Cycles 2 for the Blogger's Quilt Festival

Let me introduce you to Cycles 2, my entry into the wall hanging quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

If you are a new visitor to my blog from the festival, welcome and I hope you will take a minute to look around. Thank you to Amy from Amy's Creative Side for hosting the festival. If you are a more regular visitor here, I apologize because this is a total repost of my ta da post for this quilt, which was just a couple of weeks ago. I just could not resist entering this quilt, as I continue to be totally smitten with it. So thank you for not minding the almost instant replay.

Cycles 2 is the second quilt in what might be a series of Cycles quilts. My first Cycles quilt is here. Cycles 2 is 37.5" x 39" after washing. She is made from Kona solids and Essex linen, there is Kona white on the back and the binding is Essex linen. I hand stitched the binding.



The modern industrial matchstick quilting was done with a variety of variegated threads - for the backgrounds I used golds and browns and for the circles I used a blue variegated thread. The different coloured threads gives a subtle striped effect.



I washed this quilt and the added texture was just enough to really make this quilt shine for me. The quilting is about 10 lines to an inch, give or take, so there is not a lot of fabric to crinkle, but it still did crinkle.



 The colours are taken from the sun drenched, west coast, northern Pacific Ocean beach palette. The texture is meant to evoke weathered, eroded rocks, driftwood, cliffs, shells. I hope you might also think of waves, tides, wind and even rain and ocean storms.



It is also geometric, asymmetrical, uncluttered using simple shapes and loads of negative space - a modern quilt.



You can see the thread colours better on the Kona white back fabric. Cycles 2 is meant to hang on a wall, so the back will be seldom seen.



I wish you could see her up close. It is surprisingly hard to sew the lines unevenly like this and I found myself returning to evenly spaced lines all the time.



A nighttime detail shot shows some of the thread colours better.

Here are some of the threads from an instagram photo. I used all of these and maybe a couple more for the background. The encouragement from the instagrammers to use them all helped make that decision. In fact the encouragement on instagram really helped with all steps of this quilt, thank you instagram friends. 

You can see the texture in the early morning sun. This photo is before washing.



A reminder of what she looked like when I basted her. The change the quilting, binding and washing adds is remarkable. I still love the quilting part of quilting the most, this quilt shows you why.

Let me explain a little about my term industrial modern matchstick quilting. I was inspired to use matchstick quilting by Jacquie Gehring, who blogs at Tall Grass Prairie Studio - her matchstick quilting is very evenly spaced and stunning. My spin on it is to use the wobbly unevenly spaced lines I often use in straight line quilting even in these tight quarters. I am sure others have done this but the term industrial quilting is one I made up to describe these intentionally wobbly lines that create uneven texture. Having made it up does not mean that someone else is not already using it too, so let me know if you have seen it before.



On last shot, in this one she is being held up. I still need to make a hanging sleeve and figure out which wall to hang her on. I already have an idea for another version, there may well be more in the Cycles series.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Cycles 2
Pattern: I made her up myself
Size: 39" x 40"
Fabrics: Kona colours and Essex linen
Festival Category: Wall Hanging Quilts

You have time to enter up to two quilts in the festival if you have not yet done so - go here to see all the categories - and there are some quality hours to be spent pursuing the entries, they are fantastic.

Best,

Leanne

Swirling Medallion Baby Quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival

Let me introduce you to my Swirling Medallion Quilt, my entry into the baby quilt category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

If you are a new visitor to my blog from the festival, welcome and I hope you will take a minute to look around. Thank you to Amy from Amy's Creative Side for hosting the festival.

Swirling Medallion is about 42" square. She was made following the Swirling Medallion Quilt pattern in Quilting Modern, which is a book by Jacquie Gehring and Katie Pederson, although I adapted the patter by adding some extra rounds . I first introduced this quilt in this blog post where you can read more about her construction.



For this Blogger's Quilt Festival post, I though I would share a bit about the inspiration to make this fun little quilt. I had bought a bundle of Heather Ross's Briar Rose line of fabrics with no plan at all for them.



I carried them off to the coast for my summer vacation. While I was walking the beach with my dog, I kept looking at the ripples in the ocean caused by tossing in stones and by bigger rocks sticking out of the water.



I had brought my copy of Quilting Modern with me on vacation as I wanted to work on some improv projects. So the swirling medallion pattern, the bright Briar Rose prints and the ocean ripples all came together and I made this quilt. The quilting is also a diamond swirl out from the centre, slightly off kilter and not perfectly evenly spaced, in the modern industrial style I like.



This picture above is before washing. As always, for me the texture added from washing completes the design. And it adds even more beachy references for me: waves, sand, driftwood, eroded rocks and cliffs, and the original swirls that form when you toss a rock into the ocean.



For the back I used a Kona yellow - I am not sure which one - and some more Briar Rose. I machine stitched the binding using the method my friend Marianne from The Quilting Edge patiently explained to me over a couple of lunches - she also has a tutorial here.



There are not really strawberries at my beach but the blackberries grow in abundance. So this quilt is yet another of my quilts inspired by the ocean and the beach, despite its lack of beach colours and the wrong kind of berries. Hakuna matata, it was made on my island, it is full of fun and movement, summer sun and smiles, swirls and texture - clearly it is about the beach.



