Harry Potter: from wrap to quilt

Isn't it lovely spending time with someone close, 

who wants to know how you make the things you make?

Some of you may know, my daughter loves her wraps. And I'm always amazed at how many beautiful fabrics & designs there are available. I've been itching to get my hands on some of the fabrics, I had imagined adding the now-not-needed-wraps into the quilts I was making - you know, recycle, upcycle, mix & matching the different textures, etc.

However, this quilt is for Olive, my eldest grandaughter. Olive loves Harry, and yesterday we made a start on turning the wrap into a quilt.
Raegan carefully worked out where she wanted to cut the wrap - not easy - and how long & wide she wanted the quilt to be. I left her to it while she carefully pieced her sections together and then we spent some time pinning the top to the backing . . .  always nice to have a second pair of hands when pinning things together down on the floor, yes?

 - hmm- m-m-m- 5.6 metres of wrap goes a long way! 

 - she had to make a join and we both loved how it looked, so she left it 

- pic from the free Harry Potter quilt patterns here

And, as my daughter was so keen to get it finished, today I showed her how to do the machine quilting. Just lots of practical straight lines, lots of rectangles around all the shields, enough to secure all the layers together. Which she managed beautifully.
The wrap itself is made from quite a heavy cotton {lenny lamb 100% cotton} so she used a flannette sheet for the backing, making it very cuddily and warm.
The binding went on next and between us, we managed to get it all hand stitched down this afternoon. I also gave her a very quick lesson on adding in some extra texture with hand quilting, which she can do at her leisure.

And one last photo before this quilt goes home to Olive's bed
- she's going to love it I'm sure.

bohemian on point

This new project is going to be a real combination of colours & fabrics from some quilts I've seen over on instagram. The idea started with a pattern I downloaded, fourteen on point from Hunters Design Studio.
I'm changing things a little and using a scrappy fabric selection from my stash rather than just the 14 fat 1/4s suggested in the pattern. You know me, I do love a scrappy combo.
The mish mash of colours and fabrics all give the larger florals a chance to shine. Here's a few progress photos . . .

On one block I had to piece together a favourite fabric to get the effect I wanted. And then I added some boho embroidery. I used embroidery floss, as I wanted my stitches to be more noticeable (hopefully) than the joining seam.

Any more weekend sewing came to a grinding halt today . . . 

I had a little helper visiting . . .

Linking up with Wendy for this weekend's 'peacock party' here 

and with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

Until next time, Linda

weekend wrap up

It's wet & windy, so I've spent some time in my sewing room over the weekend.

Flitting from one thing to another, as you do.

This quilt top has lots of prints that I found hiding deep in my stash baskets, plus a few favourites. When I've headed to my sewing machine, I've pieced a few more blocks along with whatever else I've been sewing. I think I'll add two more rows but as my design wall is pretty full now, I'll make a start getting these little 6" blocks all together. Just makes me smile.

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' over here.

Love how my 'quilty stars' looked today in the early morning light hanging up beside Bob's mums embroidery panel. It is 42" long and she made it way back in 1946, before either Bob or I were born! 

I've got the blues . . . and she's got the greens.

Susan from patchworknplay and I follow each others quilty journeys and email each other from time to time. We've got different styles for sure, but it's become apparent that we both tend to use one colour more than the other.
Blue has been my 'go to' colour for. ever and she loves greens, so we decided to have a little fun and do a fabric swop, #iwantherstash
As I've been cutting for my next project, I've also been cutting out 10" squares for Susan too. I've selected a wide assortment of approx. fifty fabrics - old, new, Kaffe, Art Gallery, vintage, and AMH. Such a good way to check & tidy my blue stash baskets. Can't wait to see what green fabrics Susan sends back over the ditch.

In the spirit of finishing something else this year - #finishit2019 - I've also been sorting out backing fabrics for a couple of my latest quilt top finishes, meadowland quilt and little miss sawtooth.

And, I've made a start on something new
- more about that next time, Linda

just playing ...

I guess you've spotted a few of these quilts around lately? There's lots of variations & inspiration . . . see here for the sessomsquilt by Carolyn Friendlander, and over here for Sujata's selection of similar 'freeform' quilts. And then there's more scrappy happenings over here by Leeanna from 'not afraid of color' and Julie here recently finished her amazing 'flower garden' version too.

So today I had the time and the motivation, and a pile of leftover scrappy squares that needed to be turned into something.
I plan on going scrappy of course, but with a few designer treats thrown in. After playing with these 6" blocks up on the design wall, I've now got some direction with my colours and where I want my lights & darks to go. And I will put aside other fabrics that might work as I sew other things.

Until next time, Linda

'Anna's Stars'

Here's a few progress photos . . .

- hmm-m- does this go with that?

- so pretty with Bob's mums embroidery panel, made way back in 1946

My 'quilty stars' quilt {aka Anna's stars} is now all stitched together. I've used multiple lines of AMH fabrics from my stash baskets in a scrappy organised way, and it's been an interesting challenge.

There are so many gorgeous options for backgrounds these days, and I’ve loved the break away from whites & creams. It was a bit nerve racking making the first few cuts into the AMH 'social climber' roses fabric and I almost skipped adding in those skinny sashings, but am so glad I went with it.

I did find though, that the combo of 'striking & soft' was a bit tricky and it was very easy for everything to blurr together. I needed to consider a few things here . . . alternating warm/cool for the blocks created nice contrast, and popping in a few non-floral prints really helped calm things. Adding in a few solids is always good for contrast too, and some of those larger florals had nice little areas of plain colour which worked well for me, but may be hard to notice in the bigger scheme of things!

Check out all the other 'quilty stars' versions over here and more details about the quiltalong can be found here at emily from quiltylove.

Linking up with Wendy for this weekend's 'peacock party' here

quilty stars {update}

- oh my, I hope I've worked this out right! 

A change of pace today . . . nice big 16" blocks, easy sewing.

Usually, I tend to sew more by colour rather than by collection. This time though, I'm sticking to all Anna Maria Horner prints, and using a scrappy selection from my stash, from lots of her different collections. Hopefully playing with contrast a little will keep things interesting.
When I decided to make this 'quilty stars' quilt I made up my first block thinking I'd use that yummy AMH  'social climber roses' in ice for my backgrounds & borders. However, I've been unable to find it again so have opted to use the more softer, subtle 'lichen' version. I think it'll work.

Oh I did add one rogue print in amongst everything, can you spot it?
Linking up with Em this week for 'moving it forward' here at emsscrapbag

and with Kelly for 'needle and thread Thursday' here

Until next time, Linda