Raven Says Hello!

My Mom found this fabulous raven applique pattern during her travels in Alaska last summer, called "Raven Says Hello!", by Cindy Shake Designs. We both love all corvids, but especially ravens (if you've never read Bernd Heinrich's Mind of the Raven, check it out!). So, I decided to make this wallhanging for my Mom's birthday this year. I didn't quite make that deadline, but finally finished it recently. I chose Kaffe Fassett fabrics from the Millefiore collection, used buttons for the eye, and embellished the lower right corner with a cute house button. It finished about 15" square, and is hung from a quilt hanger that I recently purchased from Joann's.

Raven Says Hello!

Fall Charity Quilt Top

I'm trying to get more involved with my local quilt guild, and so completed charity quilt tops this month and last. Each month my guild chooses a new pattern and makes kits available for members to complete. It's been fun to discover new fabrics and play with new patterns!

September 2013 charity quilt top.

October 2013 charity quilt top.

Black Opals & Ribbon Candy - Part III

Well, we took the plunge and finally quilted our 'Black Opals & Ribbon Candy' (Part I and II) wallhangings. My Mom finished hers a few months back, and now has it hanging above her bed, and I think it came out great:

Mom's Black Opals & Ribbon Candy wallhanging, August 2013.

I tried a polyester fusible batting, but was not happy with it because it just didn't fuse strongly enough. I did both stitch-in-the-ditch and free motion quilting ... but because the sandwich was shifting a bit, I had some troubles with puckering. But, I don't think it's too noticeable in the end. I was torn regarding what to do for quilting the border, but in the end went with a finished-is-better-than-perfect approach and just did some straight stitching with the walking foot. I think the geometry of that approach is unifying ... but then again, I also think it doesn't complement the border fabric very well. So, next time I'll try something different (like long-arm service!!). For displaying this piece and other finished quilts, I'm planning to install some drapery rods on my bedroom walls similar to the one that's above my Mom's bed (stay tuned for pics).

Holly's Black Opals & Ribbon Candy wallhanging, August 2013.

Eastern Inspired Orchid Wallhanging

I happened to see this earth-tone orchid panel while doing some online fabric shopping (not an infrequent occurrence!), and decided to make it for a thank-you gift in January (2013). I cut up the panel to fit into a "Window To China" pattern that had been a freebie a few years back during a quilt shop hop in Honolulu, HI. The sashing is a batik that I also purchased online, to go with the panel. Part of the reason that it took SO long to finish this wallhanging is that I was undecided for a long time about what I wanted for the quilting and embellishing. To keep the wallhanging having clean lines, I ended up just doing simple stitch-in-the ditch for the quilting. And, after looking around for many months for embellishments, nothing "spoke to me". And, I decided that loading the wallhanging up with embellishments would detract from the minimalist feel that I wanted for the piece. So, I just ordered some dried willow branches (you truly can get anything online!), for use as a decorative hanger.

Eastern Inspired Orchid Wallhanging

Little Purses

My "once removed first cousins", Kaitlyn & Bailey (ages 11 & 4), came from Montatna to California for a visit in August -- and I made these little purses for them:

Purse for Kaitlyn -- A Hawaiian hibiscus flower button closure, and some bling beading.

Interior of Kaitlyn's purse: "Made with love and kisses" label, and cell phone pocket with hearts.

Purse for Bailey -- A butterfly button and rickrack embleshment on front.

Interior of Bailey's purse: "Made with love & kisses" label, and velcro closure.

Starting small: New potholders project

We have been in desperate need of new potholders, and I think they also make great gifts. I happened to see some cute patterns on Pinterest, and decided this would make a good small project for returning to doing some sewing/quilting. I used Stash Happy Patchwork's pattern for a Retro Potholder as inspiration for the first ones that I made, and then later I tried Sew4Home's Kitchen Confections pattern for Patchwork Oven Mitts for the last pair that I made (which is the style that I think we'll end up preferring, so I may make some more of this kind). This was a great project for using up small-ish pieces of fabric and left-over batting. For each potholder I used one layer of Insul-Bright, with a layer of Warm&Natural above and below (for a total of three layers of batting); the over-hand pieces just have one layer of Warm&Natural.

I struggled and experimented with different bindings ... first I tried doing zig-zag machine stitches on the binding, which came out OK on a set of lime-green fishy-themed potholders that I made as a housewarming gift for Kim of A Peach In Stitches:

Lime-green fishy-themed potholders, with zig-zag machine stitched binding.

Other side of the lime-green fishy-themed potholders.

Some kitchen towels that I added decorative fabric to, to go with the potholders.

Potholders and towels all bundled up for a housewarming gift.

My Mom's kitchen theme is strawberries, so this meant digging into the stash of strawberry fabrics! I then tried to do the binding using purchased double-fold tape (potholder in lower right corner, below) ... which worked OK, but was really difficult (and not very neat looking) because the potholders are so thick. So, for the remainder I reverted to my usual double-fold binding with hand stitching on the back for the finish. I had hoped to avoid doing any hand stitching, but this oldie-but-a-goodie produced the best final product. I didn't put any hanging loops on ours because we keep our potholders in a drawer and I find the loops sometimes get in the way when you're actually using the potholder.

A bunch of new strawberry potholders for our kitchen -- fronts. The Sew4Home Patchwork Oven Mitts are the pair in the lower middle.

A bunch of new strawberry potholders for our kitchen -- backs.

Phoenix rising, with a belated happy July 4th

I've been mostly away from quilting for quite awhile, but am starting to return. My new mascot?: A phoenix rising!

At the Foothill Quilters Guild Show in Auburn, CA last April (2012), I had picked up this cute little July 4th wallhanging in their home store (for $4!). I endeavored to make and finish it this year, for the month of July. I didn't quite make my deadline, but it's finished now. The fabrics in the kit were very nice, and I just did stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. We'll enjoy it for a few days and then put it away for next year.

Patriotic wallhanging, finished August 2013.