Mini Plaid-ish Quilt

 When Erica of Kitchen Table Quilting announced the Mini Plaid-ish QAL I just had to join. In 2020 I made the original Plaid-ish quilt (an adjusted size) in red tones .

This time I chose a more colorful scheme.

 Outdoor pictures are always the best, and the uprooted tree is a trusted quilt holder. Finished quilt is 50" x 64".

 

A colorful quilt in contrast with a fairy tale tree. This tree is still alive, even though there's not much soil underneath.

 I pieced the backing from three different fabrics. The elephant/monkey piece is very fitting since the quilt will be donated as a charity quilt to the children's ward at my local hospital.

 Look at all those gorgeous colors! The binding is also scrappy.

 

 In making a plaid-ish quilt it is very important to sort the fabrics by value, light, medium and dark. The best way to check this is to take black/white pictures, because sometimes bright colors may have a pretty light value, if you compare the two last pictures.

This is my ninth charity quilt for the year 2023, and number 101 all time for the children's ward at the hospital. 

Keep on quilting!

Elroy Quilt

 Earlier this year I was lucky to be chosen for pattern testing of the Elroy Quilt by Megan of Modern Moon Quilt Studio. I chose to make only four blocks which is perfect for a baby quilt. The simple reason for this was that my nephew and his wife were expecting a baby boy. Now the baby is here and I have sent the quilt to the new owner.

The pattern is a modern geometric design. I used batiks from Island Batik for the front. I love the bright and bold colors!

I quilted it with FMQ in a flame design on my domestic sewing machine using variegated Aurifil thread in color #4652.
 

 The backing is a fun print with birds and leaves, called Birchtree Lane from Connecting Threads. It is a great fabric for the baby boy to focus on when he gets a little bit older.

The quilt went through a wash/dryer cycle which made it nice and cuddly. Perfect for a newborn baby boy!

Keep quilting!

Cute Pattern Weights

After making quite a few charity quilts already this year, I need to make a few garments for summer. And then I need pattern weights. Earlier I have used scissors and some odd things from around the house to keep my pattern paper in place.
 

 Now I felt like I had to have a more professional look for my weights. I had some leftovers from this cute flowers&bees fabric, and it was just enough to make nine of them. I used this tutorial . They are filled with rice.

Now I have to wait for the snow to melt, and start sewing garments for summer, and meanwhile look at my cute pattern weights on the rhubarb leaf tray!

Number 100

 I started quilting in 2001 and made my first charity quilt in spring of 2012. My quilt guild is donating quilts to the children's ward at my local hospital, to long-term ill kids. My very first charity quilt is shown here: Walk in the Woods.

During all these years I have kept count on how many quilts I have donated to the hospital, and lately I was getting close to a round number. Here it is: My charity quilt number one hundred to the children's ward at the hospital!

 The quilt is a patchwork of 4.5" square blocks with garden motifs and various domestic and wild animals. I dug up up lots of interesting fabrics and there's a lot to discover in this quilt. 

Finished size of the quilt is 44" x 52". 

It is always great to take pictures of quilts in natural light. Lately we have had very cold weather down to -13.4 °C ( 8 °F) at night, and just barely over freezing point during the warmest part of the day. This has led to a sparkling blue sky, bright sun and gorgeous weather to take a walk in, just remember to stay out of shaded areas.

 

The backing fabric is a blue solid that I bought at Ikea some time ago. It's a shame that they seem to discontinue selling fabric :( 

The quilting was done by myself using the walking foot, with dark green thread in a crosshatch design. Binding is a soft flannel in blue and purple.
 

 Here's a detailed picture of the blocks and quilting. There are lots of details in the blocks.

 

 This was a very fun quilt to make. I've come a long way since my first charity quilt was made 11 years ago. This quilt took three days from start to finish. Chain piecing blocks is a great technique!

I enjoy making these charity quilts, and it gives me a great feeling that they give comfort to children during difficult times. I will not stop making charity quilts, but I will probably take a few months break from them to focus on other projects.

This is my eighth charity quilt for the year 2023, and number 100 all time for the children's ward at the hospital. 

Keep on quilting!

Harry Potter Quilt

 

 At my guild meeting some weeks ago one of our members gave away some Harry Potter fabric. This was perfect for a charity quilt. I paired it with a book fabric I had, a Jen Kingwell fabric in three different color combinations and some other fabrics that would suit a boy.

I had the quilt professionally quilted by a new longarmer in town, she did a great job!

 

 The backing fabric is full of old-fashioned fountain pen tips, to go with the book theme of the quilt.

 Finished quilt size is 42" x 54".

Here's a detailed picture of the quilting. The star pattern is perfect for the quilt.

I also gathered my leftover binding pieces and made a scrappy binding, which makes the quilt more interesting.

This is my seventh charity quilt for the year 2023, and number 99 all time for the children's ward at the hospital. 

Keep on quilting!

 

Wild Star

There are so many free patterns out there one the internet, and one that really caught my eye was the Wild Star by Plains&Pine.What a great way to use some of my treasured scraps! I chose to make the baby sized version, they also provide a throw sized pattern.

I dug into my scrap bins and picked mainly kid-friendly fabrics with lots of colors.

This little quilt begged to get some experimental quilting. I did some FMQ with lines and circles, walking foot quilting with cross hatch, wavy lines and a band of dense quilting. Good practice and I had lots of fun.

The background is a cream/grey colored fabric with subtle numbers and letters.

I found a very child friendly backing for the quilt, this will truly be a double-sided quilt!

The finished size of the quilt is 38" square. I used frankenbatting and scrappy binding to complete the quilt.

A detailed picture of the scrappy diamonds that forms the quilt. The quilting is clearly visible.

This is my sixth charity quilt for the year 2023, and number 98 all time for the children's ward at the hospital. 

Keep on quilting!