Shivaun Place Quilt

I started this quilt in the fall of 2016 thinking it would eventually go on my baby niece's "big girl bed." After a bit of confusion, my sister and I decided to wait on that and choose a quilt design when she was older (see Judy's Flower Quilt finished last year). I really loved this pattern and the fabrics I'd been working with, so I decided to enlarge it from 6 blocks to 9 and make it for my own bed (a full size). Luckily the pattern, Shivaun Place by Sassafras Lane Designs, included the larger option.

I started with Les Fleurs by Rifle Paper Co., adding a few blenders from other designers to create the 2-fabric contrast in each block. I used some other Rifle prints as well, as the project continued and they released more fabric collections. I started out with the navy and gold Les Fleurs print for the corner elements, but after making a couple of blocks, I decided that was too dark and heavy, and I switched to a more delicate peach floral.

There are only 9 blocks in this bed-size quilt because each one is 23 inches finished. They might be the largest blocks I've ever made for a project, and I really enjoyed the process of assembling them. The only challenge -- and one of the reasons this quilt took me so long to finish -- is that, for me, each block required the use of my design wall to keep track of all the pieces and a good amount of time to assemble the block without interruption. It's not the sort of project that I could work on a little bit here and there or take on a retreat. I needed to be at home in my sewing room with all my stuff gathered and attention focused.

I had 6 blocks made in 2017 but it wasn't until 2020 that I had 9 plus all the sashing ready to assemble the top.

Then it was time to choose the backing, and I struggled. At first I wanted to use all the Rifle Paper Co. fabric I'd gathered (which is a lot) to piece a backing. But I'm never very happy with my pieced quilt backs, and since this quilt was destined for my bed, I didn't want to be disappointed in the reverse side. So I finally gave up on the pieced idea and ordered a Carolyn Friedlander print that I thought complimented the prints on the front - light blue, a little gold and more graphic so as not to compete with all the florals.

The quilting is an edge-to-edge design done by Sterling Quilt Co. I used one of my stashed pale peach Rifle prints -- with scattered flowers and horses -- for the binding. My photos of this project range from October 2016 to November 2020, so it was a long one in the making! I'm happy to have it finished and finally on my bed.

Marcelle Medallion Quilt

Three years in the making, my Marcelle Medallion quilt is finally finished. I'm a little embarrassed by how long this one took me to make, but it's a lot! All those pieces and borders! It was on my to-finish list for 2020, and it feels so good to have it done and be able to move on.

By Green Bee Patterns

In September 2017, two of my fellow Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild members and I drove to Nashville for the day to join the Nashville guild's workshop with artist and designer Alexia Marcelle Abegg. We focused on the foundation paper pieced center medallion during the workshop and came home inspired to keep going around and around with all the borders.

One thing I really liked about the pattern cover quilt is the radiating cornerstones in darker value fabrics, so I tried to replicate that with my choices. My fabric pull started with Elizabeth Hartman's collection Pond, and I added low-volume prints and a few prints and solids in similar colors to expand my options for all those borders.

(If I could change anything, it would be that center and definitely that reddish border.)

With each border, it was fun to play around with my fabric choices and color options, changing my plans a little as I went. Here's more of the process as it grew:

Rosy pink? Nope. Try something else.

When I got to this stage above, the pattern called for just one more solid border. But I considered adding another one or two pieced borders to make it larger, and I played around in my EQ8 design program to see what that might look like. For the record, I'm not great at EQ8 and this took SO MUCH TIME. But I was able to see a couple of my ideas (I'm terrible at envisioning how something might look) and then decide with confidence that I didn't like them! So I guess it was time well spent.

So I returned to the original pattern and added the last border, making it just a little wider.

For the backing, I decided to make it pieced and use as much of my remaining fabric as possible. Typically I hate how my pieced backs turn out - I see other people do them well, but I'm never happy with mine. They always look too messy. But for this one I tried to create a little order by using softer colors and arranging the larger pieces in columns with neutral dividers. It's still kind of crazy, but organized crazy (?). And it was economical, which is always satisfying because so much of quilting is kind of expensive.

