Quilts Archives - QA Creations

May 23, 2016

Lover’s Knot Quilt Pattern

I’m excited to share my latest quilt design – the Lover’s Knot quilt pattern that is featured in Make Modern magazine, issue 11!

My work probably fits in the modern traditional style of quilting the best, and this latest quilt reflects that aesthetic.

This is an old block- probably. Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns labels it as a “lover’s knot” from the Old Chelsea Station Needlecraft Service (OCS). This company began in 1933, but this block has no date and doesn’t really look like what most quilters would consider to be a lover’s knot. Even before this company started, this name has been assigned to a wedding ring-style quilt, a snowball/flowerish quilt block, and various other pieced blocks.

I had never seen this block made before, and I thought it would be a beautiful quilt, so I made the paper pieced pattern for it and made the quilt in bright spring colors against a low volume background.

I really wanted the pink to stand out, so I stitched just inside of the pink spikes. The diamonds have swirls and pebbles, and the low volume starts have straight line quilting to echo the outside shape. I quilted some easy curves inside the turquoise centers.

This quilt is 48″x64″, so it makes a nice lap quilt or can be made for a baby that you really, really like. I love the secondary patterns this design makes, and want to make a larger version in blues if I get some free time this summer.

The pattern is in Issue 11 of Make Modern, which was just released on May 20, 2016. There are some other great patterns in this issue, as well as interesting articles. Stacey O’Malley of Slo Studio made an amazing quilt that uses hourglass blocks and inset circles. Alyce Blyth of Blossom Heart Quilts has an article on the math to do biased binding, and Sandi Hazlewood of the Crafty Planner recaps QuiltCon.

It was also fun to share the issue with Leanne (Devoted Quilter) – who was part of the Round Trip Quilts Bee I did last year (she made the X marks the spot mini with curved piecing and purple!), and Anne (Hudson Valley Quilts) who wrote an article about online learning and is part of the Hudson Valley Modern Quilt Guild with me!

I also was a featured maker this month, so if you want to see more of my work or hear my opinions on quilting, you can check that out 🙂

Make Modern has offered a special discount code for contributors to share – enter issue11friends at checkout to get your copy of issue 11 for just $6 AU. I always love this magazine, and read my copy on the train on my iPad (which is nice, because then I don’t have to recycle it when I get to the city, like I do with most magazines).

Linking up to some of the following: Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, TGIFF, Show off Saturday at Sew Can She

May 9, 2016May 13, 2016

Introducing: Forging Steel Quilt Pattern

I am excited to share my latest pattern with you: Forging Steel. This pattern is optimized to make use of charm squares or layer cakes so you can use your favorite fabric collections!

You may remember Forging Steel from Issue 8 of Make Modern magazine. This is probably one of my favorite quilts. I love how the swirls on the background stand out against the bright fabrics of the blocks and border. This quilt uses an anvil block as the base, but with more half square triangles! The border brightens the quilt, and updates a traditional pattern, while leaving plenty of negative space to play with quilting.

In this expanded and updated version, I have included expanded illustrated instructions for the lap/large baby quilt from the magazine, as well as a large twin/double and queen-sized versions of the quilt. There are now 2 block sizes, 3 quilt sizes, and 2 methods to learn to make half square triangles (2 at a time and 4 at a time).

The traditional anvil block gets a modern update with negative space, and a HST border. Make it in light or dark fabrics, scrappy, or even from two colors to get a more traditional look. I’ve used four square patches for the block centers in my Cotton & Steel version to create additional scrappiness or one large block in the Milliefleur version to show off Bari J’s amazing fabrics.

Go crazy with the quilting, because this quilt has plenty of opportunities for you to practice new fills or to perfect your favorite design. Or, you can do a simple allover and let the fabric shine.

The quilt pattern is available in lap, twin/double, and queen. I call it a twin/double because it’s really the recommended double size, but it looks good on a twin bed. As you can below, it has a nice overhang on a twin sized bed. This bed frame has a footboard, so that’s why the foot of the bed is hanging a bit oddly.

