Aviatrix Medallion, Border 1 + More

Posted on May 16, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Friday, everyone!

It’s been a busy quilty week for me, in between work and the kiddo’s school schedule. I’ve made great progress on my Celtic Solstice top and should have all the borders added this weekend!

I also made a great antique sewing machine find at a local thrift store. I’ll take some pictures of my find and blog about it this weekend. So excited!

For the Aviatrix Quilt-along, our assignment this week is to add border 1. This border went together so nicely and took much less time than the gorgeous center block. Go check out all the details on Elizabeth’s blog, Oh Fransson.

This border has 32 HST units in 5 different neutral colors. Although my medallion colors are different, I did stick with the original neutrals as listed in the pattern. I’m using Aurifil Light Sand (#2000) for all the piecing.

Here’s a bit of blurry phone picture of the neatly trimmed HST blocks:

Trimmed HST Units in Neutrals

Here’s my center block now framed with border 1:

Aviatrix Medallion with Border 1

I just love how this quilt is coming together! We’ll work on border 2 next week.

Finally, have you heard about the Supernova Friendship Block Swap? You can find all the details on Stephanie’s blog, Late Night Quilter. I posted in the comments about needing a partner and found one within hours. I’m happy to say that I’m partnering up with Cindy of What’s One More Project. We’ve selected Denyse Schmidt’s Ansonia fabric line for our quilt.

Here are the 2 colorways. I’ll be working with the greens and Cindy will be working with the pinks.

Ansonia Fat Quarters in Green

Ansonia Fat Quarters in Pink

There is still time to hop aboard this fun swap. You’ll meet a new friend and have fun making quilt tops together. The first blocks are due June 15th.

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Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion Quilt-Along Fabrics and Center Block

Posted on May 7, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone!

I’m participating along in the Aviatrix Medallion quilt-along and wanted to share my fabric selections and completed center block. This fabulous quilt is designed by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson and you can purchase it directly from her store. This is a relaxed quilt-along, where you can follow along at your own pace but Elizabeth does post helpful hints each Monday for a particular portion of the quilt.

Here are the colorful fabrics that I selected for my project. I’m using a combination of solids and patterns and you can see each fabric in the photos below. I’m using Aurifil #2000 for the piecing.

Violets
Kona Cotton Thistle
Girly Girl Swirl Purple, Henry Glass
Seasons Best Spring Random Squares Purple, Andover
Paisly Please Connect the Dots Purple, Jacki E Studios
More This n That Aurora Royal Purple, Bernatex

Oranges
Kona Cotton Peach
Hot House Flowers Floral Small Orange, Andover
Medium Dots Orange, Riley Blake
Scenic Route Dot Orange, Riley Blake
Tiny Tiles Clementine, Michael Miller

Greens
Kona Cotton Wasabi
Always Blooming Flower Green, P&B Textiles
Let’s Play Dolls Daisy Flower Dot Green, Andover
Peppered Cotton Emerald, Studio E
Mission Space Craters Green, Quilting Treasures

Blues
Small Dots Aqua, Riley Blake
Rocket Age Rocket Blast Light Blue, Riley Blake
Zebra Print Turquoise, Wilmington Prints
On the Rocks Blue
Dark Teal, Palette Solids

For the remaining fabrics (the neutrals, white background, and gray background), I’m using the fabrics listed in the pattern.

Last week, we cut out our fabrics for those following the quilt-along. This process did take quite some time, so I spread it out over the whole week so my hand wouldn’t get tired and so that I wouldn’t mix up the fabrics! I did keep them labeled as I went along.

All the cut pieces are in individual bags, just waiting to be stitched up! I have the center points of each color along with my helpful cheat sheet in the photo.

Aviatrix Medallion Fabrics

Aren’t these colors just so pretty??!! I love looking at these early stages of quilt projects and envisioning what the end result will look like.

For this week, our assignment is to create the center block (aka the most complex piece of this quilt!).

