Category Archives: Modern Quilting

Sew-in Fun!

Posted on September 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Last week I had the good fortune to spend four days in South Carolina with a group of talented and fun quilters! Everyone brought their own projects and worked away all day and into the night. Mostly we had hot sunny days and were able to enjoy the outdoor pool.

These hat pin cushions were made and gifted to each of us by Judy. I absolutely love mine and am so thankful for her thoughtfulness and efforts.

Here’s Laurie with her very impressive bin full of 1 1/2″ solid scraps. She’s turning them into the now popular spinner blocks. What a great use of scraps!

Debbie lives nearby and is the one who introduced us to the Homeplace B&B that we were at. Thank you Debbie!

Studious Susan is carefully planning her next project. (Something I need to get better at)

Sandy really worked away consistently. She not only machine sewed but also worked on some English paper piecing.

This square in a square quilt tells Susan’s life story. The grits block was definitely a favorite!

Lots of trimming and squaring up. Sandra was another who sewed, sewed, sewed!

A log cabin quilt for a friend of Laurie’s who recently purchased a log cabin! She’ll add a border – what a wonderful and thoughtful gift.

Judy is cutely peeking out from behind her 30’s print quilt. I love the design this layout makes.

This is such an impressive paper pieced beach quilt! Lorel isn’t finished with it yet. She’s planning on adding on some amusement – shells? crabs? beach balls? Can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Debbie brought her very impressive woven (from bed sheets) rug. Wow!!

Sandy finished this Frozen quilt top with a special little one in mind. How cute!

This minimal and very striking modern quilt was completed by Susan. I can’t wait to see this one quilted.

Five O’Clock Coffee Time!

Unfortunately, some did not get into the picture, including myself. There were eleven of us and I do believe a good time was had by all. Lucky me to be a part of this group of fun and talented ladies!

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Sew-in, Stash and tagged projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Cutting & July Wrap-up

Posted on August 11, 2019 by heARTs Creations

A small retreat awaits me come Labor Day so I wanted to do some prep. Most of my Works in Progress are not travel worthy – they are at the point that there’s too much thinking or I’m just not motivated to work on them. Interesting how when I begin my projects I’m SO excited and then, WHAM! Somewhere along the line I lose that enthusiasm. Fortunately, I tend to regain it later, sometimes even years later and manage to complete the project!

I recently purchased a kit on clearance and knew it was perfect for retreat. It took very little time to cut as there were two charm packs that did not need to be cut and a solid that was cut into strips and then subcut. Here are the charm packs – such pretty batiks!

Then there is an off white neutral and this really pretty dark turqoise batik. The pattern picture shows this fabric used as a very narrow border, however, it is nowhere in the directions! That would make it tough for a beginner, but I’m okay. I’ll decide the width I want to use once the body of the quilt is together.

And here’s to hot, hot July. I did escape to the mountains once and then to the beach for a few days. It may not look like I did much sewing, but I did complete a very large flimsy – a bed quilt for our master bedroom.

July WIPs

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Posted in charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Pattern, Projects, Quilting, Quilting Retreat and tagged Color, Patterns, projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Little Improv Thank You’s

Posted on June 30, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Recently I wanted to send thank you notes and somehow a store purchased card fell short of how I wanted to express my gratefulness. I was also feeling a bit restless about my sewing – time to break out the scraps and do some improve! I chose various brights and just had to add some black and white and just began to piece.

The heart shape on this one below was a happy accident! There was a fair amount of sewing with those narrow strips, but it was fun.

Basically a wonky log cabin, the one below is my favorite.

Each wasounted on stabilizer then glued to the front of a 5″ x 7″ card. If you do a card like this, remember to go to the post office to have it weighed as there was extra postage. But OH SO worth it! I just hope the recipients understand how much I appreciated them.

Linkups: NTT WOW Design Wall Monday Main Crush Monday What I Made Monday

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting and tagged improv, projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

#’s Two & Three Complete

Posted on May 12, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Happy Mother’s Day! Today’s celebration had many facets. First, I celebrated the memory of my mother. How I wish I could share my passion for quilting with her. She did not quilt, but one of her many talents was sewing. Second, my dear hubby honored me for being the mother to his children. I rather enjoyed his cooking breakfast for me. My children then honored me with an exceptional luncheon that they prepared. I in turn celebrated the good fortune of being their mother. Such a great day!!

