Liberated Quiltmaking - Fall Abundance

I finally finished "Fall Abundance" - I love it so very much. There were many hours spent creating in this liberated quiltmaking style. It was a labor of love and I kinda hope it will stay around for a bit. But, if you love it as much as I do, it is my very first item listed on Big Cartel .

I tried a new quilting motif - at a friend's suggestion, I created a meandering leaf pattern.

A liberated Modern Maple..

 The back is wholecloth fabric from Riley Blake and was bound in a dark chocolate feather fabric.

It's so beautiful, even our WolfMan wanted to snuggle in it..

Loving the crunchy leaves, shorter days and crisp air..

Linking up to Amy's Blogger Quilt Festival

xo,
Jennifer

Liberated Halloween Baby Quilt

I love to make a few things for the kids for the holidays. I had planned to make the girls' Halloween skirts and baby boy a pair of pants. Unfortunately, the first skirt pattern I used was written with incorrect measurements. I had to scrap the skirt and in the end, I didn't have enough fabric to make baby boy's pants. The agony of being the third child..

Rather than toss the scrapped skirt in the trash can, I decided that I would cut it apart and create a stroller quilt in my favorite improv style. Makes perfect sense in high insight, he can use the blanket daily and get much more use out of it.

I used the Riley Blake fabric as focal points and improv pieced around them. They are so cute and get a ton of attention. I love sweet Halloween fabric that is not overwhelmingly scary.

I've seen a few quilting friends rave about how fun striped binding is. Luckily I had the perfect fabric for it and I love it! It is just the right, fun touch to the quilt.

So when life or sewing gives you lemons, it's time to make some adorable lemonade!

Liberated Fall Quilt Process and Other Halloween Fun

One of the all time favorite quilts in our home is the Halloween one I created last year. Regardless of the time of the year, that one gets pulled out a lot. And as a Halloween nut, I figured I should make some more fall quilts to enjoy. I decided to shelve all those WIPS I've been trying to finish and dive into some liberated quilting fun! Here is a bit of my process..

 Lots of yummy orange scraps..

The makings of the first liberated pumpkin quilt block..

A little trial and error. I hated that stem.. thought it made my pumpkin look like a orange..

Playing with the idea of stripe borders..

More blocks done.. Filling in with improv cream blocks that I started months ago..

Inspired by the Modern Maples on my Instagram feed and decided to try a few liberated ones..

And it's coming together.. Almost done. Just need to finish the bottom row of piecing, quilting and binding. Hoping to add it to the Etsy store before the end of September. It will be a smallish quilt - perfect wall hanging or the autumn baby due any day.

Now that my parents have moved here, it is such a treat to have crafty nights with my Mum. She treated me to this gorgeous wreath class at Thanksgiving Pointe. So much fun and I love having new decor on our front door. The technique was super easy and wouldn't this be in great in other motifs? Maybe a creamy, vintage Christmas?


I've been busy working on the liberated fall quilt and a number of projects for a book due out next year. The kiddos have grown tired of hearing about how none of it was for them. This past week I surprised the girls with some new fun skirts..

And a pattern I used online had some very off measurements, sadly I had to scrap one of the skirts and try something new. I love this little liberated piecing in the skirt and it makes my kiddo smile. Make lemonade, people, especially when it's designer fabric that is at stake!

I hope it is cooling down where you are and your thoughts are full of pumpkin spice lattes, jumps through crunchy leaves and enjoying the start of the holidays..

XO,
Jennifer

Little Man's Nursery Projects - #1 Gone Fishing Improv Baby Quilt

My sweet Little Man's nursery theme is "Gone Fishing". My husband wanted a fishing motif, I wanted nautical and neither of us liked the typical colors.. What did we end up with? A fishing motif in sweet, soft oceanic color tones. Lots of cool blues, clementine orange, sandy browns and a touch of light green. The nursery is serene and the whole family enjoys being in there.

