a calm combo

I love a fabric pull . . . full of promises, yes? I usually go for all-out colour, but I felt like a bit of a change this week. I rummaged through my scrappy low volume stashbaskets and paired them up with a few different mustards . . . and . . . tada . . . this is my 'calm' combination. 

Inspired by my new book, wabi sabi sewing by Karen Lewis, I'm making a wee start on a few log cabin blocks, low key in colour, using mis-matched yet treasured scraps. I'll keep going with making more of these 12" blocks over the weekend, as I want to make it at least lap size. It's lots of simple sewing, and so relaxing to piece together.

Linking up with Kelly here at myquiltinfatuation for 'needle and thread Thursday' and with Wendy for this weekend's 'peacock party' over here at wendysquiltsandmore

and, you may remember, Susan from patchworknplay and I did a little fabric swop recently
- my blues for her greens
A lovely assortment of 'greens' arrived yesterday . . .

Until next time, Linda

another colour explosion!

A few progress photos first . . .

And here's my completed 'bohemian on point' quilt top. I've used a scrappy selection of both Anna Maria Horner and Outback Wife fabrics, and repeated a few fabrics too. Some blocks merge, some are busy, others not so, and some blow hot & cold, while others are a definite light/dark combo.

I had some self doubt moments about halfway through, but then a few sweet quilty friends gave me some +ve feedback {thank you} and I continued to the end. My finished top measures approx. 54" x 68", without borders.

It's an explosion of colour that's for sure . . .

. . .  but it does make me smile!
More pics over here on my instagram feed.

Linking up this weekend for another 'peacock party' over at Wendys
and over here at alyciaquilts for 'finished {or not} Friday'

bohemian on point {update}

I've made some progress on my "bohemian on point' quilt this week. The actual piecing of the sections is easy, what's taking the time is making all the fabric choices.
Most of my fabrics are fairly busy, but I wanted to create blocks with contrast, accenting the florals and I wanted, of course, to use as many fabrics as I could. So I've ended up with an eclectic mix of Anna Maria Horner with Outback Wife fabrics, all from the stash baskets which makes me so happy. I'm a little obsessed with scrappy makes at the present.

Here's a few progress photos . . .

- lots of individual sections

And here's how my design wall was looking yesterday . . .

I was able to complete a few more sections today . . .

and I've moved down onto the 'design floor' now, have a peep  . . .

Just a few more sections to complete, then some reshuffling to get things looking balanced

but I'm excited with how it's going so far. 

Linking up this week with Em for 'moving it forward' here

and with Beth for 'main crush Mondays' here

and over here too for 'monday Making'

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