Quilt #67: Ruff Patch

After taking a few weeks to recover from the king-size wedding quilt I finished last month, I took a few weeks off to work on some small non-quilting projects, enjoy the Olympics, and get my baby ready for second grade!

I'll be focused on baby quilts for the next little bit, but first I wanted to finish this charity quilt I started about a year ago. The patter is called Ruff Patch. It's part of the Patch Pal Collection from Quiltmakers.

This is the first charity quilt I've made in a while, other than the Pulse quilt I made earlier this summer. I've gotten away from my goal of doing a charity quilt every one in three quilt. Hopefully I can get better at that. I'm part of a quilt ministry at our church and this quilt will be added to our collection of quilts, so I'm not sure where this puppy will end up, but I hope it bring some comfort and warm nights to whoever sleeps under it.

You may have seen a peek at this quilt a few months ago when I posted my craft room tour.  Those 2.5" squares have been serving as a not-very-effective reminder to work on this quilt for so long that now those little design walls look so empty and forlorn. 

  

I was about halfway done with the blocks for quite awhile. After I made my Trinity Celtic Knot quilt using this tutorial from Elizabeth Hartman, I realized how quickly I could finish it. My husband made a comment about not seeing the dog's eyes so I considered making the eyes blue, but decided to stick with the original colors. I should mention that I had the pattern, not the kit, so this was a fun way to use up some of my scraps. My blue bin, in particular, is overflowing, so this made a bit of a dent. (I could make about 10 of these quilts before I make a big dent!)

The hardest part of the quilt was putting on the dog's mouth. The instructions say to make it with a satin stitch. Mine didn't turn out very well, so I ripped it out and used my Silhouette Cameo to make an applique mouth.

I knew I wasn't going to follow the pattern's border because I thought it was too busy. And by this point, I was ready to be done because I'm excited about my next quilt. (Here's a hint: it's a new take on this one.) Instead I made three borders of 2", 1" and 3" thick to finish the top.

I worked outside my comfort zone for the quilting. I didn't want to stitch in the ditch because the seams are pressed open when using fusible interfacing. I found inspiration in this mini quilt from Alice at Alidiza. 

Source

I cut a 2" circle out of freezer paper and ironed it on the puppy's nose to get me started.

I used my new Pfaff Multi-Line Decorative Foot. It was my souvenir from our last trip to Ontario where I found a great Pfaff shop, Sew Etc. 

Once I sewed around the initial circle, I used this foot to make a 1" inch by lining up the edge of the foot with the circle.

I tried quilting in circles many quilts ago, and I ended up ripping the whole thing out. Hopefully that means I'm improving. Of course, I think quilting with my Pfaff Quilt Expression instead of my entry level Singer Curvy makes a difference, too. 

I kept the label simple. We have labels that we use as a group. Usually I write my name on the label. Today I decided to to make labels I can use for my future charity quilts at church.

Linked to:
Creativity Unleashed @ Practically Functional
Design Wall @ Patchwork Times
Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Free Motion by the River
Made By You Mondays @ Skip to My Lou
Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Cooks
Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Moving it Forward Monday @ Em's Scrapbag
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict