Saturday sewing day

my prep for the sewing day...

... oh and this too
ha-ha courtesy of Vevo cafe Titirangi! 

four more new blocks done!

Our Monday Modern group got together today for a full-on sewing day. 

It's the first time I've gone to a sewing day and it was alot of fun! 

A few of us, me included, are in the middle of making the Moda Modern Building Blocks

- they all really do look so very different! 

Others of course were working on lots of other projects 

Carolyn was fmq, Melanie making a great tote bag,
Laurina was making blocks with cute kitty cat centres,
and Jacqui was busy piecing together a sweet Heather Ross quilt    

It was lovely taking a break now & then,
wandering around the room
 looking at all that productivity!
'Show & Tell' at the meeting next week will be a good one I'm sure! 

figure-it-out-as-you-go method

I'm making a liberated log cabin quilt at present, and actually, the 12 log cabin blocks came together quite quickly. The fun started when I came to put it all together. While I was sewing the blocks, I had in my mind that I would use the same fabric for the sashings and the borders, but I didn't have enough fabric! So then I looked at maybe not having top & bottom borders, but I didn't like that effect at all when I laid it out.

Although it was improv fabric play & quite random, I did want to finish this, and feel ok about the end result too of course. I was aiming for some sense of balance and, I figured I'd just know when to stop. But in truth, I was beginning to feel a bit out of my comfort zone here!
So, I went back to my inspirational source... Gwen Marston's 'Liberated Quiltmaking II' and 'Collarobrate Again' by Gwen & Freddy Moran. Both these books are full of ideas, there's certainly more than one way of doing most things, thank goodness!

In the end I opted for three borders - thanx to Julie here I remembered this great way of keeping that beige-y colour going. But that wasn't the end of it! The fabric I chose for two of the borders was a light check, which I thought I had enough of, but it was touch & go there for a moment, and I had to make a few joins. And then lining up the checks & lines was tricky too! Oh well I guess, in the words of Mike Hoskins {Seven Sharp} 'the magic takes time' ... and ain't that the truth! Oh and I do have enough red for the binding, I've just checked!

Linking up with WiP Wednesday here 

pop on over to see what others have been busy making. 

sewing with scraps

found this old beige fabric in my stash...perfect! 

I seem to have been working on lots of log cabin blocks {here}and using low volume fabrics lately {here}. This week I decided to combine the two, using inspiration from Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Quiltmaking II. Gwen gives lots of ideas for when making these liberated log cabins...and I've tried out quite a few! After a bit of experimentation, I found it easier if I went wonky in the center and then, as I progressed out, I tended to opt for longer strips to finish to off each block nicely. The idea is to add more strips to one side than the other, so your red 'squarish' center isn't, if you see what I mean? Each of my blocks is 13" x 13" ... it's just the way it turned out!

So I've been busy sewing these up during my spare time, it's a nice break from making the Moda Modern Building Blocks. I'm really trying to use fabric I have here at home at the moment, just using what appeals, and trying not to over-think it all. It does feel good keeping it simple, and working within this selective scrappy colour palette! I'm using up lots of neutral fabrics from my stash -white, creams, & grey- and adding in a bit of that beige for interest, oh and some red as an accent.

Linking up with 'oh scrap' over here 

- if you are like me & love scraps, check out what others are making too! 

building blocks {photo edition}

some certainly love taking center stage...

... while others are ok playing a more supportive role! 

another cute 6" block

just checking everyone is playing nicely together! 

Linking up with WiP Wednesday here

more moda "modern" {update}

these little 6" blocks are so cute! 

Well, I guess this project has now just been elevated... from the 'sew slowing' pile to a current WiP! Warning: these blocks are a bit addictive! There is a lot of cutting out, and yes, the large blocks - those 36"x 36" and the 30" x 30" ones - do take some time. However, I'm really enjoying all the piecing, the blocks are traditional but the asymmetry & bright colour play is such fun! I just love that solid green fabric - it's Moda Bella Solid in Leaf! As I sew, I've been thinking this is a great refresher for some of us, and a real skill builder for others. Linking up with WiP Wednesday later in the week.

a quilty slice of my weekend

I made a few more modern moda blocks at intervals over the weekend. I'm sticking vaguely to the pattern's colour scheme, but adding in a few florals as well as I don't want that totally all-solid look of the original. I just love AMH's vintage-y looking florals, the colours seem bright but blend ok so far. I must admit too, the larger blocks do look a bit out of proportion to me, but I guess it'll all work out in the end! You can lots of other progress in our Monday Modern flicka pool here

 .. a little yellow goes a long way! 

