Garden Maze Quilt - Bloggers Quilt Festival

I am sharing with you today a very special quilt that I created which was inspired from a picture of a wall in a magazine.  This quilt has many hours of work into it and I am excited to share it with you.

This quilt is called Garden Maze.  The green in it makes me think of a hedge maze.  Green is not usually my color that I go to but when I decided to see if I could make this quilt it was the largest piece of fabric in my stash, 3 yards.  It is a pretty green batik with leaves.  The white is Kona white.

When I started the quilt I made some squares of strips and quickly realized that it wasn't going to work how I planned.  The lines were not lining up and causing me a lot of stress.  I was able to, after much stress, cutting, adding, mumbling, and frustration, figure out how to make it all work.

I had the top finally completed in July and let it sit for a bit while I decided how to quilt it.  

In August I pulled it out again and set to quilting it.  I did a squiggle stitch in all of the white lines of the quilt.  This is quilted on a home sewing machine, a Singer.

I just popped in a couple audio books and went to town.  This took just over 14 hours to quilt it.  It was a bit tough to wrestle it through the machine, but thanks to spray basting it there was no shifting of fabrics as I shoved it through.  (Seriously, shoved!)

I am in love with this quilting ans so proud of how even the stitching is.  

I know, lots of pictures, but I can't help it.  

Following all the lines was not easy.

I backed it in a solid white and just love how the quilting really pops.  The design really stands out.  

Love all the quilting!

I bound it in a batik green which frames both the front and back so well.

Garden Maze 

63" x 64"

Batik green and Kona white

Pellon 100% cotton batting

Coats and Clark machine quilting thread

So in love with this quilt! 

I am entering this quilt in to Bloggers Quilt Festival in the Large Quilt Category.  I hemmed and hawed over where to place it.  I knew, though, that I had to enter it.  I am super proud of this quilt.  

Head over to Amy's Creative Side and check out all of the amazing quilts in the festival.  

Batik Strip Quilt

So it has been a while since I updated my blog and I have been crazy busy sewing away.  So over the next couple of weeks I plan on posting my projects and sharing the number of finishes.  Also talking about my grand plan for my quilting.  

To start my project sharing I think I will start with a quilt that I began in the beginning of the summer.  I started to become overwhelmed with my ridiculous amount of scrap stash so I figured this supper to join in the Purge quilting that was going along.  I began with my batik scraps.  I pulled out a bunch of 2.5" strips that were left over from projects, collected from my LQS scrap bin, and from scraps from the AQS show.  I am an equal opportunity scrap saver, anything over 2.5" square was used in this quilt.

I randomly started piecing the strips together into a long strip as if I were creating a jelly roll quilt.  I sewed the strips together with straight seams, but you will notice there are angle joins, too.  Those were already pieced and just added in as scraps.  It was an anything goes quilt.

As it was coming together, I was not so sure about the mix of colors since it ranged so much, but figured why not give it a chance. I am so glad that I kept going with it.  I kept sewing the pieces together then adding those together, and so on until I had a really long piece sewn together.  I have no idea how long it was, I just figured long enough.  I then used the jelly roll race technique and sewed the strip to itself.  That continued until I had a squarish quilt top.

For the back I chose a light purple batik I had gotten from an estate sale and added in a strip of dark purple batik I had sitting around that was a gift from a friend, Jane.

Once I had it all sewn and basted, I decided on a loopy figure eight for the quilting.  This was the last quilt I was completly able to quilt on my Simplicity machine.  The next quilt I worked on it broke, so this quilt has a special place in my heart.

The quilt is hand bound with a scrappy batik binding.  So many colors are in this quilt.  I can probably make at least another 2 tops like this and not put a dent in the batik scrap stash.

Batik Strip Quilt
Cotton fabrics
Pellon 100% cotton batting
48" x 48"

Orange Peel QAL Finished!

