Retiring - Hawaiian style

So we had a little flurry of retirements at work - two in January, and now another one the end of this week.

This time I asked my co-worker what colors she wanted.  She came back and asked if I could do a Hawaiian quilt.  Um - yeah - not me.  I don't applique very much at all - and this definitely was not time for me to challenge myself with something on that scale.

So I compromised - I found this Triple Bear Paw two color quilt pattern online from Martingale Press - and chose two hibiscus and swirl fabrics in the colors that my coworker suggeseted - and "HIbernation" was born (or HI-bear-nation -to be more accurate).

I wish I was more confident with softer rounder quilting -but I did a lot of echo quilting (and pivoting) on this one.  If I had it all to do over, I would have quilted it in a round spiral from the center.

It is nice to be outside photographing again - the spring flowers are starting to pop, and everything is greening up.  After this photo session, I spent the rest of the day transplanting and pruning shrubs, weeding, and giving the rosebush a much needed "haircut."

 

Three in January

My coworkers didn't time their retirements too well for this quilter - I ended up with two only 7 days apart.

This one was made with a 'faux' jelly roll - it only had 4 different fabrics but I still think it worked to give this quilt some movement and interest.  I used my Lazy Angle ruler and this is my own layout (after an oops) - or my "Lazy Streak" (though for this gift I called it "See the World" - either name would work for a new retiree, don't you think?"

Unfortunately the weather was not so cooperative this day -so this is the only photo I was able to get.

(I know this is upside down - Blogger is giving me fits on inserting photos today)

I was able to set aside enough of the strips from the "roll" to use for the binding.

 

New Horizons

This is my 2nd finish for 2015 - a retirement quilt for a very dear coworker and mentor. She said she liked peaches and corals, and when I saw this kit from Connecting Threads, I knew I was on the right track. I backed it in orange, and bound it in brown, since those are the school colors for the university we work at.

 

 

Collage of the heART

This is a post I didn't really want to write about - but I want to document this quilt, and tell a bit about the very special person I made it for.

Bruce Greene was THE art teacher in my school.  His wife Susan taught elementary school art, and Bruce taught Junior High and High School.  We are talking small school here - graduating classes of approx 55, and K-12 all in one interconnected building.... often riding the same school busses to and from school.

Everyone had the Greenes as teachers - even if you didn't study art in High School (like I didn't), you at least had 2 years with Mr. Greene in Junior High.

And he was good! He was one of those teachers that left a strong impression in his students.

Unfortunately - I learned about a month ago that Mr. Greene was very ill and not expected to live much longer.  3 months, I was told.

My immediate response?  Make a quilt.  My next thought? Make a quilt and ask my siblings to contribute their own thoughts and blocks to it.  Then I got this crazy idea to jump on Facebook and ask all my classmates, my school mates, Mr. Greene's former colleagues, friends - anyone who wanted.

Send me your blocks.  Send me your names.  Send me whatever you want - and I will be sure it gets into this quilt.  Just send it FAST!!!

And they responded.  The depth of emotion, the creativity, the trust they put in me to put together their words into a tribute to a beloved teacher... it was a surreal couple of weeks as I put this together.

I mailed it out on Monday, June 23rd and it arrived on the 24th.
12 days later I received the news that Mr. Greene had died.

But he spent some time wrapped in our "Collage of the heART" - wrapped in gratitude, admiration, and love.

Thank you, Bruce and Susan Greene - you planted the seeds of my art, gave me roots - and then gave me wings to fly.

Soar high!

Wraparound Shot

So, I do a lot of sewing that ends up at my neighbor's house.  Two quilts for her boys when they were born, one for her, the TARDIS and the Millennium Falcon as gifts she commissioned.... so she and I had discussed how I was shamefully neglecting her hubby -and what I should make for him.

He is a hockey player - but a jersey quilt was not going to be realistic because of the types of fabrics involved.

He is a Boston Bruins fan - so perhaps a logo quilt?

I pondered this for nearly a year.  I even acquired a panel of an ice rink to stash away for a backing when I was ready for it.

And then I found a tutorial online for a Broken Wheel block. (if I can find it again, I will repost it - but I can't find the link right now.  It was metric - so some kind non-US blogger sharing talents!)  The broken wheel looked similar to the Bruins logo- not identical but similar enough that it caught my imagination and I thought I could have fun interpreting it.  I dove into my stash for golds and blacks (including some golds left over from the Millennium Falcon and blacks left over from the camera quilt), added a bit more gold and some black yardage - and hand built a "B" for the big block.  I printed the logo from a coloring page, cut out the large B in black, and then the accents in gold - zig zag stitching all around each both inside and out.  It gave it the texture of a vintage high school sweater letter.

I quilted it in concentric circles as I felt that would work best from both the front and the back.  They were a bit wobbly in some parts, but so are hockey skaters, right?  It's not like figure skating with perfect figure eights, right?   Once again my variegated Aurifil threads came in handy - adding some dimension to this essentially three color top without taking over.  There was a black based variegated on the top and a primarily slate blue variegated on the back.

