Oh, Deer!

I'm at least the 5 millionth person to knock off this Anthropologie Blooming Reindeer but it's so cute I was willing to be unoriginal for the sake of being stylish:-)  This year I'm trying to dial my holiday decorating back a notch so it doesn't look like Rudolph puked up Christmas everywhere.

The construction was pretty straightforward...  if I hadn't needed to make 3 trips to Quilter's Way for things I kept forgetting I could have had this done in under 2 hours.  First, I Googled deer silhouettes and then picked the one I liked best.  I'm pretty lazy when it comes to the whole tracing and cutting thing so to streamline the process I put Steam a Seam 2 on the back of my Liberty fabric and then printed the silhouette on a full sheet label (I prefer the clear so you can fussy cut your image) which I then stuck to the right side of my Liberty fabric.  I carefully cut out the deer head, removed the label, and the ironed it on to my background.  There's a printable double sided fusible product called Print N Fuse that I'm going to try if I decide to make a bunch of these.  Even though Steam a Seam comes in sheets it does NOT go through the printer well...  trust me, I've tried!

At that point you don't actually have to sew it but I went with a button hole stitch around the applique.  I'm still in love with the 12wt. Aurifil and saw this as another perfect excuse to buy some more.  I used coordinating 50 wt. and fussed around a bit with the tension to get it perfect.  I love the extra dimension it adds!!!

I decided to get fancy and used this awesome zipper closure tutorial by S.O.T.A.K Handmade.  Since I was using an 18" pillow form I just sized everything up and then trimmed the back down to fit the front when I was finished.

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Pillow Stats:
Finished quilt is 18" x 18"
Fabrics: June's Meadow by Liberty of London.  Steel Yarn Dyed Essex Linen by Robert Kaufman.
Thread: Aurifil in Red (2250) 12wt for top thread, 50wt in bobbin.

That's What Friends Are For

I still can't believe this Friendship Star quilt is really done!  This quilt was hand pieced by a friend and I've spent the last 6 years hand quilting it.  

The back really shows the quilting detail.  Each piece of the stars is outline stitched and then the solid squares have a grid quilted with a triple row of stitches.  The texture is amazing!!!

I thought about doing something intricate like feathers or flowers in the borders but finally decided just to extend the grid work out from the blocks.

After all its travels it seemed appropriate to finish binding this while relaxing at the lake:-)

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching I'm counting my blessings: good friends and time to quilt!

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 53" x 70"
Fabrics: 30s Repros.
Thread: Hand quilted with Mettler White (2) 40wt.

The Perfect Storm!

Halloween may be over but I had to share this one before I put it away for next year.  This quilt is the convergence of my current obsessions...  pineapple blocks, circular quilting, and the Ghastlies.

It started with this awesome Pineapple Variation by my insanely creative friend Alexis and suddenly everywhere I looked there were pineapples.  Psych!  I used this amazing pineapple block tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts to make my blocks and then played with the layout until I came up with this.

I probably would have tucked the finished top away to quilt next year if Alexis hadn't come to the rescue again.  This was the perfect thing to work on during our quilt camp weekend at her fabulous beach house in Scituate.  A Nor'easter raged outside but we rode out the storm in style stitching away with snacks, wine and lots of laughter.

I may have gotten carried away with the pictures but we had a perfect fall day for a photo shoot.  I had a blast driving around Concord with the top down looking for spooky locations...

I promised myself no more trips to the graveyard but how could I resist;-)

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 36" x 36"
Pattern: Variation of a traditional Pineapple Quilt.  Blocks made using this amazing pineapple block tutorial by Crazy Mom Quilts.
Fabrics: from the Ghastlies collections by Alexander Henry, Onyx Grunge by basic grey, stash.  Binding Blush Grunge by basic grey.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo
Thread: King Tut Rosetta Stone (978).

Falling for Modern Maples

I have a confession to make, I HATE Fall!!!  I know, it's practically heresy and will probably get me kicked out of New England but I really don't get it.  You can take your boots, pumpkin spice lattes, and "crisp" autumn days...  I like it hot and humid, where layering means throwing a cover-up over your bikini, flip-flops are the only shoes you wear, and refreshment comes from a bucket of iced tea.  As a result I really don't have any fall decorations.  October it's all Ghastly and come December it looks like Rudolph puked up Christmas but November, I got nothin'.  So when the utterly awesome Natalie said I should make a Modern Maples quilt I was like, "No Thanks!"   But then I saw her quilt and one by the awesome Story of Kat, and the amazing Modern Maples Flickr group and  I decided maybe I could do this.

The fabulous Mrs. McPorkchop started this craze when her pattern was published as part of Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays.  This block is really just a 9 patch made up of squares and HSTs so it goes together quickly and is easy to resize.  

I couldn't believe I was able to do this all from stash!  I've really been trying to use some of my most precious fabrics so you'll see some long hoarded Mendocino in here along with some of my favorite Denyse Schmidt and Anna Maria Horner prints.  I wanted to add some texture so I used Natural Essex linen for the background.

For the quilting I used fairly dense wavy organic lines which I hope look like the wind blowing.  I used the heavier 28 wt. Aurifil to give the quilting extra definition.  I couldn't believe my luck when I found these sublime stripes in my stash, absolutely perfect for the binding!

So now my dining room is ready for fall, even if I'm not:-)

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 28 1/2" x 85"
Pattern: Based on Modern Maples by the fabulous Mrs. McPorkchop for the book Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays and available here.
Fabrics: Natural Essex Linen, Stash including Mednocino by Heather Ross, Chicopee and Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt, Innocent Crush by Anna Maria Horner, Simply Color by V+Co. and Lucky Penny by Alison Glass.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo
Thread: Light Beige Aurifil  (2310) 28 wt top thread, 50 wt bobbin.

W.i.P. Wednesday: The End Is Near!

My BQFs and I couldn't have asked for a better Quilt Camp weekend!  There is nothing like a nor'easter for the perfect excuse to batten down the hatches and quilt the days away!  As the storm raged outside we set up shop and got sewing.  

It's true Halloween has passed but rather than consign this to a year (or more) in the UFO pile I decided this was the perfect opportunity to just get this done.  Mindless quilting is so much better with friends...   plus chocolate, wine & Kurt Russell;-)

I probably would have gotten bored going around and around endlessly but with good company I pushed through and finished all 14 sets of rings.  Quilting all these circles I created my own vortex that sucked up everything in it's wake.  Between the crashing waves outside and spinning my quilt around I was starting to feel a bit queasy.

The end is near...  I just have to finish tacking down the binding and this will be ready and waiting with the rest of the Ghastlies when Halloween rolls around again next year.

Quilting it up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)