plan B

Things don't always run smoothly in the sewing room! 

Sometimes while making a quilt there comes a point where I begin to 2nd guess things, and this project was one of those times. I used Economy Stars Parade pattern by Rachel @stitchedincolor as my starting point and spent a bit of time trying to work out a nice (smaller) version. It seemed like a good plan, you know, simple piecing & quick to put together, until I came back to it the next morning. 

Time for plan B. I still want some connection to the original pattern - a fun mix of scrappy square-in-a-square blocks with star blocks - so I'm trying a different layout now.  

 

This is all looking a bit more exciting now!

So, yes, it is going to be a bit bigger than I first thought and yes, it will take a bit longer to put together 

- but I’ll be much happier and that’s what it’s all about, yes?

I'm linking up today's post with my two favourite linky parties, see R) side bar.

who doesn't love economy blocks?

This square in a square/economy block WiP is one of my favourites at the moment. I think I’ve got it all covered - large prints, small prints, spots, stripes & a little black & white!

Economy Stars Parade pattern by Rachel @stitchedincolor is a unique twist on a classic! I'm using her pattern as my starting point, but as I don't want a really huge quilt, I'm faffing around with different settings.
I'm fixed on keeping some sort of secondary star pattern happening and where possible using a focus fabric for my center squares. 

Loving this blue & lavender combo.

Linda

diamonds in scrappy

Taking a little break from binding and began piecing my scrappy diamonds together today. Fabric is always a good starting point for me. I've been hoarding collecting Anna Maria's fabrics for some time, the colours are mainly rich & saturated, and the patterns are playful & pretty.

As many of you know by now, my default is colour. Love using large multi-coloured florals but sewing scrappy with prints like these can be off putting for some. I've used a mix of collections from both old and new AM fabrics. I've combined a selection of *neutrals from Anna Maria too, teamed up with the jewel tones, they create a nice cloudy softening. 

A *neutral/low volume fabric to me is a print/design on a white/light background but as you can see (wink wink) my version of low volume for this one is in fact quite colourful, and the boundaries occasionally merge just a little! 

Enjoy the photos ...

- possible binding option

It's a small cuddle quilt size.

I'm now at the batting, backing, basting & "quilt as desired" stage. 

Until next time, Linda

boardwalk bluebirds & binding

One last push to get this Boardwalk quilt finished. 

a few Boardwalk quilt details:

The challenge a scrappy quilt poses intrigues me constantly. Love this eclectic collection of colour, all prints (except the B & W Kaffe spot) from my scrap & stash baskets. These big 14 1/2" blocks were super fun to make, lots of favourite fabrics, bright colours, and memories. 

My backing is Bluebird in ivory by Heather Ross. Super happy with the contrast between the calm vibe of the back and the chaotic scrappy quilt front.

 

And the quilting? well, this quilt was the perfect example of why I sometimes send a quilt out for LAQ - I really really loved the idea of hand quilting it, but felt it would be like a slow-motion labour of love, one which I might or might not be happy with the end result? And would I EVER, in all reality, reach the end? Instead, I sent it out to Leeanne quiltmekiwi for an E2E quilting panto called coneflower. 

For the binding, I went with an early print by Denyse Schmitd, a two-colour plaid and I think the black lines on the plaid link up nicely with that B&W spot sashing. Oh, and it works well with the bluebird backing too!

My quilt measures 62" x 62".

Boardwalk pattern from Emma @treehouse textiles

I'm linking up today's post with my two favourite linky parties, see R) side bar.

bound to happen

I love the process of making quilt tops.

finishing quilts not so much!

And so yes, I guess it was bound to happen ... sooner or later ...

I finally sent out a few quilts for quilting, the "treat yourself" option, and they came back home today.

 

vintage diamonds quilt

boardwalk quilt & backing

two little scrappy cuddle quilts -

16patch & sawtooth star

 star hollow & 9patch

folk sampler quilt & another quilt used for backing  

Machine quilting all by Leeanne @ quiltmekiwi

She’s been quilting for me for years & I am always so happy with her work, see her latest post here.

And now I'm on a binding binge.

I'm linking up today's post with my two favourite linky parties, see R) side bar.