And in the cool of the evening I shifted from the bold brights of those blocks to something a bit calmer. I layered up my strippy neutral quilt, it's all pinned up & ready for some DIY quilting now. I selected a few larger pieces from my stash for the backing that were similar colours & pieced them together, I do love a randomly pieced back, do you? And then I basted some larger sections of leftover batting together too. I like to hand baste my batting, always have, but as I crawled around the floor I did remember a post I saw sometime ago, someone - sorry can't remember who now - had spent a very productive sewing session machine zigzag stitching long pieces of batting together, all ready for the next few quilts! {note to self ... I must do that too, soon!}

Hope you have all had a great weekend ... 

... and a small slice of sewing time too! 

remember alice?

  A little parcel came from Westwood Acres Fabrics in the post today.

     Lovely Liberties... such a delightful selection!

                       

do you remember alice, and the mad hatter...

... the queen of hearts, the white rabbit...

... the crazy tea party...

                                            

                                  

                                           ...and all that topsy-turvy world of wonderland!

Just delightful!
Linking up with Sunday Stash over at Molli Sparkles here

up on the design wall

Firstly, many thanx for all the suggestions regarding my AMH quilt last week. I really want to extend the size so I am going to make 10 more blocks! But I'd run out of the fabric I was using for the 4" squares, (grr-rr-r-r-r!). I've ordered more and am now waiting patiently for the post!
So what is up on my design wall this week?

beige adj. pale brown

I came across another WiP that I've had sitting around for some time, and it's one project that really should have been on my FAL list actually! Never mind.
The basic pattern is from the popular Sunday Morning Quilts book. I started out just using low volume scraps that were leftovers from other projects, too large to throw into the scrap basket, too small to fold nicely and put back on the shelf. The actual sewing was the easy part, but I do remember the cutting out took some time, plus I spent some time deciding just how low to go with the low volumes! And, I also remember really agonizing about throwing in just a little bit of 'beige' to add some interest!
Relooking at it today as I sew more blocks, I'm very ok with those 'pops' of beige, and those other little 'pops' of colour too! I just want to get a few of my WiP's finished... whether they are on "the list" or not!

I'm also spending some time this week catching up with making a few more blocks for the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt - I will show you next time! Our Monday Modern group is steadily working thru' the blocks all together, and you can see lots of their progress in our flicka pool here. Linking up with 'Oh Scrap' here and WiP Wednesday here. Pop on over to see what everyone else has been working on this week!

a bit more #26

Yesterday I picked up a book I'd ordered from the library - 

Thomas Knauer's Modern Quilt Perspectives: 12 Patterns for Meaningful Quilts. 

Wonderful read! Many thanx to Claire here for recommending it! 

timeless

I first saw this layout in one of my earliest Kaffe Fassett books, and I have always loved it! It was a lovely old vintage Handkerchief quilt, made in lively primary colours, no borders, timeless! Since then I've seen different fabrics used in different settings for these quarter log cabin blocks. For my version, I've mainly used Anna Maria Horner fabric - leftover scraps of her different prints, from the last few years & last few fabric collections, I kinda feel her fabrics have some of that timeless appeal too! {teal social climber is a classic example here!}
12 1/2" blocks, set 4 x 5.
Similar width strips added to each side of the 4 1/2" corner squares.
I tried to use a wide strip for the final strips each time to allow for squaring up, but this didn't always work out! And I discovered that I needed to control the scrappiness by alternating the warm /cool colours {see last post for more about that!}
To extend the quilt size I did wonder about adding borders, but am still v.undecided. What do you think... borders or no borders?