from my bookshelf

The March prompt for AHIQ is to share a favourite source of inspiration, {see the link on my R) hand sidebar} and I thought I'd share here too.

So yes, one of my main inspirations for quilting has always been books. And one of my earliest loved books was "Scrap Quilts" by Judy Martin. My copy is well thumbed and has been a great resource for block patterns and scrappy quilt ideas over the years. 

- I just love this bear's paw variation, yet to make my own version!

Like many, another favourite is Roderick Kiracofe's "Unconventional & Unexpected" book. While I find improv challenging, I never fail to be surprised by these extraordinary quilts made by US quilters during the last half of the 20th century.  The quilts are quirky, improvisational, and sometimes not perfectly made, but such a visual delight!

"The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters" by Sherri Lynn Wood is another book I have spent many hours reading. It explores quilt making in a fun way, breaking free of the old rules, and encouraging unique improvisation. Just need to switch on my improv button & live courageously ...

And another book on my shelf is "Sunday Morning Quilts" by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. This is a book that altered how I see my "style" and gave me permission I guess, to use every last bit of my treasured stash!  My Sunday mornings got a whole lot busier once I started down this road that's for sure! 

Lately though, rather than buying, I have been ordering quilting books from the library, like "Cultural Fusion Quilts" by Sujata Shah. It's "a melting pot of piecing traditions" full of bold & vibrant quilts... I think I've had this book out at least 3 times, I probably should have bought my own copy by now, I think! 

Surfing social media provides even more inspiration!

I love all that sharing ❤️ on quilt blogs & Instagram,

it makes me want to start new projects faster than I can finish them

- but I'll always have a soft spot for books!

And how about you, what inspires you most for quilt making?

a mixed bunch of pics

Yes, we are back home now. We had a great holiday in Australia, 12 days in Brisbane & Mooloolaba Beach. Temperatures 28°- 32°! It was so lovely to spend lots of time with our son & DinL #didn’twanttoleave! 

And now onto the quilty pics... This weekend, after catching up with holiday washing, I managed to get my strippy triangles quilt top all together! Super happy with this whispery pale palette. 

Finished quilt top measures 62" x 56". Next decision- to border or not to border? 

And I may have had a few fabrics jump into my shopping cart a week or so ago, and they arrived today. 

These Kaffe 'shiraz' stripes will be very useful I'm sure. 

I had a few books here to read this month, but only managed to read one ... The Tilt by Chris Hammer. I've been having a run of Australian fiction and loving all of them! Things here "down under" may seem the same and yet they are not... we do share the same language, but there are many unfamiliar words, and they seem to live outdoors so much more, because of course the country is huge, with wild and unpopulated areas. 

This is a super small-town novel, with a complex mystery which takes you through time to solve a decades old murder - with multiple narratives and timelines that leave you trying to work out how everything ties up...  and it was just utterly immersive!

Love to hear your comments if you've read any of the others.

Until next time, Linda

strippy triangles quilt: on the design floor

After nearly three weeks of randomly working on these triangle strips, I think I finally have enough HSTs to start stitching it all together ... but it will all have to wait now! 

Super excited, we are off to Australia for a long overdue holiday to see my son & his wife IRL after five - oh my, yes five - years! 

And I'll be very happy to soak up some of that Auzzie 🌞 sunshine too. What with cyclone Gabrielle, and the all the severe flooding, slips, power outages and horrific trail of destruction & loss for many around the North Island, it's been a real bummer summer miserable summer here!  

Back in a couple of weeks, Linda

a mashup of florals

No sewing happening around here, so I thought I'd share a few pics of one of my favourite quilts today. 

This is my 1/4 Log cabin quilt made back in August 2015

- it's a lovely mashup of floral fabrics mainly from my AMH baskets!

I really love the simplicity of this block and the beauty of the fabrics, super happy they all ended up mixing together so well. It sure to brings out the sunshine in the spare bedroom! 

And I also love how the warm / cool contrast ensures the eye moves around the quilt, searching for those special little fabric gems. 

