Pieces of Love: Quilting (again)

For my second try at quilting this quilt, I decided to use Echoed Curves from Longarm League. 

I admit I'm a sucker for an edge-to-edge that filles the space and doesn't hint at where one row starts and the next starts. Echoed Curves is one of those. 

It quilted out beautifully and I think it added great texture to the quilt.

Here it is, trimmed and ready for binding. 

I grabbed this fabric from my collection for binding. Binding is cut, sewn, and pressed. I just need to get it attached. My new favorite ruler for cutting binding is the Stripology XL. It makes cutting binding super fast and accurate. I don't think I'll ever cut binding with another ruler. 

Pattern: Pieces of Love

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle 

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Creative Grids Quilt Ruler 6-1/2" Square

Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Letter Openers

Fiskars Rotating Cutting Mat 14 inch x 14 inch

Creative Grids Stripology XL Ruler

Pieces of Love: (Un-)Quilting

I picked this beautiful color thread to quilt my Pieces of Love quilt.

I loaded it up and ready to quilt.

I quilted two rows of this delightful all-over feather. And hated every stitch. It was too dense. It didn't come close to what I imagined this would look like stitched out on this quilt. 

Then, over the course of the week, I spent over four hours ripping out those two rows of quilting. It was back breaking, exhausting, and sad. 

It made quite a mess. And I ripped more than a couple holes in the backing fabric. Thank goodness I bought the wide backing. 

After all that ripping, I spent more time cleaning up the threads and pressing the quilt top, with starch, to get it smoothed out enough to quilt again. My Pieces of Love quilt will get quilted. Just not with these fancy feathers.

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle 

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Creative Grids Quilt Ruler 6-1/2" Square

Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Letter Openers

Fiskars Rotating Cutting Mat 14 inch x 14 inch

Creative Grids Stripology XL Ruler

Fabric Acquisition

Last weekend I popped over to Spring Water Designs to pick up some backing for quilts. I was very good and only grabbed a couple things extra. I picked up a small Accuquilt Go! mat for my 6" dies. Always nice to have an extra on hand.

This fun speckle was a good fit for my Pieces of Love quilt. I'm excited to get this one quilted.

I grabbed this fun print to back my Brown Bag Mystery Quilt. 

I also grabbed a medium gray backing for my second Brown Bag Mystery Quilt, and a yard of pink fabric I hope to use in a summer quilt along.

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle 

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Creative Grids Quilt Ruler 6-1/2" Square

Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Letter Openers

Fiskars Rotating Cutting Mat 14 inch x 14 inch

Creative Grids Stripology XL Ruler

Pieces of Love

As I was working through the adult joy that is filing my tax return, I told myself I was going to buy myself something when I finished. That something was a copy of the quilt pattern Pieces of Love by Whole Circle Studio. Did I need another quilt pattern? Absolutely not. That didn't stop me. I bought and downloaded the pattern and starting thinking about the fabrics I wanted to use. 

A friend gifted me this bundle of Kona cotton solids. This is the Kona Cotton Fat Quarter Bundles 12 Pieces Peacock (affiliate link). I paired it with this blue-on-white print I had in my collection. I think I bought it as backing for a small quilt and decided to use a different fabric for that project. I added a couple purple-on-purple prints to the mix. This turned out to be the perfect sew my stash project.

The cutting instructions are great. I cut all the pieces, ordered them and started sewing.

The heart is pieced by making several smaller units first.

Then you piece the smaller units together until you have big units. 

It took some time but then it all came together. I think it came together rather quickly. 

I squared up the center and then added some borders. The quilt didn't need borders. I wanted to use up the rest of that background fabric. The top is now folded up and ready for the trip to the fabric store to pick out backing fabric. I already have a quilting design in mind and I'm excited for the next step.

