Black White and Cream Quilt

Back when the snow was flying around these parts I started on a quilt made from an assortment of cream, black, and greys.  My LQS had a fabric line that was pretty without being too feminine which I thought would make a great quilt. I paired the fabric with a pattern from Quilts from Sweet Jane by Sue Pfau.

Her patterns are very clear to follow, well written and go together well. Since she uses mostly pre-cuts the patterns allow me to use up the stash of pre-cuts that I have to make pretty well loved quilts. I am currently working my way through the book and have made four out of ten patterns.

This quilt was quilted using a cream thread in a large circle swirling motion. The back is one of the larger prints used in the top of the quilt that makes it very showy and pretty but not too girly.  As I was sewing down the binding outside at a picnic table one of the guys at work commented on it positively so it can't be that feminine if a tough Sergeant likes it.

California Girl Deux

One of my colleagues has been trying to get pregnant and finally they are!!! Yeah. So happy for them. Anticipating this event I was digging in the box of fabric that I had shipped to Petawawa and found a pack of fat quarters from the Fat Quarter Shop.  The line was called California Girl and is a soft pretty floral line that I added some fabrics to which expanded its diversity.

 I chose a simple pattern from Sue Pfau's book called Sweet Jane. Ironically enough her pattern uses the same fabric. No, not much a coincidence.  I don't often copy the pattern designers fabric choices but this suited the quilt so well it was a no brainer.

It came together very quickly on a Sat afternoon when it was snowing out.  I actually had enough left over that I made a second which is perfect if they have twins.  Now I have no idea if they are having one or two or if it will be a boy or girl.  It really doesn't matter to me because I will have another excuse to buy some more fabric to make boy quilts.  I have been eyeballing the Military Max fabric from Riley Blake.

Living on a army base, all I would have to do is give one quilt to any lady with baby and be hit up with orders for something similar!  Maybe that is not such a good idea, I could find myself with no time to do my projects. 

 

Penny Sqared

The first quilt I wanted to make out of Sue Pfau book, Quilts from Sweet Jane, is called Penny Lane. Rather than use a fabric line that was currently out on the market I thought it would be great to use up my ever growing stack of bali fabrics.  I have a lovely stack of bali’s.  They along with the oriental fabrics are the ones I hoard, seldom cutting into cause they are so lovely and I want to have just the right pattern that showcases their beauty. 

I thought that this pattern would be a perfect way to show off their prettiness along with allowing some fine needle work with the quilting. I have slowly been working away at the pile of blocks, doing a few every few nights and then moving on to another project. I hope to lay out the blocks and stare at them for a while getting them all organized just right.