countdown to Christmas

a little last-minute sewing as we countdown to Christmas

🔔🎶🔔🎶🔔

- closeup of binding fabric

and my positivities & *pas de deux quilts together ...

A couple of years ago I made Rachel's 'pas de deux' quilt, a modern BOM sampler, see above *pic. And as many of you know, I joined in with the 'positivities' sew-a-long this year, another similar modern quilt designed by Rachel @stitchedincolor. I love how Rachel creates these sampler quilts with so much negative space. It allows the blocks to flow and our individual colour choices tie the whole thing together. 

Yesterday I spent a very pleasant couple of hours out on the deck sewing the binding down on my 'positivities' quilt. 

Quilt stats:

Fabrics: I opted to use a constant soft minty-green solid as my background and I used a selection of scraps from my stash. 
Backing: it was a great way to use up some mixed size, leftover vintage sheet pieces.
Quilting: simply quilted in edge-to-edge straight lines by Leeanne @quiltmekiwi who by now knows my taste so well!
Binding: After some indecision, I chose 'visitation' from the Bright Eyes collection by AMH. The soft purple with its large-scale floral design breaks up nicely along the narrow segments of the binding. And I love how those intermittent floral clusters seem to draw out the warm colours in the quilt.
Finished quilt measurements: 63" x 76". 

10th quilt finish for 2024.

🎄🎅🎄🤶🎄

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season with family and friends.

Taking a break from posting now, see you next year!

Linda

party in the quilt back

Most of the time I really prefer piecing to quilting…just want to make tops forever! But a month or so ago, I pulled out a few recently finished quilt tops and began working on backings. 

I tend to make my backing decisions after my quilt top is finished. And this year my focus has been on using up mainly what I have here on hand really ... any larger pieces neglected in my stash, a group of leftover fabrics or blocks from the front, maybe a vintage sheet or two.

I love a scrappy look, and I'm finding that the back of a quilt is the perfect way to use up more scraps & leftovers and perhaps add an extra little surprise. 

It took me a few days to sort my backings out and then I sent everything off to Leeanne from quiltmekiwi for some quilting goodness. My quilts have come back home now, and they all have that 'party in the quilt back' vibe happening. 

*Warning: photo overload!

'checkered garden #2' - the flower power version!

Backing: I pulled out a small log cabin quilt top (see back here) in pink, brown & green leftovers, and then just started building around the log cabin center with my chunky strips to bring it up to size. Hm-m-m - this one has a real two-sided appeal thingy happening!

and a few other details about the quilt front:
Fabrics: Definitely channeling my vintage granny chic with modern twist vibe here! I selected blending florals in light - medium values from my stash, in a variety of old & new prints, in peachy pinks, rosy pinks, primrose yellow, green, & teal/aqua. Add in a little contrast from the darker teals & bright pink, et voilà!

Quilting: edge-to-edge 'coneflower' panto, a favourite of mine at present!

'Margorie' 

Backing: I used two vintage sheet strips and inserted three leftover blocks. I think the back complements the front of the quilt nicely with those extra blocks tucked in there. Best of all, it's a little surprise when the quilt is turned over!

and a few other details about the quilt front:

Quilt pattern: #Marjoriequilt by Penelope Handmade

Fabric: various pink/peach/lilac/blues from my stash.

Quilting: My 'Margorie' quilt is finished with 'peeling good' quilting. 

This is my 'Positivities' quilt

It's certainly a happy day when you make good progress on a yearlong project. 

 

Backing: a great way to use up some mixed size, leftover vintage sheet pieces. 

and a few other details about the quilt front:

I joined in with the sew-a-long this year with Rachel of @stitchedincolor.  

Fabrics: I opted to use a constant soft minty-green solid as my background and I used a selection of scraps from my stash. I appreciate how Rachel creates these sampler quilts with so much negative space. It allows the blocks to flow and our individual colour choices tie the whole thing together.

Quilting: simply quilted in edge-to-edge straight lines by Leeanne who by now knows my taste so well!

And finally, 'Le Moyne Star

Backing: I had one leftover block, so I used that as my starting point. Next, I added a pink & orange mishmash from my stash, strips & chunks set in an improv log cabin style until it all came up to size. 

and a few other quilt front details:

Fabrics: It was fun making these fussy cut blocks. I decided the Anna Maria Horner peach/pink 'Cathedral' print would be my unifying element, and I used it for the sashing & borders. I also repeated a couple of other fabrics in different colourways, to help with a calmer & more cohesive look. 

Quilting: edge-to-edge 'coneflower' panto, it works so well with all those AMH fabrics!

A little pile of happiness💕

Thank you, Leeanne for quilting my quilt tops and turning them into quilts, they have come up a treat.

If anyone needs me, I'll be busy binding! 

Linking up my "finishes" with Michelle here 

I'm curious, what’s your take on making pieced backings? hate them or love them?

Linda

checkered rose

These blocks began as a bit of a side project to use up my somewhat limited stash of solids. Yes, it's another 'checkered garden' quilt. I know the pattern (from Ashley @ filminthefridge) so well now that I figured I could really focus on getting a nice flow happening with my colours. 

I'm playing with multiple pretty soft colours from my stash and adding in a mix of shadowy greys for the background corners.  Oh, and despite starting out thinking this would be an all-solids project, I ended up slipping in some prints along the way. 

