little scraps big possibilities

The past couple of weeks I've enjoyed lots of time to sew without worrying about sharing anything, so this post is a bit of a catch-up. I'm right in the middle of multi project tasking, which of course = a messy sewing room!

Pictured here is what I’m currently working on: a new start, a finished quilt top, and I'm collecting fabric & planning the beginnings for another quilt, and lastly, a fabric stack. 

✂️And here we I go again, many scrappy trips around the world ...

fabric collection: my stash

I’m just playing up on the design wall, as my obsession with variations on the trip around the world design continues. Trying to use up a few tone-on-tones as well as my florals! It's got a sort of vintage palette I think – dusty mauve & blues, with soft pinks, toasted caramels, and green.

✂️meanwhile, from design wall to finished quilt top

This is my limingtonquilt, a modern spin on a Trip Around the World quilt ...

✂️ a few progress pics of a new WiP. 

I need a bright, pretty quilt for a special little someone, so,

one scrappy pile of fabrics & and a few trial blocks later ...

✂️and a last bit of brightness for you this week

No plans for these fabrics. Yet ...

lots of little scraps, big possibilities

until next time, Linda

mix and match

Atticus, by Jennifer Jones @penelope handmade, is a mix and match quilt pattern. I've wanted to try out the mix and match step for a while, where the blocks are simple, with lots of repetition, and you use fat quarters to create a scrappy look that feels intentional rather than chaotic.

I didn't have a complete FQ bundle though, where everything works together and looks cohesive before the sewing even starts. Still, it's all ok. 

Fabric collection: my stash. I’m really a "print person" and a mix & match pattern gives me the creativity to pick my favourite fabrics and have them in a quilt.

As most of my stash comprises of leftovers & chopped up FQs these days, using each fabric three times in three different positions didn't always work either! So, if when I ran out of one fabric, I simply substituted with a similar value & colour.

 

I'm mostly using pinks & oranges with a sprinkling of blues and just a little rogue pop of black & pink floral, demure it is not! My constants are a light 4 square inner segment and those little Anna Maria "stamped" black centre squares.  

anyways, the BIG decision now was ... to sash or not to sash?

I went back & forth all week. 

Atticus-with-sashing gives just a little breathing room, but without

... it's colourful & extra patchworky✅

until next time, Linda

pink & orange

 pink and orange ... yes please!

pattern: Atticus quilt by Jennifer Jones @penelope handmade
fabrics: this is a mix & match pattern using a FQ bundle for the 18" blocks and strip piecing for an easy sew. Layout options are a personal choice, with light sashing & cornerstones this quilt reflects a more "modern" balance, without, it's got a very scrappy patchwork look. Actually, I think either way is really lovely, see last pic ↑.

a few progress notes: I have my accent fabric sorted. And I have enough of the light print for those inner centre segments and for sashings too if I decide to go that way.

However, most of my stash comprises of chopped up FQs these days, so I don't have any full FQ bundles of anything really to mix & match. BUT I did have a 10" Layer Cake - paisley rose fabrics by @cmanningsews - a very pretty collection. So, I'm going with a (homemade) bundle of colour curated around my layer cake, repeating a few fabrics where possible for a cohesive look. Luckily there were a few double ups in the layer cake, which was helpful!

And because strip piecing isn't an option for me this time, I'm happily stitching up square by square, one block at a time, cobbling together what I have here. Only 6 more blocks to go!

throwback Thursday

Sharing a quilty memory today.

We're zapping back to 2015 when I attended a quilt workshop with Kathy Doughty, 'Vintage Spin' an inspiring Modern Wedge workshop. 

The workshop was lots of fun, (see back here for a few class pics). Kathy had us lay out all our fabrics and then focus on looking for 'contrast' when choosing pairs of fabrics for our combos, be it floral/geometric, cool/warm, lights/darks, etc. 

My takeaway tips from the class were "Contrast is the key" ... and ... "the colour of a fabric is not really known until it is actually playing beside its neighbour!" 

Large prints, small prints, pastels, jewel colours, 'modern' fabrics, vintage, dark fabrics - it all went into my eclectic mix! Kathy also suggested to try & get a subtle colour connection in each of my pairs of fabrics for the individual blocks. 

A few of my fabrics had a little bit of black in them too, so I used that as my cue and opted for the black & white pin-dot for my centres & binding.

This quilt is still a real favourite of mine, I love all the movement between the blocks - thankyou spinning stripes! Those large prints do work, the mix of different hues work, the random fabrics from different projects totally works ... it may be perfectly imperfect but hey, that's the charm of using scraps. 

I shook my quilt out & clicked off a few fresh photos today, 

hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane with me ...

happy Thursday, Linda

state of play

I've continued with more colour play this weekend, making extra blocks for my limingtonquilt, a modern spin on Trip Around the World, TATW. I used a pattern from @seaminglykate.

Obviously, I still have three more blocks to go - see last pic - but I'm loving this mix of scrappy and set colours. I'm going with blue, green and purple prints, mainly mediums & darks, against a background of assorted "lights". My accent fabric Hindsight in piecework rose is by Anna Maria, super happy with the peachy-pink chain. Here's a few progress pics ...

... whoops-a-daisy, I've just spotted one teeny tiny block the wrong way round :( 

... luckily it was a quick fix✅

Another quilt top almost finished!

churn dash mash-up

amazing how a colour can change the look ...

- love a bit of gingham

- I added four 'trip around the world' blocks, because, why not? 

Digging into my fabric baskets to make endless combinations has been fun. My blocks do look a bit different to the *inspo U&U quilt - but I'm happy with this fresh contemporary vibe. 

Loving the mix of soft pinks & calming teals in delicate florals with the occasional splash of bright blue, plum and gold - all blending seamlessly in this churn dash mash-up.

For those curious, with my last eight blocks I started choosing the fabrics with even more intention, and I've repeated a few fabric combos for continuity. All my blocks are 10 1/2" unfinished, my sashings are 2" cut, and my borders 4" cut. After testing out & rejecting the broken grid idea (*see here for inspo quilt pic), I ended up arranging my blocks into simple rows. 

There was a fabric shortfall challenge when I finally settled on my sashing choice. I had wanted a consistent sashing - a calmer approach I thought - but it became clear very soon that the blue 'roman glass' Kaffe fabric wasn't going to go very far. So, I settled for a combo of similar blue fabrics. And then I added a wider top & bottom border in a pretty blue AM floral. 

I could stare at this wonderful collection of fabrics and colours for hours. A super scrappy quilt, it's beautiful ... in a quirky interesting way ... with just a little sense of order happening.