Denim Quilt

I had a request from someone to make a quilt out of denim, a very special anniversary gift for her husband made out of his and her jeans.

 I was given a whole bunch of pairs of jeans in various shades of indigo....

 and was able to somehow, luckily make it look really really cool.

 Various shades of denim,  quilting cotton centre squares and background

I machine quilted on my APQS Millennium  in an overall watery meander,  gentle and easy especially for the thick intersections and seams. 

And backed it with a punchy red solid.

Quilt measures 63 x 80

 Pattern was chosen by client -Atkinson Designs -Dealer's Choice- High Five  

I admit, this wasn't my favourite when I first saw the pattern, but as I started putting it together it really grew on me.   And now...I love it.  And it looks very good in my house.  Maybe she will forget about picking it up?  

*note - denim is heavy to work with, and this lap sized quilt is heavy.   I do not recommend making anything larger than a lap size in denim...but maybe your shoulders and arms are stronger than mine! 

Are you a tosser? Part 2

Awhile back, I had posted about my habit of tossing threads to the floor as I work.  Well,  I'm happy to report that I haven't changed and I don't plan to.  (except when I'm teaching on someone else' s machine. Why is it that my conscientious behaviour works in this situation, and not my own?)

I was a little bit worried about how my vacuum would like this habit.  I finally came across something that works...

Voila,  your $1.00 toilet brush.   

It's clean of course!   I picked this guy up from the dollar store.  It works like a charm!  So I 'sweep' this brush over my carpeted area and pick up all of the tossed threads - Aurifil, Wonderfil, Glide, Superior, Guterman.  It doesn't play favourites!  It doesn't get every single one of them, but it does the majority.  And my vacuum is grateful.  

And I found another use for it:  

My design wall -  it's been a disaster.   I've tried vacuuming it, and the vacuum doesn't pick up the threads without sucking up the flannel.   I've tried the sticky lint roller - which works somewhat but not that great and I hate wasting all of that paper!  

Look at the after: 

Amazing right!? 

A great little tool for you tossers working on carpet.   

You're welcome!

Moda Bake Shop - Maritime Baby Quilt

I have a new tutorial featured over at Moda Bake Shop.   It's called Maritime Baby Quilt, and is just that -  a nautical themed baby sized quilt, using Hearty Good Wishes line by Moda.

It pieces together fairly quickly with just one block

 I quilted this with some u-turns, pebbles and ruler work.  I stitched in the ditch the smaller patches in the centre of the blacks to create a bit of dimension.

 I like the texture the quilting creates on the backing!