Modern HST Sampler Quilt

  In January 2016 I joined the Modern HST Sampler QAL hosted by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. By the end of that year all 24 blocks were made. I used the fabric line Good Neighbors by Crazy Mom Quilts in the quilt, all 36 different fabrics, with solid light grey as background.

 

 

The blocks were put aside because I didn't feel the quilt top was big enough. Later I discovered a great idea by a fellow Instagrammer to add a double, scrappy row of 2.5" squares all way round the  top, using leftover fabric from the line. The final stitches in the top were sewn September 2020.

The finished top was then nicely folded and put aside in favor of other pressing projects.

 

 

In spring this year my quilt guild announced a UFO lottery, and I entered with my Modern HST Sampler quilt. I had to piece a backing, quilt it and sew the binding on, and it had to be finished within the September guild meeting this week.

I managed as you can see!

 

 The backing fabric wasn't wide enough, but by adding 5" strips of leftover fabric it became an interesting backing. I splurged and used wool batting because it will be my own personal quilt! 

 

 

I quilted it with FMQ in a flame design, inspired by Christina of @afewscraps. The wool batting shows off the quilting in a very nice way, and as a bonus the quilt is extra warm. And the icing on the cake is striped binding for the win!

 

Now I can cross off another finished project with this great quilt of 54" x 80"! Just more than 7.5 years in the making...

 

Keep on quilting!

Christmas Came Early

It is only October, and here I am posting my finished Christmas quilt, what's going on? This quilt is made from the blocks designed by Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts. In January this year she started the sew along 'Have a Jolly Little Christmas' with 15 free blocks, the last one published in August. I made all 15 blocks and put them together to make a colorful quilt. All fabrics are from my stash.

The block setting made a long and skinny quilt, so I added a red and a blue border to get a better sized quilt.

I took the quilt out for a photo shoot on a beautiful fall day. My husband is the quilt holder.

The old barn is a beautiful backdrop for the pictures.

Beautiful fall colors in the surroundings.

I used my precious Britten Nummer from Ikea as the backing. For the quilting I had fun with FMQ, a stars and loops pattern on the main part with the white background, and experimenting with new designs (for me) on the red and blue border.

Here is a detailed picture of the quilting. I am trying to get more confident with free motion quilting, and I am going to take a class in "experienced" FMQ in a month's time. I feel I have to get some more practice before that time.

Here is the fabric I used for the binding. It gives the quilt a lovely 'icy' finish.

I have had this fabric in my stash for a long time, as you can see it is an old one from Ikea, designed by Kazuyo Nomura in 2009. 

Now I hope that we will keep this nice fall weather for some time, I don't need snow before December!

Keep on quilting!

Projects in the Fall

2017 has been a year of sampler quilts. My biggest project, The Splendid Sampler, was started early in 2016. One hundred blocks were designed for this sew along, from lots of great designers. The sew along was hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson.

I learned a lot in this sew along, and it was a wonderful skill builder. I had never paper pieced before, and now it is one of my favorite techniques! Most of the blocks were ordinary pieced ones, but we worked with foundation paper pieced, English paper pieced, appliqué, stitchery and embroidery. The picture above shows how a stack of one hundred 6 1/2" blocks look like.

This is how they look like all spread out. I used only fabrics from my stash, but in the end it didn't really put a dent in my fabric bins.

I will assemble the blocks with sashing in between, and probably put a border around to get a decent sized quilt. This will be a long term project.

The Sewcial Bee Sampler was started early 2017. The sew along was hosted by Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell. These 25 blocks are 12 1/2" square, and there will be added sashing between them, too. I hope to get this project finished soon.

The third sew along I have been working on this year is the Have a Jolly Little Christmas by Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts . This is a colorful Christmas sampler, and with some borders it will be decent sized and finished.

As if the above projects are not enough, I also made this 2by4 quilt top from a tutorial by Film in the Fridge. There are 448 individual rectangles in this quilt, but there is a genius technique to make the blocks and you can actually make the whole quilt top in an evening!

This will eventually be my fifth charity quilt for the year.

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil Quilt Completed!

Finally my sampler quilt from the 2016 Aurifil Designer of the Month is finished. It was taken out for the photo shoot in the snow. During the shoot is started with sleet/rain, and this can actually be seen if you click on the picture to enlarge it.

I chose to make my version in blues, just like the 12 designers did. 

2016 Aurifil Quilt Top

This must be some kind of a record for me, it is only the middle of January and already I have completed the quilt top for the 2016 Aurifil Designer of the Month!

