Wonky Log Cabin Quilt

I'm so excited to finally share with you my finished Log Cabin Quilt. I just love the way it turned out. Although, I can't really take full credit for it... I made this quilt for my husband because for the first time he requested I made him a quilt of his own (you can read more about it here). He was very involved in the design process and always checking on the progress of this quilt. It was actually really cute to see him with his very serious face trying to make a decision every time I presented him with fabric or quilting options to choose from.

The main fabric is Robert Kauffman Brussels Washer Yarn Dye in black. Brussels is very similar to their Essex Yarn Dye linen; basically the only difference is that Brussels is a linen/rayon blend while Essex is a linen/cotton blend. It doesn't give the impression but this fabric is very soft and has a wonderful drape. The color variation of the fibers reflect the light so beautifully and in a way it has a very masculine feel to it. For the backing I used a very soft   flannel with a subtle crosshatch print. I also quilted it with a crosshatch design using a dark gray thread. I love how the quilting sort of disappears on the black fabric and shows up more at the centers of the log cabins. 

It was such a fun project and a really enjoyed having a collaborator. 

On another note: Cassandra is the winner of the fabric giveaway.  Thank you for participating and all of your wonderful comments. I really appreciate every single one of them.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

XO

Martha

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I'm so happy to be sharing with you my latest finish. A few days ago I completed my scrappy log cabin quilt. I've been working on it for a few weeks already (you can see my progress here and here). It all started as an attempt to use up some of my fabric scraps (as you know they just keep on multiplying). I never thought I was going to be able to get a quilt out of them, I thought maybe a couple of pillows or a table runner of some sort. But,  boy was I wrong in my calculations: a 50X60 inches quilt was born and I'm beyond happy of how it turned out. This color combo is so happy and cheerful; like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. 

I kept debating on how to quilt it, but at the end I decided on simple straight lines. It adds a wonderful texture to the quilt and blends nicely with the log cabins. 

After such and unexpected finish I wonder what my next scrappy project would be. Time to start sorting through my fabric scraps and hope inspiration will strike.

Wishing you a lovely week.

XX

Martha.

Marcelle Medallion: My Christmas Quilt

I hope you had a lovely holiday season. My Christmas was wonderful: busy, lots of good food and  amazing company (that's the best part of the holiday season, I think). But between gift making and cooking I was able to finish my Marcelle Medallion Quilt. Ever since I began working on this back in April I wanted it to be our Christmas Quilt for this year... Last year I started a tradition of making a new quilt for Christmas to snuggle under during our movie watching marathon, you can read more about it here.  I've been so busy lately that there were times that I thought I wasn't going to finish on time: the quilting took a long time. I did concentric circles which create a wonderful texture and accentuate the medallion. However; there were so many thread tails to bury (I got to remember that next time I think about concentric circles for quilting). But at the end I finished it even with time to spare. Last Sunday my husband took me to explore a new (to me) hiking trail and as any quilter would do I took my new quilt finish to photograph. I love how the colors of the quilt pop against the lush green in the forest.  I absolutely love how festive this quilt turned out (not my usual color combo) and it made our Christmas feel even cozier. 

Have a beautiful week and thank you for visiting my little blog and leaving me your lovely comments throughout the year. I truly appreciate them. 

XO

Martha

Scrap Challenge: Dottie Constellation

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. I'm so happy to share with you my latest finish.  It all started a few weeks ago when I won the Lark Scrap Challenge contest held by Rachel at Stitched in Color and generously sponsored by Heather at Lark Cottons. The challenge was to create a project using the dottie fabrics in the fat sixteenth bundle that I received. 

I love polka dots and from the first time a saw this rainbow of dottie prints wonky stars came to mind.   I wanted to have a whole constellation of starts and the variety of colors gave me the opportunity to create a set of unique star blocks.  Big, small and in between each block has its own personality. I used Kona cotton in Snow as the background for my starts; I think it is the perfect complement and allows the stars to really shine. I found the fabric that I used for the backing and the binding at my local fabric store and it was such a lucky find. I still can't believe how perfectly the color and dots match the stars; that doesn't happen to me very often.

I didn't plan on the size of this quilt before hand. I simply went where the fabric scraps took me and amazingly I ended up with a 60X65 inches quilt. Wow! I just did't expect that. I absolutely love how it turned out.

Thank you to Rachel and Heather for this challenge. I really enjoyed working with all of these yummy scraps. Please head over to Stitched in Color to see the creations of the other challengers.

Have a wonderful week!

Martha 

It's All About The Little Things...

Sometimes the smallest things can bring you so much joy... Last weekend I was playing with some fabric scraps and decided to make a spool block, which has been in my mind for some time. I used the instructions from the book Liberty Love. Though I made a little mistake and ended up making it narrower, but I still liked my block very much that I made it into this itty bitty quilt. It is so tiny! (it only measures 6X5 inches). However, I think that what it lacks in size it makes up in personality. I think it is super cute. It now hangs in my sewing room and it makes my heart sing every time I look at it. So it got me thinking... this is exactly what life is all about: always appreciate the little things and love what you do. 

I hope you are having a lovely week!

*Linking up to Let's Bee Social at

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XX

Martha

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!

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XX

Martha