A Supernova Finish for Blogger’s Quilt Festival

Posted on October 28, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Happy rainy Tuesday (at least here in the PNW)!

Yesterday, I blogged about entering my Celtic Solstice into the scrappy category of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy Ellis.

Today, I want to share my entry into the modern category with you. This quilt is very special to me because it is the first one that I have done with a swap partner. I joined the Supernova Friendship Block Swap earlier this year and partnered up with Cindy Wilson of What’s One More Project. Starting in June, we each made 2 Supernova blocks and kept one for ourselves and then mailed the other one to our partner.

We swapped our last blocks just this month. We used the Ansonia fabric line by Denyse Schmidt. Cindy took the pink colorway, and I took the green colorway.The background is Kona Snow.

Here’s a look at our October blocks:

Supernova October Blocks

Lee over at Freshly Pieced designed the Supernova quilt to have borders, but I wanted my finished quilt to fit a smaller space. So, I made a decision to leave the borders off on my finished quilt top.

I used a light cream Aurifil thread to quilt an all-over design so that the attention stayed on those exploding Supernova blocks! My family loves this quilt because it reminds them of fireworks.

The binding is a dark brown piece from the Ansonia line. The quilt measures 54-inches square versus the original design of 62-inches square.

I really wanted to take pictures of the completed quilt in natural light, but it looks like the rain just won’t let up this week. So, with my quilting assistant standing by, I took some pictures this afternoon (having just finished the binding last night).

Tiger on Supernova

Another View of the Completed Supernova

Completed Supernova Quilt

Since I had one extra Supernova block, I decided to make the quilt back scrappy by using the block, left over Ansonia fabric, and a label.

Here’s a look:

Supernova Back

This quilt was so much fun to make, and helped me to stretch my piecing skills! I made a new quilting friend along the way and now have a one-of-a-kind quilt to proudly display in my home.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

One Block Swoon Quilt

Posted on October 24, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

I’ve been wanting to make the large Swoon block by Camille of Thimble Blossoms for a while, but didn’t have a specific project in mind. I did use the mini-Swoon block for my project in the Black Cat Crossing swap recently.

I participated in a 5-month Supernova friendship block swap with my new friend, Cindy of What’s One More Project. We have been making and sending blocks to each other since July using the Ansonia fabric line from Denyse Schmidt. October is our last block!

So I decided to make a one block Swoon quilt for Cindy as a thank you. I used two fabrics from Sunnyside by Kate Spain along with Kona Snow for the background and a Kona blue for the binding.

I did some pretty heavy free-motion quilting on my Bernina Activa 145. I had so much fun! On the Sunnyside fabric, I used Stone Blue Denim Aurifil thread #3770 since it has a lovely variegated appearance. I used a cream Aurifil 50 wt thread on the Kona Snow portions.

I did some straight-line quilting around the block edges and in the border. Inside the orange and blue block shapes, I did some more straight-line quilting. I really wanted the background to stand out so I did some swirls and some bird-feather like shapes in the Kona Snow.

Here’s a look at the whole quilt:

One-Block Swoon Quilt

Here are some close-up views of the free-motion quilting:

Swoon Block Free-Motion Quilting Detail

Free-Motion Quilting on Swoon Block

For the backing, I used the same Kona blue as the binding except for two strips of leftover Sunnyside fabric and a label. I really like how the stitching shows up on the back!

Swoon Block Back

I’m definitely going to make this block again since it has so many possibilities from a one-block quilt to a pillow to a bed quilt.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Supernova Friendship Block Swap Update + Broken Top Hike

Posted on August 27, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Hi quilty friends,

Summer is quickly ending so I hope to have more time this fall and winter to catch up on my many projects in progress.

One project that I’m working on this year with a partner, Cindy, from What’s One More Project is the Friendship Supernova Block Exchange. You can read more about this unique swap in my first post here. In my first post, I have pictures of our month 1 blocks.

In this post, I’m happy to say that we have now swapped 2 more blocks (July and August) for a total of 6 blocks all together. We have 2 more months (September and October) for the blocks before we finish sewing our quilt tops together.

Here are the blocks that I made for July and August (1 to keep and 1 for my partner):

July Supernova Blocks

August Supernova Blocks

I took a picture of the first 6 blocks on my design wall in random order (3 made by me and 3 made by Cindy):

Supernova, First 6 blocks

Isn’t it looking fabulous??!! I just love how this quilt is coming together so far.

For those of you who have visited or are familiar with the Sisters, Oregon area (home of the fabulous Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show), you might be familiar with one of the mountains called Broken Top. This mountain is next to the Three Sisters and is featured in many patterns, including the row-by-row pattern by the Stitchin’ Post this year. I used this row as the top row in my quilt here.

My family decided to squeeze in one last camping/hiking trip before school starts here next week. We camped near Broken Top and took a moderate to aggressive, 4-mile roundtrip hike to a beautiful glacier lake near the top of the mountain. The color of the lake water is amazing – a sort of blue/green/turquoise color and absolutely gorgeous!

The road to the trail head is very rough and not really suitable for passenger cars. You need a vehicle with higher clearance to navigate some sections. Broken Top itself is 9,177 feet. I’m not sure what the elevation is here at the lake, but I’d guess around 7,500 feet or so.

Unnamed Glacier Lake at Broken Top

Another view looking back at the lake from farther up the trail:

View of Broken Top and Unnamed Glacier Lake

If you turn from this viewpoint in the opposite direction, you are rewarded with a stunning, up-close view of the Three Sisters. Here’s my dog with his hiking boots to protect his paw pads:

Broken Top Hike with View of the Three Sisters (and Brutus the dog)

My 9-year-old did great on this hike and had a great time. I think we wore out the dog because he slept for about 2 days straight after the hike! If you are ever in the central Oregon area, I’d highly recommend this hike for the impressive views.

Enjoy!
~Jennifer

Supernova Friendship Block Swap, Month 1

Posted on June 24, 2014 by thequiltedcat

Hi everyone,

Thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes on my little leg surgery from last week. I’m doing better each day and will be back to normal in time for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show coming up soon!!

So Stephanie over at Late Night Quilter and Sandra over at One Million Stitches came up with a fun twist on the typical quilt-along. For those who missed out on Lee’s (from Freshly Pieced) Supernova original quilt-along, why not get together with a fellow blogging quilter and make a quilt top together??? Genius!

The idea is to meet a new quilter and exchange blocks over a 5 month period. Each month, you make 1 Supernova block for yourself and an identical one for your swap partner. After 5 months, each swap buddy will have 10 blocks, enough to complete a Supernova quilt top.

I posted to the original thread searching for a partner. Bam! I had found a great partner that same day. I think we are kindred spirits because not only do we both love piecing quilts, but we also love the great outdoors. My partner is Cindy from What’s One More Project.

Our first blocks were due to be sent out by June 15th, and I didn’t want to reveal pictures until we each received our swap block! We’re using Denyse Schmidt’s Ansonia line, with Cindy using the pink colorway, and I’m using the green/blue colorway.

Here is a look at the blocks that I made:

Supernova Friendship Blocks, Month 1

And here’s a look with one of my blocks next to the one that Cindy sent me. Aren’t they great together?

Supernova, Month 1 Blocks

Our next blocks are due to be sent by July 15th so I need to get started and finished before heading over to Sisters in early July!

Also linking up with Lee’s WIP Wednesday!

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer

Aviatrix Medallion, Border 1 + More

Posted on May 16, 2014 by thequiltedcat

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