This pattern is on sale for an introductory price of $7.50 through May 20th. Find it on Craftsy from Quilts Actually.

Please share if you make this quilt by tagging your creation with #forgingsteelquilt!

Linking up to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, TGIFF, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric, Show off Saturday at Sew Can She

April 27, 2016April 27, 2016

Last Round – Round Trip Quilts

So this is a little late, it was actually mailed last fall, but took me awhile to add pictures and such. This round robin quilt ground lasted a little over a year, and I think we produced some pretty great quilts. Hopefully everyone else also feels that way!

For the last round, I had Jennifer of Not Just Jennifer‘s quilt. I had gotten a little bit behind on Leanne’s quilt with my move last summer, but I really intended to get Jennifer’s done on time. Then I decided on a super detailed design that would take forever, my parents came to visit, and I started school…

Her quilt is in honor of New Hampshire. There are many other season represented, but I felt like a quilt in honor of New Hampshire had to have winter.

I debated what I wanted to do, and started with a skier. I used the Vintage Skier pattern from During Quiet Time because in my mind it was quicker to use her pattern than to make a different winter scene myself. This is a beautiful and detailed pattern, so I’m not quite sure what would have been faster!

Next, I thought about what really represents New Hampshire. My husband suggested the Old Man of the Mountain as quintessentially NH. I search for a pattern, but could only find one that the website didn’t appear to sell anymore. So, I went on EQ and designed the Old Man. I realize that there is probably not a huge demand for this, but if anyone else ever needs a pattern for the Old Man of the Mountain, I put my version on Craftsy.

So, now I had a skier and the Old Man of the Mountain. I decided to do snowflakes between the two bookends and have some snow and rocks and mountains that I would improv to fill in the difference. I reduced the size of all of the snowflakes because the full size would have been too overwhelming for the section. I guessed at a % to print at and hoped for the best!

The turquoise and blue snowflakes are Snowflake #7 from the Canuck Quilter.

The purple snowflake is from Sewing Under Rainbow.

I continued to fill in the space between the snowflakes, which looks easier than it is. I was cursing my decision to have snow covered mountains and rocky ground as I was trying to match both those seams up! I really love how it turned out though, so it was worth it in the end.

The only thing I’m slightly disappointed by is the blending of this row with the previous quilt. You know when in your mind you think you put the correct colors in, but when you’re done it’s off? I used a couple different blues in the sky to try to mimic the scrappy backgrounds above it, and from a distance it’s still just a huge block of blue. The white seams also look super annoyingly obvious right now, but I know that they will even out on top of some batting once they are quilted. Also, I know I own white on white fabric but I haven’t seen it since I moved. I’m probably going to find it in about a year stuffed inside some vase we never use or somewhere equally stupid. Thus – why I used solid white.

Jennifer, I apologize for taking forever to finish my contribution to your quilt, but I hope that you think the wait was worth it. If not, I will totally take the winter portion back and make a wall hanging. I’m kidding, but not totally 😉

Ladies of Round Trip Quilts, it was a pleasure to work with all of you and I’m really glad I got to have this experience with all of you. Someday I would love to meet all of you in person!

Linking to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, TGIFF, Paper Piecing Party @ Quilt Art Designs

February 2, 2016February 18, 2016

Liberty & Linen Meadow Quilt

Long, long ago I saw Lizzy House‘s Meadow quilt when she got it back from Angela Walters, and I thought it was such a lovely quilt. But, she was not selling the pattern. She was teaching it as a workshop, and was not going to teach down by me (I was living in North Carolina at the time), so I put it out of my mind.

Fast forward a bit, and I moved to New York in Summer 2015. I had started following most of the quilt groups in the area, to include the ones that were a little far away – like the Central NJ Modern Quilt Guild. Then, the Central NJ Modern Quilt Guild announced that they had space in their Meadow workshop and that they were opening it up to non-members. I think I emailed them that same day to find out the details and to get my slot.

