Happy Halloween

I recently made another little quilt for our table-top hanger, this one for Halloween! I was inspired by a strip "spider" quilt that I saw recently. I've never done a hexagon block either, so that was interesting! For some reason we don't have much orange fabric in the stash, so I picked up a variety of (cheap!) quarter yard cuts while at Walmart (which led to a math lesson because neither of the women at the fabric counter knew or could figure out that a "quarter of a yard" was "0.25*the-1-yard-price, sigh). To make the block, I pieced strips of random widths until I had the size I wanted, and used a 60-degree triangle ruler to cut out the triangle shapes. After arranging and piecing the triangles together, I machine appliqued the hexagon onto a black background. For quilting, I stitched in the ditch with black thread and added the spider's hanging web using a decorative machine stitch. And, I had enough left-over triangles to make a small table-topper. I adore the color combination of orange-and-black, so I really like how these came out.

The beaded spider came from Violin Stars Beaded Spiders -- a fundraiser that I very luckily found a few years ago when I was looking via a Google search for a quilt embellishment to represent a Hawaiian Happyface Spider! They are wonderful spiders, and I should probably get some more while they're still making them!

A spider-y wallhanging for Halloween. 

A spider-y table-topper for Halloween.

Heron Pond Wallhanging

This was the first quilt kit that I ever bought (I think over ten years ago?)!: "Heron Pond" by McKenna Ryan Quilt Designs. I still love it, and this past January decided to finally make it. I mostly used the fabrics that came with the wallhanging kit, except for the border and the dragonflies. I think McKenna Ryan's finished version has better contrast, but I do absolutely love the water-y batik fabric that I used for my border. The fusible batting that I used is now causing a bit more rippling than I like, especially in the border fabric ... I'm hoping this might subside after awhile (I really don't want to wash it). So, this project was another experiment with fusible batting that wasn't a huge success. Although I suppose I could pretend that the rippling effects are an intended water-y artistic feature! I also experimented with getting "braver" in my free motion quilting attempts, and am a bit happier this time with the results. Finally, I used some flat-ish copper-like beads for embellishments: the small dragonfly and two leaves near the lily pad. The binding fabric was a bargain find at a recent quilt show.

"Heron Pond"

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.