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle Fiskars Rotary Cutter

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Creative Grids Quilt Ruler 6-1/2" Square

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Juki TL-2010Q

Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion

Dritz Craft Pins, 1-3/4-Inch (250-Count)

Electric Quilt

Project box: IRIS 12" x 12" Portable Plastic Storage Cases with Built-in Handle, Clear (storage)

Letter Openers

Suggested fabrics (affiliate links):

Kona Cotton Fat Quarter Bundles 12 Pieces Peacock

Robert Kaufman Fabrics Kona Cotton Solid White

Moda Fabric BasicGrey Grunge 108 Inch Wide Quilt Back Sky

Painting Rocks

A couple years ago I picked up a bag of rocks and some craft paints. I painted a few rocks and then nothing for a while. Saturday I decided to watch a couple YouTube videos and dab paint onto rocks.

I had to mix a couple colors because I don't have a great selection. I do have the primary colors and black and white. I mixed up that pink. 

That somewhat heart-shaped one wasn't really the direction I wanted to go but that's what I ended up with. Once I get a coat or two of lacquer I'll put these in my front garden. You know, so the squirrels can hide things under them. I'm sure I'll work through that bag of rocks someday. 

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Not much for this section today. The paints were all picked up locally from big-box craft stores. I didn't use any brushes. I used a pencil, some cotton swabs, and couple toothpicks. I also used some paper plates and paper towels. Overall, a pretty non-tool-intensive project. 

Zombie Jamboree

The September 2017 UFO Challenge was number 2. Spring Water Designs is trying to keep me on-track to finish so many things this year. 

I got lucky and managed to squeak this one in before October 1st. I call this one Zombie Jamboree. I wanted a quilt design that didn't hide the many fun zombie prints in the bundle, so I went with large blocks and coordinating solids. It isn't a big quilt. It is just big enough to put on the back of the couch for some spooky fun for October. 

I attached and finished the binding by machine for a quick finish. 

I'm planning a year-in-review to put all the finishes in one place. Look for in late December or early January. 

Pieced Love

The June 2017 UFO Challenge was number 1. Spring Water Designs was trying to keep me on-track to finish so many things this year. I made great progress until June when I was invited to a wedding and couldn't resist designing and making a quilt just to celebrate the occasion. Of course this means I didn't get the June quilt finished.  

I did manage to get back into the swing of things with July. July is number 6, the heart quilt that I have been working on for what seems like forever. The heart blocks can be made in several sizes using a free tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew! Big blocks (mine are 10" by 10") make up quickly and are a great group project for a quick quilt. These were made with some scraps I hadn't yet gotten to trimming down.

I wasn't sure how I was going to quilt this one, but as if by magic the machine quilted swirls and loved it.

To keep with the many fabrics of the hearts I pulled some lengths of leftover binding from my bin of leftovers and pieced several together. This is so much faster than making binding from a single piece of fabric. And I love scrappy.

I attached and finished the binding by machine for a quick finish.

All You Need is Love

Since the last time I posted about my heart quilt, I've made some great progress. This is one of the quilts on my list of 12 UFOs for the 2017 Spring Water Designs Get It Done UFO Challenge (this is number 6).

I played with layout some more until I had something that made me happy.

I found some heart fabric in my collection that seemed right for the border. Some of that stuff on the floor is destined for Annapolis Quilts for Kids.

Before I pieced the center of the quilt I embroidered this great winged heart design from Urban Threads onto the center block. It is a little high in the heart block, but I don't mind.

I also used the Inked Alphabet to make my label. Mixing this set with script makes for labels with impact.

I don't often piece a backing with much more intent than sewing two pieces of fabric together. Mostly because I find putting a bunch of work into the backing tedious. I used one of the orphan blocks as my label, so I had to do some extra work to piece it into the backing. In this case I added 18" to the width of fabric with this inset piece. I usually go for a very asymmetrical layout for the backing, I'm not in the mood to try to match up the top to the backing with anything approaching precision. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

This is how I quickly determine if the backing is big enough for the top. I fold both in quarters and match up the folds. My goal is a backing that has two parallel edges (selvages are perfect for this), and has enough room to be attached to the top and bottom leaders, and enough room for the side clamps.

