QUILT JOURNAL - HARMONIC CONVERGENCE (#2)
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Lap Size - 45" x 60"
Started - December 1, 2007
Completed - December 22, 2007
Made for "my favorite sister-in-law"
Pattern - Harmonic Convergence
Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts (c) 2003
With Border Layout - from Pg 36 -
Blue-Green Convergence -
By Lynn Koolish - Berkeley, CA
36” x 36”, 2001
I wanted to make a quilt for my sister-in-law similar to the one that I had made for my sister - ;))
I only needed 4 fabrics so I found a light and dark yellow/gold batik and a light and dark purple/green colored batik. I also got a dark green batik for the tiny inner border. Hopefully it would go with her family room or office furnishings - ;))
I used a "soft curves" technique by Alex Anderson for quilting the center portion and quilted a grid in the border - ;))
I challenged myself to complete it before Christmas - and I did - barely. I finished the binding and sewing on the label on Saturday, December 22, 2007. We left on Sunday, December 23, 2007 to spend Christmas with her and her family - ;))
QJ - 2007
P.S. - The label says "my favorite sister-in-law" - the joke is that she's my "only" sister-in-law - ;))
QUILT JOURNAL - CRAZY QUILT
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Long Twin - 75 x 90
Started - December 11, 2005
Completed - Piecing the top - January 1, 2006
Completed - Quilting/Binding & Label - November 2, 2007
Made for Nephew #2 -
Pattern - Big, Fat Comforter -
Stack the Deck! Crazy Quilts in 4 Easy Steps -
Pg. 38-40 - by Karla Alexander (c) 2002
When we went to my sister-in-law’s home for Thanksgiving 2005, our nephew asked me to show him how to quilt so he could make one long enough for him - he's 6'4". I took the bait and said, "Oh, I'll make you one!" - ;))
By Christmas 2005, I had decided on the pattern and fabric. I chose to make 30 blocks set 5 across and 6 down, so I needed 30 fabrics - I chose 10 blue, 10 brown, and 10 yellow fat quarters. (The technique was quite clever - it guaranteed that no fabric would appear in the same block twice - organized chaos.) I gave him the completed blocks for Christmas and immediately took them back to make the actual quilt - ;))
It took me forever to decide on how to piece the back and then how I wanted to quilt it - it was HUGE!!! In the meantime, he got married - ;))
By Halloween 2007, it had been two years and I still had not finished the quilt although I had somehow managed to finish the back and baste it with a fusible batting. I had to get going - Christmas 2007 was fast approaching - ;))
I finally decided to use my new favorite quilt pattern - Alex Anderson's soft curved lines - and set up my machine on the kitchen table - ;))
Within a week, I had it quilted, bound, and labeled. I have always said that I could paint the bathroom in a day, but that it would take me six months to decide what color to paint it - once I decide, I'm ok - it's just that I can't usually decide - too many choices!!!!! - ;))
QJ - 2007
QUILT JOURNAL - GIANT CHRISTMAS STOCKING - PRE-PRINTED PANEL
Wholecloth Pre-printed Panel
Christmas Stocking
Completed - October 13, 2007
I found a GIANT pre-printed panel of a Christmas stocking -
A “Front” and a “Back” - ;))
I cut them apart and quilted them first to a red/burgundy fleece -
And then backed each of them separately -
To make both a LEFT and a RIGHT facing stocking - ;))
I used the RIGHT facing one to package the quilt that I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas -
And kept the LEFT facing one for myself - ;))
It was the perfect size for the quilt and it's reuseable! - ;))
The photos above may not show you how BIG this is -
But THIS one might - ;))
QJ - 2007
QUILT JOURNAL - STORYBOOK QUILT
Pre-printed Book Panel - "Julie's Journey"
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Twin Quilt
40" x 57"
Started - January 1998
Gave to Granddaughter #1 - Saturday - June 23, 2007
Made for Granddaughter #1 -
I took a preprinted panel that was intended for a child's fabric book and cut apart the pages. I then set the pages as blocks with sashing and borders - using pink gingham and a pretty "medium blue" with little daisies. She was 3 years old at the time - someday she would be able to read the story - ;))
I quilted it "in the ditch", but it always seemed to need either more quilting in the blocks - or to be tied - or something! - ;))
I held onto it for a long time - "to do" - ;))
I finally gave it to her when my daughter said that she would use it to show her how to tie a quilt - because she wanted to learn how to quilt! - ;))
QJ - 2007
QUILT JOURNAL - PINK EN POINTE (#1)
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
48" x 48"
Started - June 12, 2006
Completed - March 26, 2007
Made for a friend -
To make her laugh when she tells the story of this quilt -
And gets to the "Oh, Crap!!" parts - ;))
Oh well, nobody's perfect - ;))
Pattern - Pink En Pointe -
A Brendalou Scott design -
Featured in "Quiltmaker" - May/June '06 - No. 109
The lady who used to "do my nails” is a quilter and has become a friend. I had shown her how to make a couple of quilts and one day asked her if she would be interested in making a "Mystery" quilt.
