a little ric-rac fun

Pieces of pretty patterned ric-rac trims arrived last week

and I decided I'd make a "Tickety-Boo" quilt! 

and here's how my design wall is looking so far …

It’s a happy fabric fest of pretty prints & spots, and I'm super happy with how the bits of ric-rac trim give that little extra pop of colour. If my post today has got you curious … pop on over to bluemountaindaisy where you can find pattern details & lots more photos. Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

Off now to find more spots! Linda

*It looks like blogger has changed something...again... and many are unable to leave comments. Like Julie @ meandmyquilts, I too have tried several times to "log in" (despite already being logged into Blogger/Google) to try & leave a comment but without success. And likewise, I don't seem to be getting many comments here, c'est la vie.

weaving a melody

Dreaming up a quilt colour palette can be a bit intimidating. I've spent the past couple of days second guessing things with my pas de deux BOM. It's scrappy sampler quilt, with lots of choices, and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

Rachel's colourful rainbow quilt was made with the idea that each patchwork group was a separate and distinct entity.  But my version was feeling too disjointed to me, I had imagined that my ensembles would all naturally harmonize and that the edges between them would blend a little into each other.

I began wondering … what if colour was used to unify elements, rather than create distinction. And so today I decided to narrow down my palette, and redo my 'postage stamps' section, I know, I know!  

Rachel {from stitched in color} calls it "weaving a melody" throughout the whole quilt. This takes a bit 
of planning and the willingness to adjust/remake blocks as needed. Quite a challenge!
But I'm super happy that I took the time to change my large block, it's still scrap friendly but things are all flowing nicely between the blocks now and it looks much more balanced.

Next on the agenda is finishing my 'evening stars'. 

Linda

pas de deux: April update

I've made a start this weekend on April's ensemble for the Pas de Deux BOM,

the 'Evening Star' blocks …

And I had a little dance of light & dark blues with my 'Pinwheel Star' and 'Checkers' blocks …

And finally, a close-up group photo of my blocks so far . . .

So fun to see the interplay between the sections of this.

Linking up my BOM progress with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

Until next time, Linda

broken dishes

Another quilt crossed off my list of projects to finish. This 'broken dishes' quilt was started way back in March 2017, inspired by a post I spotted from Simple Simon and Company. I used a selection of Outback Wife fabrics along with some Karen Lewis fabrics and a few ginghams. 

It was easy enough to make... the larger blocks and the random placing of fabric combinations not only shows off the fabric, but gives the quilt a fresh look. I really love this quilt, no idea why I left it so long to get it finished!

Each of the Broken Dishes blocks ended up  9″x 9″ and I made 21 of them. Then I added 4 more 9″x 9″ “blocks” that were just solid pieces of gorgeous Outback Wife fabric, to add some variety to the quilt. And finally, I added a wide border of the leftover floral barkcloth fabrics. 

For the backing I used "Patches" - it's not a denim but it sure looks like my well loved well worn jeans! And I had it quilted by Leeanne from quiltmekiwi. I chose a simple edge-to-edge meander. I then used the leftovers from the backing as my binding too. Finished size: 53" x 53". 

Enjoy the photos.

- close up of fabric selections

Until next time, Linda

emptying the ufo cupboard

I have a few projects on the go at the moment that I’m jumping back & forth between just to keep them all moving forward, and it’s time to get this project out of the cupboard and give it a little attention.
I am making a fun 'scrappy triangles' quilt. I love using old patterns or blocks mixed with new fabrics, it's like breathing new life into an old favourite!

I started making my HST blocks back in March 2021, it's a quilt from the Heritage Series collection - vintage quilt patterns by Penelope Handmade {see here on ig for other versions}. 

Beginning with a curated bundle of pretty wildflowers, I then added other prints & solids from my stash. I've kept to a limited palette in this scrappy quilt, where the focus is a little play with the gentle variations in value.

Isn’t this AGF vase print cute? The vases are a nice, small-medium scale with fun directionality. Normally, I don't really pay too much attention to how my fabrics are placed within my quilt, and so I decided to simply embrace the randomness, letting these vases fall as they may. How do you feel about using directional fabrics? 

And we're done!

I do like this quilt, a very simple pattern that lets the fabric do the heavy lifting.

And it's progressed into the "to be quilted" pile now!

Linda