The Saga that is Aerial

I finished binding this quilt this morning.  I had intended it to be larger, but because I wasn't enjoying making it, I called it a day earlier than intended.

I was really excited by the project when I started.  I used some beautiful Caryl Fallert ombre fabrics I have been hoarding and added some Kona Solids. 

The pattern blocks were foundation paper pieced.  I expect that most of my problems were caused by not reading the pattern.  I discovered I needed to leave about an inch and a half around the outside of each piece or they could not be sewn together correctly into the block.  When the pieces were trimmed, the backstitching I had done at the start and end of every seam was cut off so when the paper was removed, the stitches at the edges cam loose and had to be resewn.  When I sewed the blocks together the seams were bulky and difficult to press. I pressed the top with starch before sandwiching it, but I clearly didn't iron it well enough, because there was some creases that became evident when I quilted it...so I had more remedial work to do. 

Quite honestly, I am sick of the sight of it.  I will try to learn from my mistakes and...move on!

Three months since I Last Updated my Blog

I have made a reasonable start to the year.  I finished piecing my Amish with a Twist quilt.  It is sandwiched and waiting to be quilted.  It is over 100 inches square, so will be a big job.  It is too big to photograph in the bungalow and too wet to hang outside!

I took part in the Modern Quilt Guild mini swap.  I had a lovely swap partner, Vickie, from Illinois.  I made a mini from ombre fabrics in my stash and hand dyed some silk to use as extra pops of colour.  The design is one that I adapted from a Quilt Show demo by Alex Anderson.  I think the design would work in a lot of different palettes and different sizes.

I received a lovely mini in return.  It is a two-sided quilt.  I still need to take photos.

I made the Lavender Fields quilt (pattern by Jacqueline de Jonge) in about a month.  I  spent a lot of time on it...but the weather was SO wet and miserable!  It really helped the time to pass.

I used batiks from my stash.  I tried to match what I had with photos of the suggested fabrics on the pattern.  Where my fabrics were different I tried to go for a similar level of colour saturation.

I would strongly recommend the pattern.  It was much easier to piece than I thought it would be.  The centre of each block is sewn first and then the arcs are sewn onto the edges.  They fit together very well, partly due to the curved pieces being shallow.  It was important to stick to the directions as four identical arcs are pieced into four blocks to get the effect as shown in the pattern. 

I chose the pattern because I love batik blues and greens and the white space in the centre of the blocks.  Being able to free motion quilt the block centres gives the quilt more texture and interest.