I wanted to create a number of items just for him, like I did with the girls, even though my time is honestly more stretched now. I wanted to create a couple pieces of art for his room that would be meaningful. At the top of list of thing I wanted to create was a large quilt piece to be focal in the nursery. And I had no ideas. Inspiration would just not come and I was getting sick with it. I wanted it to be more art than traditional, but I wanted it to be pieced. And I have come to accept that I really, really don't like creating realistic or literal pieces. I gave up and created a pretty simple modern quilt.. and hated making it. There was no connection, no piece of me in this other quilt. Finally a good friend told me to trash it and start over. Ugh! Really? I could never do that.. and so that quilt has become a carseat cover, a much more functional and adorable use for a quilt that held little meaning.

What to do? I'm still a novice at improv piecing, I can count on one hand the number of projects I've created in that style. However, I'm always happy when I create in that fashion. I decided that I would do an impressionist piece with a single fish that was not too abstract, but not too cutesy. I loved the process, I was eager to work on it and it felt right.. I finally found the quilt that gave my son a piece of me.

The details of the quilt..

It is 22"x30" - I had originally envisioned a very large piece, but we ended up having less wall space and I had to par it down.

It is completely pieced - no applique or fusing at all. This is huge for me. Of course for bed quilts, I've always pieced, but it when it comes to art pieces, I've run from piecing. I always felt like the precision of piecing would somehow kill the spontaneity of the art. I never had that feeling with this quilt I think because it was improv pieced with a very vague plan. This is also the very first time I used curved piecing as well.. It was not that scary and the gentle waves were perfect for this piece.

I quilted it on my domestic machine. Given its smaller size and that I learned how to FMQ on my domestic, it made the most sense. Maybe one day I'll enjoy quilting art pieces on my mid-arm, but um..yeah not yet. The majority of the quilt has 2 motifs - white waves and blue bubbles. The little bit of white sky has fluffy clouds and I left the fish unquilted.

My single goldfish swimming in a sea of blue. Looking for new adventures and eager to see the world. My sweet Little Man, that is my wish for you.

*****
I am linking up this post to Amy's fabulous Blogger Quilt Festival.
I heartily encourage you to visit and dive into all the amazing quilts that have been posted.

Inktense Fun With Machine Embroidery

Earlier this week I really wanted to play more with the Inktense pencils. And as much I as enjoy free motion sketching, I really wanted to just focus on playing with the pencils and not get caught up in critiquing my  thread sketching. I decided I would use my machine embroidery for a quick and beautiful canvas. This deer head pattern was purchased from Urban Threads.

I originally had intended for this to be a masculine gift item, but after having fun with the Inktense pencils.. I decided to go down a more feminine route. I simply can't get over how the pencils come alive with a bit of liquid. Right now I tend to paint over it with a 1:1 mixture of water and fabric medium -- it gives me great control without any bleeding issues.

I decided to piece it into an tote with an improv quilt style. I really wanted to keep it, but in the end I decided to list it on Etsy. If you are interested it is $35.00 and listed here. I'm not sure how much I'll be making items for the Etsy shop, but by request I am trying to create more artistic works into an item that can be worn or used.

What's Orange and Black and Comfy??

What's orange and black and comfy??

My first Halloween lap size quilt and throw cushion!

This was originally destined for my Etsy shop..but these Halloween fabrics are my most very favorite EVER. I couldn't part with it..

I did not plan making this matching pillow.. what happened? Well... this was my first large quilt on the midarm and I underestimated how large the back fabric needs to be.. So while the top and batting were all quilted.. one whole row did not have adequate backing. What to do? I was pretty annoyed.. I adore this fabric and I didn't want to toss it. So I had my first try at improv piecing and I love it! It has a fleece back just like the quilt, so I'm pretty confident it is the comfiest throw pillow ever.

Fleece back you say? Yup! This is the back of the quilt. While fleece may not be modern or the hippest back to a quilt, it is comfy and durable with two little ones that like to curl up in it with juice boxes. Do you like the traveling star? My first time with it..it took awhile to grasp the motion, but it ended being a lot of fun.

Are you making some Halloween quilty goodness??