Quilting feathers

Hi there, I've been trying to update my blog for over a week, but it's been a super eventful week.  My youngest graduated from elementary school yesterday.   That completes an 11 year stint at the same school, so a bittersweet ending.  My son finished his finals and his second year of high school.  With the summer months beginning, I hope to spend a little more free time sewing and quilting.

I have been dutifully working on outline quilting on my triangle quilt, but not really liking the results, so I decided to add feathers.  I think it adds a dimension to the quilt that was missing.

I'm using a YLI machine quilting thread in variegated blues.  I usually use Gutteman's or Coats &  Clarks, but want to branch out and try some different brands.  I picked up the YLI at a local quilt show last year.  I only bought the one spool, and will probably need to source it online before I get too much further along.  I'm hoping to have a good block of time to work on this next week, while both of my kids are away for the start of summer.

Color Block Quilt for Bloggers' Quilt Festival

For the quilt festival at Amy's Creative Side, I'm sharing a quilt that lives on my bed.  It only took about 8 years of quilting to get around to outfitting my own bed with a handmade quilt.

Color Block Quilt

Stats:
Queen-sized
Assorted Kona cotton solids
Assorted prints:  Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, Jane Sassaman, etc.
Backing is a Valori Wells print
Machine pieced and quilted by me
Machine quilting with Coats & Clarks variegated thread ("autumn") 
Free-form flowers stitched in the squares, feather in border

The idea behind this quilt was all about playing with color, and how far I could stretch the "rules" of color theory.  I chose a simple log cabin pattern and concentrated on the color combos.  The quilt grew slowly and at some point the idea popped in my head that I could make this big enough to fit my bed.  I finally decided to add borders to make it more "bed friendly".

Border detail:  free-form feather design

Front & Back

I had a lot of fun with the quilting.  I free-handed flowers in the block centers and connected the blocks with leaves and repeat patterns ... basically whatever popped into my head at the time.

This was my first attempt at machine sewing the binding down, and it was a pain in the "you know what".  I do like the end result though.

Valori Wells print on back

Thanks for stopping by.  Here's a link to all of the fabulous quilts featured in The Bloggers' Quilt Festival.

A short & sweet sewing project

This is the toughest month for me with the end of the school year looming and it's all I can do to keep my head above the high water mark (school auction, etc.!).   Consequently, I don't have a huge amount to share on my blog right now even though I've been working away in small spurts on quilting this quilt.

With the quilting process going at a snails' pace, I decided to whip out this cute top for my daughter.  I used an easy Burda pattern (9573)  and the new DS Collection Picnic & Fairgrounds fabric available at Joann's.  I decided to make my own trim using a contrasting DS print.  FYI,  this would be a super quick and easy project sans the handmade trim.