I had seen the pattern in the latest issue of "Quiltmaker" and immediately thought of her. I would walk her through it and tell her what colors to get, how much to get, and what to sew and when, but not what the final quilt would look like.
She agreed and said she had a great time doing it.
She told all of her clients that she was making a new quilt and when they asked her what it was going to be she said, "I don't know."
When she went to get her fabric, the lady at the store who tried to help her asked what she was making and she had to say, "I don't know."
I decided to make one at the same time since I would have to re-do the instructions a bit to simplify them and change the sequence to keep the secret. I would do it first and then write notes for her to follow.
She would keep D (the lady whose nails she did before me) and I up to date on her progress and when she was ready, I would show her how to do the next step.
My first choice for the light pink didn't work - it was way too close to the cream - so I had to substitute the light green. I couldn't for the life of me find another pink that would go with the medium pink I had already sewn to the dark green squares for the checkerboard blocks. The light green changed the whole look. I don't particularly like green and I think that a pink would have been prettier.
At the very end, I got my top together to show her and D. When I held it up, it was upside down from the way I had been looking at it on the design wall.
I said, "Oh, Crap!!" as I realized that I had screwed up.
The top left block has the green squares going the wrong way. They should have been the same orientation as the bottom right block.
Oh, well!!
We all had a really good laugh!! The teacher screwed up!!
I had the top together, but still didn't like the light green. I needed to put on the borders and I thought I would never finish it, but decided one day to make it for her to make her laugh. She even liked the green.
I left off the last border and bound it with the medium pink. I pieced the backing using the rest of the medium pink and a leftover strip of the cream floral - it looked good! Then I spray basted all of the layers together.
I decided to use the same quilt pattern I had used on my sister’s quilt (Alex Anderson's soft curved lines). The quilt kept dragging and the stitching was awful! I was about 1/2 way done before I realized what was happening. The basting spray was gumming up the needle!
Oh, Crap!! - Again!!
After I wiped the needle down with an alcohol patch, it would sew cleanly for a bit. I just had to keep the needle clean.
I used my new EQ6 (Electric Quilt) program to make the label. I intentionally messed up the coloring on the outside border to "match" the messed up squares on the front.
After I had printed the label, I realized that the "pre-treated, washable fabric" was actually the "rubbery" stuff they use on t-shirts!
Oh, Crap - Again!!
This whole quilt was a series of "Oh, Crap!!" moments!!
When I found the "right stuff", I redid the label - ;))
QJ - 2007
QUILT JOURNAL - CHRISTMAS TABLE TOPPER
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
35" x 35"
Completed - December 2005
Pattern - Rail Fence -
I Can't Believe I'm Quilting
By Pat Sloan (c) 2004
Made as a quick project for Christmas from a very basic pattern -
Just to use the REALLY PRETTY Christmas fabrics - ;))
QJ - 2005
QUILT JOURNAL - CARD TRICK PILLOW
Foundation Pieced
Machine Quilted
Pillow (16" x 16")
Started - July 4, 2004
Completed - October 16, 2004
Made to coordinate with my sister’s "Harmonic Convergence" quilt -
Pattern - Card Trick
Foundation factory (c) 1998
Quilt-pro Sytems, Inc.
