Quilt #9?

Long time no post! That is the life of a public school teacher. I had 9 weeks of leisure and then September was very busy for a month! Luckily it is now October and I am getting into the swing of things.

So my goal this summer was to make 10 quilts and read 10 books in 9 weeks.  I have a feeling that was a little over ambitious...but I came close (with the quilts anyways).  Unfortunately, I selected to leave all my bigger, larger quilting projects for the summer (and books that were equally as lenghtly!).

So I ended up making 9 quilts in 9 weeks (not bad me thinks!) but I only read 5 books (could have done better there...maybe next summer I should learn how to read and quilt at the same time!).

My 9th quilt project was not really a quilt at all but a set of placemats.  I bought this fabric awhile ago and made one and hated it, got frustrated and threw it in a box never to be seen again.  But I wanted to practice some of my different quilting patterns so I got the box out and made 10 placemats.  If I do say so myself, I think they turned out pretty well!

Quilt #9 - here is the front of them

And here is the back so you can see the design -loops, stars, and swirls!

So there you have it.  9 quilts in 9 weeks. Summer challenge complete.

Feeling Optimistic!

I got this fat quarter bundle online from The Fat Quarter Shop when I was ordering a bunch-o-fabric for my summer quilts.  If you order over $200 the shipping is free...so of course I had to do that! I saw this bundle that was put together by Rachel Griffith who has her very own very cool quilting blog.  I loved all the patterns and prints that she put together.  So I found a very cool pattern to go with this bundle and VOILA you have quilt #8!

Quilt #8 - Rachel Griffith "Bloggers Choice" bundle

Christmas in August!

Well, even though it is not even close to Christmas time I couldn't help myself.  Dr. Seuss came out with a new line of fabric in the theme of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"! It is one of my favourite books and I thought it would make for some awesome Christmas presents.  So I ordered just a small sample of the fabric collection so that I could see what it looked like. I have made one little quilt so far but I think I see a few more of these in my future!

Merry Grinchmas!

Quilt #7 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

2,688

The next project is one that I have been thinking about making from the minute I laid eyes on the pattern.  The only problem is this quilt happens to have 2,688 pieces! I knew that this would be a time consuming project so it was perfect for my summer of quilting.

This pattern is from the "fine arts" series designed by Emily of carolina patchworks and comes with a number of famous paintings.  I selected "Starry Night" by Van Gogh because it is my favourite!

So here is a picture of all the little  pieces (they alone took over 3 hours to cut!)

And so it begins....

 And several days later I finished!!! As I was ironing it I found a mistake (I'm sure there are more than one...) but for the number of pieces this quilt took I thought 1 wasn't bad :P

I have not quilted this quilt yet...I am debating getting it professionally quilted. I think I want to hang it in my master bedroom and I might want it to look more fancy than what I can do.

So I'm going to hold off on it for right now and see if I can practice some more free motion quilting designs on some smaller quilts first.

So here is the final project for now!

Quilt #6 - My favourite so far!

Ohhh ohh I'm half way there!

I will post quilt #4 and #5 of the summer together because they were both made by request for a family member.  My sister-in-law requested a Dr. Seuss quilt of her very own as a gift for a friend who is expecting a baby as well as a new quilt for her master bedroom.

So here is the Dr. Seuss quilt!

Dr.Seuss Cat in the Hat - Quilt #4

And the quilt for the master bedroom was made with fabric called "calypso swing".  I started with these fabrics because she liked the colours and choose some nice coordinating fabrics so that the quilt wouldn't turn out to be too "girly". After all, my twin brother also has to live with this quilt!

Once the fabric came in I spent hours trying to find a patterned that would be just perfect .... but with no such luck.  Finally, I decided to try to make my own pattern.  It is very simple but if I do say so myself I think it turned out awesome!

Pretty in Pink - Quilt #5

Do you see prime hiding in the corner? He seems to always find a way into the picture!

Vintage at it's finest!

During my quilts of summer project I started to quilt some of the tops that I had been saving.  This one in particular I was saving because it was one of my favourites and I wanted to wait until I became more confident with my free motion quilting.  I bought this pattern from Carolina Patchworks a long time ago and it was the first video game pixel quilt that I made.  It turned out really well and I couldn't be happier.  I have made a few of these cool video game quilts and hope to one day use them to decorate the basement. Next on the list of video game quilts to be made, Pacman!

Quilt #3 - Super Mario Bros.

BIGGER is BETTER!!!

