Plus Quilt

For the past few weeks I've been planning on making a quilt for my sister. Her birthday is coming up and I wanted to give her a quilt. But I couldn't settle on a design. I wanted something young and fresh and I just couldn't make up my mind.  Then suddenly one day the light bulb in my head went on: a plus quilt! The design is simple yet modern for a young lady...There is something so special about simple patchwork that I'm always drawn to it. I don't think I can ever get tired of it. The piecing was fast and easy (maybe that is the reason I like patchwork so much) and I used only fabrics from my stash. 

For the quilting I did a meandering design that blends in well with the fabrics but gives it a nice texture. 

One of my favorite parts about this quilt is the backing. I found the fabric at my local fabric store and I bought it because it reminded me of Charlie Brown's t-shirt, don't you agree?

I hope my sister likes her present as much as I enjoyed making it for her. 

Wishing you a beautiful week.

XX

Martha.

Back to Basics: Cross Quilt

I've been in a creative mode lately. This weekend I finished a new quilt. I wanted something simple  and understated to gift to someone special who is having a birthday this week. So, I settled on a basic cross quilt. The piecing was a breeze. I think this is the quickest I've ever  finished a quilt. I quilted it with straight lines on one direction to complement the simplicity of the design and I'm so pleased with with the way it tuner out. Another of my favorite things about this quilt is the herringbone pattern of the backing fabric; which I happened to find on sale at my local fabric store. I just love when I find a good deals on large cuts of fabric, with no project in mind, and they end up working perfectly.

I really enjoyed working on this quilt and love the way it turned out. I just hope that the recipient likes it too.

Quilt Stats:

Measures: 60X60 Inches

Fabric: Kona Cotton

Have a happy week!

XX

Martha.

Quilt Finish: Summer Kaleidoscope

Happy Monday! It has been a while since I posted here (or visited your blogs). Sometimes it is a bit hard to balance work, life and all the other little things in between.  But after some crazy weeks I think I'm finally finding my balance again and finding time to create. Last Saturday I finally finished this quilt that I have been working on and off since last month. Back in June when I started this quilt I had no idea of the direction I was going to go with it. I started by cutting the fabric in long strips  and sewing them together. I had just gotten a new triangle ruler so I thought I would maybe do some scrappy triangles alternating with solid ones. But after playing with the triangles on the design wall I settled on arraying the triangles to form hexagons and use Kona Snow as a background. I really like how the triangles look arranged as hexagons they remind me of the patterns you see through a Kaleidoscope. When it came to quilting it I decided to try something new: thus I settled on concentric circles. I've never done circular quilting before and I absolutely love the result. It did take a bit of time turning and turning the quilt and pushing it through the small harp space of my machine but it was totally worth it. I backed the quilt with flannel that I had in my stash which luckily coordinated really well with the top. 

I love this quilt so much. It has quickly become a favorite. Additionally the fabric was a  birthday gift from my mother-in-law. She doesn't sew so I think it is very sweet that she took the time to go fabric shopping for me so that make this quilt extra special. 

Thank you for stopping by!

*Linking up to Let's Bee Social at

Sew Fresh Quilts

*

XX

Martha

Conquering My Fear of Color

I finally got back to my sewing machine and I finished a quilt! It is a small one but I'm really excited about  it and so happy to share with you.  The colors are not something that I would typically choose. For some reason I always shy away from bright colors. But I received a fat eight bundle of these happy fabrics as a gift and I couldn't resist to turn them into a quilt and conquer my fear of color. The quilt top was so easy and fun to put together; I simply cut strips of 1-1/2 inches wide and  of different lengths and joined them together randomly to get a scrappy effect. For the backing I used the ever so popular Britten Nummer fabric from Ikea (I had some left over from another project and was very surprised at how well it complements the bright colors from the quilt top). But I think my favorite detail about this quilt is the aqua binding. I chose it a the last minute and I absolutely love how it ties everything together. It is like an explosion of color :)

I'm so thankful to have received these lovely and cheerful fabrics because they have definetely made me less affraid of using more color on my projects. 

*Linking up to

Let's Bee  Sewcial at Sew Fresh Quilts

 *

Have a beautiful week!

XX

Martha

Triangle Quilt

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I had an amazing weekend.  I finally finished my triangle quilt I've been working on. So happy the way it turned out and I even more excited that it is my first quilt finish of the year. Yay! Also, my husband and I took a nice drive to a National Park we have been itching to explore. It is so beautiful we are definitely going to be back and as added bonus it has great spots for photographing quilts :)

Anyway back to this little quilt. I'm totally smitten with the triangle pattern and I want to make more triangle quilts. My triangle rulers makes cutting a snap and piecing so easy. This quilt measures approximately 55X55 inches (I had planned to make it a little bit larger but I ran out of fabric). But still is a good size lap quilt.  I quilted it with a simple meandering pattern. I just took it out of the dryer and is so crinkly! I love it. Now what to do next? 

Have a wonderful week!