Super happy with the contrast of the pretty shades against the grey tones, have a peek at my 'checkered rose' quilt top so far ... 

9 blocks done, 7 more to go

Until next time, Linda

summer strings project

I've been slowly adding to my string blocks this week, loving these small simple 8" blocks.

A string quilt is such a simple sew and is often made from a scrappy dive into your scraps, using a mix of leftovers from bindings, offcut strips, and those trimmings from the edges of larger pieces of fabric.

This time though, I'm mainly using larger fabric pieces from my stash rather than just from my scrappy strips & strings basket. I want it to feel scrappy without using scraps and I had a particular colour combo I was bursting to try.

Here's a few progress photos ...

And for those curious, here's a few details of my colour story ... 

I'm going for a mixed palette in peach/caramel/purples/blue, repeating many fabrics.

I decided to use a peach print as my center strip in each block, hopefully it will connect everything up and give the eye a place to rest on my busy blocks. 

My strips will be inconsistent widths throughout, to give that organic look. 

And I'm aiming for wonky diamond centers in soft mauves. 

With this latest batch, I've also added a few 'lighter' blocks into the mix, and it's all looking so good. 

 

Oh, and for a change, I'm using tissue paper squares as my foundation, but - and here's a tip from then came June - I'm only sewing through the paper once. I sew that first seam through the fabric and paper, then fold the paper back out of the way. Finish one half then flip and sew the oppersite side. 

Once both sides of the block are sewn, I'm trimming to size using the paper square for guidance, then ripping out the paper. Easy peasy! 

Here's how my design wall is looking now ...

This one is growing fast, I've made 22 blocks now

(for the moment, ignore the trial HST blocks on the right!)

… I was thinking I'd make it at least up to a cute cuddle quilt size, but then there was slight hiccough in the production line - I've run out of my peach center strip fabric :(

I'm so used to sewing scrappy, like if I run out of one fabric, I simply substitute with another! Always a risk when one starts out not having a clear picture in mind of the finished size & checking if supplies will stretch 🤣 Hopefully it doesn't take too long for more fabric to arrive. 

Happy weekending wherever you are,

Linda

show & tell on the peninsula

Time to see what Glenys has been sewing ... for the past few weeks she's been joining her positivities BOM together. Yesterday she popped around with her quilt top all finished - yayeee - and I took a few photos. 

 and a couple of closeup progress pics ...

It's been fun working on the same project together, inspiring each other along each month.

Must admit, it was quite a challenge & a skill builder, but we are both happy with how our quilts turned out. 

So lovely seeing everyone's different versions too, check out the link here.

a week of everything but sewing

It's been a busy week around here. Yes, there was some reading, but more importantly, there was some serious pruning in the garden (no photos but imagine Mr D with chainsaw and me with secateurs), and a lovely long lunch out, and delightful afterschool pickups, and (ongoing) experimental culinary endeavours here at home. 

It all slowed down my sewing somewhat. But there's always tomorrow ...

Carolyn Forster's book 'string quilts' arrived from the library at The. Perfect. Moment! I'd been tossing up whether to finish another EPP 'rosemary block' , piece a scrappy backing, or start something new. 

Thursday night, I ventured into the sewing room and guess what I ended up doing! 

Carolyn's book is a delightful read, full of sustainable ideas to use up those fabric scraps. 

I also spent some time faffing around, flicking back to Emily's post here @quilty love and downloading a free tutorial from then came June & @naomialicec (brilliant use of colour) for further ideas. 

Sew, research all over, 

I made up a few trial blocks in a particular colour combo I was bursting to try. ...

These string blocks are really brightening up my design wall - such a yummy mix of colour & pattern! 

I think I may have just found a summer strings project!

********

And here's what I've been reading lately, have you read any of these too?

My favourite read for October was "All the Colours of the Dark" by Chris Whittaker. This book was epic. It's about a love and friendship taking place over 25+ years from 1976 to 2001. In it, we follow the lives of Saint and Patch as they navigate from their early teenage years into adulthood, living in a small town rocked by a horrible serial kidnapper. The writing is beautiful, the storyline emotionally compelling.

This book follows his earlier novel "We Begin at the End" also an excellent read.

Historical fiction isn't my usual, but I found Jodi Picoult's latest, "By Any Other Name' an interesting read. And such a super cover!

The novel is split between the 16th/17th Centuries and the present, and depicts a story where Emilia Bassano is a ghostwriter for William Shakespeare. The other timeline is set in the present day where playwright Melina Green is having trouble getting her plays produced. When Melina’s play is submitted under a different name things begin to heat up.

Jodi Picoult always seems to find diverse topics to write about. While I enjoyed Emilia & Melina’s stories of courage & bravery, I was not familiar with the idea that Shakespeare was possibly not the author of his works, so I found this book quite eye-opening. 

Talking magpies? I was very dubious when my daughter suggested this book to me. This was so good. Tama, our magpie guide, is an astute observer, mimic and mischief maker and I loved him from the very first page! The novel is set in Central Otago, NZ where Marnie & Rob live on a struggling sheep farm. 

It's beautifully written and at times I laughed out loud. At other times, I felt for Marnie and all the pressures and isolation of farming life.

and now it's November, only 57 sleeps until Christmas🎄

Linda