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Songbird Designs

 

January 20

Selina Quilts

Stitchin At Home

Samelia's Mum

Just Sew Quilter

Scrapdash

Karrin’s Crazy World

The Darling Dogwood

 

January 21

Quilt Fabrication

Ms P Designs USA

Beaquilter

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Ridge Top Quilt

For The Love Of Geese

Sew Many Yarns

Quilting Gail

 

January 22

Just Let Me Quilt

Karen's Korner

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilt In A Not-Shell

Storied Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Homespun Hannah's Blog

 Thanks to Carol for organizing another great blog hop!

 

 

 

Hearts On Fire Blog Hop Starts Today!

 

January 18

Creatin' in the Sticks

Life in the Scrapatch

Freckled Fox Quiltery

All Thingz Sewn

Den Syende Himmel

That Fabric Feeling

 

January 19

MooseStashQuilting

Websterquilt

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Quilt Schmilt

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Songbird Designs

 

January 20

Selina Quilts

Stitchin At Home

Samelia's Mum

Just Sew Quilter

Scrapdash

Karrin’s Crazy World

The Darling Dogwood

 

January 21

Quilt Fabrication

Ms P Designs USA

Beaquilter

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Ridge Top Quilt

For The Love Of Geese

Sew Many Yarns

Quilting Gail

 

January 22

Just Let Me Quilt

Karen's Korner

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilt In A Not-Shell

Storied Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Thanks to Carol @ 

 

Just Let Me Quilt

 

 

Proud Caribou

 My first quilt top finish for 2021 is here, the proud Caribou!

 I have always loved the winter sky in the Northern Hemisphere with its beautiful colors of purples and pinks. When the chance of testing the Legit Caribou pattern popped up, I jumped at it. A foundation paper pieced pattern of 60"x 80" didn't scare me at all!

 

The patterns from LegitKits are very neat and well explained. 64 individual blocks of A4 size are put together to create the final result. Here's a shot from early in the process.

 

I love puzzles, so this was a perfect project for me! The blocks came together slowly but surely, a couple or three each day, depending on the complexity of the block. The eye block was the most complex one.

There's a lot of fabrics and colors in this quilt. Originally the pattern is designed with 72 different colors of Kona solids, but I made my version with fabrics completely from my stash and scraps. Most of it is batiks from my two years as an Island Batik ambassador. A giveaway prize from Sandra Johnson Designs with batiks in greys and purples also came in handy.

In addition, I didn't realize I had that many shades of brown cotton fabrics in my stash for the antlers!

Laying out the completed blocks on the floor wasn't easy with a quilt this size, but I managed to get a pretty decent photo before starting the assembly process of the 64 blocks.

The blocks were assembled in sections, and the points came together very well. I had a few sessions with the seam ripper to get the connections right, but all in all it was a smooth process. I can totally recommend making a FPP quilt from LegitKits, I had lots of fun in the approximately two months it took me from start to finish of this quilt top. 

 

 

This selvedge on one of my antler fabrics reminded me of taking it slow in the FPP process, you can't rush if you want a good result. I loved every minute of it!

 

The photo shoot in the snow was a success, this is where the proud caribou belongs!

I am very happy I was able to make this large quilt entirely from my stash and scraps. No new fabrics were bought, and the thread was also from my stash, A win-win situation in my mind!