Moroccan Star: A Michael Miller Challenge Quilt

Posted on December 7, 2015December 6, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Fabric, Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting, Quilting Community / 5 Comments

This summer, the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) announced this year’s Michael Miller fabric challenge, and I couldn’t resist signing up. Those metallic prints are so much fun! I had an idea at that point, but once the fabrics arrived, I decided to change directions based on the exact prints that arrived.

Glittery metallics made me think of shining stars and opulence. I typically prefer silver, but for this project I was really drawn to the gold printed fabrics. To supplement the package of fabric sent by Michael Miller, I purchased some of the white and gold confetti dot also from the Glitz collection, and a Michael Miller black solid.

This design started with the fabric printed to imply interlocking circles. I started experimenting by creating circles highlighting different sections of the print. Once the circle sizes were determined, I drafted the motif that would create the final star design. I started the construction by hand appliquéing the circles to the white background pieces. Those pieces were then added to the solid black background.

For the quilting, I wanted to break up the background by using different quilting designs on either side of the appliquéd star motifs. The quilting thread is a very dark grey which added a bit of extra dimension to the solid color surface. I used the longarm for this quilt and the circle pattern was entirely free-motion using a dot to dot technique. It is far from perfect, but it was the first time I had attempted this, so it could have been far worse! I tend to like a hand drawn quality in free motion quilting, so I ultimately decided to leave it in and embrace the character of the piece.

The lines around the stars and the tightly spaced vertical lines are also free-motion, but for the horizontal lines on the left side of the quilt I did lock the machine on the track before hand guiding the stitching.

This quilt was one of my entries in to QuiltCon, so now I (like many of you!) are waiting to hear which quilts we will see at the show in February.

Quilt Stats

Title: Moroccan Stars

Size: 41″ x 40.5″

Techniques: Needle turn appliqué

Quilting: Free motion and linear quilting done on an A-1 Longarm

Fabric: Michael Miller Glitz collection and Michael Miller solid

Batting: Hobbs 80/20 in black

Thread: Hand appliquéd with Gutermann Mara 100 in white, Quilted with 50wt Aurifil in a a dark grey

Binding: Michael Miller solid black fabric (to match background) cut in 2″ wide bias strips, machine stitched to the front, hand stitched to the back

Goal #23 is finished!

The Web We Weave: Mini Quilt #33

Posted on October 31, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Mini Quilt Mania 2015, Quilting / 5 Comments

Happy Halloween! I have been eager to try out metallic threads with the longarm, and this Halloween-appropriate mini quilt was a great opportunity to experiment.

The piecing on this quilt top is very simple with only five pieces. I cut a 12.5″ square out of solid black fabric and then slashed it in two places where I wanted to indicate abstract tree branches. The fabric for the trees is a batik that is actually printed to look like trees, but I cut it on the cross-grain to create a Birch tree-esque effect on a slightly larger scale. The resulting quilt top gave me a great space to play with the metallic thread.

Now for the fun part! I was a bit nervous about trying metallic thread since I hadn’t yet ordered any specialty needles for the longarm. The metallic thread I chose was a silver WonderFil with a rayon core. I loaded a medium grey cotton quilting thread in the bobbin, and decided to give it a try. It was awesome! One of the nice features of the A-1 machine is a small pad that the top thread feeds through which holds a few drops of liquid thread conditioner. It really does help decrease thread breakage. I practiced some ruler work with the main lines of the web, defining the tree branches, and some background work with black cotton thread. The curved areas of the web are free motion.

The backing and binding is made from the same black fabric used in in the quilt top. The batting is Hobbs 80/20 in black which I pulled from a sample pack I received earlier this year. It was so nice to not have to worry about white batting working its way through the fabric of the quilt. My cat adds enough white fluff to my dark quilts without having the batting contribute!

Quilt Stats

Title: Web We Weave

Size: 12″ x 12″

Techniques: Machine Piecing

Quilting: Ruler work and free motion quilting on an A-1 Elite longarm machine

Fabric: American Made Brand black cotton and a batik print from my stash

Batting: Hobbs 80/20 Batting in black

Thread: Pieced with black Gutermann Mara 100, Quilted with silver metallic WonderFil thread with a rayon core (with medium grey Signature cotton thread in the bobbin), black cotton quilting thread

Binding: Matching bias binding, cut in 2″ wide strips, machine stitched to the front, hand stitched on the back

What was new?

Metallic thread on a longarm

Quilt 33 / 50

Goal #1 is finished!

