Friday, 15 September 2023

nine tulips, two stars and one finish!


Some quilts take a bit of time to find their way,
and this is definitely one of those.




Some time ago I began making these tulip blocks inspired by a quilt in Gwen Marston's book, Liberated String Quilts. It's another of my all-time favourite quilting books and includes many photos of old string quilts that are truly amazing!

These string pieced tulips are such a great way to use up some fabric snippets. I've used mainly Anna Maria Horner little leftovers for this, some of her earlier fabrics, with those (everso) useful neutrals as my backgrounds. 
After a little research, I decided if I was ever going to finish this, I needed to rethink my sashing & setting choices. (wink wink) Leave something long enough, and I was always bound to change my mind! If you are curious, see back here for my earlier idea. 
I wanted more colour, more warmth, more - everything really! But don't worry, I have plans that involve lots of those pinks & grey up next! 

Anyways, this is where I ended up. I've got two more tulips to make from crumb blocks, and then (hopefully) some slow sewing over the weekend to stitch down a few more of my needleturn appliqued tulips.



Quilts, intentions and the ticking of time ... oh my,
this quilt really has had too many fits of sewing planning bursts and lo-o-ong breaks!
 I do like where it's heading now.

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I made two more little 6" Ohio Star blocks for my scrappy star stitchalong.

12 different fabrics✅
Lots of geometrics✅.
Yay for pink! 


17 14 different fabrics✅ 


and a group photo of my blocks so far ...



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And here's a bright pop of colour as we head off into the weekend
- I have a finished quilt to share.














The #daylesfordquilt is the perfect one to let your imagination run wild with, it's a sort of "modern utility quilt" I guess. It's a large log cabin style quilt, with a mix of pieced blocks added in with the logs (You can find info for this pattern in Jen's book here at amitie textiles).

I love the play of colour in this quilt, especially the deep pink & teal combo. I hunted high & low in my sewing baskets for some of my most treasured fabrics for that mood I was looking for palette-wise. So, it's a real mix of fabrics, old & new, designer, florals & geometrics!


I chose a simple panto for the machine quilting by Cheryl at allthingsbernina, a leaf & vine pattern. The open quilting design, as well as a backing in Tula Pink sateen, results in quite a soft and cuddly quilt. 
And I opted for a Kaffe teal/blues stripe for my binding. It was a bit touch & go, I almost didn't have enough! I was getting all ready to send out an SOS to Maureen at mysticquilter for extra, but I did a bit of creative joining and made it thankfully.
The finished quilt measures 60" x 68".

Have a great weekend and happy sewing 
✂✄✂
Linda


8 comments:

audrey said...

Love how warm and vibrant your latest finish is! The colors are just fantastic. And of course your scrappy tulip blocks just make me sigh with pleasure. Makes me think I need to make another one myself.:)

Susan said...

Love, love, love the Daylesford quilt! If I lived closer I would be coming to steal it.....! Did you know that I used to live in Dayelsford. It was where I first taught in 1979! And now I find I only live less than an hour a way! There's enough reasons there to make my own, but alas, I have so little yardage that it would need some serious fabric purchases! And the prices have skyrocketed, so it will be a dream for the moment!

dutchcomfort said...

I love those tulips!! The ticking of time is something I can relate to! I'm often surprised to see how much time is gone while I think I was busy for half an hour or so ;-)

Mystic Quilter said...

So late sitting at the computer at almost 10.30pm tonight but what a joy to see your colourful post come through! Tulips - love them, got to make some in my future quilting. I do have the book and no end of small scraps so I think it's doable for me.
Stars are moving long beautifully, pleased you passed on the older style fabrics. On to Daylesford, gorgeous, so colourful and of course your central bird was an inspired idea. The quilting is beautifully loose, I like that and of course the binding - if you have sent me the sos I do have some.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I love your version of the Daylesford quilt. I seem to have a love for quilts with soft pinks and blues and I haven't made one yet.

Quilting Babcia said...

I love tulip quilts, and yours is destined to be a lovely finish. I really need to make one someday - strings and tulips, what could be better? And you know how much I love your Daylesford quilt since it was my inspiration for trying that concept. I think the light open quilting is perfect for this one.

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

Oh how I love your tulip quilt. Such a wonderful way to use up scraps. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

FlourishingPalms said...

I've seen that Gwen Marston book many times, though I've never owned a copy. Love the cheerful colors you're using in all your projects, particularly the tulips. Your scrappy Ohio Star blocks are great too. It's energizing to see happy colors and designs.