My Great Quilting Expedition

Making progress with my design.  It is the first large quilty I've designed in a long time.  I took the photo a couple of days ago.  Since then, I've hand appliqued the corner hearts, sandwiched and stabilised the quilt top.  I started FMQ the centre medallion, but wasn't happy...so am now in the process of unpicking!  The quilt will finish 76 inches square.

I recently took part in the UKQU Mini Swap.  It is a three way swap.   I have done several in the past and enjoyed the experience.  I always make two minis based on a sheet of my swap partner's likes and dislikes and then send the one I think she would like best. Both of this year's efforts were foundation paper pieced and finished at just under 20 inches. The first mini was based on traditional New York Beauty  blocks but with a modern interpretation.  I really enjoyed thinking about the free motion quilting to sew in the white space. The second mini was a much smaller version of Peggy Martin's Summer in Provence quilt.  I think the original was 36 inches square. Both were fun to make.  I added a little bling to both with some heat set crystals. It was difficult yo decide which to send, but in the end I sent the NYB. I received a lovely Improv mini from my swap partner.  I love Improv quilts, circles,  log cabins and bold c...

I have finished Maling Road 1 year and 5 days after starting it at a workshop with Di Ford Hall.  I mostly used her fabrics but changed some of the colours and used a few fabrics from my stash. I really enjoyed the hand applique.  Because I used wash away applique paper and glue, I washed the top on a delicate cycle in my washing machine before sandwiching and quilting.  The laundering is very important, as the paper and glue make the appliques stiff.  Washing the top leaves them lovely and soft. Maling Road is a very 'busy' quilt, so I kept the quilting simple - echoing and a small stipple  around the appliques.  Most of the rest of the quilt was quilted with my walking foot.

Below I copied and pasted my 2018 Plans.  Where did the year go? I think it would  be fair to say that 2018 was a quilting disaster.  We decided to put the house on the market.  We found a buyer the first day (last June), but are still waiting in a chain.  Here we are on the 2nd January, 2019, and we still don't know if the sale will go through or if the chain will collapse.  It is impossible to plan anything...and all the hassle can be overwhelming! ...Oh, and I am waiting for surgery on both feet! Enough excuses. 2018 Plans WIPs and UFOs carried forward TQS 2017 BOM - HALF COMPLETED - sewing machine -Have finished the beauty block border this year. Passacaglia quilt - NO PROGRESS - hand work - No progress 2015 Quiltmania Mystery Quilt - NO PROGRESS - hand work - Still no progress. Hexi wallhanging - NO PROGRESS - hand work - No progress Phoebe quilt - NO PROGRESS - mix No progress Rambling Ways - TWO BLOCKS DONE - hand work No progres...

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  fa...

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. 

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...