Category Archives: Quilt Setting

Back from A Retreat

Posted on February 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Talk about fun! There might have been more laughter than sewing! Thankfully, there was a lot of sewing on my part. As usual, I brought more projects than I could possibly have worked on. Just in case I have a problem with a project, or if I should get bored with a project, or if I miraculously finish a project, I’ll have another to keep me busy. This was a “Featherweight Lovers” retreat, so we all brought our Featherweight machines. Although not a FW, Dee Dee’s Singer was an absolute beauty and I love her elegant setting with a table lamp!

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I actually worked on three projects at once. First, was my leader-ender with 2 1/2″ squares finishing as sixteen patches. Second, for the “I Spy” I am doing, I did “square in a square” for the five inch cut picture squares. Simultaneously, I sewed parts of the project using the Egyptian fabric. Only one complete block to show, but quite a bit done on the others. Update: Corrected block. There were 3 pieces turned the wrong way – this is meant to be a star!

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ALL the “I Spy” squares are now a square in a square. I set them all out and pinned – now I just need to sew together. I did need a few more and I have such awesome quilting buddies – I now have all I need. Thank you!!

And finally, my sixteen patch leader ender. I set out these blocks because that is just so much fun. A few of my 1 1/2″ strips happened to get onto one of the blocks and EUREKA! I knew I had to use them for sashings. I ran out of long enough strips, but did manage to get this much together. A little wild, but I love it. After I’ve added the other sashed blocks, I’ll work out a border – maybe I’ll have another happy accident!

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Lots of great sewing done by the other retreaters. Here are just a few: Pam’s scrappy and her batik (borders to be added) –

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Jennie’s charms and stars – I love those colors –

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Janet’s Sunbonnet Sue. The setting is delightful. And how about her tiny pieces from her ongoing leader-enders?

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Seatta loves to do the Bonnie Hunter quilts –

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There were so many more that did not, unfortunately, make it into my camera. Very inspirational group. AND, an intensely fun group!

A big Thank You to Debbie for planning this fun and memorable retreat!

Lots of Color Scrappy Strips

Posted on January 16, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Two packs of bright narrow strips (Windham Foundation) turned into lots of sewing fun. What a joy to work with such bright prints! I decided to work with columns of the strips and added a wider black and white piece every so often. No real plan here, just fun sewing. This wasn’t going to be very big and when I finished this much, I took a picture. Oh dear, much too busy. It was almost enough for me to put aside but I knew if I did that it might not see the light of day for a long, long time.

So…I added black borders. It really contained it and I liked it! More strip sewing to add outer borders and then more black borders. Now I really like this little quilt. I even quilted it right away which is SO not my MO. I used a variegated thread and did large wavy lines. I like the way the colors of the thread show on the black fabric.

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I used a bright flowery fabric for the backing to compliment the front of the quilt.

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Love having a finish in January! One more WIP to check off my list.

Be sure to visit the Island Batik Blog Hop – Great Projects & Giveaways!

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Linking up with:

WIPS on Wednesdays, Linky Tuesday, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off the Wall Friday

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Posted in Art, block pattern, Blog Hop, Color, Fabric, Island Batiks, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Color, projects, Quilting. 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.

Scrappy & Grunge – Bohemian Hippie*ish

Posted on September 23, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Bohemium 4 (Large)

Lots of scraps, cut into strips and squares, put together as quarter log cabins and set on point. I put many of the finished blocks on the design wall and quickly determined that they did indeed need to go on point. After playing and playing with them, I also determined that I wanted a sashing to help really bring out all the pretty prints. I tried lots of solids but it was a no-go.

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Then I tried Grunge. Yes! But what color? I went to my fave quilt shop and layed out about 8 different Grunge bolts on a table with some of my blocks. The quilt shop professionals weighed in on their choices (a very bright lime green) and many of the customers did as well. It was then narrowed to three. I kept going back to this turquoise and I love the end result.

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The quilt sings “Bohemian” to me – reminds me a little of the hippie times in the 60’s. It will be gifted to a special young lady I’ve known since she was a little girl and I understand she likes this style. I hope it will keep her warm and happy for many years to come. For me it was a total delight to make. Now I only have about ten million more scraps to use!

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Linking up with: Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, Linky Tuesday, My Quilt Infatuation

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Posted in Art, block pattern, Color, Fabric, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Scraps and tagged Color, projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

Love the Birds – Great Outdoors Blog Hop and Giveaway

Posted on September 4, 2018 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Adventure

“The Great Outdoors” – what a broad subject! Hubby and I do love the great outdoors. we walk, hike, bike ride, and kayak. The heat of the summer, however, doesn’t agree with us for such activities and we do spend a great deal of time on our screened porch enjoying the great outdoors of our yard. We have lots of plantings, live among the trees and have a LOT of birdhouses. Several bird couples have moved in at different times this season, had babies and have now relocated. Several bird feeders and a bird bath keep the winged activity going quite strong. We even have owls and hawks – oh my! My decision for this challenge was made when I went through my pattern bin (yes, a bin full of patterns!) and revisited this cute birdhouse and bird wall quilt design, Remembering Annabelle by Bloom Creek.

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The collection of batiks that Island Batik provided for this project is Whatnot. Such amazing fun colors to work with!

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I did not follow the pattern exactly. I added the suns in each of the corners. I thought the black and white checked border really helped to set off the whole design.