I leave the selvage edges on my backing fabric and always tear the fabric to remain on-grain. I join the pieces with wider than normal (1/2" in this case) seam allowances, and press to one side or open.

I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt this one, yet. I've set it aside for a while while I think about it.

All You Need is Love

When I put together the list of 12 UFOs for the 2017 Spring Water Designs Get It Done UFO Challenge I added a heart quilt as number 6. Ever since I quilted the Quilts for Pulse last year I knew I wanted to make one for myself. I had been adding scraps of about the right size to a box on my cutting table since then. When I sat still long enough to go through the giant box of set aside fabric I realized I may have to limit the number of heart blocks.

This block is 10.5" by 10.5". You can find the free pattern and tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew. There you will find directions for sizes from 4" square to 10" square. I should try out some of the small hearts. They are created using the stitch and flip method. I find that method very accurate, but also slow. I like to piece blocks quickly so I looked at the finished block and did some calculations on how to make the block using the Easy Angle 6.5" ruler.

I cut my neutral background fabrics and my hearts and worked on them between piecing charity quilts. When I ran out of neutral background fabric pieces I still had hearts so I cut some more background fabric. If you don't have a huge collection of fabric, you could grab this great rainbow of fat quarters from Connecting Threads and a suitable background fabric to make a rainbow of hearts.

I'm still planning my layout for the quilt. I've got a couple leftover blocks that will be going into the back of the quilt.

Do you have a fun block deign you'd like to share? I would love to hear about it.

Want to read about my adventure with Quilts for Pulse? Here is a list of the posts about that project.
Love is the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild Jun 17, 2016
Love Is Update July 4, 2016
Love Is Update July 11, 2016
Another Love Is Update July 22, 2016
Love Is Shipping Quilts for Pulse August 2016

The project touched me in a ways I didn't know it would and I am so glad the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild joined me in creating love out of fabric.

Big Ass Heart - a Lovely Quilt

This quilt started out a little as a challenge and a little to use up some of my 5" charms that I've picked up from a couple swaps.  Angelina (@weenachaween on Instagram) made a wonderful quilt and she dubbed it her Big Ass Heart Quilt.  I wanted to make my own.

My collection of 5" charms has been growing.  Some are from swaps.  I participated in three or four rounds of swaps for 5" charms.  These swaps were hosted by the amazing Amateur Quilter.

Some are from when I trim up my leftovers from other projects or from quilt backings.

Some are from when I use the majority of a charm pack and have a couple leftover.

Ultimately it means I have many, many of these.

Stacks and stacks of 5" charms.

I sorted through my stacks and stacks and started building my 9-patch blocks.  This quilt is made entirely with the disappearing 9-patch block.  The blocks are mindfully constructed (lights in one portion and brights/darks in another) and placed so they go together to create the heart shape at the center of this quilt.

There are a total of five different layouts for the 9-patch blocks.  The light colors and the brights/darks make up the majority of the blocks.  The outer border blocks (the three smaller blocks in this photo) are precisely made so the reds are in certain spots.  These blocks will be used as the outline for the heart and give it shape.

Making the 9-patch blocks and cutting them was easy.  Working on the layout was the hard part.

Each side of the outline mirrors the other.  This is how this quilts differs from many disappearing 9-patch layouts.

As the size was determined by the size of my charms this one turned out to be a great throw size.  I think the finished size was around 65" by 65" (this answer was reached mathematically and does not factor in the quilting or post washing shrinkage).  I think if I was going to make another I might add a couple rows, one to the top and bottom to frame the heart a little better.

I quilted the lighter background portions with a long, wavy meander in white thread.

The heart was quilted with red thread with a simple small-scale meander.  I wanted the quilting to give it some great texture.  The washed quilt is wonderfully soft.

Scrappy binding is the best!  The label was embroidered and attached with the binding and then the diagonal edge was sewn down by hand.  This one is like the one Bonnie Hunter uses on some of her quilts.  Pat Sloan has a similar method that she covers here.  The label is so important!

This quilt really made me happy.  Quilting should make you happy.

Have you made anything using up those little leftover pieces?