Envelope blocks

After a lot of consideration ... I finally settled on a pattern. 

I had seen a fabulous quilt last summer that I fell in love with ... it was the inspiration for this quilt.  So I cut some squares, made some triangles, started doing some arranging ... and found there are a ton of different ways to make blocks with triangles! 

I like this one ... it looks a little bit like a square envelope with the top open. 

The original squares were 4.75", the blocks will be ~8" once completed.  So now I've got to figure out how large I actually want to make the quilt ... 24 blocks complete ... I think the magic number will be 56 blocks.

Me time: 

As I mentioned last week, I've been taking a little me time.  Well ... it's actually been "training time".  My husband started running about 3 years ago, and he will be running his 3rd half-marathon in Victoria BC in October. I haven't told him yet, but I'm training to run the 8K that will run the same day!

To put this in perspective, when I started running 2 months ago, I couldn't run 1/2 mile without stopping.  This weekend, I completed my first 3 mile run with out stopping!  I'm slow ... but I'm running! 

So the quilting is going a little slower than I had hoped ... after a working all day and running after work ... my feet are a little tired ...

Have a great Independence Day!

All the best

Lisa

It's been awhile ...

The fixins for my next quilt ... it's my sister-in-law's birthday in July and she's been admiring the quilts I made for my nieces ... and now she's about to learn what a few compliments will get you !!

It's been a while since I've either blogged or quilted ... life has gotten in the way.  Life has shown up in a great way with friends, family and a little quality time for me taking priority. 

But after two weeks away from it ... i miss it!  So it's time to get started on the next quilt.  And I fell in love with some cute Joel Dewberry fabric in the LQS today. 

I haven't forgotten my improv block tutorial ... stay tuned!

All the best
Lisa

What's better than friendship?

One view of a successful weekend ;-)

And another view ...

I haven't seen Patricia in 10 years and Laura in 5 years and when they got off their respective flights on Friday night, it's like we hadn't ever been apart!

What's better than friendship?  It was a FABULOUS weekend!

The Nameless Quilt

As I previously posted here and here... the last 2 weeks have been about this graduation quilt for a friend who has earned her Masters degree in psychology.  Graduation is today ... and I just pulled it out of the dryer about 20 minutes ago!

The colors were inspired by their newly renovated living and dining rooms where they have a chocolate sofa, red velvet chairs and in the adjoining dining room, an aqua/teal colored ceiling!

The hardest part of the development of this quilt for me was figuring how to marry the two, very different, colors together.  Random placement just didn't seem to work.  Using a spreadsheet to try different options, I ultimately decided to group the colors together.

The aqua blocks merge in to the red, with a few white (negative space) blocks thrown in ... still my favorite element in a quilt is the periodic white piece that provides a restful place for the eye. 

The red and aqua prints were accented with chocolate, beige, mustard, aqua and natural Kona solids -- the sashing and back are a neutral solid.

The back is simple and comprises a strip of brown with a few 7" x 7" blocks of prints from the front.  I used chocolate Kona for the binding, except in one corner where I used one of the red prints for a little fun. 

Dimensions:  After quilting, binding and washing, the quilt it 57" x 70".  The blocks on the front are 12" square and sashed with 3" strips. 

The blocks are always fun to make ... a little improv ... a little adventure ... in the end ... I'm happy with how it came out and looking forward to seeing it in their new rooms!

Well, off to get ready for the party ... have a GREAT week!

Added Sunday evening ...

The quilt was a BIG hit ... here I am with the graduate and her new quilt! 

All the best

Lisa

Rookie Mistake #2

Ugh ... how many times do we have to make the mistake on the edges and corners before we learn ...

Moving right along ...

I started on this quilt last week ... and am now in the process of quilting it ... the two main colors are red and aqua with some brown thrown in.  Here's a peek at the finished top:

The following reflects how I decided to layout the blocks: 

Up against a deadline ... graduation is Sunday evening and this thing is 65" x 80" !!!  A lot of quilting to do ... over the next two evenings before heading off to the cabin for a girls weekend with some dear friends from out of state that it's been WAY too long since I've seen ...

Hope you're having a good week!

All the best.

Lisa

Need a little advice ...

I am making progress on my first queen size quilt top (shown on the bed it's intended to cover at the cabin).  I've now got 3 sections of 36 squares completed (or 108 squares sewn together).  First blogged here. 

Here's my problem ... how many squares do I need in total?  Up until now, I just made lap quilts and whatever size they ended up ... end of discussion.

Spent some time looking this stuff up on the internet, there are a number of different recommended sizes for queen size quilts.  I also measured the comforter I have on the bed now and came up with another measure. 

In my recent order from Pink Chalk Fabrics, she included a Standard Quilt Size chart (how timely was that!!!) and yes ... it recommended yet another size ;-).

I have run a calculation below based on the Pink Chalk card:

A couple of questions for you experienced quilters out there ...

• Do you reco 86" x 93" for a queen size quilt (I have a standard mattress ... no pillow top)
• I'm using 7% shrinkage based on what I experienced on smaller quilts (I don't prewash fabric)
• Is there anything else I should consider before I finalize the number of squares that I'm going to need?

I'm pretty excited about how this is going to look in the room!  But have to get the total quantity of squares resolved before I can more any further as I will likely need to add one more print to the equation and I want to make sure it gets "sprinkled throughout". 

Any thoughts you have would be welcome. 

Now off to run the dogs ... hope you're having a great weekend ...

All the best

Lisa

Improv underway

I've started on another improv quilt ... a graduation present for a friend who's just completing her masters degree.  She and her partner have been in their home for about 5 years, but just this past year were able to furnish their LR and DR ... chocolate sofa, with red side chairs and a teal blue ceiling ... so, those are the main colors in the quilt ...

I've not made one of these with such a bright pallet before ... I like heading in new directions.

I've also had a couple of questions on how I make these quilts, so I am documenting this one and will make a tutorial on some methods I use once I'm finished.  This quilt needs to be finished by the 11th ... so it should progress pretty quickly!

Tomorrow night I get to start on the blocks from my first quilting bee!  The Fresh Modern Bee 2 that Lynne has organized over on Flickr.

Have a great week.

All the best

Lisa