I hope you enjoy this quilt and all the others at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Swirling Medallion
Pattern: Swirling Medallion from Quilting Modern
Size: 42" x 42"
Fabrics: Kona Snow and Briar Rose, with a Kona yellow (not sure which one) on the back
Festival Category: Baby Quilts

You have time to enter up to two quilts in the festival if you have not yet done so - go here to see all the categories - and there are some quality hours to be spent pursuing the entries, they are fantastic.

Best,

Leanne

ps, The Amazon links in this post are affiliated Amazon links.

The other side of the quilt - my quilt backs

Katie at Swim, Bike, Quilt has invited people to share the backs of their quilts. So I thought I would collect the pictures  that I have of the backs of my baby and larger size quilts. In making this post I also learned that I did not keep photos of all my quilt backs, especially the ones that are just plain.

That one above is the back of my ROYGBIV Log Cabin quilt. I still want to make a quilt front like that one. This quilt was made for my friend Claire.



On the Tiles. This one is at the island house.



Liberated (emergency) Baby Quilt. Gifted to a friend's lovely baby.



Party Rings. This one is currently off at University with my niece, and I am so glad she would pack it and take it miles from home.



No Primary Colours. This one has been abducted by my son.



Kaleidoscope. This one is with my nephew, who is also at University. Don't ever doubt that young people love getting a quilt made just for them or that they will bring it along to wherever they are living.



Puppies, Boys and Monkeys. This is quilt was made for my youngest son and is on his bed.



Lime green quilt - an Irish Chain on the front. This one is also on the coast on my bed.



Magnolia Quilt. A gift to a friend.



Pink Zig Zag Quilt. This quilt is the first I ever made, it started the whole adventure.



Rainbow Warmth. Donated to Quilts Recover.



Turquoise Ocean. Also on the coast, on a bed.



Supernova. A gift to another friend.



King Size Mod Pop (and here too)- I am not sure I ever settled on a name for this quilt. It is one of the quilts that I use on my bed.



Red (and here too). She lives on the coast.



Butterflies (and here too). Gifted to another friend.



Whitewater. Gifted to a my niece's baby - great niece maybe, she is great anyway.



Echo Stained. She lives here.



Scrappy Trip. This one gets dragged across the country so that there is a car quilt on long trips.



Octagonal Orb. Donated to Siblings Together.



Swirling Medallion. She lives here.



Granny Squares. On my lap right now.



Cycles 2. Soon to be on the wall, she just needs a hanging sleeve.

I am going to have to photograph a few more quilt backs to complete my set. You can also view all these quilt backs on Flickr here, and if you want to see the fronts again, just click the names of the quilts.

I have to say that this exercise of collecting all my quilt backs has made me happy. I often feel stuck at the making the back stage of a quilt, but it looks like my quilt backs are often more interesting than I remembered.

Go ahead, you can share your quilt backs too, and see what other folks have been coming up with.

Best,

Leanne

Cycles 2 - Ta Da!

Cycles 2 is the second quilt in what might be a series of Cycles quilts. My first Cycles is here. Cycles 2 is 37.5" x 39" after washing. She is made from Kona solids and Essex linen, there is Kona white on the back and the binding is Essex linen. I hand stitched the binding.



The modern industrial matchstick quilting was done with a variety of variegated threads - for the backgrounds I used golds and browns and for the circles I used a blue variegated thread. The different coloured threads gives a subtle striped effect.



I washed this quilt and the added texture was just enough to really make this quilt shine for me. The quilting is about 10 lines to an inch, give or take, so there is not a lot of fabric to crinkle, but it still did crinkle.



 The colours are taken from the sun drenched, west coast, northern Pacific Ocean beach palette. The texture is meant to evoke weathered, eroded rocks, driftwood, cliffs, shells. I hope you might also think of waves, tides, wind and even rain and ocean storms.



It is also geometric, asymmetrical, uncluttered using simple shapes and loads of negative space - a modern quilt.



You can see the thread colours better on the Kona white back fabric. Cycles 2 is meant to hang on a wall, so the back will be seldom seen.



I wish you could see her up close. It is surprisingly hard to sew the lines unevenly like this and I found myself returning to evenly spaced lines all the time.



A nighttime detail shot shows some of the thread colours better.

Here are some of the threads from an instagram photo. I used all of these and maybe a couple more for the background. The encouragement from the instagrammers to use them all helped make that decision. In fact the encouragement on instagram really helped with all steps of this quilt, thank you instagram friends. 

You can see the texture in the early morning sun. This photo is before washing.



A reminder of what she looked like when I basted her. The change the quilting, binding and washing adds is remarkable. I still love the quilting part of quilting the most, this quilt shows you why.

A commenter asked me about my term industrial modern matchstick quilting. I was inspired to use matchstick quilting by Jacquie Gehring, who blogs at Tall Grass Prairie Studio - her matchstick quilting is very evenly spaced and stunning. My spin on it is to use the wobbly unevenly spaced lines I often use in straight line quilting even in these tight quarters. I am sure others have done this but the term industrial quilting is one I made up to describe these intentionally wobbly lines that create uneven texture. Having made it up does not mean that someone else is not already using it too, so let me know if you have seen it before.



On last shot, in this one she is being held up. I still need to make a hanging sleeve and figure out which wall to hang her on. I already have an idea for another version, there may well be more in the Cycles series.

I think I will link up to one or more of the show off your finish links this week. You know that there will be wonderful inspiration at each of those links, do check them out - Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, TGIFF at Quilt Matters, I Quilt at Pretty Bobbins and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. I will add buttons as I add the links.

Oh, and she is also my first finish from my  Q4 Finish-A-Long finish.

Best,

Leanne