Bowtie Quilt

Hello friends

This quilt has been in the making for a very long time. I started it around two years ago. The idea to make this quilt came about because I was going through my scraps and found these lovely Denyse Schmidt scraps that I saved from one of the first quilts that I made. I’m usually not to precious about keeping my scraps by collection or anything like that but these were the exception. I had put them away nicely in a string bag and I saved every little crumb from it. The quilt that I had originally made with this fabric is a star quilt. And if you are a quilter, you know that from making start blocks you end up with a lot of half square triangles left over. Thus I decided to use up all of those little triangles and make this quilt. For the background I chose a lovely blue chambray from Robert Kaufman. I wanted to make the quilt a little bigger (it is 50 X 50 Inches), but I ran out of fabric and didn’t want to order more, so I made do with what I had on hand: made a scrappy backing with fabrics from my stash and finished it by quilting it in a straight line pattern 1 inch apart.

I absolutely love this quilt and the blocks come together very quickly. Even though it took me such a long time to finish it I enjoyed they process very much and I’m looking forward to making another quilt in the same pattern.

I hope you have a lovely week, until next time.

Martha

Bear Paw Quilts - Quilts For a Cause

Hello friends… it has ben a long time since I been to this space. As for everybody around the world things have not been the same for obvious reasons. And to add to the loneliness and heart ache that this global pandemic has brought upon us, I lost two of my beloved pug babies in a period of six months. It was utterly devastating for our little family. We love our fur babies with all our heart and loosing them specially during this time was and still is absolutely heartbreaking. However, I wanted to honor their memory and do something to help others in need. Thus, I decided to collaborate with a local pug rescue, Tiny Paws Rescue, to create these two quilts to be auctioned off to help their cause. They do a wonderful job rescuing and rehabilitating pugs in need and finding them loving homes.

The pattern is a large bear paw… i thought it was very fitting. I used kona cotton for the quilt top and a beautiful and very soft flannel with a charming pug print for the back kindly provided by the folks at Tiny Paws Rescue. I made two quilts one large measuring 60X60 inches and a matching small one that measures 30X30 inches and they will be auctioned as a set. Please consider participating it is a wonderful cause.

“In loving memory of Mona & Holly forever in our hearts”

XO

Martha

Blue and Green Log Cabin Quilt

Sharing this quilt is long overdue. As you can see I took the photos last winter when my wisteria was completely bare . Since then my wisteria has blossomed and now is full of lush green foliage.

I designed this quilt to showcase my small collection of Denise Schmitt’s fabrics that I have collected over the years. And to add a pop of color and some dimension to the quilt I decided to use Kona cotton in Picke green for the center of each block. There is something about that green that makes my hear sing. I think it is the loveliest shade of green and can’t get enough of that color. Each block is on the larger side measuring about 16 inches on each side: to achieve such oversized blocks I cut the strips for the logs of the cabin two inches wide. I think thus far this is may favorite size for log cabin blocks; the strips a wide enough that you can still appreciate the design of each fabric being used. The overall size of the quilt is about 90X90 inches. The backing is a bed sheet I found at Target; I thought it was such a stroke of good luck to find such a perfect match for this quilt.

This is the largest quilt I’ve have ever made. I don’t know if I’ll venture into making another quilt this size. It was quite challenge to quilt and wrestle all that fabric through my sewing machine. But the biggest obstacle was trying to get a full shot of the quilt. Usually my husband holds the quilts for me to take phots, but being such a large quilt it was challenging for one person to hold it up. So I set up the camera on the tripod with a timer and literally run to help hold it up. The full shot photos were not great but we had great fun. And I really love how this quilt turned out.

I had a few scraps left over from this quilt, and I’m already planning a small quilt to make. I can’t wait to share with you.

Wishing you a happy week

XO

Marha

Coral Star Quilt

Hello friends!

It has been a long time since I’ve been to this space. I love creating and sharing my makes with you. However, sometimes life happens and other times I just felt very discouraged. I often questioned if I should continue blogging… I don’t have the time to devote all the time that it requires to do it right (but what is right really?).