Here are my pieces placed on my cutting table:

Aviatrix Medallion Center Block Pieces

The center block is a challenge, and I enjoyed stretching my skills with this one. Not all of my points are perfect, but I did get better with each section. I’m pretty happy with my center block and look forward to making it again in the larger, pillow size to coordinate with my quilt.

Aviatrix Medallion Finished Center Block

Although the background fabric looks tan in my photo, it is Essex Yarn Dyed in Steel. The gray color is a great choice to contrast against the white and colorful fabrics.

Next week, we’ll start on border 1 so there is definitely time for you to join in on this quilt-along! Yes, I have many projects going at once but it makes life exciting and provides me with a creative counterpoint to my corporate desk job!

I’m linking up with the Wednesday WIP hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice, Part 5

Posted on May 5, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Monday, quilty friends!

I finished up all the individual block units for my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt this past weekend by completing part 5, the split triangle units! This mystery quilt is designed by Bonnie Hunter and all the instructions for this quilt are available on her website until June 1, 2014. After that date, the instructions will be included in one of Bonnie’s future books.

Here are my completed split triangle units (100 of them) for the small quilt. I also stitched together 1 sample of each block that will form the body of the quilt: the Birthday Girl block (originally from Quiltmaker Magazine’s 100 Blocks, volume 2) and the 54-40 or Fight block.

Celtic Solstice, Part 5, Split Triangle Units

For this quilt, I’ve used scraps and pieces from my stash. I’m hoping that I have enough of the same fabrics left for the borders. The only fabric that I will probably need to purchase for this quilt is the backing, although maybe I can hobble something together using scraps. We’ll see!

I have about 1 month until I get to take 2 workshops with Bonnie! I really want to have the quilt top finished, at a minimum, so that I can take it to the workshop. This is my first large-size, all-scrappy quilt!!

In between sewing these split triangle units, I’ve been working on cutting out my fabrics for the Aviatrix Medallion quilt-along, designed and hosted by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson. I will post my fabric selections for this project soon.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Triangle QAL Finish!

Posted on May 1, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I’ve been following along with Paula’s Triangle QAL over on her blog, The Sassy Quilter, for the past few weeks.

Our last assignment was to finish up those quilts! We had 2 weeks to finish up the quilting and binding for the final photo link-up.

My beer themed Triangle quilt is for my husband. Here in Oregon, we are surrounded by many great brew pubs, and I thought this quilt was the perfect choice for a “manly” quilt! You can read about the fabrics in this quilt here.

I decided to use straight-line quilting on my domestic machine by using my 1/4-inch foot and echoing the outside and inside edges of the triangles to create a large lattice effect. I used Aurifil 50 wt thread in a beautiful gold brown color (#2372) that perfectly complements the fabric.

In this photo, you can see the lattice/diamond quilting:

Up-Close Look at the Quilting

Here’s my hubby holding up his completed quilt. He picked the name, “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” after our 8-year-old suggested it.

Triangle QAL Completed!

Triangle Quilt, Blowing in the Wind

For the backing, I used up most of my left-over Brewsky fabric:

Back of Triangle Quilt

I’m really happy with how this quilt turned out, and really enjoyed following along with Paula and many other talented quilters during this quilt-along.

Cheers!
~Jennifer

Sunny Savannah Mini Quilt

Posted on April 30, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Dear Stella and Timeless Treasures are hosting a mini quilt challenge called Modern Traditional. The entry quilts must be 20-inches by 20-inches and have to include at least 2 prints from each company and no solids allowed! Entries are due today, April 30th and will be judged by two guest judges, Julie Herman and Katy Jones.

I decided to jump into this challenge with my entry called Sunny Savannah!

