Category Archives: Quilts

Sea Glass BOM by Fig Tree, Block 4

Posted on by
2

Hi everyone,

I had a chance in the past few days to catch up on my Sea Glass BOM by Fig Tree & Co. This is a year long block-of-the-month that started in January.

I worked on the flying geese border units that we were supposed to make with the month 3 blocks, but I didn’t have time in March. We made 27 flying geese units, and we could mix and match the colors in whatever order we wanted.

The block for April is called “Ocean Coral,” and I really love the darker blue aqua print! I believe that print is from the Breeze line of fabrics by Zen Chic. I may have to get some more of this fabric for my stash!

Here’s a look at my 2 blocks this month plus the flying geese from last month:

Sea Glass BOM, Block 4 “Ocean Coral” and flying geese

I always like to take pictures of my blocks outside whenever possible because the lighting brings out the richness of the fabrics. I had the opportunity this morning where the weather was calm.

Ocean Coral blocks

The softness of this color palette is really appealing to me right now during our COVID-19 crisis. As I sew together more blocks, I can see the sea glass emerging! I need to find some real pieces of sea glass the next time I can go to the beach.

Sea Glass BOM, blocks 1-4

Stay safe and imagine soft ocean breezes soothing your worries away!

Happy quilting,

Jen

2020 Mini Series SAL – Week 5

Posted on by
2

Hi everyone,

Surprisingly, this week is going by fast for me. I’m balancing working from home with helping my teen with his schooling from home, and fitting in some sewing each evening. I’m also trying to keep anxiety feelings at bay with regular exercise, mostly in the form of long walks with my dog.

The block in our sew-along this week is one of my favorites. It is called Stretched Geese. I really like any form of the flying geese block, and this one is really fun!

This is my 4-inch block in progress:

Stretched Geese block during construction

I decided to alter the block slightly by adding little border strips to the sides of the flying geese using my one print fabric from Tula Pink. I’m working in a little bit of this fabric into each block.

Stretched Geese block, slightly modified

I love my growing group of little blocks! The beachy feel of the fabrics is quite soothing.

Mini Series SAL blocks, weeks 1 to 5

We now have 3 official blocks left to make in the SAL, plus I need to make the bonus block.

On one of my dog walks this week, I saw one of my favorite flowers, lupine, starting to bloom. Isn’t it pretty?

I just realized that the colors in my lupine photo below match the fabric colors in my SAL blocks! What a happy coincidence.

Lupine starting to bloom

I hope you are all staying healthy and making a little time to work on sewing projects other than face masks.

Take care!

~Jen

2020 Mini Series SAL – Week 4

Posted on by
1

Hi everyone,

The little block for this week is called Hexagon Step. This is another block that took about 2 hours to sew together.

When I first saw the block, it reminded me of radiation danger signs!

Hexagon Step Pattern cover

I decided to change up the look by not alternating my color strips with background strips in each row. Instead, I used full color row around the hexagon shape and then followed it with a full row of the background fabric.

Here’s a look at my Hexagon Step block with one of my antique toy sewing machines. Isn’t the little seahorse cute?

My Hexagon Step block with antique toy sewing machine

I’m enjoying piecing these little blocks each week. There are small but satisfying in these unusual times. We have four more blocks left to sew in the SAL, not counting the bonus block, and then we have a 2 week window to make and finish a project using the blocks.

Here’s a look at my first four blocks together:

Mini Series SAL blocks 1-4

Next week, I’ll post my Stretched Geese block for week 5.

Take care and happy quilting!

~Jen

Sea Glass BOM by Fig Tree, Blocks 1-3

Posted on by
4

Last year, I signed up for a new 12-month 2020 block-of-the-month (BOM) program with Fig Tree & Co called Sea Glass. This program contains the fabric and instructions to create two blocks each month using soft sea glass colors for a breezy, beachy feel.

The first block packets shipped in January with a block called Sand Dollar. My neighbor’s cat stopped by for a brief inspection. He gives the blocks his approval!

Sea Glass BOM, Month 1, Sand Dollar

In February, we received our second packet with fabrics to create the Starfish blocks. I love all of the aquas and light turquoises, playing together.

Sea Glass BOM, Sand Dollar and Starfish Blocks

Our block for March is called Sea Anemone, and I just finished sewing mine together last weekend. There are some sawtooth border pieces to stitch together for March so I am a little bit behind, but I should catch up this week.

Sea Glass BOM, Sea Anemone Block

I expect to received the fabric and instructions for April any day now. I have seen some sneak peeks of the fabric on Instagram under the #seaglassbom hashtag, and the fabrics look really pretty! I hope to get April’s blocks stitched together this coming weekend.