 Linda

scrappy diamonds

This latest WiP on the design wall is everything I love about a quilt, it's bright, it's happy, and I love that I am constantly dipping into my stash, very satisfying. I'm using a lot of different AM Parry fabrics that I've collected over the past few years - leftovers, favourites, and not-so-favourites. Sorting them by - you guessed it - colour value to create a scrappy quilt with structure.

The most versatile block - it would have to be the HST surely? I'm using a pattern that I've wanted to try out for ages now, it's a free one #outbackvaluequilt by Blair @wisecrafthandmade.
I noted that the pattern is constructed row by row, but I'm piecing these a block at a time. I’ve always enjoyed the rhythm of making repeat blocks. Then, if I spot a colour or fabric that is working really well, I’ll cut a few more. And if a fabric doesn’t seem to be working, I don’t already have a gazillion units cut.

My default is mad, multi-coloured large florals. So, I'm using these bright prints and mixing them up with lighter, 'not quite' low volume prints, inviting one to take a 2nd look.
I'm now about 1/2 way, and I'm starting to repeat combos that I really like, so there will be some semblance of continuity within the pattern. I'm also planning on sprinkling in a few more "blues" as blue has always been my go-to colour.

 

I'm linking up today's post with my two favourite linky parties, see R) side bar.

Until next time, Linda

a colourful weekend

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment on my layout decision for this 'corn & beans' quilt project. I went with the 2nd option and added borders to make it rectangular. It's a riot of colour, all from my stash. A real chance to showcase lots of vibrant fabrics, with another opportunity to do the same in the borders.

I think I like colour. A. Lot

I'm linking up today's post with my two favourite linky parties, see R) side bar.

Linda 💜

corn & beans

These corn & beans blocks are made from HSTs,

using stashbasket fabrics in a combo of coloured scraps & light scraps.

Exploring a few setting options this week, which I figured many of you would like to see too ...

A

B

C

D

Chip in if you have any preferences 

Linda

something new on the design wall.

Some of you may remember when I started sewing a rainbow? (see back here for details). I spent heaps of time digging deep for fabrics that read as one colour. As I started sewing them all together, very roughly in ROYGBIV order, I just wasn't feeling the love :(

Everything went into the cupboard for a bit, and when I pulled out all the little piles of HSTs this week I decided I needed a change of direction. When I was making a couple of corn and bean blocks for my folk sampler I had wondered what a whole quilt of them would look like. Then I spotted Leah's latest colourful scrappy corn & beans over on insta, and that sealed the deal!

So now I'm making **corn and bean blocks, also known as the 'northwind' block. I made a test block, adjusted my measurements, trimmed my block to 12". 

There's lots of different layout possibilities, see above pic. As you can see though, my original collection of HSTs were all very definite light/dark & light/medium combos, all way, way too stark. (maybe that's why things didn't gel for me with my original plan?)

Following along with Leah's process, I'm playing with the values a bit more. It'll be controlled scrappy, using lots of different, unrelated fabrics & sewing them into colour value groups.

Hopefully that will create some kind of shifting value effect across the quilt top without the value contrast being too stark in any one block. 

Hmm-m-m- it's a bit of work admittedly. I'm keeping many of those early HST combos, but there has been some unpicking too! And a bit of questioning if a particular fabric is light, light medium or medium light?  I'm trying to make quick decisions, and I'm happy if there's some blurring of the lines a little. 

The jury's still out on my final layout, but here's a few design wall progress pics ... 

**I was keen to find out more about this block & it's various names,

and I found this comment from Jodi at tales of cloth

... I was amused this week to discover that 'Corn and Beans' can only be called Corn and Beans if it's made from yellow and green! The block was first published by the Ladies Art Company, who sold mail order patterns, somewhere between 1890 and 1906. Then along came Carrie Hall in the 1930s and claimed that if the colours weren't yellow and green, then the block was named Duck and Ducklings, or Hen and Chicks, or Shoo Fly, or Handy Andy. 

we've ended up back at the beginning

and one final pic as the sun went down ...

As a few have already commented, this quilt reminds me of the very 1st sampler I made way back when I first began my sewing journey. I hope maybe this one - with different weights of fabric & soft limited palette - will capture that intersection of traditional quilting with a modern twist quite nicely.

Thank you, Sara @farmandfolk for this great sewalong!

See my last post for details, or pop over #folksamplersewalong for more inspiration

happy weekending, Linda