First 2021 Finish – a Tula Pink Quilt!

Posted on January 18, 2021 by thequiltedcat

Grab a cup of coffee because this post will be longer than usual with a few more pictures! I’m so happy to cross off my first official quilty finish of 2021 by completing a WIP that started its journey in 2018.

In 2018, I signed up to do a 100 blocks in 100 days project, hosted by @gnomeangel on Instagram. The goal was to make each block from the book, Tula Pink’s City Sampler Book: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. Each day, starting in July 2018, and for 100 days in a row, we posted the designated block for that day. We could make the blocks in advance, but we had to post the blocks in order on the specified day.

Here’s a look at my first and last blocks (on little design boards). You can find all my blocks by searching the hashtag #nwquiltedcat100blocks on Instagram.

Once I finished all 100 blocks, I put the project aside for awhile. In January 2020, I was lucky enough to secure a spot in a Tula Pink class set for July of 2020 at the Quilter’s Affair event, which takes place the week before the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Little did we know that a pandemic was looming!

In February 2020, I decided to pull out all the blocks, arrange them, and decide on a setting layout.

Each of my blocks stuffed into the book!

I decided to use all 100 blocks with Kona White and Kona Lighthouse for the sashing. I started piecing in March 2020 and finished in April 2020, still with the hope that I would be attending Tula’s class in July.

100 Modern Quilt blocks layout, light gray and white sashing with quilt inspector, Romeo

100 Modern Quilt Blocks, the quilt grows while quilt inspector, Romeo, approves!

Of course, we all know that all quilting shows and events did get canceled for the rest of 2020. Once I had finished piecing the top, I lost my enthusiasm for the project as I knew I wouldn’t be able to ask Tula to sign my quilt in July. However, most of the instructors, including Tula, agreed to postpone their classes for July 2021! Yeah, hope renewed my ambition to get this quilt finished.

This is a large quilt, maybe queen size plus, but not quite king size. I had to piece the backing so I used a beautiful Neptunia Von Black portrait (from the Nightshade line) backing from I Heart Tula Pink at 54″ x 72″. I then added some of Tula’s 108″ backing from her Linework line called Sketchyer Paper along with some Fairy Dust in Whisper from her True Colors line. My label is a scrap of Kona White fabric, pieced directly into the backing. I left a large open space on the label where I hope to get Tula’s autograph eventually.

In December of 2020, I decided to quilt it using Glide thread in Bone and a hand-guided pantograph called Modern Twist by Urban Elementz on my HQ Avante. I selected this simple panto to keep the quilting in the background and the focus on the blocks.

Finally, I was ready to bind this giant quilt! I went with the same Fairy Dust in Whisper that I used on the backing. It picks up all the colors in the quilt without detracting from any of the blocks.

This past weekend, we took the completed quilt for a little photoshoot to Battery Russell at Ft. Stevens State Park at the Oregon coast. My hubby and son held the quilt while I took the photos. Our dog, Pepper, helped too!

Unfolding the quilt for pictures, January 2021

100 Modern Quilt Blocks quilt front at Battery Russell, January 2021

100 Modern Quilts Blocks back at Battery Russell, January 2021

A close-up view of my 100 Modern Quilt Blocks quilt at Battery Russell, January 2021

A close-up view of my pieced backing at Battery Russell, January 2021

I love this quilt! It is so bright and cheerful, and the backing is just as fun as the front. With a little luck, we’ll be able to have in-person quilt events this summer, and I just might get to take my class with Tula and show her this completed quilt.

I’ll leave you with one last picture from our day trip. We also stop to visit the Peter Iredale shipwreck when we visit Ft. Stevens. It is ever so slowly eroding away and, with this visit, we really noticed that a larger piece of the bow had disappeared since our last visit. I really need to dig up some of the pictures of this ship when I visited as a little kid to compare the differences.

Now I’m on to my next WIP, which is my Sea Glass BOM by Fig Tree. I will post an update soon!

Happy quilting,

~Jen

Baskets in the Woods

Posted on October 30, 2020 by thequiltedcat

Remember my post about making fabric baskets? Well, I couldn’t stop with just one, and so I made 4 similar baskets for a group of quilting friends.

I wanted to get a picture of the baskets all together in an outdoor setting. So, my family and I took a weekend drive to a beautiful little lake, with falls colors beginning to emerge.

I placed all 4 baskets into a plastic bag, and I took them with me on the very short hike. It was only 1 mile around the little lake, with a some heavy brush in a few sections.

