It’s been a busy summer. I’ve been a bit short on blog posts because I’ve been toiling away at the sewing machine, creating many new items, including three king-sized quilts. I’m so excited to share these items with you, explain how I made them, and relate them to previous posts.

Many of these sewing projects would not exist without the help of my mom, who has served as pattern consultant, math-checker, long-arm sewing machine teacher, backing-size calculator, enormously-sized fabric cutter, hand-sewing patterns together partner, and cheerleader for loosening up and trying free-motion quilting. Mom, I am incredibly grateful for all of your time, knowledge, patience, skills, and thread!

There were many sewing firsts for me this summer, including finishing a quilt using a long-arm sewing machine, using a machine to sew applique, applying piping on a quilt edge, adding decorative trim to quilt tops, sewing velvet and fleece fabrics, using long-arm templates, and sewing free-motion meandering. My next sewing challenge will be to learn how to create triangles and other angles rather than only using squares or rectangles.

French-inspired quilt

I made this quilt with cotton quilting fabric for the top and back and warm and natural batting. It was finished on a long-arm quilter and is king-sized. The quilting is a mixture of free-motion meandering and wavy and scalloped designs sewn with templates. The binding is hand-sewn and the pattern is original. The quilt is on a queen-sized bed in a French-inspired guest bedroom.

The center of the quilt with long-arm free-motion meandering in the center

A close up of the waves & scallop patterns used to sew the quilt layers together

The finished quilt on a queen-sized bed with plenty of overhang on each side

The finished quilt on a queen-sized bed with plenty of overhang on each side

 

For related posts, check out the Quilts portfolio and the French-inspired guest bedroom portfolio.

Quilted tree wall hanging

I sewed this quilt top a few years ago and was waiting for my skillset to catch up with my vision before quilting it. The wool fleece leaves and cotton stems were my first attempt at machine applique with a satin stitch. To quilt the wall-hanging, I used cotton backing and warm and natural batting. I used a machine to free-motion meander, chalk traced from templates, and straight stitched. I embellished a border with a leaf trim ribbon to give in dimension. The binding is hand-sewn and the pattern is original. The quilt is hanging on a wall in a stairway.

For related posts, check out the Quilts portfolio and the
Decorating with Trees article.

 Kitchen pillows & roman shade

This upholstery-grade linen fabric, Sanderson’s Damson Tree in colorway brick/flannel, was very difficult to obtain because it is normally only for sale in the United Kingdom. I loved its green leaves and pop of orange fruit. After much searching, I found a vendor willing to ship the fabric to the United States. I made two pillows with piped edges for the pew in our kitchen nook and a faux roman shade for the window above our kitchen sink.

For related posts, check out the Sewing projects portfolio, the Decorating with Trees article, and the Kitchen & Breakfast Nook portfolio.

Red rose quilt

I made this quilt with upholstery-weight linen fabric for the top and a red, king-sized down-filled comforter for the backing. It is made using two long pieces of the upholstery fabric side-by-side. I matched up the pattern print and hand-sewed it to look like one large piece of fabric. I embellished the center with a geometric, rope patterned, velvet trim tape sewn on by machine. The quilt was finished by sewing the down comforter’s edges to the top and then using embroidery floss to hand-tie the center together. Velvet trim tape finishes the edges. The quilt is on a king-sized bed in a primary bedroom.

Placing the quilt on the floor to hand-tie with embroidery floss

Velvet trim on the edge of a hand-tied quilt with a red down comforter backing

The finished quilt on a king-sized bed

 

For related posts, check out the Quilts portfolio, and the Primary Bedroom portfolio.

Velvet and fleece quilt

I made this quilt with heavy upholstery-weight velvet fabric, William Morris’s The Brook in colorway tapestry red, for the top and a king-sized fleece blanket for the backing. It is made using two long pieces of the upholstery fabric side-by-side. I matched up the pattern print and hand-sewed it to look like one large piece of fabric. The top was hand-tied on a quilt rack to the fleece backing using embroidery floss that matched the print colors. The quilt is finished with a thick piping edge made of the velvet fabric. It is on a king-sized bed in a primary bedroom.

The William Morris quilt on a quilt rack for ease of hand-tying the fleece backing and the velvet top together with embroidery floss of coordinating colors

Creating the piping for the quilt edge

Sewing the piping for the quilt edge

Thick piping on the edge of the quilt

In this close-up, you can see where the two fabric pieces were sewn together to match up the pattern

Fleece backing with embroidery floss knots on a hand-tied quilt

The finished quilt with a center seam on a king-sized bed

The finished quilt with piped edging on a king-sized bed

 

Some additional items were shared via social media this summer, and they include the Halloween and Easter runners found in the Quilts & Sewing Projects portfolio.

What a summer sewing journey!