Simply Starred Mini Quilt

Posted on October 28, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting / 15 Comments

A few months ago I signed up for my first Instagram mini quilt swap, and it is currently wrapping up. Now that my partner has received the mini I made, I thought I would share it here.

This quilt is also my entry into the Mini Quilt Category in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival at Amy’s Creative Side.

The pattern for this quilt is an original design that I drafted using AutoCad to create the foundation paper piecing templates. It is pieced in eight wedge shaped segments and then the corners and borders are added.

There are 83 different fabrics used in this mini quilt, 80 of which form the star. Each color is intended to flow into the next which results in a rainbow effect for the central image.

The quilting in the central star is done using a walking foot on my domestic machine with threads which coordinate with the fabric. Pebble quilting fills the negative space and was done on an A-1 longarm machine. I love it when I have the opportunity to juxtapose organic elements with straight lines, and I was pleased with how the pebbling creates a delightful textural element. The multicolored threads transfer a subtle version of the rainbow effect to the back of the quilt.

Striped binding cut on the bias frames this piece, and I used the same fabric to frame the handwritten label for the quilt.

Quilt Stats

Title: Simply Starred

Size: 19.5″ x 19.5″

Techniques: Foundation Paper Piecing

Quilting: The center star is machine quilting using a walking foot on a Bernina 1008, and the negative space is free motion quilted using a stitch regulated mode on the A-1 Elite Longarm

Fabric: 83 different quilting cottons

Batting: Warm and White cotton batting

Thread: Pieced using 100wt InvisaFil by WonderFil, quilted with assorted 50wt cotton quilting threads from WonderFil, Aurifil, Mettler, and Connecting Threads

Binding: Striped fabric in 2″ wide strips made using continuous bias techniques, machine stitched to the quilt front, hand stitched to the back

What was new?

A new foundation paper pieced pattern

Combining domestic and longarm quilting on a single quilt

Goal #19 is Finished!

Violet Calm: A Blogger’s Quilt Festival Entry

Posted on October 28, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Quilt Shows, Quilting, Quilting Community / 10 Comments

Violet calm is one of my favorite designs in the past few months, and I am excited to share it with you as my entry in the Modern Category for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy’s Creative Side.

Violet Calm

This design was created by piecing fabrics of several shades of violet together with thin strips of white Kona Cotton between each segment. The circle was cut from this pieced section of fabrics. Another circle was cut into the white background fabric, and the violet circle was machine pieced into the background.

The matchstick quilting in this piece is done in the color of the fabric it passes through. The horizontal lines create a sense of calm, and the variety of thread colors help to visually extend the centralized image across the quilt. A single section of vertical quilting gives a quiet energy to this peaceful image.

The binding is made of scrappy violet fabrics to frame the expanse of white fabric.

If you would like to read more about “Violet Calm,” please check out its original post. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Sashiko Mug Rug: Mini Quilt #30

Posted on September 7, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Mini Quilt Mania 2015, Quilting / 1 Comment

Hand quilting is something I haven’t done in many years, and I have never given Sashiko a try, so I thought that this would be a fun thing to experiment with for this mini.

The central hexagon was the first thing I have cut using my Hex N More ruler. I have much bigger plans for this ruler, but I was still excited to take it for a spin with this project!

The quilting is the real star of this mini. I chose simple prints with the hope that the stitching would be visible, but any uneven stitches wouldn’t be glaringly obvious. When I first learned to quilt it was OK to machine piece a quilt top, but actual quilting stitches were done by hand. You were supposed to aim for 10-12 perfectly spaced stitches per inch. For me, part of the challenge in Sashiko is allowing myself to take larger stitches. To help accomplish this, I chose 12wt thread and a slightly longer needle than I would normally quilt with.

There is blue variegated thread in the outer portion of the quilt and orange thread throughout this mini. The orange binding of this quilt helps the orange quilting thread to “POP!”

Quilt Stats

Title: Sashiko Mini

Size: 7-1/4″ x 8-1/4″

Techniques: Machine Piecing, Sashiko

Quilting: Sashiko style hand quilting

Fabric: Prints from Carolyn Friedlander’s Doe and Botanics lines

Batting: Warm and White cotton batting

Thread: Pieced with 100wt InvisaFil by WonderFil in light grey; Quilted with 12wt Cotton WonderFil in orange and variegated blue

Binding: Orange “Botanics” print cut on the bias in a 2″ wide strip, machine stitched to the front, hand stitched to the back

What was new?

Sashiko stitching

First hexagon cut with a Hex N More ruler

Quilt 30 / 50

Goal #7 is finished!