 

 

Saturday was his birthday - so "Wraparound" was given to him then.  I wasn't there -so don't know how he feels with my interpretation of his beloved team... but now their family of quilts is complete.

Unless I make one for their dog?
 

Three Left Turns

I am not sure whether to call this a 2013 quilt, or a 2014 quilt.  I pieced this over Christmas break but finished it today - it was not a planned project, but a friend is undergoing some medical stuff and I wanted to do a quilt for him.  I had seen this pattern online and wanted to try it for myself.  Only it featured the Moda hexagon precuts - which I didn't have.  And a lot of white - which I didn't think was the right choice for this particular project.

I wanted to use the grey for my background, and I wanted to cut my own hexagons.  Since I have the Hex-N-More ruler from Jaybird Quilts, I figured I could cut away at a bundle of batik and do my own thing.  Except I didn't figure on how hexagons are measured - I did 6.5" strips figuring I would get 6" hexagons, which is what I thought the Moda precuts were.  Except they are 6" through the middle, not height, so my hexagons ended up both taller and wider than the Moda ones.

No trouble - I adjusted my sashing accordingly (um - after I had already cut it too narrow and had to go back and recut), and dropped one hexagon out of each row - adding them in on my backing.  The finished dimensions are about the same - though I used less fabric in my side strips as a result.

I am happy with how it turned out - and would probably make it or something like it again.  Start to finish for the piecing including the cutting was less than a day.

The quilting I finished up on this today - just straight lines with some variegated Aurifil on the front, and a solid grey thread on the back.  Binding was the same fabric as the background, and as we were home with a "snow day" due to the Polar Vortex I was able to quilt AND bind this today (and snuggle under it in the process).

The recipient is a big baseball fan - so that dictated both the backing fabric and the name of the quilt.

The "almost" quilt

Christmas 2013
I don't count this one as a full quilt - it was a 2 yard piece of polarfleece, with edges hemmed - and the Android logo appliqued in the corner. This is for another nephew - and I didn't put a tag on it (yes - bad quilter, again!)

 

Lotus Rose

Quilt 4 of 6 - Christmas 2013
Lotus Rose

This project was a long time in the making. I started it in May while teaching a class at Chestnut Bay Quilting on the Lotus pattern by Jaybird Quilts.  It was a gift for my sister-in-law.  This is another one of those "deceptively easy" patterns that looks complicated but is not really.  I made 4 Lotus quilts this year - and would definitely make one again!!!

The toughest part on this one was the quilting - it is a very big quilt and I decided on straight line quilting - not hard but time consuming wrestling it under my little machine.

I love how this one turned out - parting with it was tough but we visit them often so I will get to snuggle under it again sometime... I hope (unless she keeps it hidden!).  I love how it is soft and feminine - but not so frilly that it won't fit well in a household with my brother and 2 nephews.  (and I also love that I have more of this fabric!!!)

Very hard to get a picture of this indoors -and the weather outside was NOT cooperating.

The label.

The back is this wonderful mottled batik.  It was tough to get a shot of the quilting but it created these wonderful diamond and triangle shapes on the back.

For the Boys

Quilt 2 of 6 - Christmas 2013
This was a Scrappy Trip Around the World from instructions written by Bonnie Hunter.

As I was working on this - I really didn't care for how it was turning out.  I had pulled fabrics that were all too busy - and very dark - and there was no sparkle to it.

After seeing my neighbor drying a "sofa quilt" for her 2 Scottie dogs on the clothesline that had seen better days, I decided the boys (my buddies) needed a new quilt, so I added the applique in the corner and had Jill quilt this for me with dog paws all over.

The quilt finished, bound and washed.

The boys!  I did this raw edge applique so they will get "furry"

The label.

The backing - the aqua strip has tiny Westies on it (the Scottie fabric was on pink - so I compromised).  The tiny print on either side is dragonflies, and the dark reddish strip is bricks -which will have meaning to my neighbor)

Puppy Paws!!!

 

Tranquil Garden

Quilt 1 of 6 -Christmas 2013
Tranquil Garden - from the Hugs and Kisses pattern by Jaybird Quilts using the Lazy Angle Ruler by Lazy Girl Designs.  This is a quick and easy pattern to make - with very dramatic results.  I made 2 quilts with this for Christmas - and each turned out very different.  I would definitely make more.

The quilt after washing.

Free motion quilting - with markings from a Frixion pen.

Quilting after washing.

Quilting from the back.

The pieced backing.

The label.

 

Polska

Quilt 5 of 6 - Christmas 2013
(again -posting order changed after these posts were written as I know this one has been delivered)

This is a One Block Wonder - not following any specific pattern but figuring it out as I go along.
This was for my brother-in-law and his family.

Unfortunately -I forgot to take any post quilting or post washing pictures of this one -and don't have a picture of the back or tag either (I know - bad quilter!!!)- emailing them to see if I can get some to add before this blog post goes live (I am composing this on Christmas day).

post-gifting... being enjoyed