Spin - Ta Da!

Let me tell you about Spin. After a wash and dry, she is about 56" x 58", drawing in a bit more in one direction than the other it seems. The math for the pattern gives you an un-quilted quilt top of 60" square. If you wanted it bigger it would be a simple thing to add more of the background squares.

Spin is a version of my own design - a pattern I call Twirl. A minimalist medallion using the Allium block I designed when I made Echoes. This pattern will be available to purchase very soon. In the meantime, if you are impatient, feel free to just make your own version if you are able to figure her out, although I would love it if you would let me know and credit me for your inspiration.



I waited just a bit too late for the best photo light, but that one above is probably the closest to right. Spin was made with some wonderful orange bits and lots of low volume neutrals. There are a lot of Carolyn Friedlander prints in this quilt but several others too. I have to say that orange is my current favourite quilting colour.



I quilted and quilted Spin. I have already written about the quilting here and here. All the quilting was done on my Millenium Longarm machine. I drew every line free hand, without the help of rulers or channel locks or markings on the fabric, and with no computer or panto either.

I used 100% cotton thread for the quilting. The top and the bottom, as I quilted her used a medium orange Superior Threads King Tut - that close up above is the orange thread. The middle portion uses a Star variegated orange, pink/red thread. I used the same thread in the bobbin as on the top.



I consider my style - this style - to be modern industrial - think warehouse, brick wall, rough and functional - organic, not precise. I filled the spaces with lines, every which way.  For the orange curvy bits, I echoed the curves. The final step to show off this style of quilting is to wash and dry the quilt so that the 100% cotton batting and thread draws in a bit and adds some texture. I prewash all my fabrics so the draw in is not from the fabric shrinking.



For her back, I used four prints that I love. Two by Zen Chic, one by Denyse Schmidt and one by Suzuko Koseki. You can see the quilting well on the light prints on the back. The binding is scrappy, made of 7 different Carolyn Friedlander orange prints.



The above photo is before I washed this quilt. You can see the flatness in the quilting and the stiffness in the drape. There is just no way for me that the quilt is finished at this stage, this is not the look I am seeking.



Here is a close up of the unwashed quilting. The quilting is easier to see but it is so less textured and dynamic.



Here is another photo after the wash and dry. You can see that the cardboard-y stiffness has gone and the quilt is drapey like a blanket. This photo also gives you a bit of proportion.



I am so smitten with this quilt. I am going to enter her in the Quilt Canada National Juried Show - the entry must be in by noon tomorrow. I am going to try for one more photo shoot first thing in the morning to see if I can get a better full on shot for the entry, but either way, I am hoping that she will be accepted into that show.

I am off to the Lethbridge Modern Quilt Guild meeting - they will be the first quilters to see Spin in person.

Thank you to all of you here and on Instagram for all the encouragement and enthusiasm about this quilt. I am already keen to make another, but I have some other designs using this block in mind too.

I've linked this post up to some excellent and inspiring, sharing posts: Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Hearts, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, Finish it up Friday with Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts, and maybe I'll add some more links as the week goes along.

By the way, Spin was on my Q1 FAL List too, so I have one finish already!

Best,

Leanne

Twist - Ta Da! - a scrappy quilt made in part with scraps

Here is Twist - she is about 70" square. I named her Twist because she is a modern-traditional sort of quilt - a courthouse steps quilt that looks like lanterns, a log cabin quilt built as courthouse steps, a highly traditional pattern presented in an asymmetrical, non-repeating, modern colour scheme. Modern-traditional is a phrase that is contradictory, the unexpected ending so to speak, the twist - oh here is a highly traditional log cabin quilt - but then you look and see the twist. I'll stop now.



This quilt began  a year ago, when Daryl from Fabric Spark gave me the opportunity to curate a blogger's bundle. I picked magenta, navy and low volume white. I wanted to make something that would be bold. Twist is the result.

As I kept making blocks I realized that I wanted this quilt to be largish so I turned to my scraps and bits to finish her off. Having set out to create a non-repeating pattern it was easy to add in new fabrics as I went. It turns out that you can use your scraps in all kinds of quilts.

I blogged about the process of making this quilt a couple of times, in February here and here, then I wrote a tutorial about changing out those dark purple hearth/start squares after the blocks were made here, I put her on a list to keep working on in June here, I shared about quilting her in July here, I put her on my Q3 FAL list here, I showed the finished quilting here later in July, she went in a box for the move, she made it to the Q4 FAL list here. Finally, I found the box she was packed in and finished her off over the holidays.

