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

back from the LAQ

Now that I have my quilts back from Leeanne at quiltmekiwi 

I'm on another finishing binge!

This weekend I've been busy making a start on adding bindings.

First up, my 'star hollow' quilt in pastels

I love how those fun wonky stars give it just a sprinkle twinkle of organic freedom!

quilt details:

Pattern: a sweet (free) pattern/tutorial Star Hollow Quilt by Jolene of @blueelephantstitches 

Maker: moi

Fabric: For this wonky star🌟 quilt I started out with a bunch of summery delicate florals in various medium shades. I added in other favourite florals from my stash - more Liberties, AGF & Tilda - and I also added a good dose of solids into the mix.

Backing: pieced from pink leftovers

Quilting: E2E straight lines
Binding: a Kaffe multi-stripe in matching pastels 
Quilt measurements: 46" x 54".

stars on repeat

I spotted a vintage quilt on ig recently which really spoke to me. The combo of peach sashing with assorted feedsack prints was delightful, (*see pic below). 

The LeMoyne Star quilt has always been a favourite of mine, it's a traditional block featuring spinning diamonds to create an 8-point star. 

I had tossed up at the beginning of the year to use peach as my background for my 'positivities' quilt, it's a "much more me" pick really. So, I still had lingering thoughts about going peachy and decided to make my stars on a consistent peach background.

When I downloaded AMH's pattern - oh my, the accompanying digital imaginary quilt was an explosion of colour with The. Most. Amazing fussy cutting ideas! 

My version though, is a blend of both these ideas, lots of peach background combined with lots of bright fussy cutting. I've not gone all out with heaps of fussy cutting before, it really does eat into the fabric ... but then, that's been the whole point of my sewing focus lately, hashtagusemystash!

 *vintage quilt inspiration

- all chopped up & now I have a heap of 'fabric lace' for something else!

wow ... these fussy cuts really grab your attention and make you look a little closer. 

Yes, my favourite kind of quilt 

- inspired by tradition but reworked to look a bit modern.

Linda

an infusion of green

As many of you know, over the year I've been making the 'Positivities' sampler BOM quilt created by Rachel @stitchedincolor. It's modern, it's original, it's like an upbeat explosion of colour & shape!

I opted to use a constant soft minty-green solid as my background and pulled other fabrics month by month from my stash depending on what caught my eye.                                                                                                                                    

This week I began by making the last few segments, the quieter "space" blocks that provide some visual space with simple patchwork.  Then I moved onto the rather daunting part of sewing everything together. Here's a few progress photos ...

- on the design floor checking if everything will fit!

Panic over, it all went together relatively smoothly.

 And I now have a quilt top to share, 

it's a real infusion of minty-green for all the green lovers ...

oops, totally had my quilt upside down in this pic, 

but didn't want to ask my loyal quilt holder for a repeat session ...

It was a high-focus mission, 

with lots of FPP, curves, & inset seams while trying to balance colours & harmony, 

but so rewarding to see it all together. 

'Thank you' to Rachel @stitchedincolor for imagining up this beauty and excellent instructions.

Spring has sprung

It's a beautiful warm Spring weekend here. In-between things, I have managed to quickly sew my nine 16 1/2" blocks all together. The 'Marjorie' quilt from Jennifer at penelopehandmade is a variation of the traditional 'dutchman's puzzle' block. I love repeating blocks like this one because it gives so much room to play with colour.

I found going through the repetitive motions of chain piecing, pressing, and trimming the HSTs was a very calming process. The colours all seemed to dance softly over & around the blocks. I tried to use a lot more blender type fabrics this time, rather than my usual all-out multi-coloured florals. 

From a practical point of view, changing out the background fabrics between the blocks worked well for me too because I don't often buy large pieces of fabric. 

And, always a bonus, a few old fabrics have managed to end up in these blocks, super happy that they haven't ruined the "pas-tel" vibe I was aiming for.

Yes, this is my favourite kind of quilt

- inspired by tradition but reworked to look a bit modern.

Linda

a weekend of planning

I've been busy this weekend ... planning a new quilt ... yep, another one! 

I’ve also been binge watching the latest series of *Bridgerton and wanted my palette to reflect those soft blues & pastel Bridgerton vibes. Anyone else a Bridgerton fan too?

I decided to jump right in and use a newly release pattern, the 'Marjorie' quilt from Jennifer at penelopehandmade. It's a variation of the traditional 'dutchman's puzzle' block, with classic/vintage vibes that I just love. The pattern has instructions for both a limited palette and a scrappy version. 

With a Bridgerton inspired palette in mind, I had a little play to try and replicate the colours in PreQuilt (digital colouring pages) - it's first time I've done this. Lots of fun selecting options & tweaking colours, and after some time I finally settled on a plan, something that ended up slightly different from my inspiration pic, but something that could work for me and my fabrics here. 

And my fabric pull so far ...

My (final) PreQuilt design and the *Bridgerton inspiration pic from *Reddit

... and my trial block ...

I’m definitely on team scrappy but must admit, I'm super happy with how the pink center pinwheel and background triangles give some cohesion to this 1st block.  

Looks like another HST quilt is underway, not my most favourite units to trim but I do love how they look.

Until next time, Linda

sawtooth stars remix

It struck me this weekend that while being so focused lately on using-the-stash, I still had quite a few fabrics that I never seem to actually use, ones that felt too bold, too multi-coloured, and/or too tricky to mix. 

So, this started out as a few experimental blocks up on the design wall, testing a mix of pinks, purples, blues from stash. "Good colours" was Mr D's comment as he passed the sewing room. 

It's a mix of AMH fabrics with a selection of Alison Glass & other blenders, crazy busy and all over the place (but quietly thoroughly thought out!).

It’s fun playing with all the scrappy possibilities, 

and I may have just found the. perfect. border!

Linda