On the Design Wall

 

 

 

I promised you a photo of the blocks I would be making with the blues and buttery yellows.  Sorry the quality of the photo is a bit below par as it was taken  inside on the design wall and I have cropped it down a bit, but you get the idea.

 

I have actually progressed a bit further than the above photo as I am trying to finish it for next week.  This is a split hourglass block which I saw in a quilt magazine some time ago.  I strip pieced 2 x 2.5in wof strips one white/cream and paired it with a blue or yellow strip.  After pressing I used my 6.5 square ruler and cut triangles from each strip aligning the 45 degree angle line along the edge of the strip.  I joined the triangles together and I think I am happy with the result.

 

I am now able to show you Evie's quilt, the only little girl of the four babies born between September and December.  Her quilt was delivered to her Mum and Dad last night.  I hope she has lots of fun with it over the years.  Its called Kaleidoscope and the pattern was featured in The Love of Patchwork and Quilting magazine recently. I do like the colours with only a little hint of pink, I hope she does too.

 



Limes, Leaves and Lovehearts

I realised last night when I was thinking of what I would blog about today that I hadn't shown you this completed quilt.

Limes Leaves and Lovehearts

 

This was my first start/finish of 2014 and somehow, although I mentioned it briefly in passing, I just didn't get around to showing you the photos.  These fabrics were called Ambrosia and are from the Free Spirit line.  They were drawn from my lucky dip boxes which I am determined to deplete so I can cut into my stash and even buy some nice new fabrics. (Not that I really need any).  I still have some leaves and hearts border fabric left in my stash so something similar might appear again in the future.  Pieces were cut 4.5 x 2.5 ins and pieced together in a zig zag design.  The quilt is bright, fresh and zingy, lime green and cerise is a nice combination don't you think?  Another charity quilt for sale on My Etsy Shop.  It is a reasonable lap size quilt and measures 42 x 38 ins.  Perhaps someone might like it as a Valentine's gift but it would work for a baby, toddler, teen or adult.

I seem to have lots of blues in these boxes, so let's pull them out, sew them up and ship them out, another nice little bundle.



oops sorry about the stray thread - they just appear from nowhere

To be teamed up with some buttery, sunshine yellows to brighten up the grey days here at the moment - its windy and wet here this morning with sleet gusting through.  The birds are having a feeding frenzy at the seed feeders I guess they are finding it tough at the moment.

With a little bit of white/cream thrown in for good measure.

Check back later in the week to see which block I decide to do this time.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend I hope you manage some relaxation before a busy week ahead.

 

 

A Monster Project

Almost two years ago just before the summer break 2012 a challenge was set at class.  Two different pieces of fabrics, a fat quarter and a fat eighth, were given to each of our members.  They were Makower Essentials mini leaves, a white on white fabric and Benartex Natures Etchings, a grey pebble fabric.



The fabrics which appear in each block

The instructions were to add bright fabric or fabrics to these to each make a 12.5inch unfinished block or two.  Block names were placed in a hat and everyone chose.  Some groans and some sighs, but everyone rose to the challenge.  Blocks varied from the simpler rail fence, to the very difficult mariners compass and everything in between.  When we met again in September we had an array of wonderful colourful  blocks and everyone was eager and excited to show and tell and find out what the next step would be.  



On the Design Wall

 

There lay the next challenge - what to do with them.   Lots of discussions ensued about layout, 21 blocks were going to produce a huge quilt.  It was decided to make two.  EQ7 was called upon and a modern layout was designed using 12 of the blocks, and we opted for a more traditional, simple sampler design with sashing for the other 9.  



Not quite the right setting - but almost there

Joining up the blocks was a huge issue.  As quilters out there will realise, everyone sews
differently and we had lots of issues of the not quite 1/4inch seam, some of the blocks varied in size in fact not many were exactly 12.5 inches.  A huge learning curve for everyone.  More discussion about the 1/4inch seam in general, different types of machine feet, pressing, trimming etc over the following weeks kept us all busy.  Then the momentum waned we were all getting a bit fed up working on it. This was no quick project. The tops were pieced together and they were put aside for a while.  