The completed top was taken out for a photo shoot in the snow. The light is a little bleak, though, but the blues and the pops of color in the sashing brightens up the scene. I chose to make all my blocks in blues and white, as what the 12 different designers did.

The blocks laid out before assembling.

Grey sashing and black cornerstones added in between the blocks before auditioning borders. I chose light grey solid as the main border color, with pops of bright colors as extension of the sashing. None of the borders are the same width. I borrowed this idea from @kupitis on Instagram, and I like the modern feeling it gives to the quilt.

A detail of the quilt top.

Another picture of the top taken outside in the snow.

I will now take a little break to think about how to quilt this beauty. In the mean time there are other projects to be worked on...

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil December Block

The December block is designed by Amanda Herring, and is a beautiful  12" paper-pieced Flower Block.

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil April Block

Spring is always busy, but finally I was able to make the beautiful High Tide block designed by Kate Spain.

I have stuck to blue fabrics for this Designer of the Month blocks, and I think the ending quilt will look gorgeous in these cool tones. This block looks like a lagoon in a summer day.

Lately we have had great spring weather, sun and high temperatures bring promise of summer. Trees and bushes are getting green, and soon I can make rhubarb pie!

Keep on quilting!

It's all about Blocks

2016 seems to be a block-making year. I have joined: one Quilting Bee with participants from 4 different continents, 3 (maybe 4) QALs, and I am also going to make a row or two from the Moda All-Stars All in a Row book.

This is the third block in the Modern HST Sampler hosted by Blossom Heart Quilts. The block is called Lantern, and with the fabric I chose, it makes me long for spring!

For the quilting bee I made a Wanta Fanta block for Maja, this month's Queen Bee. The above picture shows the backside of my very first foundation paper pieced block! The technique is so fun, and I want to do it more often!

Maja wanted blocks in pink print with a greyish background. Being the mother of two boys,  I don't have a very big selection of pink prints, but I did my best.  I can not show the front of the complete block, yet, since it has to be a surprise until she receives it.

Keep on quilting!

Sugar Block Club

I couldn't resist myelf, I have joined another BOM... This time it is the Sugar Block Club by Amy Gibson. This is a free BOM, and these 12" blocks will turn out to be a very nice modern quilt by the end of the year.

My favorite block of the two is the Churn Dash block for January. I can easily imagine a complete quilt made out of scrappy Churn Dash blocks!

Here is the Log Cabin block for February.

With these two block done, I can now concentrate on the Bee Hive block for the Queen Bee of the month, Maja; the HST Sampler block that was published a few days back; a row or two for the All in a Row QAL, etc.

As you can see: I will not be out of work for the next few days, maybe I can even put in some hand quilting time?!

2016 Aurifil January Block

Pat Sloan has yet again started the designer of the month block program; for 2016 there are 12 talented designers that will present 12 1/2" blocks in blue and white.

For January the designer is Heather Valentine. Her block is called Swirl Away, and you can find the pattern HERE. My version is shown above.

I am not sure whether I will make all my blocks in blue and white, as you can see here I also added in some grey in addition to red stars. Let's just see where this is heading.

Keep on quilting!

November ALYoF goal achieved!

The little November house is completed, now there's only one month left of this BOM! The completed quilt is going to look lovely!

Quilt Doodle BOM 2015 - October's Block

This is my version of the October cat designed by Cindy. He is a tribute to my orange tiger-striped cat that died a year ago at the mature age of 16+ years. My cat is all dressed up for Halloween, and I managed to finish the block just in time yesterday before the trick-or-treat'ers started ringing the door bell.

This is the favorite picture of my cat, taken a few years back. I love the way he looks so relaxed and superior; like he has full control over the world! I will always remember him, he was a good companion and comfort to everyone in the family his whole life.

Quilt Doodle BOM 2015 - September block

The end of September is approaching, and finally I managed to make my appliqué block for the month.

This block makes me want to sit down in front of a fireplace and read a good book (or two). Enjoying a delicious apple while doing it would make it perfect!

Quilt Doodle BOM 2015 - August's Block

I didn't think that August's block would be so appropriate that it turned out to be, one week ago it was cold and rainy weather, but with the latest heat wave Flip Flops are the only footwear I would like to use! With temperatures around 80 F we are experiencing the hottest weather for the summer!

I wanted to praise the summer with the flower fabric from Ikea (2010) that I had a remnant of. The aqua solid for the toe straps and the yellow flower makes the Flip Flops perfect! Putting the footwear on a fabric that resembles sand on a beach makes me wish that I just kicked these off my feet and went for a swim in the ocean; it is that hot!

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.