Tagged: Quilting

aunt jeanie’s quilt: finished!

aunt jeanie's quilt: finished

All pieced, quilted, trimmed, and bound! Decades after the original squares were cut, Aunt Jeanie’s Quilt is finally done!

aunt jeanie's quilt: finished

After bombarding the blog with photos at each stage in the quilt-making process, I’m sure you’re very familiar with what this quilt looks like. But I made – I finished! – a quilt! That’s a first for me, and it deserves a celebratory post of its own.

aunt jeanie's quilt - back

The finished quilt came in almost exactly square, 43″ per side. I did not do that on purpose, and until I measured it this morning, I was certain it was not square. A pretty good accident! The size will lend itself well to small picnics, which is my intention. Many of the fabrics are pretty sturdy so it will do well with some outside time.

aunt jeanie's quilt - back

I’m still pleased with the quilt back… the red print is still a favorite and the white & blue was such a good find. I’m glad I kept it simple.

red polka dot bias tape in the bias tape maker

I made my own bias tape using my bias tape maker… my mom bought it for me a few Christmases ago and I just love how fast it is. Check out that motion blur!

I’m pretty quick now at cutting the bias strips, but I always use this tutorial on continuous bias binding to double-check all my steps.

Next time I’m going to bind my quilt in a more authentic quilt-binding way, but for this one I just treated it like normal bias tape: I hand-basted it all in place, then sewed straight through both sides and prayed I caught it all. I did catch it all, so that was great. Hand-basting is my latest concession to “sewing the right way”.

red polka dot bias tape

I just love bias tape!

aunt jeanie's quilt: finished

Now I’m all ready for a little picnic. And, of course, the next quilting project!

Aunt Jeanie, I hope I did you proud!

At my cousin Tom’s beautiful wedding over the weekend, my cousin Ann asked, “is Aunt Jeanie’s Quilt done yet?” So here’s your answer, Ann!

binding aunt jeanie’s quilt

quilt binding choices

Time to pick a binding for the Aunt Jeanie quilt! I’m determined to use fabric I already have; partly because I’ve been being a hermit this summer and don’t want to go to the store, and partly because I really don’t need any more fabric.

red polka dot quilt binding

So I’m debating… red with polka dots?

navy polka dot quilt binding

Or navy with tiny polka dots?

quilting aunt jeanie's quilt

Because, by the way… I’m done with the quilting!

aunt jeanie's quilt - quilted

I just snapped on my walking foot and stitched a quarter-inch from each horizontal seam with white thread. Normal thread, too, no fancy “machine quilting thread”, because that doesn’t seem terribly necessary to me. I love the way these one-way lines look on the back, especially since they run perpendicular to the red stripes.

Almost done!

triangle quilt fever

If you’ve looked at my Pinterest lately, you may have noticed a bit of a trend. Quilts. Specifically, triangle quilts. I haven’t even been trying, but for some reason, they’re all I pin (well, that and my elaborate carpentry dreams). Triangles are just sticking their pointy little noses into my life.

The semester (the last semester!) is drawing to a close, and, naturally, I’m as busy as ever. In this busy-ness, I have no time for actual making – only bits of time for looking and soaking up what others have made, pretending that will fulfill my “maker” needs. I have such hungry eyes, and they’re pulling me toward big projects… quilt-big.

perfect colors triangle quilt - from blue is bleu

This one, from Blue is Bleu, is sheer perfection. I love the solids. I never would have guessed that I’d love a solid quilt so much, but I can’t get over it. Gray. Yellow. Aqua. And so much white… how can white fabric carry so much beauty?

solid triangles quilt top by crazy mom quilts

Here’s another set of solids, blogged here at crazy mom quilts. Another spectacular color combination, but I definitely prefer the on-point triangles to this half-square triangle pattern.

gray triangle quilt from film-in-the-fridge

Film in the Fridge has the opposite approach to a “solid” quilt – these grays are just incredible. I’ve realized that all my favorite clothes are gray, so I’m sure I would love a gray quilt. I do feel that it would be tricky to find a suitable blend of gray fabrics; I would fuss over their tones.

quilted triangle potholder by crazy mom quilts

I think this one started it all: a clever potholder with triangles that remind me of snow-capped mountains. Although with these colors, it’s rather the opposite: joy-capped mountains. It’s also a potholder, which would be a far more feasible project for me right now. (this one’s crazy mom quilts again.)

baby quilt by elise blaha cripe

And the most patterned of the mix is Elise’s baby quilt. Love the gray and peach.

Looking at these quilts, I’m amazed at how much I love the quilts made entirely of solid-colored fabric. I never would have predicted that. But they’re incredible. And, coincidentally, a batch of solids is what my “school fabric stash” is most prepared to handle… let’s just get through that to-do list. One month and two days until graduation! Surely the triangles can wait until then. Surely.