  

Pieced backing

Every so often they would be brought out and discussed, a backing was pieced for each one then we had an evening where one of our members gave a demonstration on an easy way to sandwich a big quilt together.  Another of our ladies showed us how to baste the traditional way with needle and thread.  This was enlightening for everyone and has been used many times since - it certainly beats crawling around on the floor.  

Ok so what comes next, yep the quilting, this took a long time.  Everyone was asked to quilt their own block by machine, we had just completed a day workshop with Bonnie McKerracher, a wonderful lady who instructed us in freemotion quilting.  I had high hopes for some of her designs to appear on the quilt however everyone chickened out for fear they would not be good enough.  The quilts were passed around each of us.  

Fast forward to just before Christmas 2013.  The 'monster' and 'mini' were mentioned again. Mini was lost - no one knew where she had gone.........but she turned up last week!  Monster has had a shake out and the quilting is almost complete.  She is in the final stages, thankfully, and the binding will go on hopefully over the weekend.  Then perhaps we will sit around the table Amish style and hand stitch it down.  When it is totally finished I will make sure I post a picture.

This has been a long journey. Many, many lessons have been learned by everyone who has taken part in the making of the monster.  The importance of reading instructions, taking careful note of requirements and most of all listening to everybody's  tips and ideas through team work and communication.  We spent many nights of tutorials and in discussions about the many processes and although we all got a bit fed up at times I think when the quilts are finished we will look back over the months and remember the highlights of our Tuesday evenings piecing them all together with good friends.  A great group project!   Of course I can hear the next question already ringing in my ears - what are we going to do with them now??

Little Baby Blue

This week my quilting has been very simple and straightforward.  I'm in between major projects. Last weekend I said I choose some bits from my lucky dip box - they were blue.  I often find if I buy a kit, and being a thrifty cutter,  I usually have plenty pieces left over to help me a good way towards doing another project.  I am reluctant to call them scraps as to me scraps are little pieces you really can't do much more with.  I had lots of strips of 2.5in wide of this Connecting Threads, Rapsody in Blue fabric which I thought would make a simple rail fence quilt suitable for a baby or toddler.  I think this size  25 x 30in would probably be ideal for a little one travelling in the car or the pushchair, or even just to drag along as a comfort blanket.

It's still not really bright enough to get nice outdoor photos so yet another one taken inside.

It's Pink..........

I promised you more photos of the Improv Pods quilt and I did warn you that it was pink!

 



The back with the label on the bottom 



And a close up of the negative space quilting.

 

Perhaps a mistake using the navy thread for the quilting but having read lots of articles I decided to go with the same thread on the top and in the bobbin.  I think the navy is just too much of a contrast here, but you live and learn.  I did try using different threads top and bottom on a practice piece but no matter how hard I tried I was still getting the opposite colours showing though on either side which I really didn't like.  It's done now and I am really quite chuffed with it.  It's just so different for me and it made me think!  Plans are progressing for the Saturday morning workshops for the ladies of the class to try out this technique. I hope they are looking forward to a whole lot of fun and enjoy it as much as I did.

I dipped into my lucky dip boxes (the ones with all the pieces bigger than scraps and smaller than half a metre) at the weekend too and came out with lots of blue bits left over from this quilt.  More on that one next time.

Blue Spangles

Have a good week.

