Mixing It Up Because We Care
I absolutely love the quilting community, and this is no exception! I was privileged enough to take part in helping finish this mixing quilt.
This quilt top was made by fantastic, caring bunch of ladies from all over the world. The special person it was made for lost her 19 year old daughter in a tragic car accident.
Her daughter loved baking, with her red mixer. In fact, the mother Audrey still keeps the red mixer on display with flour still on it from the last baking her daughter did, with her daughters picture in a frame next to it. It's so very touching to see.
Each person participating used red as their mixer and any colored bowl they thought would match. All the mixers and spatulas were sent to one person, who then put the top together, who then sent the top to us to quilt and bind.
Every person sent two strips of red binding to us, which made this adorable red, scrappy binding. We went with spirals galore as the quilting design, we thought it mimicked the action of the beaters!
The quilt really turned out fabulous! I cannot imagine the grief one would go through loosing their daughter, I hope this quilt has brought her comfort through some of the harder times.
Audrey has started a non-profit charity where she makes quilts for grieving mothers who have lost a child. She collects quilt tops, fabrics, blocks, you name it, whatever can be used to make into a quilt. If you would like to assist her by donating fabric, money or a quilt top you can go to her Instagram account 19QuiltsForNatalie to get in contact with her.
You can find more pictures on Instagram by typing in the hashtag #MixingItUpBecauseWeCare
Details:
Fabric: Variety
Pattern: Mixing It UP Quilt by Bee in my Bonnet
Size: Approximately 70" x 72"
Quilting Design: Spirals Galore
Want us to longarm a quilt for you? Here are just some of the quilts we have longarmed, and we have an easy estimate form to give you an idea on pricing.
Dear Stella Sunburst Quilt
We are excited to show you our Sunburst Quilt! Do you ever have one of those UFO's (Unfinished Objects) that you can't seem to finish up? This is one of those projects for us, had the blocks all sewn together but just couldn't seem to get the circles put on let along get the blocks sewn in rows!
Once you get started though, it goes very quick! I don't know why we put it off for so long! This quilt was so easy to put together, and did I mention the quilt pattern is free? It's called Sunburst and can be found on Dear Stella's blog.
The fabric is called Oh Happy Day, and I think it's very fitting! It really makes you happy to work with, the bright, cheery colors and look at all those "freckles"!!
For the quilting pattern, we wanted something fun and whimsical so we went with Marmalade. It's swirls, loops and circles, so fun! We also selected a solid for the backing so the quilting would really pop!
Details:
Fabric: Oh Happy Day by Dear Stella
Pattern: Sunburst Quilt by Lynne Goldsworthy
Size: Approximately 60" x 60"
Quilting Design: Marmalade
Want us to longarm a quilt for you? Here are just some of the quilts we have longarmed, and we have an easy estimate form to give you an idea on pricing.
Grow Belmont Quilt
We have the honor of being located in downtown Belmont, the quaint streets are lined with original restaurants, boutiques, ice cream shops (we used to have 4 in a two block radius!) and a very cool garden.
The garden rents out plots, and for a mere $60.00 you can partake in having your own garden plot as well as all the activities they do. Check out their Facebook page!
Because Grow Belmont is an not for profit association, they organize a fundraiser every year. Last year I kept saying that I was going to make a quilt for it, well you know how time gets away from you (or at least me...). So I was able to get this WIP off my list and give Grow Belmont a quilt for their fundraiser!
The fabric is Tend the Earth by Deb Strain, featuring a relaxed nature print. Leaves, damask, swirls and subtle colors was just perfect for this quilt!
Of course the quilting is one of our favorites, I think this quilt pattern is one of our most popular patterns right now!
Here's the backing, I had a few random blocks left but not enough to make a complete row for the top. I pieced them in the middle, I always find it quite satisfying when I can use all my blocks or better yet - not have any scraps left over from the project I'm working on!
I'm terrible at making quilt labels, really it just boils down to being quite lazy! I wanted to do something for this quilt, but not make it too personal. I embroidered this cool garden embroidery and added the year, this quilt is currently being raffled off. I hope it brings them money for many more years of harvest and keeps the person lucky enough to win it warm in those long, dark winter evenings.
Details:
Fabric: Tend the Earth by Deb Strain
Pattern: From the Growing Up Modern book by Allison Harris
Size: Approximately 39" x 51"
Quilting Design: Diagonal Plaid
Want us to longarm a quilt for you? Here are just some of the quilts we have longarmed, and we have an easy estimate form to give you an idea on pricing.
UFO Friday - Postcards from Sweden
The next UFO on my list is called Postcards from Sweden. I went to Quilt Market last year in Minneapolis and stayed with a good friend I grew up with. So to thank her for her hospitality, I of course am going to make her a quilt. So while this is not a very old UFO, it is an important one I would like to see completed quickly!
If you're new here, UFO Fridays are where you carve out 15 minutes of your day to work on a UFO (Unfinished Object), with the objective of finishing it up! I work on the same UFO every Friday until it's finished. So far I have completed three UFO's, although two aren't quilted so technically I guess that isn't completely accurate.
I started on this project when I was at a sewing retreat a few weeks ago, this is how far I got... only three rows. Although, I was pleased with my progress because I had started it the night before we left only giving me a few hours to work on it.