Here’s a look at the first three blocks together:

Sea Glass BOM, Blocks 1-3

This color palette has me wishing for the Oregon beaches to reopen soon!

Happy quilting!

~Jen

Tula Pink’s 100 Modern Quilt Blocks Project, Part 2

Posted on by
2

Hi everyone,

If you celebrate Easter, I hope that you had a great day yesterday even if it wasn’t your usual celebration with social distancing practices in place. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed being together and taking the dog for a long walk.

Last week, I blogged about one of my works-in-progress (WIP) started back in 2018.

Today, I’m going to show you my completed Tula Pink 100 modern quilt block finished quilt flimsy! If you haven’t heard of the term “flimsy” before, it is just the completed quilt top before quilting. I pieced the entire quilt using Aurifil 50 weight thread in white.

I added the white block frames to all 100 of my blocks, and then I added the sashing (Kona cotton in Lighthouse) to each row individually. I pieced together the top 5 rows separately from the bottom 5 rows, just so that I didn’t get confused and to help keep the weight of the quilt top less.

When I had the top 5 rows and the bottom 5 rows pieced, I was ready to join them together.

Here’s a look at the two last chunks of the quilt on the floor of my quilting room:

The top 5 rows and the bottom 5 rows, ready to be stitched together

This quilt flimsy is pretty large so I couldn’t get a good picture of it indoors. My husband and I each stood on a chair to hold up the quilt flimsy, and our teen son took the photo in the field behind our house.

Completed Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks Quilt Top

It was a very windy afternoon and so we had to take multiple pictures and wait a bit for the breeze to subside. I do think the quilt looks pretty, fluttering in the wind!

Tula Pink’s 100 Modern Quilt Block Quilt Top, fluttering in the wind!

Of course, one of my quilt inspectors strolled by to supervise the photo session. My cat, Cow, is just off to the side of the quilt, rolling in the dirt. He is loving this sunny weather!

Cow, the quilt inspector, loves to roll in the field dirt!

Next, I need to decide how to do the quilting. I want the focus of the quilt to be the beautiful blocks so I’ll likely do just an all-over swirly pattern. I don’t want custom or heavy quilting to distract from the blocks.

I hope to get this quilting and bound by July.

Happy quilting!

~Jen

2020 Mini Series SAL – Week 3

Posted on by
Reply

Hi all,

Time sure feels different in this era of “sheltering in place.” I’m happy that, for my job, I’m able to work from home, but I’m missing outdoor activities like hiking and missing friends and family.

The Mini Series SAL, hosted by Alison Glass and Giucy Giuce, is a great help during these times because it is uplifting to be participating in a project with so many other quilters around the world. You can see my week 1 block here and my week 2 block here.

We are now on to week 3 in the SAL with the challenging Pineapple block. This block has many, many pieces, and it took me approximately 2 hours to sew a 4-inch block!!

I’m using a Kona cotton charm square pack called Mermaid Shores for my colors, and a wonderful batik with pebble like shapes for my background. I want to invoke all the beach feelings!

Here’s a look at my Pineapple block in my garden:

Pineapple block on a garden stone
Pineapple block with a little garden fairy statue

Here’s a look at the first 3 blocks all together (Log Cabin, Courthouse Step, Pineapple):

First 3 blocks with a little fairy garden statue

Let me know in the comments if you are participating in the SAL and your Instagram handle so I can give you a follow!

Enjoy!

~Jen

Tula Pink’s 100 Modern Quilt Blocks Project, Part 1

Posted on by
1

Hi everyone,

In 2018, I participated in an Instagram challenge, hosted by Angie, @gnomeangel. For the challenge, we had to post one block per day for 100 days, starting in July, using the blocks from Tula Pink’s City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.

For my project, I used all Tula fabrics plus various solids. I kept up with the challenge and posted all the blocks to Instagram on the assigned days.

Here’s a look at one of my blocks that I made and posted in 2018. This block is on a mini design board.

One of my Tula blocks posted for the 100 days 100 blocks challenge in 2018

Fast forward to this year. In January, the registration opened up for Quilter’s Affair, which is a week of classes leading up to the big Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in July. I was able to snag a spot in one of Tula’s classes! I decided that I needed to pull out this old project and finish it so that I could take it with me to Sisters. Of course, all this happened before we really knew about COVID-19 and learned about social distancing.

Hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic will crest before July and social gatherings will once again be able to take place. However, if not, then I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, and we can enjoy the quilt show in 2021.

