2014: A Quilt Retrospective, Part 2

Now to continue on with Part 2 of my quilt retrospective for this past year.

#15 Sew Berry Sweet mini

I made this mini for the IG #thestrawberryswap. This is a good example of how sometimes making it up as you go along just doesn't work. I used a mixture of techniques on this quilt and I really did not like the end result. I ended up making a redo quilt and sending both to my partner.


#16 Treasure Map baby quilt

This was a simple baby quilt for some childhood friends. Austin and Staci wanted a pirate theme for their little boy and we all fell in love with the Riley Blake Treasure Map line. I bordered the panel with simple rail fence blocks. The panel is outline quilted and the border is stippled.


#17 Strawberry Swap Redo mini

I found this free pattern, Banner Days Mini Quilt by Stitch Supply Co. and thought it was perfect for my redo. I left out the bottom and right sided borders by accident, but it still works. I quilted horizontal lines of alternating hearts and strawberries. I was finally happy with my swap offerings and my partner loved it too!


#18 Hardcore Quilting 

This is, by far, my favorite thing I've ever made. Somewhere along the way this year I discovered the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild. We were issued a challenge to take a traditional quilt pattern and make it modern. I chose a 1930's Art Deco pattern called Cleopatra's Fan. As luck would have it, Robert Kaufman had just released a free pattern to go with a quilt showing in their booth at market. I downloaded it, traced out the pattern on template plastic, and got started. I was INSANELY nervous about this quilt because the pattern was labeled "Advanced Expert" and I was an Advanced Beginner, at best. I plugged away and finally got my base fans completed. The knucks design is one I initially saw on IG months prior to thinking about this quilt, then again in a Google search. I could not find a source for the original artist. The fists are raw edge applique, white on black on base. The thick line of the letters are also black raw edge applique. All of the hand detail and the stems of the letters are free motion embroidery/quilting. I kept this project secret until the reveal at FWMQG. I'm super proud to say that there was an audible gasp in the room when I presented my quilt. I feel like this truly exemplifies who I am as a quilt artist.


#19 Cherry Mini

 This is another swap creation made for the #verycherryswap on IG. I improv pieced low volume fabrics for the background. Then did my fabric architecture thing to build the cherries. The cherries are raw edge applique. I like the way they pop over the more traditional crosshatch quilting design. I based this design off of a beautiful watercolor I once saw online somewhere....Etsy maybe?


#20 Blume Family Quilt

One of my previous quilts ended up being a prop in my friend's family photo session. The photographer liked it so much that she wanted me to create something for her family. We worked out a trade where I created a quilt for her and she will doing family portraits for us in the new year. I can't say that this is my design. I saw a picture of a barn quilt painting that featured this particular star. I did do all of the quilt math myself though. This is quilted with a boxy corner stipple (I totally just made up that name) and features the Blume kiddos names in two of the star points.


#21 Solar System Fundraiser Quilt

This is another one of those times where I just couldn't resist a cute panel. I used P&B textiles space fabric to create this fun quilt. We donated the quilt to Ro's class to include in the basket they would raffle off at the Fall Carnival as a fundraiser for the PTA. I don't know who ended up with the basket in the end, but I hope the quilt gets lots of love and use.


#22 Mark Lambert's 10th Doctor

I have been fortunate enough to win some cool IG giveaways this year. As a thank you I hosted one of my own. I asked people to tell me about their favorite nerdom and chose a winner to receive a custom mini quilt based on their picks. I chose two winners and this is my first creation (I'm still working on the second). @thesplendidstarling told me she loved Doctor Who and that the 10th Doctor was her absolute favorite. I had seen a series of graphic art designs of the modern Doctors by UK based artist Mark Lambert and fallen in love with their simplicity. I recreated his image and added some of my characteristic wonky piecing. I'm really happy with the result. The improv piecing both provides a base for and competes with the fluid lines of the Doctor's silhouette. There is chaos behind the calm facade and I think that represents who the Doctor is pretty well.


#23 The #epicbabyquilt

I don't have a single picture of this quilt (finished) that doesn't have EB in it. One of my best childhood friends asked me to create something for her new daughter. Morgan is a phenomenal tattoo artist (and owner of Classic Tattoo in San Marcos, TX) and has a very definite style. She requested southwestern reds, blues and yellows for her little girl's quilt. The design is another barn quilt that I adapted to my needs.  I'm seriously considering writing up the pattern this next year and posting here on the blog because it was just a dynamic and easy quilt to make.

#24 Vashta Nerada mini

In 2014 I organized my own Instagram swap for the first time. #makeadalekmakeafriend started out as a joke referenceing the Schnitzel and Boo swap in a conversation I had with fellow Whovians on IG. Eventually we decided that a Doctor Who themed craft swap was a brilliant idea and made our little joke a reality. My partner was Jessee from over at Art School Dropout (I'm totally using her photo up there). She is super nerdy, super crafty, and has a killer, awe-inspiring collection of geek stuffs. I knew I was going to have to bring my A game with her package. My inspiration was the Silence in the Library episode where the 10th Doctor first meets River Song and saves her from the Vashta Nerada. I used glow in the dark thread and free motion quilted "Who turned out the lights?" over and over on the base of the quilt. The astronauts helmet is all free motion embroidery that has been raw edge appliqued to the quilt.

I used 4 different colors of grey to free motion the floating skull, then highlighted it with one line of the glow in the dark thread. I think the end result is satisfyingly creepy. Don't forget to count the shadows. 

#25 Liberty Jane mini

I'm really sad that I don't have a better picture of this quilt. I made this for a Jane Austen themed swap. I finally cut into my store of Liberty of London that I won from Duckadilly Fabrics. I made Liberty and linen nine patches, designed the central embroidered monogram, pieced it all together, then hand quilted it with variegated perle cotton. I'm very proud of this piece and my husband has suggested that I recreate the embroidered monogram on a piece for our home :)

#26 Woodland Friends/Psychedelic Mushrooms

This is essentially a redo of my Boy Squared quilt made for a coworker's niece. She likes to call it the Psychedelic Mushroom quilt because I doodle quilted mushrooms and hearts into the quilt. 

#27 Handmade Modern

I'm really proud of this quilt. Here I experimented with hand painting my own fabric with watercolors. I improv pieced the painted fabric together with Essex linen in black. The quilting is color full match stick that complements the separate design elements. I enjoyed the experiment of using lots of different techniques and I couldn't be happier with the end result. 

On a side note, I don't know that I would recommend using watercolor for all your quilt painting. It works here because I wanted soft colors and I don't anticipate the mini ever being washed. I plan on trying out some other ideas for fabric painting and I'll blog my results at that time.

#28 Texture Quilt

In January I found a tutorial for a quilt sampler that explored texture in fabric by TeresaDownUnder. I resolved to make that my year-long project. As the weeks progressed I realized that, though I loved the quilt design, I did not love the color scheme and abandoned the project. I picked it up again last week and decided to turn it into a wall hanging. I took my favorite blocks of all that I had completed and made this mini quilt. The border fabrics are densely quilted with tiny stippling so that the central texture design draws the eye. I think I would still like to make this quilt in it's entirety; maybe in blues and greens instead of the grey/red/aqua combo.

So, that's it. My quilt-year in review is complete. I've made a mountain of mistakes, grown my skills, defined my aesthetic, made lasting crafty friendships, and created tons of quilty goodness. I can only hope that 2015 treats me half as well.