summer strings project

I've been slowly adding to my string blocks this week, loving these small simple 8" blocks.

A string quilt is such a simple sew and is often made from a scrappy dive into your scraps, using a mix of leftovers from bindings, offcut strips, and those trimmings from the edges of larger pieces of fabric.

This time though, I'm mainly using larger fabric pieces from my stash rather than just from my scrappy strips & strings basket. I want it to feel scrappy without using scraps and I had a particular colour combo I was bursting to try.

Here's a few progress photos ...

And for those curious, here's a few details of my colour story ... 

I'm going for a mixed palette in peach/caramel/purples/blue, repeating many fabrics.

I decided to use a peach print as my center strip in each block, hopefully it will connect everything up and give the eye a place to rest on my busy blocks. 

My strips will be inconsistent widths throughout, to give that organic look. 

And I'm aiming for wonky diamond centers in soft mauves. 

With this latest batch, I've also added a few 'lighter' blocks into the mix, and it's all looking so good. 

 

Oh, and for a change, I'm using tissue paper squares as my foundation, but - and here's a tip from then came June - I'm only sewing through the paper once. I sew that first seam through the fabric and paper, then fold the paper back out of the way. Finish one half then flip and sew the oppersite side. 

Once both sides of the block are sewn, I'm trimming to size using the paper square for guidance, then ripping out the paper. Easy peasy! 

Here's how my design wall is looking now ...

This one is growing fast, I've made 22 blocks now

(for the moment, ignore the trial HST blocks on the right!)

… I was thinking I'd make it at least up to a cute cuddle quilt size, but then there was slight hiccough in the production line - I've run out of my peach center strip fabric :(

I'm so used to sewing scrappy, like if I run out of one fabric, I simply substitute with another! Always a risk when one starts out not having a clear picture in mind of the finished size & checking if supplies will stretch 🤣 Hopefully it doesn't take too long for more fabric to arrive. 

Happy weekending wherever you are,

Linda

show & tell on the peninsula

Time to see what Glenys has been sewing ... for the past few weeks she's been joining her positivities BOM together. Yesterday she popped around with her quilt top all finished - yayeee - and I took a few photos. 

 and a couple of closeup progress pics ...

It's been fun working on the same project together, inspiring each other along each month.

Must admit, it was quite a challenge & a skill builder, but we are both happy with how our quilts turned out. 

So lovely seeing everyone's different versions too, check out the link here.

a week of everything but sewing

It's been a busy week around here. Yes, there was some reading, but more importantly, there was some serious pruning in the garden (no photos but imagine Mr D with chainsaw and me with secateurs), and a lovely long lunch out, and delightful afterschool pickups, and (ongoing) experimental culinary endeavours here at home. 

It all slowed down my sewing somewhat. But there's always tomorrow ...

Carolyn Forster's book 'string quilts' arrived from the library at The. Perfect. Moment! I'd been tossing up whether to finish another EPP 'rosemary block' , piece a scrappy backing, or start something new. 

Thursday night, I ventured into the sewing room and guess what I ended up doing! 

Carolyn's book is a delightful read, full of sustainable ideas to use up those fabric scraps. 

I also spent some time faffing around, flicking back to Emily's post here @quilty love and downloading a free tutorial from then came June & @naomialicec (brilliant use of colour) for further ideas. 

Sew, research all over, 

I made up a few trial blocks in a particular colour combo I was bursting to try. ...

These string blocks are really brightening up my design wall - such a yummy mix of colour & pattern! 

I think I may have just found a summer strings project!

********

And here's what I've been reading lately, have you read any of these too?

My favourite read for October was "All the Colours of the Dark" by Chris Whittaker. This book was epic. It's about a love and friendship taking place over 25+ years from 1976 to 2001. In it, we follow the lives of Saint and Patch as they navigate from their early teenage years into adulthood, living in a small town rocked by a horrible serial kidnapper. The writing is beautiful, the storyline emotionally compelling.

This book follows his earlier novel "We Begin at the End" also an excellent read.

Historical fiction isn't my usual, but I found Jodi Picoult's latest, "By Any Other Name' an interesting read. And such a super cover!

The novel is split between the 16th/17th Centuries and the present, and depicts a story where Emilia Bassano is a ghostwriter for William Shakespeare. The other timeline is set in the present day where playwright Melina Green is having trouble getting her plays produced. When Melina’s play is submitted under a different name things begin to heat up.

Jodi Picoult always seems to find diverse topics to write about. While I enjoyed Emilia & Melina’s stories of courage & bravery, I was not familiar with the idea that Shakespeare was possibly not the author of his works, so I found this book quite eye-opening. 

Talking magpies? I was very dubious when my daughter suggested this book to me. This was so good. Tama, our magpie guide, is an astute observer, mimic and mischief maker and I loved him from the very first page! The novel is set in Central Otago, NZ where Marnie & Rob live on a struggling sheep farm. 