The fabrics that I used are:
Wee Gallery, Wild, Safari Animals in White (Dear Stella)
Wee Gallery, Wild, Safari Animals in Black (Dear Stella)
Zig Zag in Black for the binding only (Dear Stella)
Alice Kennedy, Matilda, Chevron in Citron (Timeless Treasures)
Woodstock, Stitched Swirl in Gold (Timeless Treasures)
Crosshatch Sketch in Grey (Timeless Treasures)

Since all the pieces in the quilt are very angular, I wanted the quilting to pop out a bit but still enhance the overall design. I decided to do an off-center swirl pattern in 1/4-inch increments on the entire quilt. I used a yellow Aurifil 40 wt thread for the quilting and Aurifil 50 wt Light Sand for the piecing. The swirl pattern reminds me of the sun shining down on the safari animals and so I decided to call this little quilt, Sunny Savannah. I really love the overall effect!

Here are some photos of the completed mini quilt:

Sunny Savannah, Completed Quilt

The back of the quilt is the Chevron in Citron fabric from Dear Stella with a label. I love the spiral quilting!

Sunny Savannah, Quilt Back

Just for fun, I took some pictures of the quilt flimsy. I thought it might be interesting to show you the backside of the quilt top because of all the neatly pressed rectangle shapes!

Sunny Savannah Quilt Flimsy

Quilt Top Backside

Some close-ups of the spiral quilting! I spray basted and then went slow and careful on my Bernina.

Spiral quilting in process

Spiral quilting close-up

I want to give a shout out to Charlie and Lindsay at Hawthorne Threads. Since I wasn’t able to pick up the fabrics from my LQS, I ordered my fabrics from Hawthorne Threads on a Tuesday evening after work and had them in my mailbox on that Friday! Thank you so much for the quick shipping!

I hope you enjoyed looking at my mini quilt for the challenge. If you’re on Instagram, search for #DSTTchallenge to view other entries.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Test Block Maker for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Vol 9

Posted on April 28, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

For the past 6 months or so, I’ve been a test block maker for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazine, volume 9. This issue will be available at retailers soon and contains some really fun blocks!

I can now show you the blocks that I tested and hope they inspire you to try something new! I had fun making these blocks while improving my piecing skills at the same time.

In total, I made 12 test blocks using traditional piecing, paper piecing, and applique (depending on the block). The blocks are all 12.5 x 12.5 inches unfinished.

Block #807, Spring Tulips by Nancy Mahoney

Spring Tulips designed by Nancy Mahoney

Block #808, Greetings Earthling by Sue Marsh

Greetings Earthling designed by Sue Marsh

Block #810, Felicity by Ellen Murphy

Felicity designed by Ellen Murphy

Block #827, Flying Dutchman by Doris Rice

Flying Dutchman designed by Doris Rice

Block #844, Plant Perfect by Amanda Murphy

Plant Perfect designed by Amanda Murphy

Block #845, Tweet-ness by Heidi Pridemore

Tweet-ness designed by Heidi Pridemore

Block #849, Tribal Crossing by Anita Grossman Solomon

Tribal Crossing designed by Anita Grossman Solomon

Block #865, Spin Cycle by Gudrun Erla

Spin Cycle by Gudrun Erla

Block #873, Hovering Stars by Bonnie Hunter

Hovering Stars designed by Bonnie Hunter

Block #875, Robo-Bop by Kimberly Jolly

Robo-Bop designed by Kimberly Jolly

Block #892, Love Letters by Amy Rullkoetter

Love Letters designed by Amy Rullkoetter

Block #898, Two Tulips by Margie Ullery

Two Tulips designed by Margie Ullery

I’m continuing to be a test block maker for volume 10, which will be published later this year.

Quiltmaker is sponsoring a blog hop to celebrate the publication of volume 9 so check it out!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Pin Cushion Exchange

Posted on April 27, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I had a terrific time this past week at the April monthly meeting for the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. I met new people and saw some wonderful quilts as well as a preview from Violet Craft’s new fabric line called Brambleberry Ridge.

This month, members were invited to make a pin cushion and bring it in a brown paper bag. At break time, we got to exchange pin cushions by choosing a brown paper bag and finding our surprise inside!

I made a cute little bird pin cushion using red and aqua fabrics. The pattern is by Joel Dewberry. You can find the pattern for free here.