I finished up my Orange Peel quilt last week that I had been working on this summer here and there (Previous post).  I started it back when Jess at Quilty Habit announced an Orange Peel Quilt A Long.  SInce this summer I had been on a scrap kick where I wanted to purge and use as much as my scrap stash as possible I figured this was another great use.  I am so happy with how it turned out.

I am in love with the scrappiness of it.  It is full of floral prints that I would not generally use, but I had collected them from my LQS's scrap bin and they went so well together.  I added some scraps of low volume prints that I had to settle the business a bit,

Some of the orange peels are appliqued with decorative stitches and some are attached with the quilting.  I used the fusible method to hold them on until I was able to stitch them down.

There is a lot of quilting on this little quilt. but I feel it is really fun.

There is only one complete orange peel circle in the entire quilt.  It just happened that I filled in other places with pieced blocks, half square triangles, and solid blocks.  

The back is also pieced from the left over scraps.  It felt so good to use so much from my scrap stash!

To finish the look, what is better than a scrappy binding?  I seriously love how this one turned out.

Orange Peel Baby Quilt
31.5" x  36"
Cotton fabrics
Pellon Cotton batting
Machine pieced and free motion quilted by me

Check out the other great projects that are linked up on Jess's blog!

Around the World Blog Hop

Last week i was tagged by my friend Helen at Till We Quilt Again  to join in on the Around the World Blog Hop.  Helen is a great friend that I met last year when she came to a meeting with the Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild.  She is so talented and does beautiful quilting and we hit it off right away.  I am totally jealous of her long arm skills :).


This blog hop introduces you to bloggers that you may not know and are happy to have found through your quilty friends.  So I get to answer a few questions about myself and at the end of the post I will link you to three of my favorite bloggers and next Monday they will do the same thing.  It is great to go back and check out the previous links.

Aunt Carol's Blue Wave Quilt

About Me
I have been quilting on and off for 16 years (I didn't realize it was that long!)
I live in New Jersey along the shore and I am proud of my Jersey Girl status.
I have 2 amazing parents, 2 great sisters (and a brother in law), 2 awesome nephews, and a fun clumsy silly puppy, Maggie.
I love white water kayaking, you might be able to tell from my background photo and my blog name. (Though I haven't been able to boat for little while now).
I am co president of Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild

Flight of the Seagulls

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I am not sure how much my work differs from others.  My style I say is a twist on traditional.  I sew how I feel at the time.
I love flying geese, but I don't like them to be all uniform, I like for them be every which way and all different sizes.
I love to use color and patterns and have no fear of trying something different.
I rarely use solids in my quilts, I like the texture that pattern gives quilts.
I have what I call "Quilting ADD" where I can not stick with one project for long, I need to have options when I sew.
I am mostly self taught and I think that is part of my fearlessness.  :)
When I have something set in my mind that I want to do, like fmq, I just sit down and do it without a second thought.  I feel I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

Modern Mini

Why do I write/create what I do?
I love to loose myself in my quilting and creating.  It makes me forget my stresses and helps with dealing with pain.
Being creative has always made me happy and when I feel my worst it pulls me to a happy place.
Quilting something that I share with my mom.  She joined me in quilting just 2 years ago and it has really brought us closer.  We share most of a stash (we have some that is our own, too) and go on fabric sprees together.  I love to bounce ideas off her.
I am thankful to have to time and support to spend as much time sewing as I do.  I seriously sew almost every day.  I don't know what I would do without it.

Modern Strings
(Look for this one at AQS Quiltweek TN in the BadAss Quilters Society Exhibit)

How does my writing/creating process work?
My creative process is so different as I work on different quilts.
One way is I have multiple notebooks with sketches in them.  As I have a quilt in mind, I draw it out then start writing out the measurements and working out the math on what I might need in terms of fabric.  I like to break down cuts and blocks, too, sometimes.  Midnight Geese was drawn out then broken down to know what I needed to make to create it.

