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