A Finish for Christmas 2018

I have dipped my toes into the improv method of quilt making.  I have started this adventure with a Slash and Insert attempt.  I wanted to make a bed quilt for my son, Peter.

The piecing was fun and quick.  I used a Craftsy layer cake, about half of a Kona jelly roll and additional yardage in black for the sashing and borders.

The piecing was quick and fun.  I used one inch strips for the inserts - some cut straight from the jelly roll. For others, I pieced scraps and then recut into one inch strips.

The piecing went well, but then I had a two week wait for my backing fabric.  Eventually, because there was only 1 week left until Christmas, I ordered 4m of black Kona cotton from another online shop.  My original fabric arrived the day after I pieced the backing.  C'est la vie!

I pieced a strip of 12 inch blocks for the back of the fabrics from the jelly roll to give the backing a bit more interest.  I used random widths of coloured  fabric and blocks cut from some fat corners.

Playing

Sometimes it is fun to play.  I bought a  lovely pattern called Garden Pond Pillow by  Katrina Hadjimichael.  It is so pretty.  I fell in love with it!

I wanted to make a 24" mini quilt, rather than a pillow, so made some extra stars.  I used a stack and whack method rather than fussy cutting.  I'm too mean with my fabric to fussy cut.  There is no waste with stack and whack.

I used the top part of a clamshell template for cutting the scallops.  The fabric is Moda Morris Holiday Metallic.

I used English Paper Piecing to create the stars.  I hand appliqued the stars and scallops to the plain, white background. 

I am disappointed with my FMQ.  I wish I hadn't added the random feathers in the corners.  I think it is too much.  Too late now.  I can only hope I learn from my mistakes. 

Fun with Lumiere

I saw the Chimney Sparrows block some time ago and wanted to make a wall hanging using it.  The piecing is tricky. I felt I wanted a quick, trial project, so instead of piecing each block, I painted each block with Jacquard Lumiere fabric paint.  I then pieced the blocks together on point.  I sandwiched with 2 layers of Hobbs polester and white cotton backing.  The really fun part of the project was the quilting.  I love thinking about how to show off the blocks to their best advantage.  Any excuse to quilt feathers! :)  I probably should have used my rulers to quilt this, but decided to 'wing' it and just  FMQ by eye.

I still need to add a binding...

Not much time to Sew

The last few weeks have been extremely busy and I have found little time to sew.  Our house is sold subject to contract and there is so much to do as we are downsizing - 21 years worth of 'stuff' to part with. 

I have managed to finish piecing Pythagoras' Lute and am presently quilting it.  The photo below was taken before it had been sandwiched.

I have signed up for the UKQU Winter Mini Swap.  It will be my third mini swap with UKQU.  I have 4 different plan possibilties based on my swap partner's likes and dislikes.  I am presently making small samples before I make a final decision.  I always have to question my motives.  I want to make something my swap partner will love...but I also want to challenge myself by making something I haven't tried before. 

From the Ashes

I wanted to try to make my first One Block Wonder quilt.  I had some lovely Jinny Beyer border fabric that had been sitting in my stash for a long time.  I knew that as much as I loved the fabric I would never use it because I didn't have any fabric in my stash that worked with it. So, I bought a book and watched some videos and started piecing my hexagons.  When I put them together Irealised I had made a big mistake.  Regardless of how I moved the hexis around, it was too much and giving me a headache.

What to do?  I can't bear wasting fabric - especially lovely fabric.  I wondered if I could break up the hexis with a second fabric.  I decided to go with black and try to make a medallion quilt out of it.  It was fun trying to reverse engineer the dimensions of the quilt so that the hexis would fit.

Anyway, the result is below.  No longer a 'one block wonder', but now more 'stack n whack'. I am now working on a second attempt at a OBW, and I think this one is looking more promising.

What have I learned from this disaster?  Fabric choice is everything.  Fabric with lots of straight lines don't work - at least, not for me. You don't necessarily need a lot of different colours, but variations of tone and saturation are needed if I want to create the kind of effect I have in mind.  Onward, ever onward!

Miniature Swap Quilts

I have made a few miniature swap quilts for various swaps over the last few months, but not posted photos.  It is so much fun to play with designing small projects.

I made two for The Quilt Show International Miniature Quilt Exchange.  I made the blue one first and then decided the colours weren't right for my swap partner, so made the second one in pumpkin.