For the quilting, I sent it to a longarmer, Sterling LaBosky (@sterlingquiltco on Instagram) in South Carolina. I scoured Pinterest and Instagram trying to find someone else's Marcelle Medallion with an allover quilting pattern that I liked. I saw one with this square maze design and crossed my fingers that it would look good on my quilt too. Guess what? It does. :)

For the binding, I kept it pretty neutral with a subtle low-volume print because there's so much happening in the medallion. The binding complements the last border, so they sort of blend out together. I'm really pleased with how this quilt turned out -- and the pure fact that I managed to finish it after 3 years! It's a nice accomplishment for 2020.

Jelly Rainbow Quilt

I don't think I'm the only quilter who would say that staying home more this year hasn't been an absolute hardship. More time for quilting? I'm in. One of my quarantine quilt finishes is this Jelly Rainbow Quilt featuring Amy Butler fabrics. The pattern is free from Ruby Star Society and Moda Fabrics, and back in April, Devon (@missmake on Instagram) started a quiltalong. I talked my mom into doing it with me, and I was able to use two mini jelly rolls that I'd gotten from a friend in my guild who was destashing.

I really enjoyed making this quilt -- it's extremely easy but doesn't look overly simplistic. And I was able to make it completely using fabric from my stash, which almost never happens. I pieced the backing with leftovers from fat quarters, a jelly roll and a yard of Amy Butler fabric that I found at Tuesday Morning a while ago. It's crazy, but I think it works. The binding was already made and leftover from another project. It was just a few inches short, so I had to add the little green bit to finish. Viva la quarantine!

I donated this quilt to my local chapter of Project Linus for a child in need. I'm putting the pattern back on my to-do list, maybe for 2021, and I'd like to cut my own jelly roll strips from stash. If you're looking for a quick, satisfying and not overly large quilt, this one is a winner.

Judy's Flower Quilt

It's hard to believe that I made this quilt in around 6 months start to finish, but when your client is an irresistibly cute 4-year-old, you work quickly. This twin-sized quilt with hexagon flowers was made for my niece Judy's bed. Her older sister has two of my bed-sized quilts, so it was beyond time for Judy to get hers too.

I consulted with my sister on the colors of the flowers, which loosely coordinate with curtains hanging in Judy's redecorated bedroom. We chose purple, pink, peach, aqua and dark teal, and each one got a yellow center to brighten things up a bit.

I pulled out my plastic hexagon templates and started making the flowers over the Christmas holiday. When Judy visited, I told her about the quilt that I was making for her bed, and she inspected my work. :)

In March, I finished making 49 flowers and started to machine appliqué each one to a 10.5" background block for an on-point layout. I chose a subtle print for the background -- flecks of color on white -- to make it more interesting and fun.

This was my design created (with a lot of frustration) in EQ8. I'm not great at using the software, but this gave me and my sister an idea of what the quilt would look like. I made a measuring error somewhere along the way, so the finished quilt doesn't have (didn't need) the borders shown here.

Here are the blocks as they went up on my design wall, for assembly into the quilt top. This isn't the first time my wall has been too small!

Finally I was able to assemble the top with setting and corner triangles. I got lucky with backing fabric at a local quilt show (held just before everything shut down due to COVID-19) and was able to get the yardage I needed at a great price because the vendor was liquidating their remaining stock right as the show ended. I had been looking for backing fabric online but wasn't finding anything that my sister and I could agree on, so my quilt show find was meant to be!

I can't manage basting and quilting a twin-size quilt on my own (and I didn't want to try!), so I sent this one off for longarm quilting by Sterling Quilt Co. in Myrtle Beach, SC. She's @sterlingquiltco on Instagram. My sister chose the design, and it turned out beautifully. Perfect for a little girl's bed.

Luckily, Sterling was able to get the quilt finished (along with another one I sent her - more on that soon) and returned to me in time to bind, label and wash it to give it to Judy in person on a family vacation. After years of making things for kids, I've learned to lower my expectations when it comes to their reactions -- they're never as excited to receive the thing as I am to give it to them. Except Judy! This girl delivered! She was so excited to get her own quilt, and her love of it made all the time and effort worthwhile. Look at that sweet face!