This quilt covered multiple bases for me. I had declared to myself that this year was going to be the year that I tried curved piecing and took classes that would introduce me to new techniques. I wanted to do more custom quilting. I wanted a queen sized quilt for my bed. I wanted to use the beautiful Liberty fabrics I had been stashing. This quilt covers all of that!

In mid-August, I set up some podcasts and drove about 2 hours down to this workshop. It’s always a little weird walking in to a place where you don’t know anyone with your arms full of fabrics and a machine, but the ladies of the Central NJ Modern Quilt Guild were wonderful and welcomed me right away. Seriously, if live closer than 2 hours from their meetings, you should join their guild because they are a great group!

The entire workshop was such a pleasure. Lizzy is a very warm and genuine person, and a great teacher. All of us made at least one block, and had the opportunity to sit down with her and plan out our entire quilt. I made two blocks (because when I have the opportunity for uninterrupted sewing, I use it), and they are the ones on the left below.

We had so much fun going through my fabric to make the piles that would turn into a block. Then I photographed the piles and glued swatches of them to the layout so I could remember how I wanted to do it.

After the workshop, I intended to get started on the quilt right away. Instead, it sat in the bag I had brought it home from the workshop in. My parents came to visit. Then my Forging Steel Quilt was due for Make Modern. I had to finish my part of the Round Trip Quilts Round Robin. In late September, I decided what background I wanted to use and ordered more of it so I would have enough to make the quilt queen sized. In October, I finally made a couple more practice blocks to make sure I could remember how to do the pattern and finally started my quilt!

There was a little girl who decided she should get this quilt, and wanted to use it before I even had time to add borders, or quilt it!

I used Quilter’s Dream wool batting for this quilt, and it is my new favorite batting. It shows the quilting definition so well, and is amazing to sleep under. The wool is light and breathable and warm and perfect. I plan to use wool for every bed size quilt I make between now and eternity. That’s how much I love this batting inside a quilt.

There are a couple thread changes on this one. I used pink variegated Fantastico for the flower, and a mint So Fine for the flower centers and in the olive border.

I brought the quilt with me on train to school on November 2nd so I could get most of the binding done, and finished the binding and quilt sleeve on the 3rd before running down to NJ to drop it off at the Brownstone Quilt Guild’s show. That day there happened to be another passenger knitting, and me sewing the binding, so the conductor joked it was the “crafting express.” I wish there was a such thing! I would get so much done if I could use my machine on the train…

This shot was shortly after I started using it on my bed. I woke up one morning, and the light was absolutely perfect to show off the quilting.

The flower outsides are all assorted Liberty fabrics, and the outer border is Essex yarn dyed linen in olive. The backing is Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt. I used Dress Floral in Maple and Multi Floral in Maple.

I wanted to do sort of a medium custom level quilting on this Meadow Quilt. I knew I wanted the border. I did the straight lines in the outer most portion because I like the contrast and knew that part would not be seen as much because it hangs off the bed. The area between the border and the flowers is a loose freehand fill. I didn’t want something super dense, although that would have been beautiful.

The design I used on the flowers and Liberty portions can be seen better in previous photos. I designed the pattern used in the Liberty portion, and I really like how it filled the area without overwhelming the beautiful fabric I used. I saw one Meadow Quilt finished after mine that has a design in the petals that I wish I would have thought of, but I still haven’t seen another one with a design I like better than what I used in the Liberty section.

I am so happy with my queen quilt that I get to sleep under every night. I had never made myself a queen sized quilt until now, and I wish I would have done it a lot sooner.

Measurements: 88″ x 100″

Oh, and I got an Honorable Mention in the Quilt Show that had helped push me to get this finished. This is a quilt more for use than for show, so I’m happy with it.

Linking up to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, TGIFF, Link a Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts, Show off Saturday at Sew Can She

November 10, 2015November 6, 2015

Dutchess Heritage Quilt Show

Columbus Day weekend marked my first New York quilt show. The Dutchess Heritage Quilt Show is every other year in Poughkeepsie, New York at Dutchess Community College and is put on (mostly) by members of the First Dutchess Quilters (but it’s not technically the guild’s show).