Again, I made two miniatures for the Spring UKQU Miniature Quilt swap.  I wasn't sure about the one with rings, so sent off the ombre one based on the Fibonacci series to my swap partner.

I turned the edges on all of the spirals and circles.  I can only assume my applique is improving as those spirals were a challenge!  I love working with ombre fabrics.  They seem to just add that bit extra to a quilt.

I love the idea of swaps and the design process.  The only issue is the constant worry my swap partner will be disappointed...hence I end up making two every time!

Close Up of Bally Birds

Bally Birds is Finished

I finished making Bally Birds last week, but I have yet to get a decent photo of it.  The photos below seem to have a bit of a green cast.  It was a lot of fun to make and I am happy with the result.  It was a great opportunity to improve my broderie perse and hand applique.  If we ever get a decent day - not too sunny or not too dark - I'll take some better photos.

Class with Di Ford

Last Friday, I attended a course laid on by Karen of Running Chicken which was taught be Di Ford.  We worked on the centre medallion of her latest quilt, Maling Road.  It was a fun day and Di was very generous with her time.  She covered needleturn, broderie perse and fussy cutting as well as telling us about how she approaches colour, quilt and fabric design.  She had several of her completed quilts with her - my oh my - real eye candy and beautiful workmanship.  I was particularly taken with the wonderful little details in all her quilts.  You can't really appreciate all the wonderful little touches unless you see the quilts up close.  The whole day was a succession of little treats and a great experience! 

I did think my hand applique was ok, but I now realise I have a long way to go, so much more practice is needed!  I do enjoy a challenge!

I also managed to buy a copy of her Bally Birds pattern.  She had the quilt with her - an absolute stunner!

 

 

Liquorice Allsorts

We've had a lot of snow here over the past couple of days, so I've had a good excuse to finish my painted whole cloth.  I am happy with it, but wish I was braver with the quilting.  It feels like a cheat when the painting only took about 10 minutes, but it took me two days to quilt it.  I have called the quilt ' Liquorice Allsorts'.

I think I may have a play with the Dye-na-flow and some Markal sticks I have, which I think would act as a resist if applied first?  We'll see.

Roll With It

On the back of trying out Dye-no-flow paints, I thought I'd try a larger piece.  The inspiration was the big lollypop with spiral design on them (that I used to see when I was little).  I used a pipette to apply the paint to the white cotton.  It was fun.  It is so much fun to make something without much of a plan!  I also painted another piece at the same time  - this time inspired by Bassetts Licquorice Allsorts.  I am quilting it at the moment. 

Serendipity

Sometimes 'stuff' happens by accident.  I bought a Jacquard Dye-na-flow exciter pack at the Festival of Quilts last year.  It had sat on my shelf since then and I thought I'd see what the paints were like.  I cut  a 16 inch square of white cotton and squeezed the paint straight from the bottle diagonally in both directions.  Where the paint was still wet, it bled into paint on the crossover locations and gave an interesting effect.  It had been my intention to throw the test piece away, but I wondered if I could actually use it.  When the paint was dry, I heat set it with the iron and then appliqued on some circles.  I used ombre fabrics from my stash.  I free motion quilted in dark thread around the coloured areas but didn't worry about staying on the lines.  Lastly, I free motioned a stipple stitch using white thread on the white areas.  I cut my binding and splattered some paint onto it - again direct from the bottle.  The entire process probably took half a day.

I have several long term projects on the go that require precision and concentration.  This little project was pure joy - no quarter inches or straight lines to worry about.  It was completely free and easy.  It is so far removed from my usual 'plan every last detail' approach.

I hope I will make more abstract pieces in my future. Happy quilting!

First Finish of 2018

I have done very little free motion quilting over the last year.  Most of my quilts have been too 'busy' to merit anything other than basic quilting.  I know I was very rusty and needed a project that would get me using my fmq brain.

Last summer I made a feathered star mini quilt for a swap.  I was given a list of the recipient's likes and dislikes.  She liked quilts with lots of white space and modern quilting.  I kept the quilting very simple and used straight lines.  I enjoyed the process, but wondered what a large version with more traditional quilting would look like.

In the end, I chickened out somewhat on the design and went for a simple orange peel design for all the outside white space.  However, just the physical process of fmq was very beneficial and therapeutic.  Maybe next time I'll be more ambitious.