Now on to today’s quilt story! I made three Hospice quilt tops from fabrics donated by Pineapple Fabrics, but only quilted and bound one. Last week I got really motivated and finished the other two! One I quilted loops and zig zagged in the squares.

The second I did double wavy lines across the quilt. The two long seams beside the squares are covered with ribbon. First, I glued them down with Okay to Wash It then sewed close to the side ends of the ribbon. I really like the way it separates out the sections and adds a little more interest to the quilt.

Both quilts were backed with fleece. I am loving backing the small quilts with fleece – sew so much easier for quilting!

I have three more Hospice quilts backed and ready to quilt. Time and motivation are all that are needed!

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Posted in charity quilts, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Modern Quilting, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Charity, projects, Quilting, Sewing. Bookmark the permalink.

Last Quilt of 2018

Posted on December 23, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Taking a break until 2019 is in order but I want to first share my final finish of 2019. I had many 2 1/2 inch strips of Kaffe fabric. Some were from a design roll and some from another project. Never have I ever done a Jelly Roll Race quilt so I thought that might be fun. However, after separating the light and darks, I decided on something a bit more dramatic.

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Matching the diagonal strips was a bit challenging, but once I figured out the method, it wasn’t too bad. I really like the look and best of all, the cutting was already done!

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I quilted straight lines and decided to do circles in three places. I began to machine stitch those but noticed that they weren’t showing up very well. I took the circle machine stitching out, found some hand quilting thread (a heavier thread) in my stash, and big-stitched by hand. I did a lot of the hand stitching while at a sewing get-away. I found it so relaxing. Best of all, I love the look!

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And now for my round-up for 2018. On my monthly Project Progress Listing, I usually list only those projects that I’m currently working on. My goal has been to reduce my Works in Progress (projects already begun). I’ve done the complete listing here and am so pleased to be at seventeen. It is still a lot and because my goal is to get it to five, I still have a ways to go. Several are almost done – just need quilting. I’m doing more of my own quilting, so they won’t get finished as quickly as I’d like, but I strongly plan to get to my goal this year! (AND 17 completed and donated Hospice quilts)

WIPS 2018

Thank you to all my followers and visitors to my creative journey this past year. Your comments are always so uplifting. I appreciate all of you so much. May you and yours have the best New Year ever!

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Posted in Art, charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Island Batiks, Kaffe Fasset, Modern Quilting, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Color, Jelly Roll Quilt, projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

On the Design Wall

Posted on November 28, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Finally I have something on one of my design walls! I’ve already eliminated a couple of blocks that just didn’t “fit.” Yes, it is all Kaffe fabrics. AND – all from my Kaffe scrap bin! (Not that the bin appears to be any less full.)

This is from Kathy Doughty’s book, “Making Quilts”. I started this one out as planned color, with each round being a particular color. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really working for me and am now putting it up as scrappy. I see that I have a lot of rearranging to do, but I need to walk away from it for awhile. I’d like to have it all set to sew together this weekend when I go away to sew with a few friends – we’ll see.

I’ve done quite a few quilts now with Kaffe fabrics. They are on the top of my favorite list, but am ready to something very different next time I allow myself to begin a new project.

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Posted in block pattern, Color, Design Wall, Fabric, Kaffe Fasset, Modern Quilting, Pattern, Projects, Quilting and tagged projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

The Fabric Made Me Do It – Again!

Posted on October 15, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Keep Calm Squirrel[1] Remember my rant about reducing my WIPs? Huh – guess I lied! How weak am I when I begin to look through my fabrics. Maybe I can justify this one, though – it’s a leader ender to have on hand at upcoming retreats. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! This also puts me as a member in good standing in the Squirrel Club!

I was going through my scrap bin of Kaffe fabrics which was filled to the brim with beautiful, colorful prints. I saw a quilt online recently that’s done with all half square triangles AND I have the perfect gray and white “splotchy” fabric to use as the neutral. Leaders and enders – a good way to double sewing production, so I began to cut triangles on the Big Kick and voila! Another WIP!

Now, do I really want to wait for retreat in a few weeks? No, I really want to begin it now, so I quickly packed the project away with all the other retreat goodness. I can still hear it calling me, but hopefully it will die down soon!