How cute are these baskets all lined up on a log with the lake in the background?

We had a great time, having this little lake all to ourselves. It wasn’t chilly, but there was a beautiful cloud hovering over the lake surface and providing a misty backdrop to our time here. The foliage was quite wet, and so our pants became soaked as we walked around the lake, but we didn’t mind at all.

The maples were starting to turn color, with many trees displaying vibrant yellow leaves and a few turning towards orange and red.

I hope my friends like their fabric baskets! Getting out in nature is one of my favorite things to do, and it really helps me deal with times of stress. I can’t wait to go again!

Take care,

-Jen

A Traveling Quilt Takes an Adventure!

Posted on July 15, 2020 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

Last week would have been the 45th anniversary of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt show. I had planned to take classes the week before with my sister, but the classes are postponed until 2021. We decided to have a mini retreat together for some sewing and hiking.

We had fun sewing on small projects in our hotel room, visiting local quilt shops while maintaining social distancing protocols and wearing masks, and hiking in the great outdoors.

I took my Adventure themed traveling quilt with me. I made the center foundation paper pieced block from a pattern called “Camping” by Quilt Art Designs, but without the road and camper van. I also paper pieced the word “Adventure.” My quilt then traveled for about a year around the United States, where 5 different quilters added sections. In return, I added sections to the other quilters’ traveling quilts, all with different themes ranging from Harry Potter to books to gnomes.

Here’s a look at my center block, with and without the word, Adventure:

“Camping” center block

“Camping” center block with “Adventure”

Each quilter was free to add her own ideas to the quilt, keeping with my theme of travel and adventure.

Marianne added an inner border of foundation paper pieced mountains
Katie added the next border of foundation paper pieced arrows, a squirrel, a campfire, a fish, and a lantern
Kitty added churn dash blocks (one of my favorite blocks) to the top and bottom
Gigi added a mountain range in the day to the top and a mountain range in the night to the bottom
Jenn added the final left and right borders of trees

I received the quilt back this spring, and then decided to custom quilt it using ruler work and free-motion.

Quilting close-up

More quilting

Here is a look at the finished quilting with my dog quilt inspector:

Completed quilting on Adventure quilt with Pepper “helping”

My sister then helped me to photograph this quilt while in central Oregon last week. It was quite windy so it was difficult to hold the quilt still and get a good picture.

We took these pictures at Balancing Rocks, which are volcanic tuffs.

Adventure quilt at Balancing Rocks with Mt. Jefferson in the background

Adventure quilt near a volcanic tuff

I really enjoyed my first experience as part of a traveling quilt/round robin group. I even got to meet one of the quilters in person in July 2019 at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, where she brought me the next quilt in line for my additions. I hope to participate in another one in the future.

Happy quilting!

Jen

Finished Bubblegum Kisses Mini Quilt

Posted on June 29, 2020 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

Each month, I love receiving the Sew Sampler box from the Fat Quarter Shop with exclusive patterns and notions. I’ve very behind on making the projects, but I finally completed a cheery and happy mini quilt recently called Bubblegum Kisses by Lori Holt.

This quilt finishes at about 23 1/2″ x 27 1/2″ and uses charm squares plus some background fabric. I started this quilt at a retreat in December 2017, pieced the top, and then set it aside in my to-do quilting pile. Yikes!

I pulled it out last week and found a pretty blue gingham fabric in my stash for the backing.

Here’s my quilt inspector, checking it out before quilting:

Romeo inspects my quilt sandwich

For quilting, I decided to do 1″ piano keys around the border. I also stitched-in-the-ditch around each block. I did a little free-motion meandering in between the blocks. I used Glide thread in Linen for all of the quilting. It is a nice creamy color that blended into the background fabric nicely.

Quilting Bubblegum Kisses

The binding came with the Sew Sampler box, and I love the aqua color! I finished the quilting and binding pretty quickly. I knew that I wanted to take a picture of the quilt outside, and I had a perfect opportunity this past weekend.

We hiked about 9 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail, near Mt. Hood. The temperature was perfect for hiking, about 65 degrees. The clouds played peek-a-boo all day with the mountain, but we lucked out and got terrific views.

There are so many wildflowers in bloom right now along the trail from pink rhododendron to white avalanche lilies to tall bear grass.

Here’s a picture of the finished Bubblegum Kisses mini quilt with some delicate avalanche lilies:

Bubblegum Kisses Quilt with Avalanche Lilies

These little wildflowers are just so pretty!

