Purple Pizzaz

I finished "embellishing" the purple brick quilt I made for Paula (my mother-in-law's cousin who is turning 70 next month).  It measures 51" x 66" after washing.  I think she's really going to like this :-).

 

If you read my last post, you saw that this started out as simple purple bricks.... but that wasn't going to be good enough for the fun, free-spirited Paula!

 

Bright colors and fun prints were pulled from my stash.

Appliqued peace signs, hippy flowers and hearts were added.

Random, meandering FMQ helped to give it (my favorite) the crinkled up look.

 

 

Purple leopard print backing and rainbow colored peace signs on the binding helped bring it all together.  Well, I suppose "together" is a relative term :-).  

 

My 10 year old daughter is in love with this quilt, yet it was made for a 70 year old woman.  I guess it's true what they say --- you're only as old as you feel!

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Pink Carousel Mini (swap)

I belong to a small swap group that swaps a "something" every 2 months.  Our last swap was a mini quilt, at least 12" on one side.  My swap partner Wanda is in the process of re-decorating / re-organizing her sewing space and plans to use bright pink and white.  She also told me she likes carousel animals.  This is what I made:

It measures about 21" square, dictated by the block size around the focal fabric in the center.  The fabric in the center is from the Carousel Dreams line by Cynthia Coulter for Wilmington Prints.  The fabric on the back is Carousel Dreams Ribbons.  The pink blocks are from my stash (each one is a different fabric).

I found a pattern online called "Carousel" by Fig Tree and Company and thought it would be perfect to go with the theme.  I was too impatient to wait for the pattern to arrive so I started making my own version which is not quite the same, but close enough :-).  I sent the pattern and some extra fabric (from the main front panel) to Wanda along with the mini. 

I shadowed quilted outside and within the blocks, but no quilting on the carousel fabric in the center.  I am struggling my way up the "tension" learning curve on my new machine but all things considered, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I also put together this quick little pouch.  Clovers and ladybugs, I think that's a perfect combination.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Paula's Purples

My mother-in-law's cousin (Paula) is turning 70 next month, and she is throwing herself a birthday bash.  Her favorite color is purple and her home is completely decorated in this color --- walls, furniture, everything.  She asked that in lieu of gifts, we make donations to It Gets Better (which we will definitely do), but how could I also not make her a quilt, right?

 

In my last post, I showed a picture of purple rectangles, which have now turned into this quilt top:

 

 

 

The main rectangles measure 9" x 6.5".  I used halves (4.5" x 6.5") on the ends, alternating the smaller piece on the left vs. right for each row.  This meant no seams to match up.  (In fact, I made the entire top without the use of a single pin.  Next to HSTs, pins are my greatest nemesis.)

 

For any other cousin, I would move straight to quilting and binding and call this one complete.  Paula, however, is not any other cousin :-).  Below is the cover of her birthday party invitiation.  That's her (minus her face) on the front.  Yup, she's 70!  When you're as much fun and full of life as Paula, your quilt needs to be more than "just" purple.

 

I've started adding a little more "pizzaz" to the quilt top, using colors, fabrics and techniques I don't typically use.  How much fun I am having with it!!  Quilting is in progress now... you'll have to stay tuned for the big reveal :-).


~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Pre-WIPs

My main WIP right now is a swap gift so I can only share a peek.... It involves HSTs (my nemesis - as evidenced by the far from perfect corners in this photo!), pink, white and some other fun "themes" --- should be able to show the full thing in another week or two. 

Since I can't share the one thing I've actually made progress on, I will share 3 pre-WIPs.  They are ideas, some fabric has been cut and they are in various stages of development, but no sewing has actually happened yet.  Any guesses as to what they will be?  (Hint: None of these are related to each other.)

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Nochella Rose

I mentioned in my last post that I had treated myself to a new sewing machine -- a Husqvarna Viking Eden Rose 250c.  I was so anxious to play with her but I knew there would be a learning curve.  What a change from my old Singer!  I pulled out 3 mini jelly rolls (10 strips each) of Top Drawer's Nochella Droll that I purchased a long time ago "just because" and started sewing strips together on the long sides, mostly just to get the feel of the machine.  I figured even if I didn't like the finished product, I wouldn't be wasting any "good" fabric.

It wasn't until I opened the 3rd roll that I realized it was not the same as the first two.  Two were Nochella Droll Leave and one was Nochella Droll Lace.  Oh well... close enough!  I ended up ordering some yardage for the back and to add a few more strips on the front... and pretty much just sewed until I had something sort of big enough to be called a quilt.

I did a random meander / squiggle with white thread.

It took me a while to figure out the FMQ settings on my machine.  Tension set to 0?  Seriously??  That said.... having the foot sensor, the automatic needle-down setting, feed dog drop switch and larger throat size made for MUCH easier FMQ once I got going.  Now I can focus on my patterns (need lots of work there) rather than wrestling with the quilt and trying not to break the thread.

My apologies to those in the frozen, snowy parts of the country... couldn't help taking a picture of her on the fence near one of the palm trees in my back yard.

I named her Nochella Rose --- Nochella for the fabric and Rose because she's the first quilt on my Eden Rose.  She measures 58"x40" after washing.  This is the first quilt I've ever made "just because" and I'm not sure what I'll do with her yet.  I like the idea of having "spare" quilts to gift or donate when an opportunity arises.  These are not my favorite colors and though it's busy, I still like the way she came together.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!
~ Kat ~