Author: bramangirlsquilt

Last March during the beginning of the lockdown I ordered a book by Ruth de Vos entitled pieced. It took months to get here since it was coming from Australia. The big draw for me was the blossoms and leaves of her patterns. I have made many collage quilts, using both patterns and my own designs. de Vos’ patterns are, just as the name implies, pieced quilts, not collage.

I had lots of steps to get to the point of sewing. Traced the pattern onto iron-on interfacing, cut it out then ironed each piece onto the fabric. Finally I had to add the quarter inch onto each piece before cutting out the quilt pieces.

Next step is putting the puzzle back together. The author suggests putting this block together is four pieces. I laid out the first quarter of the block next to my Singer 301, When piecing I usually use either my 301 or my Singer Featherweight as they do such a good job with a 1/4 inch seam.

Lots of curves with every piece. I must admit I used my seam ripper more than once on this project.

Starting to put the quarters together.

Finally, the top is complete.

Now to find fabric for the back. This beautiful Kaffe leftover from another project was the perfect choice.

Quilting on my Sweet Sixteen.  There was so much starting and stopping I didn’t even use my quilting gloves.

 

Close up of the free motion quilting.

Not sure where this one will hang. It’s made entirely from my fabric stash. The top is Cherrywood hand-dyed fabric, the back Kaffe.

Imagine pulling into a corn field just as the sun goes down behind the trees. That is the inspiration for this quilt.

We had good weather for harvest this fall. But it wasn’t an easy one. It started with my son, a combine operator, having hip replacement in late October. Then on to Covid, yup we endured that. Just as I was coming out of quarantine we lost my niece to suicide.

When I finally felt creative again I knew I wasn’t in the frame of mind to follow a pattern. But I love how this wall hanging turned out.

My Tally Marks quilt started with 2 1/2 inch strips I had leftover from other projects. I certainly didn’t think this lockdown would last long. After all, this is the United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. After making two blocks (that’s ten days in) I figured out I’d better make the strips a little skinnier and the blocks smaller.

I am so happy to have this quilt competed. It saddens me to think that of what this represents.

My last finished project is this cute little squirrel quilt.  The squirrels are made of flannel, the background is Moda Grunge and the best part; the backing is Shannon Cuddle fabric.

My youngest grandson got a new big boy bed, which means he needs a new quilt.  His bigger brothers both have deer quilts I made for them a few years ago, so I wanted something that was woodsy.  I also wanted to make this quilt bright.  That is how Squirrels Abound came to be.

I had part of a flannel layer cake left over from another project, and a few different colors of Grunge for the background.  Now to draw a squirrel.

Just a simple drawing.  Two piece pattern, the squirrel and his tail.

 

 

No doubt this quilt will be washed often, so I stitched around each squirrel before putting the quilt blocks together.

I started to layout the blocks on the floor in my living room, then my dog came in so I had move them to my bed.

Squared it up after quilting.  Don’t know if you can really see from this photo, but that backing makes this a messy job.

 I love how it turned out.  I never got a better photo because he took it home the day I got the binding on.  Already being loved every night.

We spent the weekend in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the wedding of Stacy Cole and Tami Roberts Calvary.  Mornings are chilly most fall days, but the leaves are turning.  Their camp was the perfect location for their wedding.

Last year Stacy had mentioned that they needed one of my quilts for their camp.   Like most quilters, I kept that in the back of my mind.  You know, not the quilt I need to make next.  But coming up with ideas, using my mind’s eye because there was no pattern for this quilt.

In late July,  I started building their cabin.  Look closely at my I-pad.   I used a picture that Stacy had posted on-line for details.   The cabin is pieced and collaged.  By this time I knew the wedding date and had a deadline.

I had enough of the cabin done that I  hung it on my idea wall with some blue sky behind it and started pinning trees around the cabin.

 

The backing was finally done with sky, grassy area, and the lake.    The size was rather odd at this point and I decided I needed to add blocks around the collage.  I chose log cabin blocks in blues and greens.

Had to add wildlife.  I fussy cut this fella so he could peek out from behind a tree. A buck and a doe are near the waters edge. I also put fish near the cattails next to the dock.

 Over the Labor Day weekend, I finished the top.   Now to bring it back home to quilt.

I quilted it on my Sweet Sixteen, making sure to get a stitch in every little piece of fabric be it a leaf or fish.

Quilted and binding on.  Lighting isn’t good, but we were loading up our camper and heading to the wedding, so this is the best I’ve got.  It was the perfect wedding gift.

If you follow this blog you already know that one of the sisters lives far from where the rest of our family live. Now, that doesn’t stop us from planning trips and traveling together. But with all the restrictions and events cancelled this summer, we haven’t had much to look forward to. So Nancy decided that we would host our own quilt show when she came home.

It would be an outside, invitation only show. Everyone would bring a quilt to share with the group. She planned a collage quilting project to make. I froze up some delicious Michigan wines. I even got my husband to help put up lines to hang the quilts on.

All the planning, and then Mother Nature decided not so fast.

So we didn’t get to hang all the quilts, but we did share them and tell the story of each quilt.

We enjoyed the frozen wine and good eats everyone brought.

Nancy did a little teaching.

The next day we hung a few quilts, just to make us feel better.

Already planning next year’s event. It will be bigger and better. Stay tuned.

If you already read my Sampler Quilt post this is a little addition to the story. Each block of the Sampler Quilt had off cuts which I just kept putting back in the tote. Eventually I started to sew them together. This is what those off cuts became.

Lots of half square triangles that were already cut for the Sampler Quilt blocks. I expected a couch size quilt when I started, but it ended up big enough for a twin size bed.

 

This pattern was a Moda block of the week way back in 2014 at my local quilt store. I was intimidated by so many different blocks. But I faithfully bought the kits each week and kept putting them in a tote.

I used my Singer Featherweight sewing machine as I started this quilt on a trip to my sister home near Atlanta, Georgia. Then hauled it with me on vacation to Edinburg, Texas. Finally finished the blocks at our lake house in Gaylord, Michigan. Yup, this is a well traveled quilt.

Blocks were all made, but putting them together into a quilt was not an easy task. I was thrilled when I got the top assembled.

I did bring it home to sandwich with the batting and backing. Then I quilted it during the Covid 19 quarantine in March 2020. I absolutely love this quilt. It took me longer to make this quilt than any other I’ve made, but well worth the time and effort.

Today’s project is squaring up half square triangle blocks for a Quilt of Valor project I’m working on. My Block Loc ruler is by far the best ruler I’ve used for this job.

Remember when you used to go to quilt shows? I’m not sure which show (although I think it was AQS in Grand Rapids, Michigan) I bought this pattern: Hen House by claire turpin. The kit included all this beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabric and uses Moda Grunge as background.

Finally on to very simple free motion quilting.

If you like this quilt, check out Coming home to Rooster, posted to my blog on January 16, 2022.