Midnight Geese

Another way is when I have a day that I don't feel like thinking, I pull out a box of scraps and start playing.  My last couple play quilts came from nautical scraps I have amassed in a large bin.  I just start laying out pieces on the design wall and sew the pieces together when I feel they look perfect.  Out to Sea baby quilt was created in this manor.

Out to Sea

Sometimes a doodle turns into a quilt.  I make the doodle part then add to it.  Flight of the Seagulls started as a half drawn quilt that just grew as I worked on it.  I have no fear to change things as I work if I feel that it looks better that way.  (This quilt will be in the BadAss Quilters Society display at AQS Quiltweek in IA)

Flight of the Seagulls 

I love to join in on challenges, too, because I feel it also adds to my creative process.  Project Quilting is one of my favorite challenges.

Frittata Quilt, a Project Quilting challenge quilt

What am I working on now?
I have a number of quilts in progress right now that includes quilts for fun, quilts for friends, and quilts for challenges. (Seriously, Quilting ADD)  And little fun things for my nephews.  I am also part of Stash Bee so I have blocks to make every month for my bee mates.

On the design wall are circle blocks from my month of Stash Bee, my DWR in pieces, and some random blocks for different projects.  See my kayak block? :)

My orange peel quilt for the Orange Peel QAL at Quilty Habit.  Made totally from scraps.  One of the random just playing with fabric quilts.

I haven't blogged about this quilt yet, but one that I am loving more and more as I look at it.  I think I might call it Maze.

Here are the three blogs that I have chosen to share with everyone.

My friend Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs creates amazing and beautiful quilts.  She has written a number of patterns that I have had the privilege of testing for her.  One of them I had accepted into the Quiltfest of NJ.

All Framed Up on the Jersey Shore
Melissa's pattern

Diane is a great friend from the Jersey Shore Modern Quilt guild.  She is my co-president and makes beautiful quilts.  I love working with her during our sew-ins.  She blogs over at My StudioQ.

I wanted to tag my friend Peggy who blogs at Stitchin With Peg.  We live in the same town and shop at the same local quilt shop, but I have never met her in person.  She makes beautiful quilts!   (I didn't get to ask her first, oops, but check out her pretty quilts.)

I have photos all over my blog if you are interested in taking a poke around and then head on over to the blogs of my quilty friends.

Tetris Quilt

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you liked learning about how I create my quilts.

Flowering Lone Star and Bursting Lone Stars Pattern Review and Giveaway

The fabulous Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs has come out with two new patterns.  The can be used separately as two tops or together as a front and a back.

The first is the Flowering Lone Star.  This pattern is for a single large star.  You use 4 fabrics for the main, middle, part of the star and 6 for the outer border around it.  There are some y seams, but with how large the pieces are I did not find them difficult at all.  I chose to create both these quilts with Christmas fabrics because I needed a good excuse to play with my expanding collection of Christmas material.  Seriously, I have 2 shelves of just Christmas!

When sewing the outer diamonds together, I found a trick I learned a while back of trimming off .25" of the end of one diamond helped me to be able to line them up with the offset easily.  I also found when sewing the diamonds that pinning where the points crossed first then the rest of the seam really improved my accuracy.  Melissa talks about how to make sure your point line up nicely in her pattern, too.  She has included so many photos to make sure you can see each step, which I find very helpful in a great pattern.

This was a great pattern that came together quickly.  I love how I can feature some great larger prints in the middle.  I took my time working on this top and it came together in just a few days, but I am sure I could make it in even less time now. (I am easily distracted when I sew in front of a window overlooking the pool ;)  )

The second pattern that Melissa wrote is actually the back for the one she created.  It is called Bursting Lone Stars.  I love it too much to use it as the back, though.

This pattern shows off 5 stars of 2 different sizes.  What is great that after creating the first quilt, you already have practice with nesting the y seams.  I was able to put this entire quilt together with cutting, sewing, and lots of pressing in just a couple days of sewing here and there.  

