Another Blogger Bundle

I know it's been a while... but first trimester does that to a girl.  =)  Katy, over at i'm a ginger monkey, is hosting another blogger bundle contest!  I had so much fun the first time that I couldn't resist putting another bundle together.  I looked and looked for an inspiration fabric, from which to pull color and shape ideas - but I couldn't come up with anything I wanted to use more than "my living room."  I am sitting here looking at lighty gray-blue walls, "crocodile" green sofas (dusty, faded, darkish), dark wood and golden accents.  So, since I've been intrigued by the idea of a quilt with no crazy patterns - almost batiky while still using some patterns - here's my very muted patterns that would all work in my living room!

My Modern Mini: Tickle Tape

Wow - I love it.  I know it's nothing that hasn't been done before - it's 'just another spectrum quilt,' but I wanted to try it, and it turned out better than I had hoped.  I also had never done raw edge applique of this magnitude, and loved that too!

Basically, I just pulled fabrics from my stash, from a color wheel charm swap and from olive and ollie's scraps...  then got to cut and fussy cut to my heart's content!  My 5 year old (the model) absolutely had her heart set on a pink heart as the center motif, but i edged it in black for some well-needed contrast.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!  My daughters' favorite bubbles are the elephants, chickens, owls, robot, etc!!  I used a lot of dot fabrics to echo the "bubble" motif, but they just like the fussy cut ones.  Can't wait to make them some I-spy quilts then!

Please ignore the disappearing marker that hasn't been disappeared yet.

The Fastest Layer Cake Quilt Ever: Salt Air Tears

I am one that takes three or four months to make a quilt, typically (except for the aberration at Christmas-time when I made two matching throw quilts for my parents in three weeks.)  I enjoy a little piecing here, a little quilting there...  it's in three or four hour chunks, but I don't do it every day.  This one took three days.

However, a very dear friend of mine just experienced the heart-wrenching loss of her child.  There's nothing I can do for her but to offer love and support - and one of the ways I do that is through quilts.  I wanted to make her something that wasn't childish at all - this wasn't in remembrance of her daughter, it was for her.  Since I was aiming for super-fast, I simply took a layer cake of Salt Air, laid it out in a 6x7 pattern and sewed it up!  I backed it with Kona Gray and bound it with Kona Cheddar - which really gave it a cheery feel.  These fabrics were just lovely - I kept changing my mind as to which was my favorite!

The quilting is a free-motion loop pattern.  (And it counts as my March entry into SewCalGal's FMQ, since I did the loop and twist!)  I hadn't ever tried that much free motion quilting - this was a great chance to work on my technique!  I found that I need my tension all the way to 9, my pedal all the way down, and my hands need to move way slower than I think they should.  This is obviously just my personal style, since everyone needs to find what works for them, but I'm fighting the constant battle of wanting to go too quickly.  When I slow down, though, my stitches are a better length and my curves are more natural.  To further challenge myself, I quilted an inspirational word onto each square of the quilt.  Words like "faith," "hope," "friendship," etc.  Here's a picture of the whole thing and a close-up of the word "future."  I hope that she wraps herself in it, and knows she is loved...