heARTS Creations

Three Hospice Finishes & July Round-Up

Posted on August 2, 2017 by heARTs Creations

IMG_1783 (Medium)

One of my goals the last couple of weeks has been to move along the Hospice quilts I have to be completed. The bright one above is a smaller lap quilt. The blocks in this next quilt were all pieced at a retreat by all those in attendance and I put the blocks together at my residency in June. This week I finally got it quilted and bound and am quite pleased with the results. I’ve also been working on my free motion quilting and think I’m finally getting the hang of it with simpler designs. Yes, I know, “practice, practice, practice!”

IMG_1785 (Medium)

IMG_1786 (Medium)

The third quilt top was donated by a reader and quilted by a friend on her long arm. Thank you so much Cindy B – it is such a time saver for me and she does such a great job!

IMG_1784 (Medium)

My big goal for August is to just enjoy working on some of my many projects. I reduced my list quite a bit, only listing those projects I have been working on or will work on in the next month. The others are still in their boxes on the shelf and will be gotten to eventually. Up to now I have never minded having so many projects in the wings. Lately they have made me a bit anxious and other than the monthly Island Batik Ambassador projects, I will not begin any new ones until the number is greatly reduced. A by-product of getting older maybe? This has been the case in my whole house. Every closet, cupboard, drawer and storage space has been cleaned out and many, many things donated. It has been VERY freeing! I will not stress about completing the projects, however, I will continue to enjoy the process.

8 2017 Project Listing

Linking up with Jo’s Country Junction and Needle & Thread Thursday

A Box Full of Treasure!

Posted on July 30, 2017 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Ambassador Adventure

IMG_1777 (Medium)

Being an Island Batik Ambassador has been such a fun adventure and a valuable learning experience. Late yesterday afternoon it got even better! The second shipment of glorious fabrics arrived! Many of the other ambassadors had already received their boxes (we post on a private FB page). I was SO sure I’d have to wait until Monday, but this treasure was on my front porch when we got home!

IMG_1778 (Medium)

I’m not one to wait and look at an unopened gift or box. Tearing into this box certainly did not disappoint.

Here is an always useful neutral and a bonus pack. In my opinion the whole box is a bonus! There is also yardage of a polka dot rayon (ha, ha, more polka dots!) I haven’t garment sewn in forever, but this will definitely be a must do.

The next 3 batches, which includes a pack of 10 inch squares, can only be peeked at as these fabrics have not been released yet. Of course I have been through all of them just marveling at the beautiful designs and colors.

IMG_1781 (Medium)

And finally, and I think my favorite, are the packs of five inch strips. There is such a wonderful variety there and makes for such happy choices when designing a quilted piece.

IMG_1782 (Medium)

Now to put it all away. Problem is, my Island Batik bin is full. Such a problem, right? Ha – I’ll need to do some rearranging and empty another bin, aka happy work!

2 Comments

Posted in Color, Fabric, Island Batiks, Stash and tagged Color, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Boredom and Polka Dots

Posted on July 24, 2017 by heARTs Creations

Boredom – something I do not experience. Except for yesterday. Oh my, it hard! Way too hot to go outside. Wasn’t feeling the sewing vibe which resulted in unsewing. Became a couch potato for a while and that was really not fun – increased the boredom a gazillion percent! Cleaned up my studio – oh boy, that took all of 30 minutes! Couldn’t work on the computer because Hubby was rebuilding it. Finally, I pulled out my bin of polka dot fabrics.

And do have a fair amount of polka dots because I really love them. I laid them all out by color. Most were 6″ wide strips so I rolled up each color. The fat quarters were stacked together at one end. Oh how much nicer it looks. I should have taken a before pic – it was pretty bad (worse than that actually). The colors were all jumbled up and nothing folded nicely. I like the finished bin much better. And YES – I plan to do a polka dot quilt. A wild Dresden Plate maybe? A Scrappy Trip Around the World? Just not sure – any suggestions??

