Modern Geometric Landscape Quilt Finish

My son has a back to nature sort of room. His bed and night stand were made by his dad from reclaimed wood. He has plants under his windowsill, and collections of shells and rocks displayed from places we have visited. He asked me to make him a landscape quilt to add some color and continue his nature theme.

I expected him to want a small raw edge applique wall hanging, only because that is what I think of first when I think about landscape quilts. Our go to resource for design ideas is Pinterest, and that is where he found this pattern. The pattern is Welcome to Colorful Colorado by Katie Larson. I purchased it when it was available on Craftsy and see that she now has it available in her Etsy shop, The Crafting Shell. I love the design, colors, quilting, and really, everything about the quilt. So I made one as close to hers as I could.

I'm normally a use what you have kind of quilt maker but in this case I invested in the solid fabrics required for the quilt. It is great to add the leftovers to my stash, too. The quilting was a bit challenging in the middle section since I used a close to matching thread for each triangle. I didn't think I would ever finish burying all those threads once the quilting was finished! It was worth it.

The back is made from two yards of text fabric surrounded by solid scraps.

Here's a closer look at the text print.

Rather than bind the quilt, it is faced. This is the first time I have made a facing for a quilt, and I like both the process and the result. I need to work on my mitered corners a little more but other than that, it worked well.

I knew this was going to hang on a wall so I had a little fun with the facing fabric. This is a Charley Harper print. Those owls are so cute. I also tried out a new hand stitch to finish off the facing. I had always used a slip stitch when hand stitching binding but because the facing is so much thinner and flatter than binding, I tried out the ladder stitch. I will definitely use it again. It makes those stitches practically invisible.

Here it is hanging in its new home. It adds so much color to his room. He is happy to have it and I am happy it is finished!

Cardinal In The Snow - A Finished Sampler Quilt

What an exciting finish. I had expected this quilt to take me well into August, but I got into a quilting groove this morning, and look what happened!

It all started with a one yard purchase of Charley Harper cardinal print. It sat and sat in my sewing room. I wanted to use it but I could never settle on a project, until the Moda Sampler Shuffle began. I knew right away that fussy cutting those cute birds to work in the sampler blocks would be lots of fun.

When I started this project, I was blogging a lot more, and the pace was just right to provide a regular blog feature, a few finished blocks at a time. All of the other fabric in the blocks is from stash, which was a good way to use up some of my red, white, and black fabrics.

The only downfall in using older stash is that one of the reds is a bleeder. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but the white with red print is starting to look a little pink because the red solid is making its way onto that fabric. I used a blue water soluble pen to mark the curves for the stems of my paisley feathers. When I sprayed the pen marks off, that is when I first knew I had a problem.

I thought about washing it with multiple color catchers and hoping for the best, but instead, I have decided not to wash it at all and hope for the best over time. It is intended as a wall hanging so washing isn't really necessary. That particular fabric is in five or six of the blocks. This is the first time I have ever had a problem with any fabric bleeding like this, so I consider myself fortunate on that count.

Look how the white thread shines on the red backing.

Here it is a little closer. There are plenty of imperfections but overall, I am happy with the texture of the quilting. The entire quilt was done in free motion and some of the straight lines are a bit shaky. It was great practice.

I was determined to use a feather pattern of some kind in the sashing. Most of the patterns I saw were a little too formal until I saw this paisley feather design by Angela Walters. She has some great You Tube videos and I must have watched this one ten times before giving it a try. Originally, the feathers were going to go in the vertical space, too, but once the horizontal rows were quilted, it was going to be too busy to do more of those. The evenly spaced vertical lines provide a good contrast to the feathers. Each of the pieced blocks has minimal quilting.

The shadows fell just right while the quilting was in progress. The design stands out nicely in this picture.

I have been wanting to use a striped binding forever. This quilt will be on display during the winter/holiday season and I like the hint of candy cane it adds to the quilt.

The backyard clothes line has become my go to place for quilt photographs these days. My helpers only get called into action for the bigger projects. This quilt finishes at 48 inches x 57 inches.

I live in the south, where it rarely snows, and I've always loved pictures of cardinals in the snow. Now I have my own version, with or without real snow.

Cardinal Blocks Update

Five more cardinal blocks were added to the mix from the Moda Sampler Shuffle block series. At least now I know there are thirty blocks total which means I am a third of the way toward completing all of the blocks.

Rather than sew them in the order they were released, they are organized loosely by complexity and ease of cardinal placement. This is Block 10 by Deb Strain.

Here we have Block 15 by Janet Clare Designs.

Block 14 is by Fig Tree & Co.

Block 12 is by Zen Chic. The edges of this one are a little wonky. Actually, the edges are wonky on several of them. I am waiting until they are all made to decide how best to trim and square up the blocks.

This block starts getting into some serious piecing. When there are 45 pieces in a 6 1/2 inch block, you know it is time to kick the accuracy up a notch.

Ten cardinal blocks ready for some friends to join them. Can't wait to stitch some more up to share with you. I like how they look as a group. I'm hoping all it will take is a bit of sashing to turn them into a quilt. 

We will see as more blocks are added to the mix.

Linking up with Whoop Whoop with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Sampler Block Shuffle With Cardinals

Finally, I cut into my Charley Harper cardinal fabric. 

Why oh why did I only buy one yard? I love these little birds and want to keep them around for a long, long time. I'm glad I found a project that highlights these pretty birds while not eating up all of my yard in just a few cuts. 

The Moda Sampler Block Shuffle is a series of free blocks offered by shops that carry Moda products. The series has been going on for a couple of months now and runs through the end of January. Participating shops offer two or three new blocks each week. Each block is designed or sponsored by a different designer. There are two copies of the pattern on each printed page. The idea is to keep one for yourself and share the other with a friend. The blocks are only available for a limited time. I am getting mine from the Intown Quilters.

This is Block 2 by Me & My Sister Designs. Because the cardinals are fussy cut, I went through and sorted the blocks that have been published so far so that the easier ones to cut are first.

This is Block 4 by V and Co. I have collected 24 blocks so far and stitched up 5. It took a while for me to commit to using my cardinals for this project. 

This is Block 5 by Kathy Schmitz Studios.

Block 6 by American Jane. I altered this block slightly. The center is supposed to be a four-patch but I liked using a bigger piece of the cardinals for the center.

Block 8 by little miss shabby. Again, I turned the center from a four-patch to a single larger square.

I like they way they look together so far. This is a good project to fit in between others or when I want something that won't take a long time to do. I'm not sure what the final count of blocks will be for the Moda Sampler Block Shuffle series but I intend to make them all. There may be a few alterations along the way so they fit with my cardinal themed sampler. Hoping to share more progress with you in a few weeks. I'd love to see your blocks if you decide to play along.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts and Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Also linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Scraptastic Tuesday over at She Can Quilt.