Tiny Trees Hiding in the Snow

I finished up the Tiny Trees quilt top and set out to get it quilted.  It was on my list of unfinished items that I was sure I could get done this weekend.

So, I pressed my backing, found some white batting and set about getting it all loaded into the long arm.

Yet again, I show that I have an unhealthy love of the swirl.  The first few were a little tentative, but I think the swirl was the right thing to do for this quilt.

I kept going until I filled in all the background with little swirls.  I like to think it looks like snow flurries.

See how the swirls make the little trees just pop off the surface of the quilt?

While the front looks like little flurries, the back looks like a blizzard!

This coordinating red is what I have for the binding.  I'll update once I get the binding finished.  I will be breaking my own rules and hanging this one on my wall for the holidays. 

Tiny Trees

As some of you know, I'm usually not very excited about the holidays.  My son is grown and on his own.  The holidays are fun when you have little ones, either your own or your grand children.  Heck, my cousins have little ones and I would not be so grumpy if I could spend some time with them and their wonder at everything that makes up this special time of year.  Since we are geographically separated, this just isn't possible.

The retail portion of the holidays is just too much for me to handle.  The music and lights can't even wait until after Thanksgiving.  Drives me nuts.  I'm not saying you can't have your holiday music I'm saying I don't want to hear it until the week of the 25th.  However.... I did get this wonderful fabric as part of my Fat Quarter Shop charm pack club.  I couldn't resist making something out of this fabric after I saw Christa making her beautiful quilt along quilt.  While I didn't use Christa's pattern, she was part of the inspiration for this quilt and deserves that credit.

The fabric is In from the Cold by Kate Spain for Moda.  I like the fun prints.  The coordinating white I got for the background is perfect for this little quilt.  Yes, I'm going to break my own rule and hang this one on the wall.  Although, I don't know what else I'm to do with a crib-sized quilt made of red, white and green fabrics.  I don't have a picture for you today, but the quilt top is done.  I'm still trying to decide if I need another border.  Then will come the challenge of quilting this small quilt.  I'll have to let quilting ideas simmer for at least a couple more days.

Skilled Sailor

I've been letting an idea roll around in the back of my head for months.  A friend had asked for a wall hanging that was "pirate-y" and maybe had some blue.  It took me more than a little time to work out exactly how I would put these things together and still make something that wasn't over-the-top pirate-inspired and still captured both what he asked for and what I think our relationship is about.

That's right, I think personal quilts say something about my relationship with someone.  You make think it's crazy.  I think it just makes sense.  Why would I make you something that doesn't speak to who we are?  That's just silly.  Besides, little quilts are required to make up for their size by having a super-big meaning.  So, this one does.   Not that long ago, my friend had some upheaval in his life.  Big changes that he has weathered quite well.  I wanted to capture some of that.  Thank goodness Urban Threads had the perfect thing.  This was the foundation of the project.  I'd been collecting the fabrics for almost half the time I spent thinking about it.  These are what I finally came up with.  If I hadn't decided to dive into this project, there likely would have been more.  (Don't get too attached to the fabric on the far left.  It never made the final cut.)

I sat down with Electric Quilt and attempted to start with the size of the embroidery and create a great little wall-hanging.  I agonized for what seemed like forever.  How many rounds should I add?  Nine-patch or four-patch.  What about the friendship star?  What colors?  (That's pretty much how that mostly gold colored fabric didn't make it in.)  Ultimately, this is what I decided on.  I had EQ print it out for me and upstairs I ran to get cutting.  The pattern is rather ambitious, if you don't like making little 3" x 3" blocks.  I figured it would be worth it for a small quilt.

While the embroidery was being done, I was merrily cutting and piecing all those little, nine-patch blocks.  I did grit my teeth through the friendship stars.  They're one of my favorite blocks, but the fussiness of the half-square-triangle block annoys my urge to get on with the sewing.

I kept adding the borders until it met the requirements of my pattern.  I changed things up a little from the initial design, but I don't think it affected the outcome negatively.  Truthfully, I wish I'd used the tan print for the second small border instead of the solid. 

This quilt really challenged my thinking about the quilting.  Everything from thread color to design.  I decided that with such a small quilt, I really should quilt from the center out.  I'm really glad I did this.  I think it made all the difference in how the quilt finished.  I used a coordinating thread for both the tan and the blue strips. 

First, I quilted all the tan with a very small, all-over meander.  I think it really brought the embroidery out of hiding on that solid background.  I also quilted over the 9-patch blocks with a simple cross-hatch and made sure I quilted the background of the friendship stars to make them really pop.
The blue strips were quilted with small swirls and waves in blue thread.  I may have matched the thread too well.  Sometimes, I would lose track of where I'd been.

Skilled Sailor (finished size 24" x 26.5") is ready to go home.  I hope I captured everything he wanted and managed to make a statement along the way.