This is a quilt a finished months ago and never shared. During this phase of questioning everything I didn't think it was special enough. Now looking back I realize that every quilt, every art project is special because it is part of us and reflects a moment in time in our creative lives. What inspire us to create such pice.

At the end of the day, I love looking back at this little journal and seeing what I have been able to create with just thread and fabric. That is pretty amazing on its own. And when you add the warmth of this online sewing community it is pretty hard to stay away. I think what is is important is to stop comparing ourselves with others and measure our success with what others accomplish. Everyone is different, so let’s celebrate our individuality.

Happy Sunday and see you around more often!

XO

Martha

Cotton & Steel Whole Cloth Quilt

I love all Cotton & Steel prints. They are just lovely. I’ve been treasuring this print for a while; its like a piece of art. I just couldn't get myself to cutting it. So I thought making a whole cloth quilt will be perfect. The fabric for the binding was he perfect match and it gives it such a pop of color. I really love how this quilt turned out.

This quilt will be available in my shop (opening very soon!).

Also coming soon a bit of redesigning of the site and a new name. Hoping to share everything with you in a short time.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Square in a Square Quilt.

Happy New Year friends! I hope you had a lovey holiday season.

In the midst of the business of the season I managed to carve some time for sewing and finished a few projects. One of them is this lovely quilt I made for my sister in law who just had a baby boy. The fabric in the center was my inspiration for this quilt. I think it is Dear Stella Organic Cotton (but I’m not really sure) I bought it years ago and I stashed it away waiting for the perfect project. Do you ever do that? hold on to a pice of fabric until it speaks to you? I tend to do that a lot.

I’ve been wanting to make an economy block quilt for the longest time, but lately I have been very into large scale blocks or one block quilts… so I set myself to work out the math and make a Square in Square quilt. And oh boy I’m so glad I did. I love this quilt so much. I don’t know what it is… the colors, the whimsical characters on the center or the combination of all. It is one of those quilts that just makes me happy to look at.

Also, I have been working a lot behind the scenes and setting myself some goals as to what direction I want to take my little blog in 2019. Please stay tuned for some great things coming up. Thank you so much for following along and I hope you will continue giving me your support. I really appreciate it.

XO

Martha

Windmill Quilt

Hello friends! Did you have a good weekend? Mine was fabulous. I continue to find more time for sewing and that makes me super happy. A couple weeks ago I finished this happy quilt. The pattern is called Wind Mill; I found it on Pinterest. I used the photo for inspiration but I designed my own block sizes. The fabric that I sued was the leftover scraps from my Modern Plus Quilt II I finished a while ago. The original quilt I gave it to a dear friend who lives far away and I don’t get to see very often. So It feels kind of nice to both have quilts made from the same fabric. The quilt fined at a nice 48X48 inches; great for a lap quilt. For this quilt I used muslin in natural color that I had in my stash. This is was a first for me and I quite like it. The end result is a light and airy quilt. I haven’t washed it yet, so I have yet to see have it washes up and how much it shrinks compared to 100% cotton.

Have you ever used muslin fabric to back your quilts? What is your experience?

I hope you have wonderful week.

XO

Martha.

Scrappy Improv Quilt

I’ve been trying to reduce my fabric stash and use up what I have on hand rather that buying more fabric. It is not easy… but I’m trying. As I mentioned on my last post, the fabric for this quilt I first used it to create my Modern Maples quilt. I had a good a amount of large scraps left over and they had been sitting in a basket on my sewing room for the longest time. Until I finally decided to make them into another quilt. I love scrappy quilts and large improv patchwork. I find really cozy for some reason. To make it even more cozy I backed it with flannel (which I already had in my stash as well). So all and all a total win on my quest to use up my stash.

I just love how perfectly imperfect this quilt turned out. Perfect for this autumn weather. Improv quilts are the best.

By the way, I even had more scraps left over from this quilt that got transformed into another quilt… I can wait to share it with you.

Wishing you a happy week!

XO

Martha.