There can be no suggestion that I was shy to share my process regarding the making of this quilt, progress that took place over the last 12 months, perhaps you are tired of hearing about her.



I had a great time quilting Twist. I decided to use my favourite industrial style unevenly spaced but close together lines - and then the twist - I quilted the lanterns so the lines change direction.

I also quilted the lanterns in their own colours, so I travelled along the quilt and had a lot more thread breaks than I normally do. If you carefully examine the photos you will see a couple of thread ends I missed on my mending in before I washed and dried this quilt - I'll be finishing those tonight. I have to say that the quilting makes the back of this quilt so interesting too.

I wanted to point out that I did not first quilt in the ditch around the blocks as a more traditional quilter might do and I drew the lines free hand on my longarm machine without rulers or channel locks. I thought about stitching in the ditch, but first my ditchstitching quilting is not that even and my ability and patience with rulers is worse. In the end I like this so much better anyway - another modern twist to this oh so traditional quilt pattern.



On the back I used big chunks of some favourites. The roses on the right are metallic gold - perfect I think for this quilt. I don't have a great photo for you of the binding, it is a white print with blue lines from Doe by Carolyn Friedlander -its the one at the very end of this post by Carolyn. I wanted the binding to sort  of disappear, not to hem in the pattern and it does just that.



There she is with a little scale on our wide front steps.

It turns out that Twist was also on my Q4 FAL 2015 list so I will link her up with Adrianne over at On the Windy Side here before the 2015 Q4 finish link closes - there is a day and 7 hours left so get your finishes linked up too.

And a reminder, please plan to join Nicky - Mrs. Sew and Sow - and I for the Scraptastic Tuesday link up next Tuesday, January 12 - the second Tuesday of the month. You will have a week to link your scrappy project - in progress or finished - and/or your thoughts on taming the scrap mountain. There are terrific sponsors for ST for 2016, and it's just one link per person from your blog, flickr or instagram.
And given how long this one took to finish, I am going to link this post to a few nice places where one can see beautiful and inspiring projects,  including Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday, and Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday.
Best,


Leanne

Quilty recap, the photos - 2015

I wanted to take a look at what I have made in 2015. First, the quilts, and other projects. One of my goals was to focus on making quilts, not other things. I see that I mostly stuck to that plan. I finished 13 quilts and three other projects.



I was a member of Bee Sewcial this year, which is a bee that my friend Stephanie from Spontaneous Threads and I conceived of and run. Bee Sewcial will continue into the next year, and I am so glad as it is a source of monthly inspiration and challenge. I also joined an international round robin where 6 of us are making a mini quilt - so the challenge is to add something small to each quilt as it arrives. This mosaic has my contributions to each, as well as my contribution to Marci's baby quilt, which I also quilted.

There is also a link for your best - most visited - blog posts of 2015, so, leaving out giveaways, blog hops and link ups, here are my most visited posts, starting with the most visited to least:



1. Pow - Ta Da! and a tutorial



2. A bit about Quilt Market, Spring 2015



3. Hint - Ta Da!



4. Echoes Ta Da! & she was in the QuiltCon magazine too



5. QuiltCon 2015 - there was sharing

I found this an interesting exercise, in that statistics are no always indicative of much. However, I was pleased to see that my blog gets the most visits when I speak about new quilts I made or about quilt industry events as those are things that I find the most interesting too.

And I went and made my best nine on instagram (at bestnine.com) and this is what resulted. I guess I have shared a lot of photos of Echoes and people seem to like it too.

Well, that's 2015 recapped in photos, I'll see about reviewing some milestones and making a new focus in another post soon.

I'm linking up with Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs, where you can check out a number of beautiful blogs too.

I hope you are enjoying the holidays, I have taken the week off and am still unpacking, organizing, visiting, eating and generally having a lot of fun.

Best,


Leanne

I'm so excited

Shattered is going to QuiltCon! When I started quilting I did not set out to enter shows, but then I entered some challenges on the internet and that was not so bad. So when QuiltCon had a call for entries into a modern quilt show, I decided that it would not hurt to just give it a try.

I entered Shattered, and she has been accepted. She will get to hang in Austin, Texas where modern quilters will see her. Maybe some of my quilting heros might give her a glance too, as many of them will be there. It is so exciting.



And remember Noise? Well she got accepted too. I really am over the moon. I have to figure out how to make some hanging sleeves and labels and such.

You can count on a lot of pictures. I am going too. I will get to see them hanging there. Can't wait.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me in this quilting thing, it really is all of you who give me the inspiration and motivation to make quilts and the encouragement to be so brazen as to enter them in things like this.

Best,

Leanne