Tag Archives: challenge quilt

Project QUILTING 11.2: Team Colors • 20 Comments

sarah • January 26, 2020

After a slow start to the season when I didn't have time to participate in the first challenge, I'm happy to share my completed quilt for the Project QUILTING Team Colors challenge.

Now, I don't have strong sports team affiliations, so I had to think a bit before getting started on my project. But with a one week deadline, there isn't much time to think. I could have gone with Team Gryffindor, Team Jacob, or some other literary or art reference. In the end I decided to pick a sports team with colors I like. ;-) So, I chose the local San Jose Sharks (ice hockey). Teal and black for the win! I pulled everything used on the front of my quilt from previously used scraps. 100% of my project is from stash (probably common in a one week challenge!). You just can't go wrong with black, white, and one color as a palette.

With only the slightest of planning in my Planned Improv, I knew I would do one improv log cabin for the mini quilt. I opted for the teal (Christa Watson) print in the center since I felt that was the closest to the Sharks color. I pieced a shark fin of the same fabric into one of my strips. Beyond that there wasn't a plan for color placement, and I opted for wonky with regard to my strips. When I started in the middle I went clockwise around the center piece for the first eight strips before that broke down. I've really been enjoying Cassandra Beaver's improv blocks, especially her skinny strips. I included a couple in my log cabin. My only other conscious consideration was that I like high contrast, so I tried to avoid putting fabrics next to each other that blended.

Next up, thread and quilting. I chose Aurifil 50wt Light Turquoise (#5006) and Dark Turquoise (#4182) with a plan to use a variety of motifs in the different strips and start with the dark thread in the center and swap to light closer to the edges. I consulted three books for quilting motif ideas (affiliate links):

I especially like the Shape by Shape books for this because the book is arranged by shape of space you are quilting and they include borders as a section. In the end each piece of fabric in my quilt had a unique motif.

I am always so happy when I take the time to do more detailed quilting. Perhaps this is an indication that I should slow down and do more of it. I kept my quilt to 16.5" square so that I would have time to quilt the life into it. Much bigger and I would have opted for "get it done" quilting. ;-)

I used a fat quarter from my stash for backing and two corner triangles for easy hanging (label on one). The easy choice for binding was a black solid since I had remnant binding already made. Score!

Improv Log Cabins is a workshop I've started offering for 2020. There are so many ways to improv a log cabin. This piece has me considering a series of black, white, and one color improv log cabin mini quilts. The real question is, what color do I do next?

I've linked up with Project QUILTING 11.2. View all the projects there for the Team Colors challenge. (For those of you who have voted it past years, there is no voting this year.)

I'm also linking up with Beauties Pageant, TGIFF, Peacock Party, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Free Motion Mavericks, and Off the Wall Friday.

You can read all about the other quilts in this 2020 series here:

Aurifil Artisan Wholecloth Challenge • 6 Comments

sarah • August 21, 2019

The products featured in this post were given to me by Aurifil, and their industry partner Paintbrush Studio Fabrics.

As an Aurifil Artisan, I have monthly challenges to participate in this year. The August challenge was to create a wholecloth quilt. (My first!) Paintbrush Studio Painter’s Palette solid fabric (from their 2019 colors of the year) and matching Aurifil thread was provided to each participating Artisan. I received Coral fabric (it's a very pink coral) with 12wt Bright Pink Aurifil (#2425).

My initial plan was to add a couple other pastels to have some color variety in my quilting. (I changed my mind.)

Inspired by my June mini quilt, I opted for creating sections on my quilt with organic curve walking foot quilting in the Aurifil 12wt Bright Pink (#2425), with 40wt in the bobbin. I decided to add an echo line of stitching for each curve. Then I picked a variety of free motion fillers for the six sections in Aurifil 40wt Light Peony (#2437). I wanted a variety of curved and angular motifs.

Section one features one of my go to FMQ motifs: spirals! I use this one often. Fandangle Scrappy Squares and Modern Batik Scrappy Squares come to mind as two quilts I've quilted with spirals.

Section two has another favorite, a jagged stipple.

In section three, I used a nesting C motif that I last used on the mini that inspired this quilt.

In section four, I did two rows of boxy overlapping loops. (I want to call these boxy spirals, but they really aren't spirals. What would you call them?)

Section five has free motion echo lines radiating in from the initial walking foot quilting.

Section six had a triangle meander, which I previously shared in a blog tutorial.

I backed my quilt with some white on white from my stash and bound by machine (visit my tutorial to see my technique) using Aurifil 50wt Baby Pink (#2423).

I love the texture of the quilting!

My wholecloth mini finished at 17" x 22". I used a remnant of Quilter's Dream 100% Cotton Deluxe batting from this quilt.

You can find the chart of matching Painter's Palette solid fabric and Aurifil thread colors not the Paintbrush Studio website.

Thank you to Aurifil and Paintbrush Studios for the fun challenge!

I've linked up to the Q3 Finish Along Finishes post. Check out my whole Q3 list of projects.

Project QUILTING 10.5: Abecedarius • 14 Comments

sarah • March 9, 2019

After a two week hiatus, I managed to crank out a *very tiny* finish for this week's Project QUILTING challenge. I took my word of the year and turned it into a quilt. Mostly my technique was slice and insert and it was all a bit of planned improv, I wanted skinny lines and to make all the letters about the same height as the E which I finished first.

The strips finish at about 1/8" wide and the quilt finished at 2 1/4" x 9". It ties my Patchwork City mini mini quilt for the smallest quilt I've ever made. Fabrics are Alison Glass Kaleidoscope: Iris, Opal, Aqua Marine, Dragonfly, Beetle, and Peacock. It was pieced with Aurifil 50wt White (#2024) and quilted with Aurifil 50wt Medium Grey (#1158). I quilted it by walking foot echoing the letters, then I pillowcase bound it. By the way, my daughter wasn't very impressed. She told me, "It's hardly a quilt. It doesn't even have binding!" Here are a few process pictures to go with my finished photo above.