Baby Bear Baby Quilt

Posted on July 17, 2017 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Ambassador Adventure

Mountain Bear 1 (Medium)

Our Ambassador challenge for July: Baby and Crib quilts. Wonderful timing as there is a family I know expecting a baby and of course I wanted to make a quilt. I decided to go with a mountain theme, “baby bear,” and picked out some great tan, brown and green Island Batiks. The piecing was done using Aurofil Thread and for the quilting I used two Superior Threads’ Fantastico, both variegated. They absolutely quilt like a dream!

Baby quilt fabrics (Medium)

Oh Baby! Crib Quilts This was not looking like your typical baby quilt with bright primary colors or batiks, but I really liked the idea of keeping the mountain theme in the quilt. The body was all half-square triangles with the center being framed. The bear and pine tree are appliqued.

This was a fun and fairly quick project and best of all, I have a gift done long before the new arrival!

Be sure to check out all the Island Batik Ambassador creative projects. #islandbatiks

Mountain Bear 2 (Medium)

Linking up with Em’s Scrapbag

7 Comments

Posted in Applique, Art, Color, Fabric, Island Batiks, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Patterns, projects, Quilting, Quilts, Thread. Bookmark the permalink.

A Quilt for Love

Posted on July 10, 2017 by heARTs Creations

Heart Quilt 2 heARTsCreations.com

A couple we are quite fond of are getting married this fall and I was so excited to make them a quilt. Did you get that – they are getting married this October and the quilt is done!! Not only did I really want to make them a quilt, but I was excited about the design I chose and the colors to go with their décor.

There were quite a few gray fabrics in my stash and I had fun picking out several more. The oranges were a little more challenging. I didn’t want a “Halloween orange,” but more of a tangerine orange. These colors are out of my usual range, but I knew it went with their décor and I love the result!

Heart quilt heARTsCreations.com

It was a lot of half square triangles, so I took a shortcut. I cut triangles on my Sizzix. The fabric had been starched so I didn’t worry about stretching on the bias. It was so much easier than putting two squares together, marking a line and then sewing two seams. It worked perfectly!

I’m planning to see the couple soon to gift this quilt to them, and my hope is that this quilt adds warmth to their lives together.

5 Comments

Posted in block pattern, Color, Fabric, Gifts, Modern Quilting, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Color, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Support to Another Quilter

Posted on July 5, 2017 by heARTs Creations

IMG_1723 (Medium) Recently a quilting friend was going through some medical difficulties. As a show of support, a call went out for 12 inch finished blocks. Within just a couple of weeks the blocks were assembled and a long arm quilter, who also made a block, quilted it. As soon as it was bound it was quickly delivered. The recipient is such a kind, warm and generous person and is also a very talented quilter. Below is the portion of the label with a message. The names of all who participated were also listed on the label.

label

Here are just a few of the blocks. So fun to see all the different blocks everyone came up with. There were also a few placed on the quilt back.

I had the privilege of delivering it and the joy on her face when she pulled the quilt out of the gift bag was priceless. This was our way of letting her know we cared, and whenever she wraps herself in this quilt, we hope she feels our warmth. Blessings to her for a full recovery and much joy.

And here is my June wrap-up. There was so much Hospice sewing done while I was at my week in residency, I chose to just group them. Hopefully next month I’ll see a few of those quilted and bound!

Progress Listing 7 1

2 Comments

Posted in block pattern, Color, Gifts, Projects, Quilting and tagged Charity, projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Fun with Curves Challenge!

Posted on June 30, 2017 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Ambassador Adventure

Curvalicious Quilts (Medium)

Whew – posting this with only hours to spare! Haven’t missed an Island Batik Ambassador Challenge deadline yet, and don’t want to find out what happens if I do!

June’s challenge is curved piecing. My sofa has been crying out for a quilted pillow, so here was my chance. I chose brown and gold. One half is a checkerboard and the other side is curved piecing.

Laying one piece on top of another, gentle curves were cut, pulled apart, the two to be pieced marked, pinned, then pieced. If the curves are not too deep, the piecing is easy and smooth and I love the results.

On the checkered side, I chose a curved quilting stitch to help play into the theme. On the curved side and around the border, I chose to use my Sashiko machine and sew the simple yet elegant Sashiko stitch.

Curved quilting on squares