You’ll find an eclectic mix of makes here on the blog, variety brings me joy. I can't keep all the quilts I make, so many have been gifted, some donated. 

But there are still some, like this one, that I have kept here over the years, why? As a fabric lover I find some quilts are just too hard to part with, the special ones, made from a real mix of fabrics from years of hoarding collecting, and they make me smile. 

Hope you enjoyed this little floral trip down memory lane. 

Have a great weekend, Linda.

HSTs everywhere

Over the past week, in between things, I've been sewing lots of HSTs. Last year Cathy L. Wanda and Julie all shared their versions of a vintage quilt and each time I spotted their respective progress I was tempted to make this quilt too. 

I started out with a pastel mix of curated fabrics {from These Clever Hands} and am adding in other whispery, (mainly)pale fabrics as I find them in my stash.  

When I have enough of any one fabric, I'm using the 8-at-a-time method, otherwise I'm making individual HSTs from my scrappy stash. I'm sewing them together into strips of five, and then into bigger blocks. Here's how things are looking so far up on the design wall ...

- stash finds

- vintage inspiration quilt

Linking up my new start with Kelly here at myquiltinfatuation for NTT

and this weekend with Wendy's 'peacock party' here

Until next time, Linda

summertime vibe

My 'Origins' quilt ended up neither shy nor retiring {wink wink}. However, I am super happy that it is 100% pulled from my stash baskets. These fat quarters have come from fabrics that have been sitting on my shelf just waiting to be made into something, anything really, so it does feel good to finally be using use them! 

And the pattern from @liftinglimitsquilting is a really fun one to play with!

Going rogue (again) with mixing colour & pattern, and mainly thinking of a summertime vibe! Lots of pastels in purple & pink, soft white, blues, and green. I'm mixing up my fabrics too, mainly AMH, Kaffes, and a few Jennifer Paganelli fabrics. 

*Update: I left my layout down on the 'design floor' for a day or so... just to be sure... to be sure... as I 
wasn't happy with that lone dark plum/cranberry block in there.
Anyways, last weekend I tweaked things just a little by swopping in a blending block and then joined everything up together. And I'm super happy with it now! 

Linking up with Kelly for NNT here @myquiltinfatuation

and with Wendy for this weekends 'peacock party' here

and over here with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' 

Until next time, Linda

pink & green

A pink and green quilt ... as in ... just pinks and greens? 

no, no I just don't think I can do it!

I've always struggled with any pink & green combo, sorta too shabby chic maybe?

 So, I went back to my stash and rummaged around to find a few other colours to possibly mix in.

Ah, this is looking much better ...

I've decided to make the 'origins' quilt, it seems like a great stash buster to use up some of my fat quarters. This quilt has so many different looks based on your fabric pull and many are going for the cohesive pretty FQ bundle look, see here.

As you can probably guess, I'm using fabric from my stash for this one. It's a big 15 1/2" block quilt, where you shuffle your fabrics around into groups of 3 and then strip piece 3 different blocks from each bundle. Sew simple, sew fun!

We will see if it ends up looking anything like what I see in my mind.

Pop back soon to see, Linda

a whole lotta one patch action

Improv vibe ✅

Scrappy ✅

Maths sorted ✅

A Sunday afternoon's “I need to make something NOW” improv session all started with a quilt idea from missmake and a FQ bundle of Unruly Nature by @jenhewett. 

I tossed up initially about maybe going for more of a checkerboard effect, alternating my prints with low volumes - but decided to go rogue and randomly place my fabrics! 

I began making up 16-patch blocks, adding in a few blending fabrics and a few strategically placed smaller 36-patch blocks to bump up the scrappy improv vibe. After a couple of days, it started to look a whole lot more exciting ...

Oh, and just before I finish... thanks for all the feedback & +ve encouragement regarding my last post about my GT&SB quilt. I'm now joining up all the sections and it's looking super too - I’ll save the glamour shots until it's quilted!

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

Until next time, Linda