Maybe for my 10 quilts in 9 weeks challenge I should have selected some smaller quilts to do :P  But instead I have saved all my large quilting projects for the summer.  This is a quilt that I think I am going to keep for myself.  I have now made a few different versions of this Dr. Seuss quilt but this is by far the biggest!

This was actually the first quilt I completed this summer even though it is the second I am posting.  I was just so excited about how well the other one turned out I had to post it first!

Dr. Seuss has already released a series of fabric for "How the Grinch stole Christmas", which I have on order and will be picking up this weekend! And coming soon is fabric from the book "The Lorax" which I love!!! And the fabric will be coming in two different sets of colours, brights and earth tones.  I have a feeling there will be a-lot-o-Seuss in my future!

Quilt #2 - Big Cat in the Hat

Isn't it pretty?

10 quilts in 9 weeks!

My goal this summer was to make 10 quilts and read 10 books in 9 weeks. I never get to read or quilt quite as much as I would like during the school year.  So the summer is a great time for me to finish up books or projects that I have started and never quite got around to finishing.  I also have a few larger quilt projects that I haven't started because I know how time consuming they will be.

So here is the first of ten quilts I have to make this summer. It is made using Buttercup fabric by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda.  I originally got this fabric for a different project and ended up changing my mind at the last minute.  Luckily for me is matches my new sewing room perfectly! So this I made this quilt to hang up behind my sewing station and I am very happy with the way it turned out!

Quilt #1

In the beginning....

When I first started to make quilts I would only make the quilt tops.  I really liked getting the material, cutting it all up and making it into something pretty! But I really knew nothing about actually "quilting" a quilt.  I used to just sew the front, batting and back all together and then bind them.  So the first batch of quilts I ever made were not actually "quilted" at all!  

I then started to try to quilt them on my tiny little Kenmore sewing machine and quickly realized that this was not the tool for the job.  After visiting my sister over the holiday break one year she took me to her local fabric store which also sold a variety of sewing machines.  It just so happens that a free motion quilter was on sale and it practically followed me home!  When I got home I practiced on several pieces of scrap material and then finally got up the nerve to try a real quilt.  Below is my first ever quilting attempt!

 

 

This quilt turned out to be patchy and bunched up in places but it found a good home.  I choose this quilt because I had actually made the top out of some left over material. The material was bought for a different quilt entirely so this was a good practice run.  I call this quilt the little sister...to it's much bigger and more detailed sibling which has found a good home in my living room!

Mario's Match

Well a few weeks ago I posted a picture of the little Mario quilt I made for my sister.  In the same group of patterns there are several very cool video game designs.  The little Mario that I made was actually my third video game quilt.  The first one I made was a bigger version of Mario (on my list of "things to quilt" this summer) and the second one I made was the matching quilt of Duck Hunt.

I know this picture took a LONG time to put up.  But it is because I have been working on a very important quilting project.  More on that to come later!

Two peas in a .... quilt?

Before I post pictures of the "Duck Hunt" quilt.  I should post the true match to Little Mario.  As I mentioned before the quilt was for my sisters wedding.  She got married in the fall but she was moving to a new city in the winter.  We knew that she and her partner would be away from each other during the winter, as he was staying at the University to finish his course work.  So in order to make sure they would both be comfy and cozy throughout the winter I made them 2 smaller quilts instead of one larger one.  So may I present Mario's true match....

Wall-E!!!! So there you have it Mario and Wall-E are my two peas in a quilt!

Nostalgia

One of the greatest things I remember from my childhood was the invention of the "gray box" Nintendo! Although, my parents were never cool enough to get me one my neighbor two doors down had one.  I can remember going over there just to play some good old fashion "Super Mario Bros."  The graphics were horrible, the music got stuck in your head,  and no matter how hard you tried to keep your arms still every time little mario tried to jump over something you had to try to help him out by waving your arms in the air.

I found a series of great video game quilts from Carolina Patchworks and have made a few of them. A few months ago my sister got married and in true family tradition she requested a quilt.  But not just any quilt a little "Mario" quilt.

can you hear the music?

And where would Mario be with his duck hunt companion ..... stay tuned!

Not just quilts.....

Recently, I have expanded my production talents to include a select few other projects.  Last summer I went to "Kempenfest" in Barrie with some friends of mine.  While we were there I saw a really cool stand that had all kinds of items made out of "kool-aid" containers.  Attracted to the bright colours I went over to investigate.  I quickly saw that these bags (and other products) could be sewn together quite easily. 

So, when I returned to school in September I realized that I had access to quite a large quantity of "kool-aid jammers" everyday!  Our school is working on being and "eco" school and as part of our project I have a little blue bin set outside of my classroom where kids can come and drop off their empty juice containers and I will turn them into something cool! Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Step 1: Rinse and Dry

Step 2: Make a bag!

