spots & dots

It's been a wet winter's weekend here. And I've spent  a whole weekend faffing around in the sewing room. I started out initially trying to sort & tidy up my baskets of spot fabrics. However, I got sidetracked quite quickly, as you do, with lots of 16 patch action happening. So here's a splash of Kaffe colour to brighten up your weekend too.

These blocks are a colour story I have not played with recently, inspired by pics in Kaffe's latest book {due out in August}. I've had super fun exploring scale & value with this selection of prints. Who knew I had this many spots & dots to play sew with in my stash! 

Loving this playful mix of spotty dotty fabric 

and, in no particular order, here's how far I got today. . . 

… still raining... still sewing

… Moroccan pork, chickpeas & Kūmara dinner cooking slowly in the oven. 

Could. Not. Be. Happier. 

Linda

seeing stars

Love a simple block, or two, on repeat! I finished making up all my star blocks this week. To see lots more {bolder & brighter} versions over on ig, click on the link here @momandpop quilt.

I started out with yardage of two muted colours for my 'sawtooth' stars, 'Lotus Leaf' an early Kaffe and a low volume Alison Glass in white. 

One of my other real joys of the quilting process is to create a bundle from my stash. It’s a great way to clean out some lonely fat quarters in your stash … with little voices whispering “pick meeeeee”.  

I sorted enough FQs to make up a pretty bundle of fabrics with a pastel, whispery vibe for my 'ohio' stars. After all the FQ fabrics were cut out, I had lots of fun mixing & matching them to get a super scrappy look.  

I'm usually a block by block maker, impatient to see how each finished block is going to look. However, with this last batch of blocks, I chain pieced the steps for ease & speed. Once all those little hourglass units were all trimmed up, the 'ohio' star progress happened quite quickly!

I love how my quilt ended up looking half scrappy / half solid {= potentially more cohesive overall}. The repetitive blocks are like 'anchors' and the mix&match adds a bit of spice!

Finished quilt top measures 45"x45" a nice toddler throw size. And the quilting will be very do-able on my own machine!

#friendlyfabricmonster {see more 👾 pics here}

Loving this cohesive and yet scraptastic mix 💖

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

and with Cyndy here for 'oh scrap'.

Until next time, Linda

diving right in...

Finishing one project & starting another 

- that’s what seems to happen around here. a. lot! 

I've downloaded the recent "mom & pop" quilt pattern from Joy @themakingsofjoy  Her pattern is delightfully written, and filled with quilt techniques and tips for different colourways and cohesive scrap beauties. This quilt has a real retro vibe about it and there are four design options in the one pattern, from using yardage to different scrappy versions. 

I'm making the 'cohesive mix & match' option for the most part. The mix&match process looks like a scrappy quilt, even though it’s made of FQs, but I am modifying it slightly.

I'm going for a whispery palette, starting with the pastel 'Lotus Leaf' print, an early Kaffe fabric. Then I grabbed more fat quarters from my stash to make up a pretty bundle of fabrics to go with the pastel vibe. Do you like making bundles from your stash too?

Diving right in today, 

hope you enjoy these in-progress photos too . . .

- love it when treasure gets saved from the scrap pile

like this early Kaffe 'Lotus Leaf'

- and a little mixing and matching

Yes 💕 I'm liking where this is going.

Linda

48 scrappy vintage-y log cabin blocks

48 scrappy vintage-y log cabin blocks = one scrappy vintage-y quilt!

and a 'behind the seams' pic . . .

 

As well as stitching down bindings this week, I've also spent a bit of time slowly stitching up more wonky log cabin blocks for the outer border of my latest quilt. These log cabin blocks are ones where the usual lines between the lights & darks get a little blurred, especially with the outer rounds of  'logs'. Just to keep things interesting! 

After rummaging through my scrap baskets, I ended up using a selection of busy prints, including quite a few fabrics from assorted Denyse Schmidt collections. They are such a great mix of different colours and prints, perfect to add to my scrappy vintage look. This has been a real trip down memory lane, with lots of scrap happy snippets of fabric from over the years, and {wink wink} I'm definitely a quilter who likes to use those florals! 

Finished quilt top measures 67" x 89" - I haven't made a quilt quite this big for a while! 