After I finished the bird, I took a wooden spool and wrapped it in red ribbon. I then attached the wooden spool to the bird to give it a cute little base.

Here’s a look at the pin cushion I made:

Bird Pin Cushion

Bottom of Wooden Spool on Bird Pin Cushion

I received this great pin cushion in exchange with colors that I really like. My thanks to Ellen Colburn for making this beautiful pin cushion!

Colorful Pin Cushion

Today, I worked on quilting my Triangle QAL. I hope to get the binding stitched on later tonight and will take photos of the finished quilt this week.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Vice Versa BOM, April Blocks + A New Quilt Along!

Posted on April 23, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Over the last several evenings, I’ve cut out the fabric and stitched my April blocks for the Vice Versa BOM, hosted and designed by AnneMarie over at Gen X Quilters.

My fabric selections are inspired by Radiant Orchid, Pantone’s color of the year. You can read about the fabrics in my project here.

This month, we made star-within-a-star blocks. Here are my completed blocks:

Vice Versa BOM, April Block

Vice Versa BOM, April Block Inverse

I did take a photo of my January through April blocks together on a white design wall. I wanted to take a picture of the blocks with a higher contrast background so you can really see the richness of color. But, it is so rainy and windy here in the Pacific NW that I couldn’t get an outdoor shot.

Vice Versa BOM, 4 months of blocks

There is definitely still time to participate in the Vice Versa BOM so come join in on the fun!

I also wanted to mention a new quilt along that I’m so excited to start next week. It is the Aviatrix Medallion quilt along, designed and hosted by fellow Portland Modern Quilt Guild member Elizabeth Hartman on her blog, Oh Fransson! This week is fabric selection. Next Monday, we start in on the fabric cutting. You can do all solids, go scrappy, or do whatever fabric combination you want in this fun quilt along. Hope to see you join us!

Happy quilting,
~Jennifer

Wedding Quilt Triangles

Posted on April 18, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

Triangles seem are pretty popular among quilters lately so when Julie of Jaybird Quilts posted about creating triangle blocks to send to her for a wedding quilt, I decided to hop aboard!

Having just finished my Triangle QAL flimsy, I kept my triangle theme going and ordered the Kona cotton color bundle from Pink Chalk Fabrics. These are colors that Julie has specifically chosen to keep a uniform look to the wedding quilt.

I started off by piecing together some rows of colors in graduated sizes so I could cut out 1 6.5-inch, 60 degree triangle.

Wedding Triangle with Graduated Color Bands

I still had a portion of the pieced row left, so I decided to make a second triangle by adding a solid color to one side of the block and flipping the orientation of the banded rows.

Wedding Triangle with Solid on 1 side

Now I had some really strange-shaped pieces of that pieced row left. Hmm, what to do? I decided to sew them together in a rough square shape. Then, I took the triangle ruler and cut out a third triangle block. This is my crazy triangle!

Crazy Triangle!

Here are all 3 triangles together:

3 Triangles for the Wedding Quilt

I have packaged up these colorful little triangles and sent them to Julie. She is still taking blocks until April 30th, if you want to send some. Check out her blog post to view the list of Kona solids.

This is such a fun idea, and I can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Celtic Solstice, Part 4 Completed

Posted on April 16, 2014 by nwquiltedcat

I’m continuing to make slow but steady progress on my Celtic Solstice. This is a mystery quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter during the last part of 2013. I’m way behind many quilters who have already completed and quilted their beautiful finishes. The pattern is still available until about June on Bonnie’s website if you want to make your own Celtic Solstice.

You can read about my Celtic Solstice Part 3 units here.

For step 4, our task was to make 4-patches. I’m making the smaller quilt so I needed to make 100 of these units. I’m using Bonnie’s suggested color scheme of oranges, greens, yellows, blues, and neutrals.

Once I had completed all the 4-patches, I couldn’t resist making one Block A: 54-40 or Fight!

This picture shows 1 block A, the 4-patches on the floor, and units from parts 1-3 in the basket.