Tag Archives: Solids

Starting a Quilt Wall

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It’s been too long since I posted, but I have been sewing, even if I haven’t been sharing it here.  I’ve started on a little wall of quilts in my dining room, opposite my herringbone stenciled wall.

Two Mini Wall Quilts

The Wine/Whiskey quilt was made using the My First Alphabet and My First Alphabet: Numbers and Punctuation foundation paper piecing patterns by From Blank Pages on Etsy.  I accented it with leftovers from the American Made Brand License Plate Tour, so that it reminds me of how nice it felt to be asked to participate.  (And aren’t those colors gorgeous?  LOVE them!)

My husband doesn’t listen to country music, so even though he loves Blake Shelton from The Voice, he doesn’t hear the song in his head when he reads the quilt.  He does know why I chose it for us, though.  :)

Wine and Whiskey Mini Quilt

Oh, those S’s are HARD!  I’m only really pleased with one of them, but I let them ride.  I’ve learned that over time, the imperfections in a quilt kind of become endearing to the creator.  It’s weird, but mostly true.  It’s what you’ll look for, part of how you know it’s yours.  It’s good to learn to forgive yourself and move on.

The hashtag quilt was a very simple pattern I found in Fons & Porter’s Scrap Quilts magazine Spring 2014 issue.  You can make the top from just a charm pack of solids and less than two yards of white fabric.  I think this would make a great baby quilt, boy or girl.

Hashtag Quilt

I have a third little quilt made, but it won’t be hung up until I have a couple more done, just for proper placement.  For now I’ll just enjoy these, and the process of making the ones to come!

sarahsigres

A Wonky Stars Baby Boy Quilt, With a Plot Twist

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Wonky Stars Quilt B

I started making a quilt for a baby boy using bright solids mixed with shades of brown and cream.  I thought the neutral tones would calm the brights, but then I thought it was a bit too calm.  I threw in a much needed plot twist — polka dots.

Baby quilts always make me dream of the recipient’s future.  This quilt made me think how colorful the regular days are when you’re a child, and how much more the big days will really stand out in his memory.

Wonky Stars Quilt A

Then for good measure, I did a little hand quilting around the stars in the polka dotted blocks, just to give them an extra little pop.

Wonky Stars Quilt C

The backing is a print of old comic book ads from the Rocket Age collection by October Afternoon for Riley Blake. The backing along with the wood grain binding makes me think of little boys reading comic books in their tree house over summer break.  (And it was a lot of fun stitching what looked like wood to paper!)

Wonky Stars Quilt E

Summer days and babies … anticipation!

sarahsigres

Bad Pictures of My Current Projects

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Sorry, they are bad pictures.  Sometimes it just turns out that way.

First, here’s the Deegie Face quilt top finished and hung up, but on a day so sunny (and me so rushed for time) that it’s even hard to see:

Too Much Sun

And here it is with the photo that inspired it:

Untitled

It’s off to the long arm quilter this weekend. I chose a soft flannel for the backing, and I think I’ll see if the quilt shop has a heavier batting than I usually use. I just imagine this quilt being super cuddly, like Deegie.

My next quilt is for a baby boy in our family. I’m using some of the browns leftover from Deegie’s quilt along with some brights I already had and some scraps from the Healing Quilt. I threw in a little plot twist, just for fun.

Percy and Wonky Stars Blocks

Percy noticed it right away.

sarahsigres

“What Does the Quilt Shop Do to Your Quilts?”

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Healing Quilt Top Stained Glass Look

Healing Quilt Top Side

The “Healing” quilt top is pieced and ready to be dropped at the quilt shop!  A friend of mine asked what the quilt shop does to my quilts that I can’t do at home (and my husband has asked at least five times), so just in case you’ve wondered, too … they have a long arm sewing machine, very different from what I sew on at home, that makes the quilt making process much easier.  I found these pictures licensed for creative commons use from Stephanie Vacher on Flickr.  The backing, batting and quilt top are rolled onto bars, and the machine itself moves back and forth across the quilt.

long-arm sewing machine

From this angle, you can see the big roll of batting (below) that feeds between the front and back of the quilt.

long-arm sewing machine

The machines can either be pre-programmed with a quilting design or the quilter can guide the machine by hand.  I love this colorful shot by Open Threads!

Quilting Machine

Here’s the Lava Meets Sea quilt freshly quilted and not yet cut away from the excess batting and backing.

Kim's Quilt Ready to Bind

This is so much easier than quilting at home, carefully laying out the backing, batting and top on the floor and pinning them together so they won’t shift as you jam them through your sewing machine. (More creative commons photos by Jessy Roos and athenamat.)  At this point, the weight and volume of the quilt become factors as well.  While you try to keeping sewing just where you mean the stitches to go, gravity pulls your heavy quilt off the table to the floor.   Meanwhile, the size of the quilt makes it difficult to fit through the arm of the sewing machine.  It is a great workout for your arms, but it doesn’t make for easy, relaxing sewing.

365.116

Quilting at the Urban Qulting League

My personal policy is that anything larger than a baby quilt can go to the quilt shop.  I know many quilters who love quilting on their home machines, I’m just not one of them.  So as much as I loved piecing the Healing quilt, I’ll take it to Phyllis at my local shop, Quilts by Phyllis, for the actual quilting.

sarahsigres

Healing Quilt Layout

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Healing Quilt Layout

My niece asked me to help her with a quilt for someone who was just diagnosed with leukemia. We’re calling this quilt Healing. When he lays under it, the bright colors covering him will represent our prayers for his health. (Imagine more rows of gray along the sides as pictured near the very top, I have the fabric on order.)  Projects like this are especially rewarding for me, and I’m glad my niece asked for my help with it.

Hopefully I’ll be showing you the finished quilt soon!

sarahsigres