I pulled out all of my blocks and my book to get started:

Tula’s 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book, filled with my blocks
100 Modern Quilt Blocks book with my blocks, from the side

In the back of the book, there are several finishing layout designs. I decided to make the Trellis layout, which is a throw size using 64 blocks. However, I want to use all 100 of my blocks using this layout for a larger quilt.

I used Kona cotton in White for my block frames and Kona cotton in Lighthouse for the sashing.

I stitched together my first 3 rows in February:

First 3 Rows of my 100 Modern Blocks quilt

I’ve been working on this project little by little over the past 2 months. It helps to have such a bright and colorful quilt project to work on in these uncertain times.

I finished the top 5 rows recently, and my kitty quilt inspector gave it his approval:

First 5 rows of my 100 modern quilt blocks project

I have all 10 rows now completed, but I need to join them together. I will show you the finished quilt flimsy in part 2 soon!

Happy quilting!

~Jen

2020 Mini Series SAL – Week 1

Posted on by
4

Hi everyone,

Have you heard about the 2020 Mini Series Sew Along hosted by Alison Glass (#alisonglass) and Giucy Giuce (#giucygiuce) ?

It’s a 10-week sew along with 8 tiny foundation paper-pieced blocks plus a bonus block for those participants who sign up on Alison’s website. The SAL is free; however, you do need to purchase the patterns. You can find the patterns on Alison’s website or from various quilt stores that she mentions

Here are my fabric selections for the SAL:

  • A Kona charm square pack called Mermaid Shores
  • A batik fabric for the background that reminds me of pebbles on a beach
  • A Tula Pink fat quarter from the Zuma line with little stars and seahorses

Fabric Selection for 2020 Mini Series SAL

I’m making the 4-inch blocks rather than the 8-inch blocks due to the length of my charm squares.

For week one, we are making the classic log cabin block. I’m an experienced foundation paper piecer so I already had an Add-An-Eighth ruler on hand as well as some very fine 80 weight piecing thread. The 80 weight thread is important with smaller blocks because it is less thick than 50 weight thread so your block presses flatter.

I fuzzy cut a little star for the very center of my block from the Zuma fat quarter. You can see it in the picture with the dime for scale.

Here are some pictures of my log cabin block:

Week 1: Log Cabin Block

Week 1: Log Cabin block with dime for scale

Week 1: Log Cabin Block on Tree

Week 1: Log Cabin block on a stump

I really love these colors together! I’m leaning towards making a small wall-hanging quilt with the blocks from this SAL. I may make a few extra of some of the blocks, but I have’t entirely decided.

Here’s a look at the back of the block. I will keep the paper on for stability until I sew the block to another block or sashing.

Week 1: Log Cabin back of block

Are you participating in the SAL? Leave me a comment below!

Happy stitching!

~Jen

Double Struck Star Quilt

Posted on by
2

Hi everyone,

I finished this fun modern quilt earlier this year called Double Struck Star by Krista Moser of The Quilted Life.

This quilt has an off-set, partial star shape, with each of its three star points featuring colorful fabrics. I selected some small-scale modern prints and solids to create my star points in greens, oranges, and turquoises.

The background triangles are from five different low-volume fabrics and one darker gray fabric. I used the same gray fabric for the inner star shadow border and the binding fabric.

Here’s a look at my fabric selections:

star_struck_fabrics

Fabric Selections for Double Struck Star

I cut and pieced all my colorful triangles first and then added them to my design wall, tweaking a few here and there. I made a few fabric substitutions because some of the prints had the wrong scale or wrong shade in my initial fabric pull.

I did follow the pattern recommendation to have more of the lighter triangles towards the middle of the star with the darker triangles radiating out towards the star points.

star_struck_design_wall

Double Struck Star points on design wall

Once I was satisfied with the colorful triangles, I pieced the neutral triangles. The triangles with the gray star shadow were a little tricky, but I used my pins liberally to ensure the seams matched.

For quilting, I used Glide in Cool Grey 3 with free-motion swirls in the colorful triangles. I used the same thread color in the neutral triangles, but I experimented using different free-motion designs and ruler work in each of the triangles.

star_struck_quilting

Quilting the Double Struck Star Quilt

For the binding, I used the dark gray fabric and added a very small color-pop section using left over pieces from the colorful triangles.

I recruited my hubby to hold the quilt while I took pictures of it at a local park earlier this year.

star_struck_finished1

Completed Double Struck Star Quilt

star_struck_finished2

Close-Up of Completed Double Struck Star Quilt

Isn’t this a cheerful quilt? It reminds me of all the beautiful spring flowers emerging after a cold, rainy winter!

Happy quilting!

~Jen

Quilter’s Affair 2019 Classes

Posted on by
Reply

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