Lobsters

This is one of Patty's quilts, and she finds the funnest fabrics.  This one is lobster themed, obviously.

Music is also important to the recipient, and to Patty, so she got some music fabric in there-- and some paws.

And the backing was this marvelous plaid fleece.  So soft.  I think it's a wonderful gift. 

Forest Friends

This is a cute little quilt I made on behalf of my SIL for her new grandson.

We had fun going to the fabric store together.  This was a kit we picked up at Sugar Pine in Canmore.    It was cute--lots of nice flannels with forest animal/camping theme.  And one fabric with Giraffes!?!  The Giraffe's got set aside for another project, because they were 'one of those things that doesn't belong'.

I've been camping with the Mom of the baby a few times now, and the Dad once, so the camping themed fabric was quite appropriate too. 

 Canoes, campfires, sleeping bags, mountains to climb. 

And some forest critters too.

My oldest loved her blankie (and I can call it a blankie because it was crochet, not a quilt) from her Grandma Pat, and so I'd asked Grandma for a 1 foot square ---big enough to hold to her face and cuddle, but small enough for fitting in my pocket or purse, and small enough not to drag on the ground from the stroller getting all dirty and nasty.  So, the big one was always at home in bed, clean,  when needed. 

So, I had some bits left from the flannel strips and made a little quilt too--either as a carry around or as a stuffy/doll quilt.  

 The sent me a very cute photo of the baby on top of the big quilt and under the little one--but I didn't ask permission to share the baby photo, so you'll just have to imagine a cute little baby fitting under this little 15" quilt. 

A Celtic Cross

My 4Patch Charm Quilt

I made this quilt because I loved Kathy of  Tamarack Shack's quilt so much.    She had been kind enough to put a tutorial up on her blog, and now I see she's added a pdf pattern, so you too can make your own.

One of the things I loved about Kathy's version is how she quilted it--I loved it so much I wanted to quilt one just like it.....

But, then, when the time came to quilt it....

I changed my mind.

First I quilted the colored patches with a double continuous curve--loved it.  As I was going to change threads for the background-- I just basted those areas as I advanced the quilt with a wavy line basting stitch.

And, I liked the look of the serpentine basting stitch so much, I wanted to quilt something with that serpentine look in those areas.

About the same time (last March I think), Mary of Addicted to Fabric  was saying that she was trying to do something new with each of her quilts--using something she had learned in a book or class.  She inspired me to pull out some of my recent book purchases, and I decided this would be the perfect place to use the border version of Nemeshing - from Bethanne Nemeshes book.  Which is basically Nemeshing without the the background fill.

Needless to say, I love how this turned out!  I've gone on to us this technique again, and it has also improved my 'longarm' feathers which is a style of feather I wasn't able to stitch to my satisfaction prior to practising and quilting Nemeshing. 

 I bought the charm packs while at Quilt Canada in Lethbridge with friends, I pieced the quilt at Retreat in 2015, and quilted it in March 2016.  It took until July to finish the binding. (hand-stitching--bah).

 Like many of my quilts, I love the back as much as or more than the front.    This is a lovely sage green cuddle on the back--the lower picture shows the color better.

 And the lump under the quilt is youngest, seeing if the quilt passes inspection.  - note the binding is done :)

Thanks ladies, for the inspiration, the tutorials and books, and my shopping/sewing companions as well.

Yet to be Gifted #2 sshh

I suspect waiting for both quilts to be finished was why the first one was delayed in the gifting.    This talented quilter made another, just like the first but in different fabrics.    And then had to wait for the longarmer to have space in her schedule :P

the quilt has more blue in it than these photos show, which is interesting, because usually quilts read more blue than they really are in my room/camera combination.

I still love how this 2 block quilt looks so different in different areas based on the fabric values-- I see so many different shapes

She's done such a great job of fabric selection, mixing regular cottons and batiks.

The client wanted the same quilting on this one as on the first.  

I'm sure they will be much loved once they are gifted.

A quilt fit for an Engineering Student

My nephew was off to study Engineering this fall, so I made him a quilt fit for an Engineer!

The pattern is Varsity by Jaybird Quilts. 

