Bright Stars

I've been working on gift quilts for my youngest nephew and nieces. The quilts are now in their hands, so I can now share my work without spoiling the surprise.  


I didn't have a pattern for this one--I just made it up as I went along.

Her mom told me my niece likes bright, bold colors. I think the colors stand out well against the black and white background.

I created the stars based on 4.5" squares with an 8.5" square in the center. The background squares in black and white scrappy fabrics are also 4.5" squares. (These are all unfinished measurements--in the quilt they finish .5" smaller.)

I assembled this quilt in columns (vertical) rather than rows (horizontal). This way, I could work with complete star blocks; this made it easier for me to keep things in order.



Because I wanted to draw the colors of the stars out toward the edge, I made a border of four-patches with 2.5" squares.

I went with a simple black and white backing fabric and a black binding to tie the colors in the quilt together. The quilt finished at approximately 66" x 85".

I like the way this one turned out. Sometimes, you just have to experiment!

I'm linking to Busy Hands Quilts: Finished or Not Friday and Fiber Tuesday 80 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Anvil for my Nephew

I've been working on gift quilts for my youngest nephew and nieces. The quilts are now in their hands, so I can now share my work without spoiling the surprise. 


My nephew enjoys metalworking on his forge. When I decided to make him a quilt, the traditional Anvil block seemed appropriate.

I wanted to make a bold, geometric quilt--not a fussy one. For this reason, I chose to go with only two fabrics on the top--a struggle for a scrappy quilter like me!


The basic units are 3.5" and 6.5"--this creates a 12.5" block.

The block is easy to assemble:

Sew a 3.5" HST to a 3.5" solid light square

Sew a 3.5" HST to a dark solid square

Sew the two units together. You will need 2 of these four-patch units per block.

Sew the unit to a 6.5" HST to form a half-block.

Join the half-blocks to make a complete Anvil block.

In this quilt, I used 36 blocks to create a square quilt approximately 74" x 74" when finished and bound. Even numbers of blocks for each row and column made the overall pattern seem more complete to me. Experiment with your blocks to determine if you wish to make it differently.

Other layouts are possible with this block:

This layout turns all the scrappy anvils in one direction and adds sashing between the blocks. (Click the photo to find the original site of the image.)

Again, here the anvils all run in one direction this time without sashing between the blocks. (Click the photo to find the original site of the image.)

I chose the layout I did because I like the secondary pattern that is created by the light-colored fabric.

I backed this quilt with a fabric featuring American flags.

The binding is the same blue fabric as I used on the front.

My nephew is interested in the Navy, so I thought of using backing fabric printed with semaphore flags. The problem is, I don't read semaphore, so I wouldn't know what those flags were saying.I didn't want to give him a quilt where the flags spelled out "You are a scurvy rat" or "Your granny sucks eggs"!  :)



Thanks for visiting and happy sewing.


I'm linking to Myra's Busy Hands Quilts Finished or Not Friday and Fiber Tuesday 79 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Original Design Quilt Entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival

I'm excited to enter Amy Ellis's 2016 Blogger's Quilt Festival at AmysCreativeSide.com again this year. Amy puts on a great Festival--so many beautiful things to look at--thanks so much, Amy, for organizing it.

My entry in the Original Design Quilt category is a quilt I call String Crossroads. It is an original design combining traditional elements.

String Crossroads

String Crossroads (detail)

String Crossroads (detail)

String Crossroads (backing and binding detail)

I used a huge variety of fabrics in this one--traditional, modern, and novelty. The crossroads blocks were made with a constant cream-colored fabric. The quilt measures 82' x 98", and I quilted it on my domestic sewing machine.

I have written instructions (not a formal pattern) for this quilt. They are available on my blog at http://theeclecticabuela.blogspot.com/p/string-crossing-pattern.html . If you should make one--I'd love to see it!


Thanks for looking at my entry.
 

Scrappy Quilt Entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival

I'm excited to enter Amy Ellis's 2016 Blogger's Quilt Festival at AmysCreativeSide.com again this year. Amy puts on a great Festival--so many beautiful things to look at--thanks so much, Amy, for organizing it.

My entry in the Scrappy Quilt category is a Bonnie Hunter design; Jamestown Landing.  The original pattern was done in blues, but since I don't love blue, I went with my favorite--RED!

Jamestown Landing

Jamestown Landing (detail)

Jamestown Landing (detail)

The quilt size is 90" x 104". I quilted it on my Domestic Sewing Machine.

Thanks for looking at my entry.

Working on a Mystery (Final Clue Update)

A friend of mine, Judy, at the Quilting Board forum engineers some really wonderful Mystery Quilt Train Rides. We have just begun #14.

The first clue was fabric selection: First Clue
The second was HSTs and some additional cutting: Second Clue

• Note on Clue #2: The following sentence should be corrected as indicated.  From the C fabric, cut 24 12 pieces that measure 4-1/2” x 2-1/2” and set aside.

The third was flying geese and some additional cutting: Third Clue

• Note on Clue #3: The following sentence should be corrected as indicated:  From Fabrics B, C and D, cut 12 squares from each fabric, all measuring 2-1/2”. You will use these 24 36 squares next week.
   

The final clue includes a small amount of cutting and assembly: Final Clue

• Note on Clue #4: The following section should be corrected as indicated: Corner square -- Assemble with the squares and HSTs. Each 4-1/2” block will have 2 HST in C B/D and one each of a 2-1/2” square of A B and D. See picture. You will have 12 of this unit. All will look alike. Watch alignment of pieces.

The thread has a lot of conversation about each step--it is a fun, social experience.


I have chosen these fabrics: I'm reserving judgement on A, until I find if the scale is too large for the size of the cuts.

A-Large print; B-Small print; C-Rust blender; D- White on teastain neutral

I'll keep you updated with progress reports.

Progress: Clue 3 (link added above)

HSTs from Clue 2 & Flying Geese from Clue 3

 Everything should come together next week--I'm excited to see how the pieces fit.


Progress: Clue 4 (link added above)

Completed Block

 
I think my A fabric works here--it shows up well in the center of the block. I'm still working on assembling the blocks. I'll post a picture when I have finished.

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 78 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Dreaming of New Projects

I'm basting the last of the gift quilts I've been keeping under wraps. While I work, though, I'm thinking of what comes next.

Perhaps, what comes next will be from this new book I received in the mail today.

Click the image to order your own copy

Bonnie's new book is FULL of pretties! If you click HERE, you can visit the blog post where she previews the quilts inside. What to try first? A nice dilemma to have.


But first, I've a quilt to finish!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 77 at The Quilting Room with Mel and Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.

Pfeffernüsse

I'm still working on several gifts I can't show, but I've also continued building Pfeffernüsse--a Bonnie Hunter pattern.


This quilt uses both QSTs and string blocks.

QST 4-patches and combined string blocks

Pfeffernüsse Block

I think the magic of this pattern is in the arrangement.

Pinwheel!

I love the way the string blocks come together to form pinwheels. I still have lots of blocks to make for the full effect, but you can see a hint of it from these four blocks.


Thanks for visiting.

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 76 at The Quilting Room with Mel and Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.