Block designs (c) Carol Doak
QJ - 2004
QUILT JOURNAL - HARMONIC CONVERGENCE (#1)
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Lap Size - 45" x 60"
Started - June 24, 2004
Completed - November 14, 2004
Made for my sister
Pattern - Harmonic Convergence
Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts (c) 2003
With Border Layout - from Pg 36 -
Blue-Green Convergence -
By Lynn Koolish - Berkeley, CA
36” x 36”, 2001
I wanted to make a quilt for my sister and asked her for a sample of her carpet for color matching. I took the carpet sample to the local quilt store and looked around at the fabric -
My sister is not into the cutsey or country styles and nothing caught my eye. While I was looking at the fabric - I spotted Ricky Tims' book -
I really wanted to try that technique after I finished her quilt -
I also spotted some “new-to-me-then” batiks and thought that someday I would make something using batiks. So I'm standing there in front of the batiks with the carpet sample and the book when it hit me - make her a quilt from the book using the batiks - duh!! -
I only needed 4 fabrics so I found a light and dark yellow batik and a light and dark autumn colored batik. I also got a dark green batik for the teeny-tiny inner border -
The technique is easy but looks really complex - just the way I like it!! -
I used a "soft curves" technique by Alex Anderson for quilting the center portion and quilted a grid in the border -
My sister said that it matched her family room sofas so well that she used it there until Christmas - then she put it upstairs in her office where it belonged - ;))
QJ - 2004
QUILT JOURNAL - WARM WISHES (#1)
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Lap Size - 45" x 60"
Started - May 12, 2004
Completed - August 16, 2004
Made for a Dear Friend -
Pattern - Warm Wishes
Designed by Sherri Bain Driver, GM Senior Editor -
"Quiltmaker" - #94 - Nov/Dec ' 03
My friend’s passion was chrysanthemums and she won numerous awards -
I found a beautiful pink/peach Japanese style floral with gorgeous "mums" and some turquoise, pink, and yellow batiks -
I thought the "Warm Wishes" pattern would be perfect. I had to piece the borders to bring it up to lap size and ran out of fabric on the bottom left so I used some turquoise -
I used a "Warm & Natural" batt and quilted diagonally across the blocks. The combination of batik fabric and the batt made it feel very stiff. It also turned out much "pink-er" that I originally thought it would be. It is really bright - but the colors are "happy" colors and she said that she liked it - so that's good -
The label says it all -
"Friends are the perennials in the garden of life" - ;))
QJ - 2004
QUILT JOURNAL - CLIFFORD
Preprinted Panel - Blocks
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Twin Size
Started - March 2004
Completed - May 2004
Made for Grandson #2
I took a preprinted panel of blocks and cut them apart and added sashing and borders. Quick and easy!! - ;))
QJ - 2004
QUILT JOURNAL - "BUZZ LIGHTYEAR"
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Twin Size
Started - November 2003
Completed - March 2004
Made for Grandson #1
Pattern - Log Cabin
Quilts for Baby - Easy As ABC - Pg. 34-35
By Ursula Reikes (c) 1993
Our daughter bought an all-over print featuring "Buzz Lightyear" for Grandson #1 -
He chose the log cabin pattern and the "log" colors from my stash - red - yellow - purple - and black -
I "fussy cut" six "Buzz" squares for the centers of the log cabin blocks and used the rest of the print for the borders -
As I was quilting "in the ditch" - the black fabric began to split and shred!! Oh, great - now what!! It must have been really old fabric or just poor quality - either way, it was too late to replace it. I finished it anyway -
When I gave it to him - I told him that the black would "break" as soon as his mom washed it. When it "broke" - he should give it back to me and I would "fix" it -
Sure enough - by June 2004, the black fabric was totally shredded -
I had a flash of brilliance and sewed pre-packaged black quilt binding on top of the shredded black strips - it was denser - prefolded - and the perfect size!! -
Too bad I didn't think of it sooner - ;))
QJ - 2004
QUILT JOURNAL - 4 "H" QUILTS INTO ONE
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Baby Quilts - 4 @ 33" x 33"
Started - June 11, 2000
Completed - 2004
Pattern - "H" block -
Even More Quilts For Baby - Easy as ABC - Pg. 18-19 -
By Ursula Reikes (c) 1993
This quilt started out to be four separate quilts -
The tops were the same black print with a yellow "H" -
The backs were to be different colors -
The one for Grandson #1 was Red -
The one for Grandson #2 was Blue -
The one for Grandson #3 was Green -
And the one for Granddaughter #1 was Turquoise -
Somehow it got lost in the shuffle of Life - and by the time I got back to it - the kids were too big for baby quilts. Since I had already quilted some of them - I sewed them all together to make one big quilt on my new Husqvarna/Viking - Lily 555.
And since I never took a photo of the original quilt - and it has been “loved” to pieces - all I have to show for it is the scrap card -
And the Heart - ;))
QJ - 2004
QUILT JOURNAL - DOUBLE WEDDING RING
Machine Pieced
Machine Appliqued
Machine Quilted
Wall hanging
Started - January 8, 2000
Completed - April 2, 2000
Made as an Anniversary gift -
I got a gift certificate from a local quilt shop as a Christmas gift -
So I bought myself a new "toy" -
A 15" Double Wedding Ring Ruler by Mary Russell (c) 1995 - HERE -
I used the new ruler and a variety of muted taupes, browns, tans, and greys with a little light blue and pale yellow thrown in to match the recipient’s color scheme.
A pre-quilted muslin piece was perfect for the background because it provided a diagonal grid to help with the placement of the arcs and corner pieces.
Each of the five rings represented five years of marriage -
Happy 25th Anniversary -
On the label we wished them another Happy 25 Years!!
