A Mini Window Quilt

I've been meaning to make a mini window quilt for the other window in the girls' room ...
Since this one was little (about 30" x 30"), it went quickly.

I used the same flowers as the big floral window quilt - I just used a little bit of floral on a background of white-and-off-white squares cut from sheets. I quilted this one with a bigger-than-usual loopy free-motion design.

Actually, I used the same snowball-corner technique as on the shirts-and-sheets window quilt - but for the corners on this one, I used bits of the same floral as the girls' big window quilt. So it's all nice and coordinated. :-)

Window Quilt - made from Shirts and Sheets

I recently blogged about the floral window quilt I made ... 

Here's the boys' room window quilt: the non-flowered window quilt; the shirts and sheets window quilt.

I've frequently mentioned sewing with recycled men's dress shirts (see the Dress Shirt Quilt label in the right-hand sidebar) ... 

For this window quilt, I used shirts, combined with recycled bed sheets.

I love the stripes and solids and plaids, the bright colors, the simplicity ...

I'd been wanting to try some fast quilt blocks made from a square with a triangle in just one corner. It's like a "snowball block", with just the one corner triangle. (See my shirts quilt top, which is a two-corner variation of this block, accompanied by a nine-patch.)

I'm pretty sure that some of my inspiration for this look comes from the many versions I've seen of Amanda Jean's "Up, Up and Away" quilt, mentioned by her here and here, as well as in her book. (Since I don't have the book, I'm not sure whether I constructed mine like she did. But the idea is very similar.) I love the look of lots-of-white, with just some little triangles.

I used a variety of different white & off-white sheets for the blocks - and I love how the woven-in textures and the tone-on-tone prints provide variety & consistency at the same time. 

The solids, stripes, plaids & COLORS are just fun.

For the quilting, I did some more loopy free-motion quilting. I like this style. As before, I used a piece of regular batting I had handy, and a piece-of-a-white-sheet for the backing.

And, my boys seem to like it in their room. And, it looks great when the quilt is seen from inside or outside the window.

The quilt works well with the boys' "jeans valance", their curtains, and the jeans quilts on their beds. The colors work for the guys, and, after all, this is made from shirts, which is pretty cool. 

When the sun comes in, it looks pretty neat. Lots of light comes through the quilt, but it's also easy to take down from the window. Like on my other window quilt, I just put a dowel in the casing at the top of the quilt, and rested the dowel on the brackets that were leftover from another window treatment. This way, I can remove and roll up the quilt any time, or take out the dowel and throw the quilt in the wash. 

We don't live in a really cold climate. But I still figure, on cold nights - the more insulation, the better. In the winter especially, a lot of the heat/cold transfer happens at the windows. So, I've decided that this is a fun, decorative way to insulate the windows just a little.

A quilt blog I like to follow has a Monday link-party ~ "Little Quilt Monday" works for a lot of my quilts, since I do make a lot of little quilts - so I'm linking this post to this week's Little Quilt Monday at Elizabeth's Pieceful Life blog.

Update: My blog post tomorrow is a picture tutorial for making these quilt blocks!

Floral Window Quilt

Many of my long-ago Christmas memories are from when we'd visit relatives at Christmastime. Where my grandparents lived was colder than where we lived, so sometimes they got SNOW! Some of my cousins lived where it was REALLY cold, and they ALWAYS got snow in the winter. 

I have a distinct memory of visiting my aunt, uncle, and cousins for Christmas one year, and being fascinated that my aunt had special window blinds that were quilted. They were burgundy, I think, and they must've rolled up, or been connected to some sort of Roman-shade hardware. I'm not sure. But they kept a lot of the cold out, and a lot of the warmth in. 

So, lately, I've been thinking about the window quilt idea ... thinking about how well-insulated the windows would be if they had a quilt for a shade at night ... thinking and working, checking out some quilt blogs that mention window quilts ... The results? A window quilt or two.

I've had a few regular sheets and vintage sheets around, waiting to be made into quilty things. (Mostly given to me by people who know how much fun I'll have recycling them into something nifty. THANKS! You know who you are.) So, I got busy with a floral sheet - cut a bunch of squares, each with a flower in the corner ...

... and sewed them into rows.

... and sewed the rows into a quilt top.

I like it. (So do my girls. They quickly claimed this window quilt for their room! And, now, they're waiting on a quilt for their other window!)

I love the florals! 

Some of these flowers remind me of the sheets my grandmother always seemed to have on her bed. Especially the white daisies, for some reason.

Since I wasn't ready to mess with a lot of blind/shade hardware yet, I just put a dowel through the top-loop of the window quilt, and rested the dowel on some curtain-rod hardware that was already on the window. Easy. Removable. Not complicated. I can take the quilt down anytime. I can remove the dowel and throw the quilt in the washer. Simple. Just right.

 

The kitten has claimed this spot in the girls' room. (Actually, the kitten has been trying out just about every quilt project I've made lately ... The kids think this is wonderful.)

I did some loopy free-motion quilting between the flowers. (Regular batting. A piece of a plain white sheet for the backing.) It was relatively quick and easy, and I like it. 

The window quilt looks pretty good when the sun shines on it, too ...

Side benefit: the quilt and the quilting actually look pretty good from outside the window, too. (No pics from the outside, but I like the way the sun hits it from the inside.)

So, I think this window quilt is a success. Plenty of light comes through during the day, but it's easily removed and rolled up, too. Very versatile.

Aunt Kathy, if you're reading this, THANK YOU for the inspiration all those years ago in your Colorado house! I was impressed even then, and when I've thought lately about what a great idea that was, I've been impressed all over again. So, my window quilts make me think of you, too. :-)

I'll have pictures soon of the window quilt I made for the boys' room. No flowers on that one, needless to say!

I'm linking this post to this week's Finish It Up Friday at one of my all-time favorite quilt blogs: CrazyMomQuilts! It's always fun to see some things that other quilters have been finishing up!