Bloggers Quilt Festival–Bed Quilt for a Teenager - Crossroads

 

Hi there ! If you are visiting my blog for the first time while touring the

Blogger's Quilt Festival,

welcome!

 

 

This is my second entry for the Quilt Festival.  I am entering my sons Crossroads quilt into the Bed Sized Quilt Category. The pattern for this quilt is called Power of 4 designed by Tony Jacobson for Fons and Porter for the Love of Quilting Magazine, May/June 2013 issue.

 

 

I changed the pattern slightly by adding extra rows and 2 borders, the  inner border is Kona snow and the outer is Parson Gray., the original quilt size is 64 x 76 and I needed it to be big enough to fit a Queen Bed.

The month before our dog was sick and the month before our lives got a little crazy house hunting and moving etc., I started a quilt, and I did get it finished just before we moved.  So I can now say that while we lived there I made a quilt for every member of our household!

I made this quilt for my youngest son,

Every time I have asked him if he wants a quilt he has always said he didn’t want one, he has his favorite worn out thread bear quilt!  But like I said I wanted to have made a quilt for each of us in our little family while living in that particular home.  So he didn’t have a choice, he was getting one!  Teenagers can be difficult at the best of times! but he absolutely loves this quilt,

As he was not interested in the planning stage of it , I just went ahead and made decisions on colour and pattern without his input! I think it can be difficult making a quilt for teenagers, especially boys, there does not seem to be too many fabrics geared to young men that are modern and the right colours.  But this line seemed to be perfect.

 

 

I named this quilt Crossroads, I think it’s the perfect name for it!

 

The quilt top all pieced at our home before we moved

 

 

(oh no look at the deck! in need of some TLC it has now been power washed and stained since this photo was taken, only 3 weeks after moving in!)

 

 

 

 

To see more beautiful quilts visit  Amy's Creative Side to enjoy the festival. Pictures of the quilts will be posted between now and October 31, its certainly worth a visit to look at all the beautiful quilts.

 

Quilt Details

I gave my LAQ free reign when it came to quilting this quilt, and I love the pattern she chose, it really does give it a modern look and some movement to the quilt. Thank you Sue! If you need a quilt quilting then I recommend Sue, she does a fantastic job and I do know that she received quilt by mail all the time to be quilted.
This magazine classed this quilt as being intermediate, but I found it extremely quick and easy to make, the most difficult part was making sure all the rows lined up, but that just required some patience on my part.

• Fabrics used – Parson Gray for FreeSpirit by David Butler, Dear Stella, (will add more details when I find the selvedge edges!)
• Border –  Robert Kaufmann Kona Snow (inner) Parson Gray (outer)
• Binding – Kona Delph Blue
• Backing – Gasp! A sheet from Target!
• Quilting – by Sue Tuma 
• Pantograph – Modern Curves by Anita Shackelford
• Thread -  Signature Cotton in Oyster Shell

• Batting – Legacy 80/20

 

Bloggers Quilt Festival 2013

 

Hi there ! If you are visiting my blog for the first time while touring the

Blogger's Quilt Festival,

welcome!

 

 

This will be my first time entering a quilt in the Festival.  I have decided to enter my English Country Garden Quilt.  This quilt really does mean a lot to me. 

 

 

 

 

 

When I first learnt about quilting what I really wanted to make was a Union Jack Quilt.  I tried paper piecing but failed miserably,  So my union jack quilt was put on the back burner for a while.

 

 

 

To cut a long story short, I joined a Bee made up of a group of wonderful ladies that I met when I took part in the 3x6 quilting bee. Our hive made stars for each other, and we got along fantastically so after our quarter was over, we decided to have a Bee of our very own.  We named our group Stars in their Eyes. 

 

When it came to my month, I chose the Union Jack  block, 

 

 

I wanted it to remind me of an English Country Garden.  So the instructions I gave my hive was to make a block using any colour they wanted, and to think of an English Country Garden.

 

Well I could not have asked for better blocks.  They are absolutely gorgeous.

 

When I put this quilt together I was in the process of selling and moving house and also had a extremely sick dog, that passed away only last week.  So as you can imagine it was an extremely stressful time in my life.  Receiving the blocks and putting this quilt together, at times gave me an escape away from all that was going on. I only moved in August and managed to get my quilt top finished at my old house, just 2 days before moving house. 

 

And I ended up with the most amazing quilt, that I will cherish forever. And now is just the right time of year to be sitting snuggled up on the sofa wrapped in my beautiful quilt.

Thank you ladies.

 

 

Fabrics used – Assorted fabrics from my hives stash!

Sashing –  Kona Snow White

Binding – Red with white Polka Dots 

Quilting – by Sue Tuma 

Quilted with a Pantograph

Thread -  Signature Cotton

Batting – Legacy 80/20

 

Giveaway Winner and Retail Therapy–Scrumptious

Sometimes, when things are difficult in life and you need a pick me up.  There is nothing like a bit of retail therapy for a girl!

Last night I was sat catching up on my blog reading and browsing Instagram when I saw that Camille of Thimble Blossoms had liked a photo of a Scrumptious fat quarter bundle that was for sale in a new to me Etsy shop, Westwood Acres, well I just had to go and check it out.  Oh My!!!! I instantly fell in love with this line, (I’m guessing I am the last to know about Scrumptious, but there has been a lot going on). And it jumped in my cart all by itself!

So I now have this Scrumptious fat quarter bundle to look forward to.

On another fun note

we have a Winner! 

Congratulations to 

Annabelle of Life's Rich Pattern

the winner of the Geese around the Sun, paper piecing pattern by Soma of Whims and Fancies.

Her comment:

Your UJ quilt is completely stunning! I have made a couple of single UJ quilts (throw size) and they came together fairly easily. I have the link to the pattern somewhere if you are interested.
I'm quite a newbie to pp having only made a few blocks but it's fun! I just made a feather block and an Arkansas Traveler block. Thanks for the chance to win the fab pattern :)

 

 

 

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result: 9 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

WIP Wednesday–Bee Block and Tula Blocks

Its been a while since I did any sewing! And this week has been a little difficult as we took our dog for a 2nd opinion from a new vet,  we do have a diagnosis, its not good, he has lymphoma, something that should had been picked up at our previous vets was not, he had little lumps where the lymph nodes are on his neck, the old vet said they were fatty tissues! and for 2 months we treated him for Addison's disease! however we took him to the vets Monday and gave the new vet all the information we had, x-rays blood tests, scans, etc. and mentioned the lumps on his neck, as far as she was concerned they were not just fatty tissue, they took samples and we received the results the very next day.  I can sit here and do What if they had found it sooner etc., why didn’t the old vet get them tested,  but its not going to help, so right now we are just trying to make him as comfortable as possible until its time to do the right thing. Anyway I am not going to dwell on all this, there is nothing I can do, I'm just going to enjoy the time he has left.

Anyway,  last week  or maybe the week before I managed to make a Bee Block for the Stars in Their Eyes Bee, This time it was Becky's turn and she chose different variations of the Carpenters Wheel. 

I chose to go with the ever so popular Swoon Block, after all I have had plenty of practice making swoon blocks, (as you will know if you follow my blog). 

This time I made the block 16 inches instead of the regular size called for in the pattern for Swoon.  I also used the no waste method for making flying geese and although it took me a while longer as I was new to this method of making flying geese, if your interested I used this  No Waste Flying Geese Tutorial

I have also made a few Tula 100 Blocks, I am quite behind now with the quilt along hosted by So Sweetness, if your interested you can find all the latest links to the City Sampler Quilt Along  here.

I am quite far behind now   You never know I might catch up!

 

I also received my charms from a swap that I was in on Flickr, so I am using these and scraps to make my blocks. 

For some of the blocks I am using similar colours and sometimes even the same fabrics.  But I ‘m also trying to make it mine!

I have had some absolutely great responses from the sponsors I contacted about making donations to the Cut Ups Quilt Retreat next month.  You can read all about our retreat here.

Here are just a few of the awesome sponsors that have donated prizes. I cannot Thank them enough it is going to make this retreat so much fun! I wish you could all come and join in the fun. To check out there fabulous stores and blogs just click on the link.

 

I also wanted to remind you all, there is one day to enter the giveaway sponsored by  Soma of Whims and Fancies, You can find all the details, for entering the giveaway here .

Looking Forward to November!

I am so happy that October has arrived.

Because this means its only a month away until I go on a quilting retreat!

1st day, look how tidy everything is! I can assure you it didn’t look like this for long!

I went for the first time last year with my local quilting club “The Cut Ups” and I had so much fun. 

Look at the beautiful view we had from the house “Four Mounds”

I am so lucky to be a member of a fantastic group of ladies who get together once a month to sew and quilt together. We call ourselves the “Cut Ups”. I look forward to our monthly meetings, where it is a time for me to talk to a group of like minded ladies that love to sew and quilt. We share ideas, discuss patterns, books and quilts we are working on, talk about the stores we have visited or stores online that we have bought fabric from. We help each other with quilt math problems and share and promote tools that we have found useful. But we also just enjoy each other’s company.

Here is a photo of some of us at last years retreat.  I know  we look like we had not slept for days! Probably because we didn’t.  We were up all hours sewing away, unsewing and having a great time.

Each year we organize the decorating of a Christmas tree. The decorations are all handmade and usually there is some sort of sewing involved. It usually takes us about 3 months to make the decorations for our tree. Our tree is then raffled off in the Festival of Trees/Tiny Tim Gala Benefit. Proceeds from the raffle are then distributed to local charities.

Last year while we were on retreat the Festival of Trees/Tiny Tim Gala Benefit took place. This meant that none of us could attend, but we were updated by friends and spouses about the event and our tree was a hit with everyone that attended.

Here is our tree from last year after we had just finished decorating it in a local warehouse. The process took hours and we did it over a number of days.  Each individual decoration had to be wired to the tree, so that when it was moved to the gala, the decorations did not fall off.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I moved a couple of months ago.  This has certainly not stopped me keeping in touch with these wonderful ladies.  I have already had a visit from one of them.  My son also started college half an hour from where I used to live so when I collect him for a weekend at home, I go early on a Friday morning and hang out for the day with my quilt friends and then collect him at the end of the day on my way back to our new home.

This year at our quilt retreat I would like to be able surprise everyone by either giving them a goodie bag, or by giving them the chance to win some great prizes for some of the games we play. As a way of saying “Thank You” for just being a great bunch of ladies and for their hard work in giving back to the community and all their work with the Festival of Trees.

I am currently in the process of contacting sponsors to see if they will donate items for goodie bags or prizes for the games that we play.  And what can I say I have had a great response from most of the sponsors I have contacted, the ladies are going to be in for a real treat!

Just look at some of the sponsors who are donating  to our quilt retreat!

If anyone else reading this blog post would also like to donate prizes for our quilt retreat, please leave a comment and I will get back to you straight away.