QJ - 2000
QUILT JOURNAL - 1999
Preprinted Panel - Blocks
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Kid Quilts
Completed - May 1999
I took preprinted panels of blocks -
Cut them apart -
Added sashing and borders -
Then all I had to do was quilt and bind -
Quick and easy!!
I don’t have photos or the original quilts -
But I do have scrapcards for some - ;))
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BATMAN
Preprinted Panel - Blocks
Made for Grandson #1 -
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RUGRATS
Preprinted Panel - Blocks
Made for Grandson #2 -
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MOTHER GOOSE
Wholecloth Panel -
Made for Grandson #3 -
No photo or scrapcard -
I found a Mother Goose nursery rhyme panel -
No need for sashing or borders -
All I had to do was quilt and bind it -
Extra quick and easy!!
=====
BARBIE
Preprinted Panel - Blocks
Made for Granddaughter #1 -
===
QJ - 1999
QUILT JOURNAL - BEARS
Preprinted Book Panel
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Baby Quilt
Completed - January 1998
Made for Grandson #2 -
I took a preprinted panel that was intended for a child's fabric book and cut apart the pages -
I then set the pages as blocks with sashing and borders -
I had to fudge a bit on the second row -
When I was one block short -
And the next part of the story was on the left side -
Of the center page - ;))
I couldn't cut the center page -
And I couldn't rearrange the pages -
Without messing up the story -
So I compensated by moving the Back Page block -
Up to the last block in the second row - ;))
Entered in a local quilt show - January 1999
QJ - 1998
QUILT JOURNAL - DINOSAURS - PANEL PRINT
Wholecloth Panel
Machine Quilted
Baby Quilt
Completed - August 1998
Made for Grandson #1 -
I found a cute dinosaur print -
All I had to do was quilt and bind it -
Quick and easy!!
I don’t have photos of this one -
Or the original quilt so I couldn't take new photos -
The scrap card is all that I have -
QJ - 1998
QUILT JOURNAL -T’S QUILTS - formerly known as MORE "NOTHING" QUILTS
Wholecloth Pre-quilted Panel
Baby Quilts
Completed - March 19, 1998
Made for Grandson #2 -
The pre-quilted panels only required binding in the color of my choice -
- 2 pkgs of quilt binding for each quilt - or -
- 3 pkgs to bind 2 panels in the same color
Warning!! - Panels may be printed crooked -
Straightening was required on some -
Once again -
Sorry for the crappy photos -
These are scans of the photos in my scrapbook -
I don’t have the original quilts so I couldn't take new photos - ;))
Precious Moments -
Circus Animals -
I always referred to these little quilts as "Nothing" quilts -
Since there was "Nothing" to them - ;))
But the first time I posted some “Nothing” quilts - here -
Both KatieM and Julie Fukuda set me straight - ;))
===
First KatieM -
Katie M. has left a new comment on your post "QJ - "Nothing" Quilts":
No such thing as a "nothing" quilt. You chose the panel, you created the quilt, you gave your time and your love to making something special for someone special - that's really SOMETHING!
I replied -
Thanks, Katie! - ;))
P.S.
What I meant by "Nothing" is that there was not much of anything "quilt" related necessary to finish them up. They were like an "instant" quilt. They were already quilted - so I just added a little binding - a little time - and a whole bunch of love - ;))
She wasn’t buying it -
She came back with -
Doesn't matter - you still thought of the person they were intended for and proceeded to make them special - I'm sticking to my "no such thing as a "nothing" quilt :-)
I replied -
OK - YOU WIN!! - ;)) ALL quilts are something special - even if they are super-easy to put together. But - just so you know - I made another batch of "Nothing" quilts for another baby a couple of years later - so when I post the Quilt Journal entry for those - just repeat what you just said - haha - ;))
That "other" baby was Z - and another few years later - I made these for T - ;))
===
And then Julie added her comment -
Julie Fukuda has left a new comment on your post "QJ - "Nothing" Quilts":
Something like that to be dragged around and loved and still hold up is a whole lot more than "nothing"!
I replied -
Thanks, Julie! - What I meant by "Nothing" is that there was not much of anything "quilt" related necessary to finish them up. They were like an "instant" quilt. They were already quilted - so I just added a little binding - a little time - and a whole bunch of love - ;))
===
THANK YOU, LADIES - for taking the time to set me straight -
YOU ARE RIGHT - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “NOTHING” QUILT - ;))
QJ - 1998
QUILT JOURNAL - NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Preprinted Book Panel
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Baby Quilt
Completed - December 1997
Made for Grandson #1 -
I took a preprinted panel that was intended for a child's fabric book -
And cut apart the pages -
I then set the pages as blocks with sashing and borders -
The backing fabric was an all-over Santa Clause print -
Entered in a local quilt show - January 1999
QJ - 1997
