I wanted a little quilt with cheddar.

I finished my wheel quilt top.  We're expecting a big snow storm so it's really cloudy and dark and this picture is rather shadowy.  My DD#2 is holding the quilt up for the picture.  It measures 50" X 45".  She makes a great quilt stand.

I loved the wheel and wagon wheel quilts I have seen online.  Especially on Lizzy's gone2thebeach.blogspot.com and Hat Creek Quilts.

So I took (stole) some ideas from the quilts I saw and came up with my own take on it.

I made the circles by tracing around a bowl on some lightweight paper.  I marked the center and sewed a piece of fabric (wrong side down) from the center to the outside of the circle.  I folded it over so the right side is up.  Then I pressed it and trimmed it to form a wedge.  I put the edge of the next fabric on the unsewn edge and sewed a 1/4" seam.  I fold it over and pressed.   Then I again trimmed it to form a wedge.  I did this all the way around the circle until I overlapped the first wedge.  I trimmed it so I could turn under 1/4" and then I sewed it by hand.   I also removed all the paper from the back.

I wasn't sure how many circles I wanted so I kept sewing until it was about the size I had in mind.  It turned out I made 12 wheels.  I only wanted a wall hanging so I thought that would be enough.  I wanted to set them with cheddar fabric.  And, this is how I did it.

First I appliqued an orange circle over the edges that come together in the center.  I auditioned black and red for the circles but the orange looked best.  I trimmed the back of the wheel where I had appliqued the center so it wasn't so bulky.

Now it was time for reverse applique.

I cut a 10" square out of the cheddar.  I centered the wheel on the cheddar, right side down, and machine sewed around the outside edge using a basting stitch so it would be easy to unpick.

This picture shows the block from the other side.

I pinched a small portion of the back only, 1/4" from the stitched line and made a small cut.

I slipped the point of my scissor between the layers and trimmed 1/4" around the circle being careful not to cut the wedges of the wheel on the other side.

This picture shows that I have trimmed all of the circle and am ready to clip all the way around,

I then appliqued all the circles onto the cheddar by pulling out a few basting stiches at a time, turning under the 1/4" to the inside, and applique stitching all around the circle.

 

I auditioned a few fabric for sashing and borders and ended up using black baby wale corduroy for the sashing and inner border.  I made small hourglass blocks that are also in the border.  I love the richness and texture that the corduroy gives to the piece.  I'll have to take a picture in the sunlight so it's more obvious.

I added a little bit larger red outer border and I'm going to bind it with the orange to repeat that color from the center of the wheel. 

The corduroy was a little bit tricky to sew on.  It wasn't bulky just soft and rich.  It was hard because it doesn't stretch at all like regular quilting cottons can do.  So, I had to cut the strips a little bit longer than the measurement and ease them to the end.

I made this quilt entirely without a pattern.  It's as close to improv as I get.  Some of the wheels are a bit wonky but I left them in . . . adds to the charm.

I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt this.  I don't think it will be that hard to quilt on the corduroy because it soft but I'm not sure I want to see quilting stitches on the corduroy, if that makes sense.  So, I'll have to give it some thought, I'm in no hurry.

Thanks for checkin' in,

Robin

Picture of the snow built up against the back door.

If you look closely there is a 12" ruler stuck in the snow and you can just see the tip of it peeking through on top of the banister.  Notice the snow on the bird house.

Snow on the cars outside

We have received over 12" in the last 24 hours and it's still snowing out there.

Slow and steady

I've been working on these little wheel blocks and finished the 12th one on Monday.  I think that I have enough for the wall hanging I want.  I was going to put red circles in the center to cover up where all the wedges come together but I think I like orange better.  So, I made the circles today and will sew them on this week.  I'll trim behind it and then it will lay flat.  One step at a time.

I finished the echo quilting on the "Love Letters" quilt.  I really like how it turned out but it took me four weeks to complete. There are different shades of color because I pieced different fabrics together to make the backgrounds.  I need to send more time in front of my floor hoop or I'll be working on this all year - sigh  We've had quite low temps and so it's cold in the room I quilt in.  I need to get wrapped up and brave the 20 degrees days.

 When I spread out the quilt for a picture I thought it looked really well with the rest of the decor in the room.  I love my little churn dash quilt (a Kim Deihl  pattern) and always get it out for the month of February.  

I've been trying to come up with an idea for little Valentine gifts and this heart is what I came up with on Monday.     The center heart is embroidered onto a piece of white with fusible fleece on the underside.  I'm not sure if I'll quilt it or stuff it. 

Happy Groundhog's Day,

Robin