So far I have made bags of all different sizes and styles and I have even made a few lunch bags!

Bright and Beautiful

More recently a friend of mine was having her second baby.  At the time of making the quilt we didn't know if she was having a girl or a boy.  So I needed to come up with a quilt that would work for either gender.  I had seen this fabric on the coming soon part of the Fat Quarter Shop and I knew right away that I just had to have it! So may I present....

A cat free picture of Cat in the Hat

 Dr. Seuss and "The Cat in the Hat".  This is also a pattern that I made up all by myself :) I have since made two more quilts using this series.  One I made to take into school and show my kids but it wasn't there for more then a day before I sold it to a friend! And the other is currently on my quilter.  It is a much larger version of this quilt and I think I am keeping!  I have enough fabric to make two more of these quilts.  I have one more top already done and I'm still thinking about what to do with all the scraps....

The next line of Dr. Seuss fabric that has been released is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"...I have a feeling a few people might be getting these as Christmas presents next year!

The Very Series

I made one last quilt from Eric Carle prints and the line of fabric was called the Very Series.  It included fabric with prints of some of Eric Carle's books that had "very" in the title.  So, there is the "very hungry caterpillar", the "very busy spider" and "the very quite cricket".  Because I was making this quilt after I had made the other quilts my version of the quilt also had some brown bear, brown bear in it.

This quilt is unique for two reasons. The first: this is the only quilt I have made (to date) using this fabric.  The second: this is one of the only quilts I have made that I have not followed a pattern.  I don't have a very good eye for patterns so I usually make quilts based on patterns I have found on the internet or in a magazine.  But this one I made up all on my own! Simple but mine.

with of course Prime making a guest appearance...again.

Eric Carle Continued....

So after I made about a thousand VHC quilts I decided to continue with the Eric Carle theme and make a Brown Bear, Brown Bear quilt.  I originally made this quilt for a friend who wanted two quilts and wanted them to be similar yet different.  This way both quilts had a story book theme but they were two different tales.

Front

Back

 Have I mentioned that my cat loves to quilt with me! He thinks he is being helpful and it is often difficult for me to get a picture without him in it....but more on the quilting kitty later.

At the time these were the only two sets of fabric available in the Eric Carle collection.  Since this time some of the Eric Carle lines have been expanded and there is a new line out called the "very series".  More on that quilt tomorrow!

Story Books

As a true elementary school teacher I love children's books.  I collect them, read them, and quilt them!  When I found out that a good friend of my mine was going to have a baby I started to research what type of children's fabric was available. I searched high and low and I couldn't quite find the perfect thing.  Until one day the perfect quilt came creeping into my browser....

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The "Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle is a must have book for every teacher and I knew that this quilt would make the perfect gift for my friend.  The pattern is made by Carolina Patchworks and since discovering this blog I have made many more quilts from this talented artist.

I gave this quilt to my friend just in time, as her baby came a number of weeks ahead of schedule and the quilt started a frenzy! I have since made over a dozen VHC quilts and one hangs proudly in my school's library.

Once Upon a Time...

Years ago my Dad and I went to Vancouver for a conference.  After dinner we decided that the slightly rainy Vancouver weather was perfect for a walk back to the UBC campus.  On the way back I saw a beautiful quilt hanging in a store window.  The store was closed and my Dad promised to take me back the next day.  True to his word we returned to the store the next day only to discover that the quilt was not for sale! As is turns out the store sold fabric and the quilt was only on display.  Disheartened, we left the store :(

I couldn't stop thinking about the quilt so I returned to the store and asked the lady how difficult it would be for me to make the quilt (seeing as I had never sewn anything before!).  She showed me the pattern and I figured sheer stubbornness would help me triumph in this beginners quilting task.

And in true fairy tale fashion the quilt and I have lived happily ever after! I always keep it hanging proudly to remind myself of how far I have come and how my unwillingness to leave this quilt behind started a passion in me that I didn't even know I had.

Welcome!

Welcome to Fabricated Quilts!  My name is Laura and I am an elementary school teacher.  I quilt in my spare time.  My love of quilting has grown over the years and taken over a large portion of my main floor!  After some encouragement from my family I decided to start a blog in order to share my love of quilts and fabric.  In my family I am well known for making a story more interesting by adding some embellishing details.  Over the years my family has begun to refer to most of my story telling as "fabricated".  Driving home one day it came to me that this would be the perfect name for a blog.  It included both my love for fabric and for a little drama. And that is the true story of how this blog came to be.