At our turn around point, we had an amazing view of Mt. Hood. I thought this was the perfect location for a quilt-in-the-wild photo!

Bubblegum Kisses Quilt Along the Pacific Crest Trail and Mt. Hood

What a beautiful location and great hike!

I recommended getting on the Sew Sampler wait list if you’re interested in these fun monthly project boxes! Spots do open up regularly. Now to get more projects finished!

Happy quilting!

~Jen

Little Box of Figs, Catalina Stars Quilt Project

Posted on June 1, 2020 by thequiltedcat

Happy Monday, everyone!

Last fall, I subscribed for the first time to a quarterly fabric subscription box called “Little Box of Figs” created by Fig Tree & Co. The subscriptions open up each fall, and they are limited so if you don’t sign up quickly, then it fills up. I first noticed this subscription on Instagram when some quilters had posted pictures of a cute fall pumpkin mini quilt, and I thought I’d try it out!

I received my first quarterly box a few weeks ago, appropriately themed for one season ahead so participants have time to finish the project.

Here’s what my box looked like:

Little Box of Figs, Spring 2020

Little Box of Figs, Spring 2020, with Catalina Star pattern and fabric

We received a very cute tote bag, a mini cutting mat, notepad, folding scissors, supplies to make a key fob, plus the fabric and pattern for a quilt called Catalina Stars. The fabric and charm packs were packaged in the adorable green box.

The quilt is a nice lap size, approximately 44.5 inches by 52.5 inches. I decided to get started on it right away so that I could use it for a picnic quilt this summer. The pattern goes together very quickly, with the 10 star blocks taking the most time. I pieced the entire quilt using Aurifil 50 weight thread.

Here’s a look at my completed star blocks with dog running around in the background:

Star blocks

The fabric line, Catalina, is light, cheery, and summery! The remaining blocks are comprised of 2 squares and 1 rectangle so you can chain piece them together.

I took my quilt flimsy with us out on a recent family hike, along a section of the Pacific Crest Trail. We did run into snow about an hour into our hike, but we were able to pick out the trail here and there until we made it to a stunning view of Three Fingered Jack. We had a picnic lunch here, and my hubby took a picture of me holding the quilt top. It was quite windy!!

Catalina Stars quilt flimsy along the Pacific Crest Trail, with Three Fingered Jack in the background

I love both hiking and quilting so I try to take pics of quilts “in the wild” whenever I can! In total, we hiked about 5-6 miles that day, but the snow made it a little slow going. However, the scenery and fresh air was just incredible, and we had the trail mostly to ourselves.

In my next post, I’ll show you how I quilted and bound my Catalina Stars quilt.

Happy quilting!

~Jen

Quilter’s Affair 2019 Classes

Posted on September 25, 2019 by thequiltedcat

This year, my sister and I took 2 classes at A Quilter’s Affair in the week leading up to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

For our first class, we decided to take an English Paper Piecing class (EPP) with Violet Craft because we really haven’t used this quilting technique before and we both thought it might be a great technique to do while traveling.

We used the Fruit Basket pattern, and we both picked the strawberry for our practice block, and we learned some great tips in the class.

Start of my strawberry block:

Strawberry 1

Here’s a pic of us together with our strawberry blocks in August when my sister came to my house for a visit. I’m on the right with the blue shorts.

I have started working on the pineapple block, but I must admit that I haven’t made too much progress. I’ll pick it up again when the weather turns rainy, and I do less hiking and yard work.

For our second class, we took “Gertie’s Birdies” with Sally Frey. We used the pattern Feathers by The Pattern Basket. We signed up for this class because birds have a special inside meaning to us and these chunky little birds just looked so cute.

I made 3 birds in class using the Sweet Tea collection by Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics plus some solids by Cherrywood. I love these fabrics because they remind me of summer!

Here is a look at the birds from other quilters in the class at the end of the day. My 3 bird blocks are in the top left:

I’ve finished another 3 bird blocks in the months since our class. I plan on making 3 more so I can complete the smaller quilt, which will be a perfect little summer wall hanging.

The Quilter’s Affair is so much fun, and I’m glad my sister got to come this year. We hope to go again next year!

Here’s a view of the Three Sisters during an evening hike we took:

Happy quilting!

-Jen

Mt. Hood Elevated Abstractions Quilt

Posted on April 26, 2018 by thequiltedcat

Hello quilters!

