Author: Angela

I finally have a Christmas quilt to display in my house! It’s about 28″ square and will hang on the wall in my home entry. I love how simple and modern it is. The pattern is “hanging around” from Cindy Lammon’s book Simply Modern Christmas.

For fabrics, I used:

• Kona White
• green print in Vanessa Christenson’s ombre fabric collection by Moda Fabrics
• green Featherleaf print in Heather Bailey’s Lottie Da fabric collection by Free Spirit Fabrics
• an unknown red tonal polka dot print for the binding

I used a portable design wall for quilt layout. Someone’s been a naughty, naughty girl. No biggie, tho, since it’s such a small quilt it was easy to reconfigure. And can I just say how I adore using ombre? It’s like I have tons of green prints, but I’m only using one fabric. Love it.

For quilting, I just did straight lines galore on my Juki with Aurifil 40wt thread. I started in the center with lines 2″ apart, then quilted outward reducing the spacing gradually by 1/4″. This makes the edges have matchstick quilting, which I did for the first time! It was pretty fun.

A breezy, summery, pretty herringbone quilt made of half-square triangles (HST). Just for me. Measuring at 57″ x 65″, it’s perfect for a napping quilt.

I started making these HST blocks back in 2013 at the Sewing Summit, and I’m finally piecing them into a quilt in 2016!

It’s a really simple design, made of Kona Cotton white and a blue print from the Ava Rose collection by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit Fabrics. The backing is made from a bed sheet – first time I’ve done that! I found a full-size Shabby Chic sheet set on clearance at Target, and wow, it sewed like buttah. So super soft. It’s 100% cotton with a fairly low thread count, so it sewed fabulously. I machine-quilted it on my Juki with Aurifil 40wt thread, with not-so-dense quilting since I wanted it super soft and somewhat puffy.

For the binding, I used an ombre aqua print by Vanessa Christenson for Moda Fabrics. I stitched the binding strip to the back of the quilt, then folded it to the front and sewed it in place with a decorative stitch using Aurifil 50wt thread. I don’t know why I don’t do this more often – it looks great, is WAY faster, and it’s more durable than hand-stitched, right? For quilts that will be heavily used and laundered, this might just be my go-to binding method.

Nothing beats that fresh-from-the-dryer crinkle. Soooo satisfying.

I’ve designed an uber-cool MAKE mini quilt, in collaboration with font designer Brian Kent. Head over to my MAKE Mini Quilt post at angelabowmandesign.com to read about it!

I’ve had this quilt in my head for a long, long time. Feels SO good to finally get a chance to make it.

I saw a sewing swap on Instagram that I just couldn’t say no to: May The 4th Be With You Mini Quilt Swap. And wouldn’t you know, my assigned partner collects Darth Vader.

Using a photograph as inspiration, I got to work on making a line drawing, using Adobe Illustrator. It forced me to hone my Illustrator skillz. “Forced” me! See what I did there?!

I designed it knowing that I would use Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) to sew it together. It’s all straight lines, folks. Easy peasy. I designed paper piecing patterns for each square, gathered my gray and black fabric scraps, and giddily began to sew. The fabrics are 5 colors of Kona Cotton by Robert Kaufman Fabrics: black, pepper, charcoal, medium gray, and ash, I believe.

The first three rows were pretty quick. I threw them on the design wall, wondering if they would look any good. Yep, I thought it looked pretty cool!

I tackled the rest of the squares the following day, in a sewing frenzy that’s hard to stop. Oooooh, yep, I likey.

I sewed all the squares together and then it was paper removal time. A bit fussy, but so worth the effort to get such a precise design.

You know when you design something, and you’re not quite sure how it will actually turn out, and then it surpasses your expectation? Yeah, that! And in case you were wondering, I pressed most of the seams to the dark side.

I decided to use a diagonal cross-hatch for the quilting. I marked straight crease lines with my trusty Hera marker.

Some glow-in-the dark Vader backing fabric and a label completes it. I sent it off to live with a Vader-loving girl in New Orleans. It’ll likely be the only time I make this quilt design. I contacted Lucasfilm asking if I could make the pattern available for free, and they said no. Disappointing, but it is what it is.

Wondering what quilt I received in the swap? Well, I love BB8 and Star Wars girl power…

… and here’s what Hilary of Young Texan Mama made for me! A BB8!

As a member of the Modern Quilt Guild, I have the option of participating in various events they organize, including conferences, webinars and challenges.  I found out about the Riley Blake Fabric Challenge through my local guild, the Boise Modern Quilt Guild.  Here’s my entry.  It’s a mini quilt, measuring 22 inches square.

I signed up for the challenge and received a fat eighth of six prints from The Cottage Garden fabric collection by Amanda Herring.  The challenge rules were:

• Make something fantastic that is quilted.
• Make something you’ve never done before.
• Learn something new.
• Use only Riley Blake Cottage Garden fabrics and coordinating Riley Blake basics and solids.

MQG MEMBERS! Check your email for the @rileyblakedesigns #mqgfabricchallege! Space is limited sign up now!

A photo posted by The MQG (@themqg) on Jan 20, 2015 at 8:03am PST

I decided that my “learning something new” was going to be designing an original paper pieced pattern.  From my lips!  I smooched all over a white piece of paper until I found a shape I liked.  It was all quite silly, but fun.  Then I digitized it using Picasa software, adding a pixelated effect.  Using TouchDraw, I drew lines on top of the image, then I sent it off to my bud Lindsie to make paper piecing patterns for me.  She’s awesome.

I paper pieced each square in the grid, assembled into rows, removed the paper, then stitched the rows together.  Easy peasy.

I used 3 dark prints for the texture of the lips, 3 light solid shades for the pixelated background, and a vintage white solid.  I quilted the layers using simple straight lines.

The quilt is made entirely from 2.5″ cuts.  The back is improv, using leftover fabric from the front.

To see all the challenge entries, check out #mqgfabricchallenge on Instagram.

I recently participated in round 3 of the Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap, an online swap exchange of handmade mini quilts organized by Kristi McDonough.  I was to make one mini quilt measuring no larger than 24 inches square, based on my secret partner’s preferences.  This is what I made for my partner Angela, who likes novelty prints of cute animals.

I cut out a bunch of cute little owls, hedgehogs, and foxes from some fabric scraps I had.  Angela said she prefers grunge to a solid fabric, so I paired some grunge with white to make a block that I thought was cool-looking: Indian Puzzle.

I’m always amazed at how many designs you can make with half-square triangles.

I crosshatch quilted it with white thread. Simple and cute. For the binding, I pieced together all the grunge fabric pieces I had leftover for a scrappy look.

Postcard quilt blocks make cute quilt labels!  This little blue fella was begging to be a label on the back.

Want to see what I got from my secret swap partner?

Isn’t it cool? It was made by Andrea Champ. Knowing that I love black and white with bright color, she made this for me. I’m so spoiled!

To see what the other folks in the swap made, take a peek at the Mini Quilt Swap Flickr group or peruse through the hashtags on Instagram #makeaquiltmakeafriend and #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap.