Full Hearts Table Runner

 I finished up a table runner the other day, and I'm fondly calling it Full Hearts.

 I spotted these lovely red fabrics at a quilt shop over the holidays with the idea of making them into a patchwork Valentine's project (I bought pre-cut fat quarters without selvages, so I don't know the designer - apologies!). After a bit of plotting, thanks to my graph paper, I had a plan in mind. So I got out my trusty Bloc-Loc ruler (one of my favorite toys), and whipped up a number of HSTs to make these patchwork hearts.

Once the top was finished (4 hearts in all), I FMQed the squares using a design that was new to me. I'm not sure the official name, but I called it Potato Masher, since that's what it looks like to me! :) Then I used some of the leftover prints for the binding... love that scrappy look!

I'm really pleased with this runner, and hope it will be a nice Valentine's Day decoration next month - thanks for stopping by!

[Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]

Ice House Quilt

As I suspect many quilters did, I gave away a couple quilts for Christmas, including this Ice House Quilt.

 
This quilt was a special gift for my Grandma. She and my grandpa lived a couple hours away from us growing up, and visiting them was always fun. Sometimes when we'd visit in my childhood, we'd take a trip to the Ice House, a fabric/quilt shop in her area. I don't remember buying anything to sew at that age, but I do remember getting supplies and stenciling canvas drink coasters... fun memories!

Well, this summer my family and I were vacationing a few towns away from the quilt shop, so my mom and I stopped by for a visit. I purchased some purple-y floral prints, as well as a few coordinating batiks. Later on in the year, I picked a few more batiks and nature inspired prints, and ended up making this throw quilt.

 The braided panels were really fun, though I had a hard time with the "random" fabric placement... yet again... As for the quilting, I stippled it using a pale lilac Aurifil- you can see it best on the darker fabric strips.

I had lots of fun making the quilt, and I think my grandma is enjoying it!

And now that the "real" photos are posted, I also need to share these outtakes. Again, my brother was a great quilt holder...

But he had a few photo ideas of his own, as well.

I think this one was supposed to be "Quilt in Motion."

And this was "Dancing Quilt" maybe?

All in all, he was a good sport about the whole photo thing - thanks for your help, buddy!

[Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]

Go Blue! Quilt

 I was really excited for Christmas this year, because I had a special treat for my little brother: this Go Blue! quilt:

As a University of Michigan grad, I wanted to use my new quilting obsession to make a fun, scrappy quilt for him.

Lucky for me, the school's "block M" easily translated into a quilt design I could tackle. 

 The quilt is a generous throw size (60x80), which I hope comes in handy on these cold winter nights in the Midwest (hello Polar Vortex!).

 The blocks are all different versions of string blocks, though since I'm still learning I went ahead and paper-pieced these babies... all 224!

 To top it all off, I backed the quilt in Minky. It wasn't easy (I was thankful for my steam ripper many times), but in the end it was worth it for such a comfy gift.

And, the best part: the fabrics! I had a blast picking up fat quarters and other small cuts of different fabrics from about 10 different LQSs. Some of the fabrics are batiks, and others are cool prints (like a map of NYC or the Declaration of Independence).

I had an absolute blast making this quilt, and I hope my little brother enjoys it! Thanks for stopping by![Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]