As usual, Melissa's instructions are clear and very detailed.  Just don't go mixing up the pages like I did between the two patterns or you will totally confuse yourself, haha.   Melissa takes a lot of time and uses many photos to explain nesting the y seams so don't worry if you do not have experience with it.  I would say that if it is our first try to give the Flowering Lone Star a try (lots of busyness going on if your point aren't exactly perfect ;) )   

Although one can be used for the back of the other, I think I am keeping them as two separate quilts.  I really like how they both turned out so much.  And bonus, I have started my Christmas sewing already! 

I would say that when creating these quilts, don't be afraid of a good dose of Best Press.  I think I had a perfume of Peaches n' Cream for a few days as I worked on these.  It helps to keep the bias parts of the fabric from stretching.  And if you get a little bit of a wavy issue (like I did on one small star), a spritz of 98% water and 2% Best Press and a hot iron can flatten things right out.

I have no idea what I will be backing these with yet, but I have already planned straight line quilting and a scrappy binding for the Flowering Lone Star and I am not quite sure yet for the Bursting Lone Stars. 

Thanks Melissa for writing up two more awesome patterns!   And for giving me the excuse to play with my Christmas fabrics ;) 

Now for the giveaway!  :)

One visitor to my blog will be selected randomly to win one pdf pattern of their choice of either the Flowering Lone Star or the Bursting Lone Stars.  All you have to do to win is to head over to Melissa's blog at Sew Bittersweet Designs and follow her there.  Then come back here and comment that you did.  

And for a bonus entry you can also head over and like Melissa's Facebook page.  Leave a second comment after you like her page.  

I will close the giveaway and select the winner on Friday, August 8 at 10 pm.  

Orange Peel QAL

So over at Quilty Habit there is a fun Orange Peel quilt along going on.  Sometimes it is hard to resist jumping into a fun new project even through there are so many other projects with deadlines stacking up.  Jess made it look so fun so here I am making an orange peel quilt.  I made a rule for myself, though.  I HAVE to use my scraps for this project.  My scrap stash is getting a bit out of hand.

The last scrap bag I loaded up had a great pile of matchy prints from my lqs.  They tend to make a lot of kits so I think they came from one of them.  I grabbed the stack and started my project.  I have also put myself on a fabric bin diet (hi I'm Carolyn and it has been 1 month since I raided the scrap bin at my lqs).

I am making more of the orange peels as I go along and add to my little quilt.  I am doing the stitch and flip interfacing method.  Also, I am adding some fun stitching to a few of the peels as I go along.  

This is my scrappy quilt so far.  The blocks are 5 inch squares.  Some are pieced and I like the look they add to the quilt.  They won't all have peels on them.  I am just going by feel and what I think looks good.  It is a whatever goes quilt. 

I am linking up to the half way post Jess has up at Quilty Habit.

Sewvivor - Sweet Boater Chick

Some of you may have heard of the contest of Sewvivor that has happened over the past couple of years over at Family Ever After.  Well this year it is Quilters Edition!!

I have decided to enter into the contest and for my audition I have decided to enter my Flight of the Seagulls quilt.  (It was between this one and my Modern Mini, hexagon quilt)  I looked through my photos of different quilts and this one is still one of my top favorites.  I love how the geese (seagulls) move across the quilt in an all over way.  And how they are all different sizes.

I designed this quilt.  Piece by piece I watched it grow on my design wall.  The background is not just a single piece of fabric, it has been chopped up and sewn back together to give it a different texture.

 The quilt is quilted in rolling waves.  Even the back has pinwheels of flying geese.  Here is my original post for my Flight of the Seagulls quilt.

I hope I make it as a contestant for Sewvivor!  I can't wait to see all the quilty goodness that comes from the entries!

Keeping my fingers crossed!