Pumphouse Pinwheels

As you've seen in the last few posts, I used my Pumphouse alphabet to make pinwheels for a quilt.

There are 4 ways to make a pinwheel from a letter. This is demonstrated on the left using Z.

I decided to explore some of the possibilities.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 5

I've been showing you my Pumphouse alphabet. The final six letters are today.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 4

The border fabric includes all the primary colors. If you've ever mixed paints, you know that when you mix all the primary colors together you get mud. To keep the border lively I've alternated strips of the border fabric with strips of white.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 3

I mentioned earlier that the letters of my Pumphouse alphabet remind me of actors or comic book super heroes because of their flamboyance. In other words, they are very child-like. For that reason I picked
primary colors for this quilt.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet

Part 2

The letters in my Pumphouse quilt read left to right, then right to left, then left to right, etc. I did this so I wouldn't have to think about  the color sequence.

Lettering

Pumphouse Alphabet 

Part 1

Pumphouse is a serif alphabet with large exaggerated triangular serifs.

The result of this exaggeration is an alphabet that is flamboyant, dramatic and theatrical. So I decided to name it after the Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary.

Connaught

Look What Leanne Did

This is from the back of a quilt Leanne made for her husband Bill.
She used my Connaught alphabet.
I think she did a great job of piecing it.

The quilt also has a front.

The fabrics are Star Trek fabrics.

Weyburn Revisited

Look What Bonnie Did

She made this quilt for her brother Jerry using my Weyburn block.
She made the name Jerry to go on the back using my Connaught alphabet.
I think she did an excellent job of both.

I designed the block for the quilters in Weyburn Saskatchewan when I did a trunk show there.

It's made from three pieced strips.

 You might want to try making a Weyburn quilt of your own.

Color Play

Snail's Trail

Part 4

In my last three posts I've been exploring fabric color choices to see how they affect a Snail's Trail block.

Today is no different.

Color Play

Snail's Trail

Part 3

Today's post is a continuation of my last two posts. I want to see what different fabric color choices do to a Snail's Trail block.

Color Play

Snail's Trail 

Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a continuation of my last post. I'm coloring a Snail's Trail block various ways to see what happens.

Color Play

Snail's Trail

This is the Snail's Trail block the way it is usually seen. It's a very different block and an interesting one. But there is only so much you can do with it.



Unless....

Pieced Pillow

Signature Pillow

 

I made this signature pillow for my mother's and step-father's 40th anniversary which will happen very shortly.

It is sewn from 1" x 5" strips of fabric. Each of which is a box in which a guest can sign an make a comment.

The pillow is 20" x 20"

Applique Lettering

 

I used my Cranston alphabet on the back to mark the occasion.

The capital letters are 1 1/2" tall. The lower case letters are 1" tall. They are in a 7" x 10" box.

Ninepatch Pinwheel Quilt #8

Look What Susan Did

She made this bed quilt using a variation of my Patricia/Ribbons quilt design. This is for a single bed. The piano keys along the border drape down the sides. The Patricia /Ribbons part is the rectangle in the very center.

Half and Half Block

Look What Terry Lynn Did

Terry Lynn made this quilt using my Foam Lake block. The variety of reds and greys adds life to the quilt. The border she used provides an interesting frame to the quilt.

An Applique Alphabet

In my last post I showed you the lower case Cranston alphabet. This time you get to see the upper case.

An Applique Alphabet

In my last post I showed you Chaparral, an alphabet I designed that combined piecing and stitching. I also pointed out that it had some issues that needed to be worked out.

I have decided that if I change it to an alphabet that combines applique and stitching, all those problems disappear. In addition raw-edge applique allows me to make the letters even smaller. And that means I can use these letters on quilts that are not huge.

A Pieced Alphabet

Chaparral is a lower case alphabet I recently designed. It is made by combining piecing and stitching.

Postcard

HUGS

This is a postcard I designed and sewed. It is 4"x6" and it's on its way to Sisters Oregon.

An Old Design Revisited

Look What Linda Did

Rectangular Block

Look What Linda Did

Linda took one of the quilt tops I designed using my Pinawa block and made it her own.

Place Mat

Because place mats are small they are quick to make. This means even blocks that require a few extra pieces aren't that much of a chore.

Placemat

Making place mats is a great way try out new ideas and techniques. It lets you develop design and sewing skills without a large investment of time or materials.

Place mat

Something Simple

It's been a while since I designed a place mat I'd almost forgotten there was such a thing.

I decided I'd see what I could do with this simple 6" block.

Numbers for a Pieced Alphabet

I designed my Foothills alphabet using a combination of piecing and stitching. This allows it to be very small.

Today I'm showing you the numbers that go with the alphabet.

Alphabet Update

I'm going to let you in on a secret that only a few of my closest friends know. I sometimes make mistakes. No, really, it's true.

Today I want to correct one of them. Well... two of them.

Numbers For A Pieced Alphabet

My Heritage alphabet is my take on a style of pieced lettering that you may have seen before. I like to think that I improved the alphabet. To see my entire Heritage alphabet go here.

What you won't find in that earlier post are numbers to go with the alphabet. I thought I'd show you those today.

Rectangular Block

Ashern

Today I'm trying another 8" x10" block on a 4x5 grid. This one is named for Ashern Manitoba.

Rectangular Block

Stonewall

Rectangular blocks come in all sorts of different sizes. Today I thought I'd try an 8" x 10" block designed on a 4 x 5 grid.

Rectangular Block

Waterhen

I've decided to name this 9" x 15" rectangular block after Waterhen Manitoba.

Rectangular Block

Pinawa

I've been designing rectangular blocks and naming them after places in Manitoba.

Rectangular Block

Morden

I'm playing with rectangular blocks to see what I can come up with.

Rectangular Block

Dugald

Why do blocks have to be square? Why can't they be rectangular? I decided to design a rectangular block and see what happens.

Scrappy Quilt #6

I still need to do something about a stash that threatens to take over the house; so I'm still designing scrappy quilts.

Scrappy Quilt #5

Crib Quilt

Most of the scrappy quilts I designed over the last week had light backgrounds. One or two had dark backgrounds. I thought I would try one with a medium value background and make the foreground both light and dark.

Scrappy Quilt #4

Queen Size Quilt

Another scrappy quilt. This time the foreground uses light browns and the background uses dark browns.

Scrappy Quilt #3

Twin Quilt

I'm exploring designs for scrappy quilts.

The first one four days ago had totally random color with an emphasis on value contrast. The second one two days ago was still focused on value contrast but I limited myself to greens in the foreground and light beiges in the background.

This one has light beiges in the background again. The foreground, however, uses two colors. A variety of browns that form squares and blue/purple bands connecting the squares. There is no rhyme or reason to the placement of any particular brown or blue.  As always value contrast is very important.

Scrappy Quilt #2

Lap Quilt

I've decided to design some scrappy quilts to use up odds and ends of fabrics.

This one is shown using a mix of greens in the foreground and a mix of light beiges and tans in the background.

The actually colors aren't as important as the contrast in value between the foreground and the background. The foreground needs to be dark and the background needs to be light.

Scrappy Quilt #1

Using Half-Square Triangles

 

My wife Linda and I have a large fabric stash and a small house. The two are incompatible. A lot of the stash is left over bits and pieces from various projects. The obvious solution is to make scrappy quilts. So I've decided it was time I designed some.