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The center of the pattern had words. I chose, instead to add a butterfly. At that point I was not wanting to do any more applique, so I cut a square, starched it heavily and found an origami tutorial for folding a butterfly. It worked! The first one was too large for the center, so I perched him in one corner and did a second, smaller one to add to the center.

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The end of this fun and talent packed blog hop comes to an end today. There’s still time to visit the other blogs, enter their giveaways and to enter the Island Batik giveaway below. Now for heARTs Creations giveaway! – 1 fat quarter and 7 fat eighths. All you need do is leave a comment telling me what you like about the Great Outdoors. Please note, I will need to contact the randomly chosen winner by email and this giveaway is for US addresses only. Winner will be announced Sunday, September 9.

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Monday, August 6 – All A Flutter – Yellow Cat Quilt Designs, Creative Blonde

Tuesday, August 7 – Birds N’ Bees – Ark Angel Creations, Patterns By Jen

Wednesday, August 8 – Canterbury Manor – Sally Manke, Powered By Quilting

Thursday, August 9 – Eclectic Garden – Desert Bloom Quilting, Sew Karen-ly Created

Friday, August 10 – Vintage Morris – MooseStash Quilting, Devoted Quilter

Monday, August 13 – Safari – Sew Incredibly Crazy, SweetGrass Designs

Tuesday, August 14 – Spring Blossoms – Mary Mack Made Mine, If These Threads Could Talk

Wednesday, August 15 – Victoria and Albert – Bejeweled Quilts, Clever Chameleon

Thursday, August 16 – Wild Things – Freemotion By The River, Kauffman Designs

Friday, August 17 – Petting Zoo – Den Syende Himmel, Sarah Goer Quilts

Monday, August 20 – Ocean Odyssey – Gateway Quilts, The Quilt Rambler

Tuesday, August 21 – British Rose – Busy Hands Quilts, Mania for Quilts

Wednesday, August 22 – Dear William – The Inquiring Quilter, MMM Quilts, Living Water Quilter

Thursday, August 23 – Dragonfly Dreams – Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter

Friday, August 24 – Fur-ocious Friends – Quilting Affection Designs, Dizzy Quilter

Monday, August 27 – Globetrotter – Pamela Quilts, Curliecue Creations

Tuesday, August 28 – Jungle Cruise – Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting, Little Bunny Quilts

Wednesday, August 29 – Lavendula – Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting

Thursday, August 30 – London Calling – Quilt in a Not-Shell, Lizard Creek Quilting

Friday, August 31 – Spirit Rhythm – Steph Jacobson, Whispers of Yore

Monday, September 3 – Sweet Tweets – Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Tuesday, September 4 – Whatnot – heARTS Creations, Me!; Slice of Pi Quilts

Linking up with WIPS on Wednesdays, Needle & Thread Thursday

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Posted in Applique, Art, Blog Hop, Color, Fabric, Give Away, Hexagons, Island Batiks, Modern Quilting, Pattern, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Color, Patterns, projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Hello July!

Posted on July 1, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Another month already! Whew – is it just me or is the summer already flying by? There has been a lot of sewing going on this past month here, but somehow I never seem to feel as though I’ve accomplished as much as I’d like to. About a week was spent sanding and painting my new table. I also took several days to prep backings and bindings for Hospice quilts. Here is one all finished. The quilt top was generously donated by Laurie J. She has donated several to our Hospice group and it is so greatly appreciated! My favorite part of quilting is the piecing, and at this point my least favorite is the quilting. I am trying to build my skills, but really am not complaining because receiving quilt tops is such a boost to our cause!

I also went to the Pineapple Fabric sale last week in Archdale, NC. If you are ever close enough, it is worth the trip! There was a huge clearance tent and the fabrics were about $4 a yard. There was a room of batiks and their main room was packed full of wonderful top quality quilting fabric all at discount prices. I went for specific needs for existing projects, but couldn’t resist these precut strips. Can’t help myself – will begin this one any day now. I love a mindless project!

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And here is my June wrap up. All in all, I am very pleased. Add to that, my studio got quite a bit more organized so I am one happy quilter!

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Linking up with: Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Moving it Forward

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Posted in Art, block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Pattern, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Sewing Studio and tagged Charity, projects, Quilting, Scraps, Sewing. Bookmark the permalink.

Farm Quilted Banner

Posted on June 13, 2018 by heARTs Creations

PP Tomatoes heARTsCreations.com (Medium)

My cousin Sal has a small farm at the lovely Bed and Breakfast he and his partner Beverly have in the Hudson Valley of New York. He began the farm portion a couple of years ago and sells garlic and veggies at his farm stand. He asked if I would make a banner type quilt for the stand and I gladly said “yes.” Originally, I sketched a fairly easy design that would have been quick to make. I planned to use vegetable fabrics and batiks. Those fabrics did get used, however, the design changed drastically when I found patterns for paper pieced veggies that I blogged about here.

The quilt began to come to life on the design board and I needed to put the name of the quilt in a prominent position. Oh why, oh why, did he have to name the farm “Patchwork Quilt Farm?!” That’s a long name! The actual reason is that the previous owner of the property sold quilts from the barn. I did not want to paper piece all those letters nor did I want to applique and stitch around all those letters. The perfect answer was iron on vinyl! It shows up so well and this is, after all, a banner that will hang outside, not a cuddle quilt!

Leftover fabrics were used in the backing. I proudly sent it off to him and his reaction upon receipt was everything I wished for. I look forward to seeing a picture of the quilt hanging at his stand (and yes, I put a sleeve on the back to help that along.)