Improv Scrappy Quilt

Hello friends

It has been a while… a lot has happened since the last time I posted anything here. I recovered from some health issues I had been dealing with and I’ve been feeling very inspired to create more quilts and post more consistently here. I have a lot of ideas for new projects and great desire to use up the materials I have on hand. My fabric stash not outrageous at all, quit the opposite; everything fits snuggly into a compact cabinet (that in other life was used as a cupboard in my dinning room) and I try not buy anymore fabric unless I have a project in mind that requires new fabric that I don’t posses in my stash. When it comes to my scraps, I have tried may different methods for storing them… by color, by size, in a bin all mixed, etc. But what I find more practical is to simply use them up and don’t allow myself to accumulate too many scraps that becomes overwhelming to me. Case in point is this little quilt. Back in February I made a Hearts quilt for a Pug Rescue Fund raiser (you can see the blog post here); the cut off from creating the hearts left me with quite a bit of half square triangles and a few scraps. I knew I wanted to create something from them as I was quite drawn to this color palette that I had created for this quilt. I played around with the shapes and different arrangements on my design wall for a while and came up with this scrappy, sort of sampler quilt that I quite like and enjoy the process of making it very much. I quilted it with straight lines vertically and at diagonal at 60 degrees; I haven’t quilted a quit like this before, but I'm very much looking forward to try it again. I really love the effect that it creates.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Until next time

Martha

Pugs and Kisses

Hello friends! Happy New Year. I hope you are doing well. I wanted to share with my first make of the year. This super cute and adorable hearts quilt. I made this quilt specially to support the wonderful mission of Tiny Paws Pug Rescue. I chose this pattern because Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and because Pugs are the most loving beings and deserve all the love in the world. This quilt will be auctioned to raise funds to help pugs in need. All info available at Tiny Paws Pug Rescue website.

Martha.

Tiny Paws Pug Rescue - Christmas Quilt Fundraiser

The season of giving… I have partnered once again with the wonderful folks at Tiny Paws Pug Rescue to create some quilts for their winter fundraiser. Below are the photos of the three quilts I’ve created and will be auctioned/raffled on their website. Please take a look around and consider participating on their fundraiser . Their mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and find loving homes for pugs and pug mixes. As a pug mom myself, I can’t help myself to feel deeply connected to their mission.

STARS QUILT

Finished Size 40X40 inches. Perfect for a crib, pug bed, or wall hanging . 100% cotton. Machine quilted in a straight line pattern. Biding (border) finished with a delicate hand stitch for a neat invisible finish.

Matching draw string bag included for storage or carry with you.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Finished size 60X60 inches. Perfect size to snuggle on the couch with your pug or pugs. 100% cotton. Machine quilted in a straight line pattern. Biding (border) finished with a delicate hand stitch for a neat invisible finish.

Matching draw string bag included for storage or carry with you.

CHRISTMAS TREE QUILT

Finished Size 58x64 inches. Perfect size to snuggle on the couch with your pug or pugs. 100% cotton. Machine quilted in a straight line pattern. Biding (border) finished with a delicate hand stitch for a neat invisible finish.

Matching draw string bag included for storage or carry with you.

XO

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

Waves

Hello friends

it has been a while since I stopped by this space. Somehow lately days and weeks feels so monotonous and a bit of blur. Getting into a creative mode feels more difficult these days, but thankfully being part of an art quilt group (The Endeavorers) really encourages me to create, even if it’s a small piece. The theme for this quarter was the sea…. I have to say, I was really excited at first when the theme was announced: so many possibilities and then my mind went blank. For many days I played around the idea of creating something abstract or something that reflected the color variations of the sea. Looking through my fabric stash I found a small piece of screen printed canvas that had the perfect colors and pattern I had envisioned. I bought this piece of fabric as a remnant years ago for just less than a dollar (such a bargain right!) but the tag didn’t offer much information about the designer or the name.
Anyway, to create this piece I decided to do a raw edge appliqué over linen to mimic the sand at the shore on the beach. I cut the fabric following the design of the fabric (which offers the perfect wave patter of the ocean. Finally I quilted it very organically following the wave pattern. It is such a simple quilt but I love how it turned out.

Lately…

Hello friends,

I hope you are doing well. Around here things have been a bit stressful. We had had two heat waves that brought us extreme temperatures followed by a record number or wild fires through California. We have been fortunate that our neighborhood has not been on the evacuation list. But we continue to be engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Air quality has been deemed hazardous and we have been advised to remain indoors as much as possible. We haven’t seen blue skies in so many days I’ve lost count. My heart breaks for the people and living creatures that have lost or their homes are in danger and all the firefighters that are stretched so thin trying to keeps us safe.

Ive been working on a few quilts that I’d love to share with you soon. Hopefully we can see some improvement on the weather and the fires cease. Wishing you a happy week. Stay safe

XO

Martha

WIP: Bowtie Quilt

Hello friends, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I’ve been trying to slowly bring out the projects that I have in progress and finish them before starting new ones. This is one of them. I started this quilt about a year or year and a half ago. I saved the trimmings from a star quilt I did a long time ago because I couldn’t see myself parting with all those little triangles. I mean it is Denyse Schmidt Chicopee so every little scrap it is a treasure. So I kept them in box waiting for the inspiration to turn them into a quilt. So to crate the blocks I cut up 6 inch squares of blue chambray. Then on two opposite corners of each square I sewed the trimming as improvised as the fabric would allow me (since the trimming as quite small); therefore, when the blocks are joined together will form a bowtie.

I can’t wait to put this quilt top together and share with you as it has been too long in the making.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

XO

Martha

Summer Vibes

June and July are supper busy months around here. So much to do in our garden and the kitchen, specially because peach season is at its peak. We have a peach tree in our garden that is very bountiful and each year gives us more than enough peaches to last us for a year. Unfortunately fresh peaches don’t last very long, so we are always looking for ways to preserve them so we can still enjoy such delicious fruit throughout the year. So literally I spend weeks canning, making preserves, jams, fruit leather, dehydrating, freezing peaches. but is is all worth it in the months to come. This weekend I did the last batch of peach jam. I’ve been using the same recipe for years and it never fails. You can find the recipe from where I first shared it here.

Since I’m done preserving fruits for now I think I’ll be able to get to the sewing room and finish some projects I’ve been working on and share with you.

Have a lovely week

XO

Martha