Improv Pods

During the latter part of November and early December three of us from the quilting class decided to embark on some Modern Piecing and Quilting.  We met on a Saturday morning, chatted drank coffee and discussed, cut and pieced Improv Pods a project inspired by Elizabeth Hartman.  Oh what fun we had!  A new project, a new technique, a new idea. Modern quilts in general have a neutral background and in the main use solid fabrics, with lots of negative space.  No suitable fabrics in the stash so a trip to the quilt shop  was needed.  In for a penny in for a pound, if I have to buy fabric why do I not use something outside my comfort zone.  Some of you will know I do not have a great affinity for pink.  I have very few pieces of pink fabric in my stash and normally do not like working with it.  You know how it is - if you don't love it, it is so hard to enjoy or build up any enthusiasm to work with it. 

My quilt was going to be made using some pink fabrics.  Five fat quarters were required  one of which had to be a modern focal fabric plus the background.  We don't have many quilt shops in our area and sometimes we don't have just the right choices and have to supplement from online shops.  Here are my fabrics.  Ok so I've got two patterned pieces and they are not quite as bold as I would have liked.  Ah well - you know me rules are made to be bent are they not?



The focal fabric is not as bold as I would have liked

The first week was spent discussing our colour schemes and fabrics, drinking coffee, chatting and making plans.  The second Saturday was  busy cutting and sewing, strip piecing and slashing, turning and stitching again until the first of our Pods came to life.  We were breaking all the traditional rules, and it was fun.  Gradually the quilt tops came together and we were really quite pleased with the results.  Neutral fabric did not work for my background so I chose Kona Regal a rich dark navy blue. This is so different from any other project I have ever done and I love it!  I enjoyed working with others as a team, I enjoyed buying new fabrics I enjoyed the concept, I enjoyed the measuring and even the quilting of the negative space.   I enjoyed thinking outside my little box.  Sometimes we need to stretch ourselves and go that extra yard, give ourselves a push to do something different.  This was not a difficult project but a challenge just the same.  Would I do it again?  Yes I probably would.

The Front - showing quilted negative space



The Pods are quilted in the ditch around the edge but not inside

 

The quilt is complete and it is very definitely pink!  Unfortunately taking photos in winter has it's issues. Hopefully I will have more daylight shots next time.  I am not sure if they are showing true colours here, but you get the idea.  We are going to have a workshop at class during February using this technique so I am looking forward to seeing the results and all the different colour palettes.  

 

Catch up in the middle of the week for more photos.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

I didn't find the missing photo of the Christmas Fairy Steps quilt so I took this one.

I have spent some spare moments over the last few days browsing around in the blogging world and looking at lots of fabulous finished projects which have been completed by some wonderful stitchers from all over the world during the last year.  You will be pleased to hear I am not going to list each of my finishes nor am I going to tell you all about resolutions or achieving goals for 2014.  If you have been following along you will have seen all my quilts as the were completed and you will find them on my gallery page.  

Last year although a tough one and very challenging for me saw me produce more quilts than in any other year on my quilting journey. Perhaps this was because I did have a target.  I was making lap quilts for Alzheimer's Scotland until June for the culmination of the Hampden Park project.   A mammoth challenge undertaken by Ann Hill of Dumfries to cover our national football stadium with 5000 quilts.  My charity of choice since June and going forward is Marie Curie Cancer Care hopefully raising awareness of the work of their nurses and raising well needed funds to allow them to care for terminally ill patients in their own home.

I am taking this year a day at a time, no goals, no preconceived ideas of fulfilling many unattainable goals.  Instead, as far as my quilting goes, I will delve into two newly sorted boxes of smallish pieces of fabrics, bigger than scraps but generally half metre and less, pull some fabrics and cut and sew and see what the outcome is. Wish me luck!  This is what I have achieved so far since the turn of the year with fabrics from the newly formed boxes of pieces.

 

I have now opened my online Etsy Shop to reach out to the wider audience on the web.  To showcase some of my fundraising quilts and when they sell, the charity will benefit.  I will be updating this gradually over the next few weeks so please keep checking for updates and new photos.

I hope you are all getting back to your own routines after the holiday and looking forward to better weather, longer days and plenty new and exciting sewing projects.

 

Very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014