whimsy quilt top {+ lots of pics}

Quilt Top Stats:

"Whimsy" is a pattern from Judy Newman's book, 'quilts made for life made with love'
- see here for details 

I decided to showcase my large florals in this quilt.
Each centre octagon was framed with a blending itty bitty print

and set on the same neutral background throughout

There are a couple of cheeky inset seams which proved challenging at the beginning 

but the hardest decision for me was choosing the stripe

Love the 2dary circular pattern that appears when viewed from a distance.

Machined pieced

Finished top measures 122.5 x 167.5 cm (49" x 67")

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here at quiltingismorefunthanhousework

whimsy quilt {update}

You saw what was currently up on my design wall last week, including those five 'whimsy' blocks, yes? They had been up there for quite some time, so I decided I would update you all on my progress as I've been working on this WiP lately.

It always seems to take me a while to get back into the swing of making these blocks. 

Note to self: needle down, scant 1/4 " seams, breathe . . . 

. . .  but by the time I'd pieced these four more, I was pretty much on a roll

Judy Newman's pattern calls for 35 pieced blocks, each measuring 22.5cms (9") square. For earlier details about my quilt progress pop back here. I thought I should do a bit of a head count too, I figured I must be nearly there by now, fingers crossed.

And a lovely surprise, I had finished 30 blocks, only five more to go! Not a hard ask after making all the others, so last thing today I began stash diving for a few more florals to finish the last five blocks. Linking up with Kelly for 'needle and thread Thursday' here and with Myra for 'finished {or not} Friday' over here

And my minature daffys have started popping out
Spring must be just around the corner . . .

'oh scrap' and whatever happens to our 'old' quilts?

So lovely to go visiting today and see one of my older quilts
still being loved
and still being used

This was a quilt I made way back in 2009. I used a pattern from one of Kathy & Sarah's earlier books, 'material obsession'. It was called 'retro starburst' by Kathy Doughty, and she used big graphics, big flowers & bold spots.
I went for big-ish flowers and a scrappy selection of pink to red strips, with a bit of 'bold' blue, brown & gold thrown in too. I remember having fun with the placement of light & darks between the blocks, giving an improv feel to the quilt. I still love that brown/blue Kaffe spot I used for the side borders & the binding. I had it professionally quilted in an all-over 'retro flower' pattern. And then I gave it away, as you do.

 

Do you see any of your 'old' quilts now & then too, after gifting?

 Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here at quiltingismorefunthanhousework

wordless Wednesday {the 'what's on my design wall' edition}

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It's looking a bit crowded

Linking up to 'design wall Monday' over here

brimfield blocks

I thought I'd share my latest project obsession, 
I've started making the brimfieldblockstar quilt, aka " Linda meets brimfield with love"

All was quite around here today so I spent some time doing a spot of slow stitching. As I've just discovered, this quilt is full of creative opportunites to fussy cut and use -ve space. I started out with a couple of fabrics I had recently purchased from the new lovedtopieces collection and a scrappy assortment of other AGF fabrics. It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together as I'm using my usual approach and just planning each block individually.

It's been awhile since I did any EPP, so nice to slow down & simply stitch. I'm using a 'whip' stitch to join things. Those melon shaped curves were a tad challenging, but I got the hang of it by the time I was onto adding no.5!

True to form, I'm having a bit of a battle over my background fabric choice. My initial pick was AGF pure elements in grapefruit, but I'm still tossing up about that. So I'll hold fire and not actually stitch this first block down until I've made a few more up & see how they all look together.

Only eleven more blocks to go, very do-able I think.

Linking up tomorrow with Kathy from kathysquilts for 'slow sunday stitching'
and with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' over here

Here's the links for a few EPP tips & tricks that I came across -
a beautiful post by Florence from flossieteacakes here
and another informative one here 'EPP101' by Jodi from talesofcloth
oh, and check out this link here to see Jen Kingwell chatting about EPP

it's a wrap, or two, or four

It's no secret, I collect fabric, and my daughter collects wraps.

They are practical, comfy, sanity saving at times, and 

. . . the fabrics her wraps are made of are so so lovely

 - Johnny just wanted to play with granny & gramps, not have a photo shoot.

wrap stats:

All cotton, double weave

in emerald & copper brown

4.6 metres (now that's alotta fabric!)

#bijouwear

and a few close-up pics of a couple of her other wraps . . .

and the Harry Potter plaid wrap
'The One Who Lived' and is made by Pretty Paisley . . .

I'm plotting & planning now how best  I we could use these fabrics
you know, when Johnny gets too big.
Maybe floppy messenger bags (instead of plastic), cushion covers, cowl scarf or shawl, soft toys, utility style quilts oh, I've heaps of ideas.