*Linking up to

Let's Bee Social

at Sew Fresh Quilts*

XX

Martha

Feathers And Patchwork: My Christmas Quilt

Happy Sunday, I hope you are enjoying the holidays. I had a wonderful Christmas. As it is our tradition we spend Christmas Eve with our extended family. Then my husband and I spend Christmas day at home watching movies and relaxing. And this year was not the exception; we watched all the movies we had been 'saving up',  and ate way too much popcorn and candy. But this year I added something new to our tradition: a new quilt to snuggle under while watching our movies. As you might remember I started working on my Christmas quilt at the beginning of December (you can read more about it 

here

). I wasn't sure I was going to able to finish it. The piecing is very simple and the quilt top came together in no time, but the quilting is another story. I decided to quilt it with straight lines about 3/4" apart. The quilting was slowly progressing when my machine decided to act up (now I need to take it in for service). Luckily I have another machine: a

vintage Kenmore

that a friend gave a while back and I had never used. Well, the little machine came through: it sews beautifully and I finished my quilt in time. 

I'm so happy with how this quilt turned up. I love the random patchwork. If feels very homemade and the flannel backing feels so warm and cozy. It has quickly become a family favorite.

Have a wonderful week and see you next year!

XX

Martha.

Improv Little Stars

I started this quilt a few weeks ago. I had no plan of pattern in mind; I just wanted to sew something. So I pulled some fabrics from my stash and began cutting and piecing. I love the freedom of improv piecing. You never know where it is going to take you. It feels like a little surprise every time you add one more piece to the puzzle. And this time improv piecing didn't disappoint: I'm so in love with how this quilt turned out. It is on the smaller side as it only measures about 30 inches by 40 inches. But even though it is small, I think it the randomness of the piecing gives it so much character. I decided to quilt it with simple loops all over to complement the random piecing. The backing is a cozy super soft flannel I found a my local Jo-Ann. Oh there is something about polka dots... I just can get enough of them 

Now on to start making some Christmas presents. How about you, are you planning a handmade Christmas?

Have a lovely week!

XX

Martha. 

Half Square Triangles and Summer Colors

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend.  I finished this quilt last week; it was a birthday gift for my sister-in-law, so I had to hold off showing it to you until I gave it to her (I didn't want to ruin the surprise). As you know inspiration comes from many places and for this quilt it all started with 

this photo

; the colors feel very fresh and summery and when paired with the white cotton they really stand out. I have been wanting to make a quilt using half  square triangles and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try... and I love it. Half square triangles are so versatile and I have the feeling this won't be the last quilt I make using them.

For the quilting I just did straight lines highlighting the half square triangles. I really like how the quilting shows on the back of the quilt.

I love how this quilt turned out: so fresh and simple... my little summer crush :)

XX

Martha.

Patchwork Frames Quilt: Finished

Happy Labor Day! I hope you had a nice weekend and enjoyed the holiday. It was nice to stay home one extra day and catch up on things around the house. I finished my 

Patchwork Frames Quilt

. The pattern is by the very talented Beth 

@ Plum and June

. You can find her tutorial for the block and the quilt pattern 

here

. It is a beautiful pattern and it comes together really easy. And they fussy cut in the center of each block is a great opportunity to showcase pieces of your most treasured fabric pieces. I used some of my beloved Alexander Henry Paris Flea Market. I have been saving it for something special and I thought this was it. Specially because I decided that this quilt was going to be for me. lol.

While the quilt top came together quite fast it felt like it took me a while to finish this quilt. The quilting really took me a long time. I decided to do Free Motion Quilting all over and  I hit a few bumps along the way. One time I forgot to set the stitch length to zero and the thread kept breaking and I had to do a lot of unpicking (not fun). I checked and checked and everything seemed right with my machine, but the thread kept breaking. I was so frustrated (I even cursed my machine a few times), and when I was ready to give up I realized that "little detail" about the stitch length. I felt so silly afterwards. But after that incident the quilting was a smooth sail. And the whole experience made me feel more confident about FMQ.  I really love the way it turned out with lots of crinkles all over. I backed the quilt with flannel. This is my fist time I use flannel for a quilt backing: it feels so soft and cozy! 

Quilt Stats:

Measures: 54.5"X74"

Fabrics: Alexander Henry, Glimma Kite Tail, Glimma Trees, Moda Comma, Kona Steel, Legacy Studio Natural and Joann's Quilter's Showcase.

Quilted by me.

XX

Martha.

A Mini Quilt for Home

A few days ago Kristy @ 

Quiet Play

 was looking for pattern testers for her latest design. I've been so busy, but I couldn't help myself  and jumped at the opportunity. Kristy's designs are fantastic and this one is not the exception. The pattern is called Teeny Houses and consists of  9 different 6" blocks. Every little house is a bit different from the other and they are adorable. I had the pleasure of testing one the blocks. My experience with paper piecing is still limited, but the pattern is very well written and easy to follow. It comes together very quickly.  

Anyway, after I finished testing the pattern I decided to make my little block into a wall hanging to decorate my sewing room.  The words on the mini quilt are embroidered with DMC embroidery floss on natural linen (linen is my absolute favorite fabric).  The quilting is free motion quilting  with single loops all over. Yes you heard it right, free motion quilting! I finally tried free motion quilting for the first time and I am so pleased with the results. I still need to practice a lot more, but thank goodness the linen is very forgiving and it doesn't show much my mistakes.

XX

Martha.