Sunday, February 5, 2017

Floral Designs in the Snow

I have been participating (creating a quilt in one week) and sponsoring Project Quilting with Quilting Prizes since Season 2. Wow!  This is the 8th Season! Seasons run from Jan to March each year.  A couple times, they hosted a few off season quilt challenges. Of course, I participated and sponsored them. Time flies when you are having fun creating!

I have been inspired to create a quilt in one week and to push myself to step outside my box and create something really cool.  Let me say right here - Cool to me! You may not think it is cool, but the thing is; I need to be inspired by my quilted creation and I need to think it is cool. I guess that would be a personal satisfaction. 

Every quilt, I created for the Project Quilting Challenges, I shared the whole, step by step process, as I created each one. I shared it right here on my blog. Many links are in my side bar or just search project quilting. Some of the quilts I created have inspired me to write a tutorial or a pattern and to self publish it. Most can be found on Craftsy.com in My Pattern Store.

I was really inspired to create for this challenge!



I recently had seen Wonky Squares on several posts on Instagram and I fell in love with the idea! I could not find instructions, but it was easy to see that it was different size triangles stitched to the corners of squares.


My squares are 2 1/2 inch squares. My triangles are odd sizes.



After I stitched them on the corners, I pressed them and squared them up.



Then I scattered them around.  Can you see that some squares have only one corner with a triangle and others have 2 corners with a triangle?



I set up at the dining room table to sew. I am doing the Drop and Give Me Twenty Minutes of Sewing each day on Facebook - Sew 20 minutes a day.  If you have read my Project Quilting posts you will know that all of my quilts were created in short intervals of time during the week. I work/quilt professionally for others during the day. So this 20 minutes works out perfect for me!



See in this photo, how I scattered the wonky squares around.


This is my view from the dining room table. We have not had sunshine for several days, in a row, so I needed my table next to the window for light.  We finally have sunshine this week!



I was going to make this small, but I kept sewing and adding more and more... 




My vision was to not have a border, but as I stood back and looked at it, I felt it needed a border.  I looked through my blue fabrics. I selected this one. It is a corduroy fabric. I purchased it several years ago at a resale shop. I thought I might use for a purse or a bag. I never thought I would add it as a border to a quilt! I love it!


Ok it is ready to quilt!


I selected to use 2 layers of batting. The bottom layer is 80/20 and the top layer is poly.  





The wonky squares were not really ideal for the centers of my flowers, but I guess they gave it a wonky look. 


I quilted the flowers first.





I stitched a spiral in the center and created uneven petals for the flowers.  They are not real, just imaginary. 




I really had fun with the petals!



I quilted around each flower with white Glide thread. It has a wonderful sheen to it and it highlighted each flower perfectly. You can see the shadow quilting in the next photo.

I have a zipper system on my quilting machine. I can zip it on and off. I brought it upstairs to make a decision about the background quilting and ask a non quilter his opinion. I explained the possibilities of quilting backgrounds.  I kind of knew what I wanted by I felt the input from a non quilter was a great option for advice. 

In this photo you can see the shadow quilting around each flower and the white flowers that are under the snow.


Paisley Swirl Quilting for the background quilting worked perfectly. Snow swirls and it would be swirling around the flowers, especially if you are in Wisconsin.



I quilted the Paisley Swirls large, medium, and small where I needed to get in close to a flower.




Thanks again to Kim and Trisha from Project Quilting for inspiring me to create! I really enjoyed this one!


I stitched my name Marcia and 2017 in the center of one of flowers that I imagined is under the swirling snow.



I quilted Bubbles in the border fabric.



You can see the bubbles better on the backside, but on the front side they puff because of the double batting.



More photos of the backside.








I selected solid black binding.






And a full view of the backside.



Yes I was inspired! 

I titled it "Designs in the Snow"

I create in Boscobel, Wisconsin.


I linked it up to Project Quilting.  Take a moment to hop over and vote for your favorite quilts. There are over 100 quilts that were created this week for the challenge. You can vote for 10 of them. 

And then come back and check out my other Project Quilting Quilts. All here on my blog.

Thanks for following along with my quilting adventures.

Marcia

Monday, January 30, 2017

Free Crazee Patch Paper Pieced Heart

I created my "Crazee Patch Paper Pieced Heart Pattern" in 2007. With a group of local quilters, we made a quilt for at Breast Cancer Fundraiser. In 2011, we made another one! I love making the Hearts!

Last year, I made a BLUE Heart for me and I posted about it here.



You know, I love BLUES!



I had planned to take time to add borders and make a table topper for the center of my dining room table, but that did not happen!


I selected some of my favorite blues.


My PDF Pattern includes the paper pattern for printed to sew on and several photos of the Crazee Patch Heart in a quilt and as mini quilts and other ideas. It does not include instructions for paper piecing. You can find tons of "How To Paper Piece Tutorials" online.







Do you want to see the Heart in "Pinks" and in a quilt? 

 Click Here to see this quilt. 



and Click Here to see my Sweat Heart Quilted Box. It was created for a Project Quilting Challenge.

It's a fun and easy to make paper pieced Crazy Patch Heart pattern. You will find my FREE PDF Downloadable Pattern in My Craftsy Pattern Store.


Enjoy the FREE PDF Pattern!

Marcia

Do you want a printed pattern of the FREE Crazy Patch Paper Pieced Heart? I will mail it to you for $4.50 ($4.50 includes US shipping of $2.00).

Please mail a check to me with your request and your address.

Marcia Wachuta
41826 County Road W
Boscobel, WI 53805

Do you want a printed pattern of any of the PDF Patterns in my Craftsy Store.  Add $2.50 for printing to the price on Craftsy, plus $2.00 for US shipping.



Sunday, January 22, 2017

Blue Harmony

My Lily had to be blue!

Why?  because I love the color BLUE! I am kind of obsessed about the color blue. When I see it it makes me feel happy!

I have blue eyes - technically "Sheet Metal Blue" eyes.  I have yards and yards of blue fabric. I have several blue quilts. I have blue dishes, blue glasses and blue serving pieces. I wear mostly black clothes with a few blue clothing items, of course that includes blue jeans. I love denim.

This is from Wikipedia as part of the definition of the color BLUE:

Surveys in the US and Europe show that blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and sometimes with sadness. In US and European public opinion polls it is the most popular colour, chosen by almost half of both men and women as their favourite colour.

Blue is harmony to me! 
I am going to title my quilt "Blue Harmony".


See my previous post as to how I made my blue lily using the raw edge applique method.

I tried to stop and take a photo on each step as I thread painted my Lily.

First, I selected the thread. I used 2 layers of batting - 80/20 cotton/poly and washable wool as the top layer.



I thread painted/quilted with the navy thread first for the borders and the stem and stamens and the pistil of the lily.


I thread painted the dots on the petals with the navy too.


I thread painted/quilted with petals next with a couple blue threads.



Next, I quilted the background with tiny pebble quilting with a very lite blue thread.








The quilting and thread painting completed.


I trimmed it and bound it with a solid black binding.
It measures 12" by 14".
I create in Southwestern Wisconsin, Boscobel, Wisconsin.


Here's a few more up close photos.






I love the backside too.




I always quilt Marcia and the year in the corner of my own quilts.

It is ready to share over at Persimmons Dreams for Project Quilting. Hop over and check out all the beautilful Lilies created this week for Project Quilting.


Thanks for following along! 

On most of my blog posts, I share how I created something.  I would like to invite you to check out some of Project Quilting projects from the past.  You will find the links on the right side bar. If you are on a phone, you can change the view from mobile to web version and you can see the links on the side bar.

Marcia