Neapolitan Windows Quilt

Looking through my quilts I noticed that I haven't made that many small throw quilts. And the few that I've made get lots of use. I find them super handy to carry in the car or just throw on the couch for my puppies for when I let them come up and sit next to me. So I decided to solve that "problem" and make a few more. As you might remember, last week I finished a whole cloth quilt made out of a yard of fabric for the front. This one required a bit more piecing but still it came together super fast. The colors remind me of neapolitan ice cream... perfect for a summer quilt I think. I quilted with straight lines about 1 1/2 inches apart and I think it complements the quilt perfectly. For the binding I used the same color of the background except for a little piece of brown that I added for a pop of color and a little whimsy. 

Wishing you a lovely week!

XO 

Martha

Watercolor Quilt

For the longest time I wanted to make a whole cloth quilt, but for some reason I never got around to do it. Well, until now... a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this lovely fabric at my local fabric store and I just couldn't leave without it. From across the store I spotted the beautiful watercolor roses and the only thing I could think about was making a whole cloth quilt. I kept the quilting simple with straight lines radiating from the corners to form a star in the center. This is a lovely addition to my quilt collection and I think I'll be making a few more of this quilts. They are perfect to showcase a beautiful pice of fabric that it is simply too precious to cut it.

I hope you have a lovely week!

XO

Martha.

Improv Mini Quilt

For a while I've been wanting to learn more about hand quilting. So I decided to do a little research on the different techniques and/or styles and try to quilt a small project. For me it is better when learning a new technique to start small; otherwise it is too overwhelming. After my research I found myself drawn to the sashiko style or big stitch quilting. For this little quilt I used pearl cotton thread size 8. It is the perfect size as the stitches are visible but still look quite delicate. It is said that practice makes perfect and I agree; by the end  I noticed that my stitches were looking more even and it was easier to run the needle through the fabric. I love how this little quilt turned out, specially the learning experience. I can't wait to tackle a larger project and improve my hand quilting skills. It is such a beautiful form of art I think. 

I wish you have a beautiful week.

XO 

Martha

Granny Square Quilt

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I finally got to photograph my finished Granny Square Quilt and I'm so happy to share it with you.This was a very slow project, but I really enjoyed every step of the process. The blocks are lovely and a pure joy to make. I used the tutorial from Blue Elephant Stitches to create the blocks ; however instead of using 2.5 inches squares I used 2 inch squares. Thus creating a slightly smaller block. For the quilting I wanted something simple so I opted for a spiral square pattern. I think it gives it a modern feel to a traditional quilt. 

This quilt has quickly became a favorite. I love the soft colors and the scrappiness. I totally see myself making another quilt like this.

I wish you a very happy week!

XO

Martha 

Tiny Finishes

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. Lately I've been working on my Modern Maples Quilt and the quilt top is almost done (yay!). But sometimes while working on a large project I feel like I need to finish something to have that sense of accomplishment, you know what I mean? So I made this Granny Square Mini quilt. It is such a tiny finish but I love the way it turned out. The soft colors and the hand quilting make it even cutter (I think). 

Thank you so much much for participating on my giveaway. The winner is DeborahGun! 

I hope you have a wonderful week!

XX

Martha

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

Sew Fresh Quilts

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XX

Martha