Tag: “Denise’s Spirals” pantograph

Turkey Tracks: “Ain’t This Fun?” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  October 19, 2014

“Ain’t This Fun?” Quilt Finished

 

It’s such a nice feeling to finish binding a quilt, fold it up, and call it done.

I finished “Ain’t This Fun?” this past week.

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You may remember that I used the string blocks that I made last March in Williamsburg/Norfolk with my Virginia quilting buddies–using selvage edges and leftover strips of fabric that were too big to throw and too small for a 1 1/2-inch strip.   After a week of quilting many hours, I had about 100 blocks.

What to do next?

Bonnie Hunter’s “Tulip Fields” quilt in her book STRING FLING provided an idea for setting the blocks and for the border.

Here’s what this quilt looks like on a queen bed–so you can see the size.

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Here’s the backing–which is a spring green, not really a yellow:

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And here’s a close up of the blocks–the quilting is a “spring” green–using a pantograph called “Denise’s Spirals.”

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I made this quilt for the Coastal Quilters’ auction in November.

It’s a lively, very fun quilt, and I had a lot of fun making it.

Turkey Tracks: “Sails Up & Flys Flying” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  February 2, 2014

Sails Up and Flags Flying Quilt

 

This little beauty got mailed last Tuesday and is now in its new home–with a beautiful and healthy baby boy–Giovanna McCarthy’s first grandchild!

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The parents wanted BRIGHT–and when I saw this bright boat sails fabric, I knew what I wanted to do with it.

And the parents didn’t want to know the sex, so I could not use pink in case the baby was a boy…

The neutral fabric with the flags begin to solidify the quilt in my mind.

Even though I grew up living land bound, we had sayings in the family about “flags flying”–to indicate excitement, anticipation, happiness…

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Here’s a close-up of the blocks:

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And, of the corner block–I like how this fabric is working in the quilt.

 

 

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Here you can see the pantograph pattern and the yellow thread a bit better.

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I was a bit stumped as to what color thread to use to quilt–and settled on this very nice yellow.  I might have been able to make pale blue work, but what if the baby were a girl??

The pantograph is Denise’s Spirals, and I ordered it from Urban Elementz, which has the most amazing selection of pantos.

(I love the binding on this quilt–it’s just perfect.)

I had originally thought to use this muted blue stripe as the binding, but it found its way to the quilt’s back instead–interspersed with the sails fabric as I didn’t have enough of the blue.  Again, the yellow thread is working just fine on the back of the quilt.

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I think the backing works nicely with the front:

 

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Finally, here’s where the quilt lived for the nights it took me to bind it.  You can see how BRIGHT it is in contrast to its surroundings.

 

 

 

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I had so much fun making this quilt, and you can expect to see more versions of it as it really lends itself to fun interpretations.

Indeed, I have two versions in mind already…

And it’s a good thing as I have THREE family babies coming into this world soon.

The idea for this kind of setting came, for me, from Bonnie Hunter’s first book, LEADERS AND ENDERS, and the first quilt in the book:   “Sisters’ Nine Patch.”  This setting is traditional, but it’s always good to be reminded how something will look.  Bonnie used cheddar orange blocks with red and neutral nine patches.