They had a wide variety of vendors (16!) and put on a fashion show and workshops in conjunction with the show.

I entered a few quilts, and was quite pleased with my first showing up here. I like to enter quilt shows because it’s one of the few places that you can receive true feedback on the quality of your quilting and piecing. Show and Tell at guilds is great, but it’s purpose is to share and celebrate and inspire (not to critique). Classes teach a new technique, but don’t necessarily help you learn what you need to learn to improve the techniques you already know.

In the interest of removing some of the mystique from quilt show judging and to help others learn from my lessons, I want to share the comments for my quilts.

The first quilt I entered was my Forging Steel quilt, which is in Make Modern issue 8. This quilt earned 1st place in Pieced Wall Quilt, a Judge’s Choice award, and a Vendor’s Choice award (Amelia’s Garden). The comments for this quilt (and all the others in this show) were very in-depth and positively phrased even if referring to improvements.

Fabrics lend appeal
Unexpected quilting choice add so much visual excitement
Very good quilting technique
Excellent precision in piecing
Excellent binding

I also entered Square Dance in the Group Quilt category. It earned 1st place in the Group Quilt category, and a Vendor’s Choice award (Easy Piecing). If you like this quilt and want to make your own, my PDF pattern is available on Craftsy here.

Wonderful color palette
Value placement shows well
Piecing is excellent
Quilting design in good scale
Quilting technique very well done
Binding excellent
Wonderful interpretation of modern quilt

One of Those Days was a mini quilt I made a tutorial for that had a few issues, which is probably why it did not do as well. I earned 3rd place in the Miniature category. I use a smaller binding for miniatures – a 2″ double fold binding, but I guess should go even smaller in the future.

Fabrics and quilting design well chosen to keep scale for miniature
Traditional look successfully achieved
Excellent piecing and quilting technique
Binding, although well secured, should be in scale for miniature

I also entered my Nature of Purple quilt in the Pieced Wall quilt category, and this quilt just does not show well. I also used white thread for part of the piecing before I thought about it. I switched to purple thread later, but after quilting if you look super close, you can see the white thread a little bit.

Modern interpretation is successfully achieved
Take care with obtrusive piecing thread
Complementary quilting design is successfully achieved
Excellent binding

How have your experiences entering a quilt show shaped your quilting? Has it been a positive experience with valuable feedback, or are there things that you wish had gone differently?

Linking to: Tips and Tutorials Tuesdays @ Late Night Quilter, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict

November 1, 2015January 4, 2016

Forging Steel Quilt Pattern

I am a covergirl! Or, at least my quilt is! Meet my latest pattern: Forging Steel Quilt.

This is Issue 8 of Make Modern magazine, which was released November 1st. Forging Steel is large baby/lap sized quilt. I personally like large baby quilts, so I would not hesitate to use this quilt for that purpose (although this one is going to be all mine!).

The block is a spin-off of the traditional anvil block with a border of half square triangles surrounding. I made this quilt with a variety of Cotton & Steel prints, so combining the historical roots with the modern brand of fabric used, I called it Forging Steel.

I quilted the background with large spiral loops and then went linear on the inside of the blocks for contrast. I left the triangles puffy because the puff once again contrasts the heavy quilting elsewhere. I really love custom quilting contrasts. The batting is Quilter’s Dream Puff, so it’s nice and light with good loft. In the background I used Bottom Line, and the inside of the blocks is a minty So-Fine.

I love this quilt, and I hope you do too! Please share if you make it because I would love to see your version. The hashtag is #forgingsteelquilt.

Linking to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, TGIFF, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric, Link a Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts, Show off Saturday at Sew Can She

October 13, 2015October 13, 2015

Sewing Organization – Scrap Organization

I had a pretty bad system for scraps for a long time. It was just a jumbled up mess in a plastic tub. Then it got worse… my daughter started to play in my scraps so I created a second smaller scrap bin for her.

Good idea, right? Except that then I started adding my scraps to her bin and that bin got bigger than the original stack. She also quit playing with it once there were so many scraps.