Super excited to have another quilt top finish this week. I like the way that it all came together and I'm looking forward to having it quilted up and gifting it. Linking up with Wendy for this weekends 'peacock party' here and with Cyndy for 'oh scrap' over here - pop on over to check out what else is going on in the quilting world!

Until next time, Linda

WiP's be gone!

First day of Winter... time for a few WiPs to get finished!

Like many, I've been working with scraps this year, raiding my scrap baskets first before shopping. And honestly this just reinforces my love of scrappy quilts. But it also creates a problem... making more quilt tops than I can keep up with.

Sometimes finishing a quilt around here is as easy as me doing simple straight-line quilting all over to ensure all the layers are stabilised. And of course some of my quilts are so busy with lots of prints all mixed in together that any 'special' quilting is lost so I've been happy pottering around with the easy quilting. Every now & then, I try some free motion quilting, but it hasn't gone well 😞

As I get older, too, I am finding getting down on the floor to pin baste is quite a mission! And the larger quilts are tricky to manoeuvre through the sewing machine. 

I do still enjoy hand quilting, and usually have at least one hand quilting project on the go. There's a lovely pleasure in slow stitching, but I like it a lot more when I have the time to do it.

So the quilting has been one of the best things for me to outsource. 

I've recently had three quilts quilted for me by Leeanne from quiltmekiwi. There is nothing better than getting a quilt back from the long arm quilter! I still feel very spoiled when one of my quilts turns up in the courier van all beautifully quilted, all that texture! 

And lately, I have put quite a bit more thought into the patterns I've chosen, here's a wee peep . . .

First up, my 'penny patch' quilt. It's a delightful quilt, with three sizes of “four-patch” blocks at play with each other here. I love how the two main colours of aqua/teal and soft tangerine orange bounce off one another, and that 'pop' of coral red colour made my binding decision very easy.

I had it machine quilted in an edge to edge {e2e} pattern, 'soho'.  The swirls seem to soften the edges of the four patches and create a little movement too.

For the backing I found an old piece of Denyse Schmidt floral in teal, which works well I think. 

Super happy to get this long standing WiP {almost} ticked off. Finished quilt measures 48" x 59".

'Bars & Strings' quilt is next in the finishing queue. Now this is going to be my most favourite finish so far this year, I can tell already! "Why" I hear you ask . . .

I love this combo of fabrics! There's lots of special bits & pieces like... one piece of Phillip Jacobs "delphinium" floral, two very early vintage Laura Ashley cottons I'd been hoarding over the years {a fortuitous find}, three deconstructed work shirts, four pretty Liberty's, and a bunch of pre-sorted soft blue & lavender prints (probably from some early quilty idea that never came to fruition!). Loved combining all these interesting textiles together.

I love the colours! It reminds me of a wild garden, spring flowers in blues & lavenders, running riot everywhere. 

I love the quilting! I had it quilted in another e2e pattern called 'ripples', long vertical flowing lines to echo the blue & white pinstripe columns. 

I love the backing! My girlfriend Glenys gave me a new vintage sheet, a pretty peachy/pink floral that was perfect for the backing. 

And, I love my binding choice! I initially thought this darker tone of lavender would 'frame' everything, but as I began stitching it on today, the idea of the little flowers determined to continue spilling over the edge made me smile and think "don't fence me in". 

Finished quilt measures 59" x 59".

And finally, my '9patch Remix' quilt, it's a modern version of the good old nine patch. I used lots of leftover geometric fabrics - a mash up of Carolyn Friedlander's fabric and Karen Lewis textiles - and teamed them up with a mix of Liberty and other prints. It's a winning geometric : floral combo!

I had it quilted in an e2e pattern, called 'bapist fan' - loving the contrast between the quilted vintage looking fan shapes and the more fresh geometric prints. 

I used a new vintage sheet for the backing on this one too. And the binding? Well this was a tad tricky, but I ended up choosing a dark floral that picks up the mustard tones in the quilt.

Finished quilt measures 54" x 62".

So if anyone needs me over the next few days,

 I'll be sitting in the last sunny spot on the deck, hand stitching these bindings down. 

Love to hear your thoughts about quilting too.

Until next time, Linda