I know I was sent a photo of the quilt on the bed in his dorm room, but I cannot find it now.  You'll just have to trust me that it looked good in there.  I think he'd just moved in, because the room was very tidy.

You may be wondering, what makes it the perfect quilt for a first year engineering student?   Aside from the pattern name, the fabrics, of course!  We have chemistry - formulas, organic diagrams and periodic table, physics, trigonometry, binary, simple math and even some Dr Who designs (or so my kids tell me--I thought they looked like astronomy drawings).

 My youngest figures her cousin can just lay on his bed and study from his quilt LOL

 I just hope it helps him feel loved and not alone while he's away from home.

And a nice green flannel on the back.    The color, once again, seems wrong on the picture below, but I love how the quilting looks on the back. 

Floral Disappearing 4 Patch - a group effort

About a month (or two!?!)  ago I was e-mail chatting with my Aunt, probably the conversation started when I sent her a comment about one of the fabulous photos on her photo blog There You Are    (I highly recommend clicking the link and checking out her photos--they're all travel photos, some current, some ancient--always interesting).   She said she'd been checking my blog regularly, but no new posts--wasn't I quilting?  Oh, I've been quilting--just not blogging I told her, and so now I'm catching up.  Prepare for lots of posts Aunt E!  In the meantime, she got set up on instagram (where I am mmm_quilts) so she can see my quilting photos more regularly LOL, and know that I'm working even if I'm not blogging.

Back to the quilt at hand.  This adorable quilt was made collectively by 4 of us.  I think the prints probably started out as a charm pack--which Lori, Kerri and Colleen pieced as a disappearing 4 patch.  Then Kerri, Colleen and I were on a fabric hunt for the borders and binding one day when we were road tripping and shop hopping--and then I quilted it, machine sewed the binding on and even did some of the hand stitching!!. 

 I quilted it with a variety of flowers, inspired by the border fabric, as well as the memory of a special friend.

These photos make it look like it wasn't flat--it was,  I must not have had the quilt under it flat and smooth.  

 And a lovely cuddle on the back. 

Mary Ann finished off the hand-stitching on the binding (so now that makes 5 of us involved in this quilt), and, of course, the friend who was in our minds and our hearts as we worked on it - so now we are at 6 - and the quilt has now been given to a children's organization, where I hope it makes someone happy. 

Modified Irish Chain

Charlotte made this quilt as a gift for her parents.  She used lots of greens, and added some tartan to represent the family heritage in Prince Edward Island.

We decided to use the square spiral panto for this bed quilt.  It's square-ish, but also adds nice rounded lines.

The coloring of this quilt changes so much in different lights-well, that's probably just my camera reacting to the different light.

Charlotte reported that her parents are thrilled with their quilt, as well they should be!   I hope my kids are making me quilts when they're grown.

Patty's Wedding Quilt

Patty made this quilt for her daughter and son in law for their wedding. She started it well before the wedding, but due to a lot of life happening, it wasn't finished until well after.  I think they will appreciate it very much, no matter the time frame.

This pattern is a jelly roll pattern, but Patty chose yardage and enlarged the quilt. 

 Such great fabrics in this quilt, and Patty chose to group the blocks by color, which creates a lot of interest, and movement.   Maybe my quilt holders in the first photo should have had it turned 90 degrees.  Just try turning your head LOL

We knew that the quilting would have a hard time competing with the prints, so chose an E2E design of open swirls in the center of the quilt, SID the white border, and piano keys in the floral border.  It shows better on the back, which is a very subtle white on white design. That white on white design was so subtle I didn't notice it until I turned on the black light so I could see what I was stitching on the front!  Luckily, I had it the right side out,  because I'd already quilted a border! 

 I used my pro-line 1 ruler for the piano keys, that ruler is so convenient for perfectly spaced lines.  Thanks to Lisa Calle for those. 

It's not easy making a square, flat quilt with all of those bias lines and angles, but Patty did.  It's great to have such a well made top to quilt. 

And here's a photo from when Patty was putting on the binding.  This time it's the right way up--no need to turn your head.

Thanks for letting me play with your quilt Patty.