It's beautifully written and at times I laughed out loud. At other times, I felt for Marnie and all the pressures and isolation of farming life.

and now it's November, only 57 sleeps until Christmas🎄

Linda

seeing stars in tilda

Like lots of you, I work on more than one thing at a time, 

but top of my list today was adding the binding to this little quilt.

Tilda back & front

'Seeing Stars in Tilda' quilt details:

Pattern: I used the sawtooth star block measurements I had here, there's heaps of tutorials available.

Fabric: Love 💕how the past & present lines of #tildafabrics can mix & match so seamlessly. 
Backing: A scrappy improv mashup of my Tilda fabrics, mixing some new with (very) old.
Quilting: Leeanne from quiltmekiwi used an E2E panto, 'Peeling Good'. The quilting really made this quilt come together; the curves seem to balance the straight piecing lines and extend out into the border too for some added visible texture.

Binding: I used a two-tone blue stripe for binding, it seems to frame all the Tilda colours nicely.

Quilt measurements: 48" x 59"

Donated to Hospice.

garden party quilt

This recently finished quilt ticks all the boxes for me…so many of my favourite AMH fabrics in the one quilt✔️ ultra scrappy mix of old and new fabrics✔️ mod 'cone flower' quilting✔️ scrappy backing✔️ stripey binding✔️

Checkered Garden quilt - the 'garden party' one:

Pattern: 'checkered garden' pattern from Ashley @ filminthefridge (it’s free)
Fabric: I was able to use lots of little bits from my entire AMH stash. I worked block by block, as I had decided to set myself the creative challenge of choosing colours for each block as I went. I’m super happy with this mishmash of bright fabrics, and I really tried not to be too matchy-matchy. 

I love the unifying element of the pink and cream/white corners to each block. 

Backing: I used a scrappy mix of leftovers #partyinthequiltback!

Quilting: Leeanne from quiltmekiwi quilted it with an edge-to-edge panto called 'cone flower' - which looks super!
Binding: even though my quilt was heavy with the busy bright colours, I felt that this two-toned blue stripe binding from my stash would give just the right amount of contrast & balance.

Quilt measurements: 56" x 56"

exploring the fussy-cut world

I wanted to explore the fussy-cut world just a little bit more and when I spotted Jodi @talesofcloth 'rosemary' quilt recently I decided to give it a go. The simple big rectangles appealed to me, perfect for the large-scale prints in my stash, and there's only a smattering of nine EPP flowers to add a delightful little handmade touch. 

Disclaimer: I like switching to slow stitching every now and again, I just never seem to actually finish anything!

Fabric choices took up most of my time this weekend, the fun part! One thing I noticed about *Jodi's quilt was that there's a cohesiveness in her colour and tonal choices, it's light, and reminds me of Spring. With all this in mind, I started out with a teal & pink combo using some of my favourite florals and went from there.  

here's a few planning pics from down on the design floor ...

*Jodi's quilt on the left & a selection of teals from my stash

Now that my colours make me happy, 

it's time to tackle the EPP - yes, the bit I've been avoiding!

Hopefully, this little experiment will be perfect for me & I'll end up with a finished project.

Oh, and I'd love to hear your ideas for using the fabric "lacy leftovers" after fussy cutting

#usethegoodfabric

Linda

unfolding slowly

 

I’m loving how this is turning out. And it's fun making these fussy-cut blocks, a little break from my usual. My initial inspiration was a sweet vintage quilt (see this post back here), and then I downloaded AMH's pattern for a 12" LeMoyne Star - oh my, the accompanying digital imaginary quilt was an explosion of colour and sew full of fussy cutting ideas! 

After a little quite a bit of faffing around✄, I had a wee 'light bulb' moment and realised that lots of my Anna Maria Horner prints - ones with a repeating strong, vertical design structure - were perfect for fussy cutting my diamonds without having to overthink things. I feel like no matter where I choose to cut, I'm always amazed with the new look I get from the repeats. And am super happy, of course, to be cutting into some more of the AMH fabric I’ve been hoarding #usethegoodfabric.

For enquiring minds yes, I'm machine piecing these blocks. I've cut my setting peach triangles & squares slightly larger to ensure accuracy, and I had a nice little rhythm happening with those in-set corners. 

While I love the bold & bright version, I wanted my quilt to actually have more of the vintage vibe like the inspiration quilt. So, I decided the Anna Maria Horner peach/pink 'Cathedral' print would be my unifying element, and I'm using it for the sashing & borders. I'm also repeating a couple of other fabrics in different colourways, to help with a calmer & more cohesive look.  

things have been unfolding slowly ... happily ...and as mr D. was at golf today, I kept sewing ...et voilà ...

 Linda