I love the landscape of the west, particularly in my home state of Oregon. When I saw the Elevated Abstractions quilt by Violet Craft, I just knew that I had to make it.

This quilt is a wonderful abstraction of Mt. Hood. It is entirely foundation paper-pieced using Pure Elements Solids by Art Gallery fabric and Aurifil thread in 50 weight.

I wanted the quilting to take a back seat to the piecing so I took a modern approach with straight-line quilting using channel locks on my HQ Avante.

MtHood_2

Once I took the quilt off the frame, my trusty quilt inspector instantly arrived. How do cats know?

MtHood3

I decided that the quilt needed a pop of bright color for the binding so I dug into my stash and added some orange Notorious fabric by Cotton + Steel. Then, I took the quilt on a 9 mile round trip hike to visit Pup Falls in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Quite the scene for a little photo op! My son took this picture while I balanced precariously on the muddy trail, working hard to keep it out of all that mud!

I really enjoyed piecing and quilting Elevated Abstractions. I need to find the perfect spot to hang it in my home.

Happy quilting! ~Jennifer

Sunset at the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds

Posted on June 1, 2016 by thequiltedcat

Hello everyone!

I didn’t do any sewing over the Memorial Day weekend. Instead, my family and I went camping near the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon. The weather was perfect! It can get really hot here in the summer so we were happy that day time highs only reached about 80 degrees for hiking.

There are 3 different units within this monument, spread out over some distance requiring several hours drive time. Having a whole 3 day weekend, we were able to visit all 3 units. In the past, we’ve usually limited our visit to just 1 or 2 units.

We hiked the short Leaf Fossil Trail, mainly because I wanted a comparison picture of our son from the last time we visited. Look how he’s grown!

Leaf Fossil Trail, age 3

Leaf Fossil Trail, age 10

For the first time, we got to see the spectacular Painted Hills unit at sunset. The Painted Hills are quite beautiful at any time of the day; however, sunset is a truly beautiful experience to sit and watch the light.

Here’s a picture that I took around 1:30 in the afternoon. Notice the beautiful red colors really grab your attention.

Painted Hills during mid-afternoon

We returned later that same day to catch the changing light during sunset. It seemed like every minute brought out different hues and tones in the hills. The sun bathed the hills in gold and the reds turned more orange-y. I think the clouds added an extra layer of depth to this photograph!

I took this picture about 8:30 in the evening.

Painted Hills at Sunset, May 2016

On the way home, I naturally had to stop at the Stitchin Post in Sisters to browse the fabric. I picked up some National Park Centennial fabric by Hoffman and some fun birch tree and fox fabric from Moda. Since we love visiting and hiking in the National Parks each summer, I may make us some camping pillow cases with this fabric.

Fun Fabric from the Stitchin Post

Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to our veterans who make it possible for us to enjoy the freedom we have to travel and visit amazing places!

Enjoy!

~Jennifer

Forest and Lake Finished Art Quilt!

Posted on April 10, 2016 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone!

After just over a year, I finished the binding on this epic foundation paper pieced quilt this week! This quilt combines the Forest art quilt and the Lake art quilt together by Quilt Art Designs.

For binding, I selected a fabric called Tick Tock Stripe in Mint from Tula Pink’s new line, Chipper. The blues, greens, red, and brown stripes accent the colors in my art quilt pretty well.

I did heavy custom quilting using my HandiQuilter 16 and a combination of Aurifil and Superior threads. The quilting alone took about 8 hours. I lost track of the time it took for the paper piecing!

The backing is also by Tula Pink from her Free Fall 108-inch wide collection in Sky.

Let’s take a look at the completed quilt! Thanks to my husband and son who are such wonderful photography assistants! We took these pictures today in slightly overcast weather in the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls.

Forest Lake Art Quilt Completed!

I love this finished quilt! It is the most ambitious paper-piecing project that I have done thus far. Thanks so much to Janeen from Quilt Art Designs for her beautifully detailed patterns. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me throughout the past year as I worked on this quilt, section by section.

Catch me on Instagram @nwquiltedcat for other photos and more frequent updates on my quilting hobby!

Enjoy!

~Jennifer

Spring Break Adventures!

Posted on March 30, 2015 by thequiltedcat

Last week we had spring break here in Oregon. My husband and I were able to take Thursday and Friday off work to make a 4-day weekend getaway to the Oregon coast. We started in Newport and worked our way south to Gold Beach before returning home.

Here are some of my favorite pictures!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon