Blogger's Quilt Festival, Spring 2013: Haiku Quilt

For this edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I am entering my latest finish into the Bed Quilts category:

The quilt is a gift for a recently wed couple, Kevin and Colby. We went to visit them today and were finally able to give them their wedding gift. Yay!

The design is inspired by the quilts in the Judy Sisneros book, 9-Patch Pizzazz. I used her methodology to create my version. The largest blocks are 24" square. The nine-patches are 6" square. The finished quilt is about 96" square.

I had a lot of fun quilting this one too! I quilted it all with my Bernina 440QE. In the center, I imagined a breezy wind blowing and quilted a horizontal wavy design using a creamy variegated Superior Threads King Tut thread, #920, "Sands of Time." For the inner border, I used a dark brown Aurifil Mako 50/2, #1140, and quilted linked chain squares, a design I found in Angela Walters's fabulous book, Free-Moton Quilting. Finally, for the outer border, I stitched Elizabeth Hartman's dogwood quitling pattern in a 2" grid using Aurifil Mako 50/2 #2326, a taupe-y gold color.

I love how all of the various quilting designs work together in this quilt. And I am flippin' proud of the work I've done! My one regret is that I used too much pressure as I marked my gridlines in the outer border (I used a Sewline pencil), and some of the lines remain-- I just could not get them out (scrubbing; fabric eraser; multiple washes). On the bright side, they aren't really visible unless you know to look for them as they kind of blend in with all of the quilting lines. Also, after being washed for the third time, they are finally disappearing. So over time, I think they will all be gone. Eventually.

I went into this quilt not really knowing exactly how much I'd need of each fabric. So I just bought a couple of yards of each. I was able to use all of the leftovers in the back (plus a couple of others).

I've taken to calling this the "Haiku Quilt." I'm not normally very creative when it comes to naming, but in this instance, I felt inspired. I wrote a haiku which serves as the name of the quilt and that is written on the label:

Soft winds through the hills,

Petals and leaves atremble,

Cranes fly joyously.
And I have to give many thanks to my quilt photo shoot helper:

Every time we walk by that park (which is daily), he asks when can we go and do another quilt picture? Apparently, I need to get quilting!

The stats:

Quilt Measurements: 96" x 96"

Special Techniques used: none

Quilted by: Robin Zaback (me!)

I hope you are getting the chance to check out lots of other quilts in the Spring 2013 Blogger's Quilt Festival. It never fails to inspire me, and I find myself looking forward to the event each spring and fall when I can gaze at all of the shared happy eye candy and fabulous creativity.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Works(!) in progress

That's right-- works is plural! I actually focused myself and got busy on two projects this weekend.

The first is the baby quilt I shared with you last week. It is now fully quilted and bound and is awaiting the label. I'm torn between just doing a generic label that will allow me to present the quilt now, or waiting until baby is born so I can do a personalized one... any thoughts?

The second work in progress is the wedding quilt I started quilting in January. I finally quilted the inner and outer borders and have attached the binding. Woo!!! I plan on finishing the binding with handstitching, so it not quite complete but shouldn't take too long. I am excited to have some simple handwork to do in the evening.

So, the plan for this week: work on that binding, get going on clue #1 in the Spring Mystery Quilt, and stay in hot pursuit of my crafty mojo! :)

Resolution in action!

I started quilting this yesterday.

Woo!

I also went out and bought some fabric. My local quilt shop was having their once-a-year sale. Once a year! It might be better to just not talk about that. LOL!

Basting it up!

I kind of lucked out. The last time I had to baste a queen-sized quilt, I had to do it in sections because we didn't have a large enough area of floorspace to do it. But as we are having some interior walls painted this week, we had to clear out our loft area. It is the perfect size to lay out a large quilt. And (even luckier!), my husband helped me with the basting, making it a much speedier process. Woo!

I've been thinking hard about what to do with this one, and have a plan in mind. My thought is that I want some curves in the center area to help give all those straight lines some movement and a stronger sense of flow. Then in the outer border, I kind of want to do straight lines, mostly because I think it will look cool. Ha! Still not quite sure about the inner border... maybe a ribbon-candy type of thing? Or some vine-ish action? I guess I'll decide when I get to it. Hopefully, I'll be able to start quilting it later this week!

Wedding quilts-a-rama!

Wow. It has been awhile since I've updated. However, I can't say as there has been much crafting of which to speak. Getting into the back-to-school groove has pretty much left me wiped out in the evening with no energy to do anything crafty. But the juices and motivation are finally starting to flow again. Here's hoping that crafting is on the rise!

So, you remember that wedding quilt I was so concerned about finishing before the wedding? Yeah. That didn't happen. I'm still working at it. But-- there has been progress!

The center is pieced! Yay! The next step is borders. Hopefully, I'll manage to cut them out later today.

And, speaking of wedding quilts, I have another deadline coming up. When my husband and I got married, in lieu of a guest book, I set out fabric and fabric pens for our guests. I designed a quilt. I actually put together a good chunk of that quilt. But I somehow got sidetracked and never actually finished. It is not too far away from completion-- it just needs a couple more borders.

October 26th marks our 10-year wedding anniversary. So it is time. I want to finish it.

New project time!

It's a busy time here at our house. Summer is winding down. Last week we took our family vacation, and next week I'm going to be doing my first-ever half-marathon(!) and school starts up for Big Bear (Kindergarten!). Then Little Bear starts preschool the following week. I'm excited, but it is definitely going to take a little bit of time to adjust to the new schedule.

We're attending a wedding in mid-September, and I really (really!) want to make a quilt for the happy couple. I actually purchased fabric for it last month, but haven't been able to get going on it until now. Nothing like a little last-minute crafting to get one's juices flowing! Frankly, at this point, it is much more likely they will be receiving a quilt I.O.U. than a finished quilt-- but I'm gonna give it a go. :)

Inspired by a fabric from my stash (purchased many, many years ago), I've decided to create a quilt based on designs in the book, 9-Patch Pizzazz: Fast, Fun & Finished in a Day by Judy Sisneros.

The book features smaller projects, wall and lap-sized designs. Since I know I want to make a bedsize quilt, I have created a plan based on the designs in the book.

The inspiration/main fabric is pictured below on the left, with the coordinating fabrics that I purchased last month on the right.

I may or may not use all of them, I'm just gonna have to see how it goes.

Yesterday, I did all my cutting. Hopefully today I can start sewing!