Something had to be done about my scrap problem. There are many very smart ways to deal with scraps that I researched as I looked for the solution to my problem. The main methods I found for scrap organization are by color or by size.

Arrange by Color: Have rainbow colored bins to place scraps in by color
- Amy at Diary of a Quilter arranges mostly by color
- Crazy Mom Quilts sorts by color, then type
Arrange by Size: Have bins or bags to place like sized scraps in.
- Lori from Bee in my Bonnet arranges mostly by size
- Bonnie Hunter’s Scrap User’s System
Arrange by Type: Not so size specific, more a feeling (ie. straight rectangular vs. irregular shapes vs. larger vs. strings)
- Vintage Modern Quilts separates hers into 6 categories based on how they will be used

I find that scrap management works best for me if I make it easy… spending a day cutting scraps from a bin into something useable is not my idea of fun. So, the scraps stay in the bin.

Easy for me: I cut my scraps down to a useable size as soon as I finish cutting what I am working on. Sometimes that means I cut them out the minute I am finished with the fabric, sometimes that means setting it aside and doing it at the end of the day. If I am cutting out a complete quilt, I may wait until I am finished if I am on a roll, but I cut them down before I can start another project.

I do admit to letting the cut squares sit for awhile before I sort them into the ziplock bags I store them in. I would probably claim that sorting goes faster when you have multiple of each size, but I am sometimes just mentally done with those scraps after cutting and need to build up the energy to face them another day.

How do I cut my scraps down? I arrange by size.

2″ squares
2.5″ squares
3″ squares
5″ squares
10″ squares
strings

I started originally with only 2.5″ and 5″ squares, but found that these other categories were meeting the size demands of my scraps. I arrange them by size with no regard for color. I don’t have enough scraps for a scrappy quilt yet, but I try to draw from these if I have a Stash Bee block that requires anything that fits into these categories. For my stash bee block last month, I had to cut a couple squares that were 1.5″ so I just grabbed a 2″ square and cut it down.

Keeping scraps for paper piecing? Even though I love paper piecing, and those odd little shapes were part of what originally motivated me to start keeping scraps, I’ve found I just don’t use scraps to paper piece. The odds of finding the color I want in the size I need from my scraps was just too unlikely and slow of a process for me. Thus, cutting the scraps down into useable shapes makes me more likely to use them.

I keep the cut and sorted scraps in a green scrapbooking square tote. They sell these at every crafting store, but if you get them seasonally at Costco they come in a 5 pack that is an amazing price. I like the green color because it reminds me to recycle the fabric within my own projects.

There are so many methods to deal with scraps, and this is what I have found works for me after a lot of trial and error. What are your favorite ways to control scraps?

-Heather

Linking to: Scraptastic Tuesday @ She Can Quilt, Tips and Tutorials Tuesdays @ Late Night Quilter, WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric

October 6, 2015September 29, 2015

3rd Quarter 2015 Bee Blocks

Time for the Stash Bee roundup! I always enjoy the wide variety of blocks that I get to make, and this quarter was no exception.

I finished up Margaret’s block just in time! It wasn’t completed the last day of September, but I was pretty close. This field of flowers is going to make such a cheerful quilt!

August was a fun month making these blocks for Debbie. Even though this block was in the middle of some personal projects with too many HSTs, I really enjoyed making it. I still love these colors, and can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

In July, we made string blocks for Martina. I’ve only made string block once before and they are so relaxing and fun. Strings are one of my scrap categories, so maybe I’ll make one of these someday.

Linking up to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, Scraptastic Tuesday @ She Can Quilt, WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015

Website Maintenance

My Friday finish isn’t a traditional one… but it was a long time coming! I’ve been meaning to do some site cleanup and add a page for my tutorials and patterns so that they are easier to find, and I’ve finally done it!

I will be updating these pages as more patterns and tutorials come along. I’ve got a few patterns in the works, so hopefully between 15 page term papers, I will have time to put those together. Let me know if any of these are helpful or if you make any of the projects, because I would love to see them!

Linking up to: Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, TGIFF, Link a Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts

September 29, 2015September 18, 2015