I worked on it today, probably for about 30 minutes. I got two rows completely done and sewed onto the quilt. There are so. many. triangles... gosh. I do love how it's turning out though!
I did mess up on either picking out the triangles or placement of the them according to the pattern... but I'll never tell you where they are and you'll never figure it out! Muahaha... Well, until next week when I hope to show you more progress!
Don't forget, you can join in on the fun! Post your photos on Instagram or on our Facebook page, use hashtag #UFOFridays
Project details:
Pattern: Postcards from Sweden by Jeli Quilts
Fabric: Kona Cottons
Status: 5 of 15 rows completed!
UFO Friday - Bonnie and Camille Sampler Quilt
I have missed doing UFO Fridays and I'm happy to be back plugging away at some half finished projects (and believe me, I have enough where I could do them every Friday for the rest of my life)!
If you're new here, UFO Fridays are where you carve out 15 minutes of your day to work on a UFO (Unfinished Object), with the objective of finishing it up! I work on the same UFO every Friday until it's finished. So far I have completed three UFO's, although two aren't quilted so technically I guess that isn't completely accurate.
So what's on this week's UFO list? My Bonnie and Camille Sampler Quilt! I took part in a little swap on Instagram. Each month you made two blocks and sent them out, and you received two blocks in return. The only stipulation was a 12.5" block and it had to use Bonnie and Camille fabrics.
Look at all these beautiful blocks! I was so excited to put them together that I even brought them to a sewing retreat a few weekends ago and got the sashing finished!
I love every single block in here, it's so well balanced. All of these ladies were wonderful partners, sending high quality blocks, unique designs and best of all they were all sent on time!
So today, I started with 15 minutes and probably worked more like an hour (one of the benefits to UFO Friday is just getting the momentum to get started!) putting on my borders. The blue with dots is the sashing and the lovely Pears in Cream print is my outer border.
On our retreat, we did a little local quilt shopping. You really never know what kind of goodies you're going to find a small quilt stores. I found this gem, Bliss from Bonnie and Camille in flannel. Oh, my, gosh it is soooo soft!! I new instantly it was to be used for my backing on this quilt, I even took it home to wash it last night. It's all ready to be longarmed now!
Don't forget, you can join in on the fun! Post your photos on Instagram or on our Facebook page, use hashtag #UFOFridays
Project details:
Pattern: Bonnie and Camille Sampler, blocks provided from all over the world
Fabric: Any collection from Bonnie and Camille
Size: 70" x 83"
UFO Friday - Bonnie and Camille Scrappy Log Cabin Completed!
It's Friday and I'm back to working on my UFO's! I do hope you join me in finishing up some projects, not only does it feel great to finish them up but I'm really enjoying using them when they're finished!
So here it is, my scrappy Bonnie and Camille Log Cabin quilt is finished! You can look back on my progress - block progress, blocks completed and blocks in rows.
This quilt is so special to me, knowing so many women around the world have sewn a different block. Truly is amazing how so many people can be connected by one hobby!
I sewed each block on point and did inset triangles for the border. I used Bella Solid Ruby Ice as my background, and found it to be a nice change compared to the white that I'm typically drawn to.
I'm happy to have the top completed, now I just have to figure out what to use for my backing!
Don't forget, you can join in on the fun! Post your photos on Instagram or on our Facebook page, use hashtag #UFOFridays
Project details:
Pattern: Scrappy Log Cabin
Fabric: Every and any collection from Bonnie and Camille
Size: 88" x 100"
Quilt Con Charity Quilt for the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild
Recently our quilt guild (Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild) took on the challenge of making an impromptu quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild Charity for Quilt Con. What a challenge it was for all of us "traditional" modern quilters (if that's not a contradiction in itself). You can find more about it at the Modern Quilt Guild's blog.
We decided the best way to conquer the task would be dividing into groups of four and each group would come up with a section of the quilt. The charlotte modern quilt board members had a meeting before the idea was rolled out, and all the powerful brains came up with a fantastic theme, "Postcard from North Carolina".
It was a brilliant idea, as each group was assigned a different theme from North Carolina, such as the state flower above (the Dogwood).
Here is a recreational block, cycling. For never doing an improv piece, everyone did a fantastic job!
Welcome to North Carolina, the home of racing! How cool is that checkered flag?!
Then we have the Carolina Panthers and the Charlotte Hornets, as well as beaches and mountains. We have such a beautiful state and I truly enjoy living here (I'm a Minnesota transplant, brrr!)
Here's our Charlotte city landscape, if you live in Charlotte then you'll probably recognize the Wachovia Tower. It's the building with the red, and when the Panthers score a goal during a home game the building flashes carolina blue!
We have so many beautiful beaches and light houses, this block is so pretty!
Mountains, how clever was inserting the deer?!
We chose a more modern quilt design, something that wouldn't take away from all the hard work that everyone put into their piecing!
Details:
Fabric: Mix of the challenge colors
Pattern: Improv, Postcards from North Carolina
Size: Approximately 72" x 88"
Quilting Design: Retro Graphics #2
Want us to longarm a quilt for you? Here are just some of the quilts we have longarmed, and we have an easy estimate form to give you an idea on pricing.