sewing a rainbow

- the very last bit of this 'mod corsage' fabric:(

- progress on the design floor

- I found lots of layout options for HSTs

My next little venture for my 'quilt the book' project is a HST star quilt. I'm following Jolene's layout & measurements, only, unlike her version, I've decided to go the full rainbow palette. I don't often use a rainbow - or gradient - palette, but I’m going to have a go here.

I enjoy making HSTs (truly), always keen for some perfect points practice, and it's a simple sew that eats up a few more of those scraps, running out of white/creams now! 

I'm using a gorgeous scrappy array of rainbow hues, including a few 'bridging' colours to move things from one colour to the next. Think red/pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue/purple, and red/purple.

A rainbow scrap quilt seems to be more about the overall effect rather than the individual fabrics, and it's a great way to keep the variety and movement happening without the stress of worrying too much about placement of colours.  From what I've read so far, the main idea here is that you want your fabrics to blend! 

However, it's a little fun challenge for me because, as most of you know, my stash is predominantly in large scale, multi-coloured fabrics. I'm digging deep for some fabrics that read as one colour, and I'm also including some new favourites, some jewel tones, & some pastels, sewing them all together (very) roughly in ROYGBIV order. 

Blues & purples up next ...

🌈be still my rainbow loving heart🌈

Linda

Lots of photos!

Just popping in quickly with an update on my 'sawtooth star' flower quilt top ...

🌸🌼🌸Loving this mix of deep florals, birds & butterflies, and tangled gardens🌸🌼🌸

Happy weekending, Linda

A lightbulb, a seam ripper, and a result

With the sudden shift from summer heat to autumnal weather, we're getting shorter days and school holidays & Easter are approaching fast. No matter what the day brings, I have lots waiting for me whenever I head upstairs to the sewing room! And these flower stars are brightening up my space just now. 

So, this project started out as a few experimental scrappy 'sawtooth star' blocks using some of my multi-coloured, hard to use fabrics. While most of my blocks are made up of three values of the one colour - be it pink, purple or blue - there are a few rogue ones, just to keep things interesting! I used a lot of my 'good' scraps, a big mix of AM, along with some Alison Glass & other blenders.
But I just wasn't feeling the love, so it all got stashed away in the box in the wardrobe.

This week I pulled my blocks out & relooked at them all spread out on the design floor. I liked the combos, hues of purple & violet, and pinks, and blue, but I needed to fine tune my palette ... then I had a lightbulb moment ... maybe more warm pinks than cool ... yes of course! Sew simple!

After a four-day flurry of fabric, 

with the seam ripper seeing quite a bit of action, I swopped out a few fabrics and remade a few blocks.

Et voilà, a crazy bold busy result ...

loving the value contrast in these blocks ... 

it's all about the border with this one actually, carrying those lush colours right out to the very edge ...

Enough faffing around.

Time to get this all up off the floor and stitched together now. 

Linda

floating log cabins

Floating Log Cabins in grey & plum

here's a few progress pics ...

April's little scrap quilt for my 'quilt the book' project is making floating log cabins, an improv idea from Jolene's book Scrap Quilt Diary, (no pattern but you can kinda work out what's happening). 

My colour concept is simple, greys & plums with tiny pops of red, gold & blue. I've sifted through my small stash of Liberty scraps for small scale floral strips in varying widths, along with lots of soft greys.

And I'm teaming these up with 3" center squares cut from two panels on my Aunty Freda's blouse, years old but still in very good condition. I repeated some of the Liberty fabrics so ensure there was some kind of continuity happening. I aimed for (approx.)10" square log cabin blocks.  

As I began adding sashing to my blocks using a gentle mix of creams, whites and whisper soft touches of pink, I remembered an early post from Cath @wombatquilts. She gave instructions for making LV filler blocks, so I made a few to give my log cabins room to breathe. Such a super way to use up to use little itty-bitty leftovers from my main blocks. 

These extra blocks were (approx.)12" x 6" or so and allowed me to join up the quilt in an irregular pattern as well as help achieve that 'floating' concept. 

Hm-m- I seem to have veered off track a bit but am super happy with where I ended up.

Until next time, Linda

end of summer scrap action

This coming weekend daylight saving ends, and it'll officially be the end of Summer😞with the clocks going back for Autumn. 

I'm working my way through Jolene's two books -a real treasure trove of scrap quilt ideas- in an attempt to use up my scraps, (see here for info about my 'quilt the book' project this year). I've had a bit of a wriggle on today to get my "March" quilt top finished. It's a simple two-block combo, mixing up my scrappy 16 patches with 3 colour sawtooth stars.

And here's all three little quilt tops for my "quilt the book" project so far ...

Looking at this pic, my default colour is definitely blue, all the blues LOL

Super happy with all this scrap action here chez Linda's!

March update

I'm working on a few things at present. 

I'm continuing with my journey emptying my scrap baskets and am happy to say March's little scrappy quilt top #3 is well underway, (see here for info about my 'quilt the book' project this year).

Remember all those little leftover squares from an early ufo? I decided to piece some of them up into16-patch blocks, they are a great way to use up my small scraps. I went back to my stash & rummaged around for some special pieces too, brighter bits that I could use in small amounts to really elevate my quilt.

There's lots of ways to approach this, and I decided to try a two-block combo, mixing up my scrappy 16 patches with 3 colour sawtooth stars, (unfinished blocks size 81/2"). More to come soon!

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Bohemian: adjective, free-spirited, eclectic aesthetic, often featuring natural colours, unique patterns, and a mix of textures, visually striking - a bohemian quilt!

I've also made a little progress on my 'trip around the world' (variation) blocks, reworking the 'look' of the older, unloved ufo. I've added lots of colour and also managed to sneak a few more of those little muted squares in here & there too, they make the brights shine. 

I did (briefly) think about playing it safe and toning things down a bit, but I'm loving how it's all playing out now! It's a little modern, a little bohemian ...

five blocks done✅ four more to go

This pic pretty much sums up my favourite colour just now.

I'm finding that mustardy-gold, when used in small amounts, can really elevate the quilt

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And this last little project, well what can I say. 

'Boardwalk' quilt by Emma at Treehouse Textiles is vibrant & fun, the bright colours contrast with geometric cross blocks to create a fresh and sunny design - I loved the pattern the moment I saw it! (just trying to talk Glenys into making a block-a-month with me too). 

Anyone else fallen down a similar rabbit hole lately?

Happy weekending, Linda

mixing prints

This past week, I've continued to faff about with my bright 'trip around the world' blocks, reworking an earlier project that I didn't love. I was originally just going to make four blocks but ended up deciding to make nine instead. So, I've been playing with colour combos and slowly stitching a couple of blocks together. 

I'm mixing up all sorts of prints together, old & new, all in beautiful shades of pinks, green, orange, blue & lilac! 

I have a few ideas to help with the flow ... I'm aiming for two rounds to be the same colour, like for example, a light or softly muted blue combined with a bright blue. But of course, I break my own rules too and end up with something that's close, like maybe brown & peach or black & grey. 

I've also got two rounds of assorted pinks happening, a pink pathway if you like. And, there's a 2ndary pattern happening, all in a scrappy variety of mustardy golds & B&W stripe.

Oh, you may need to pop on your sunnies first ...

As you can probably see from my photos - I am splitting things up into (approx)16" asymmetrical blocks to assemble. But there was no easy way to join all those little squares up first, other than stitching one small square after another, and trying not to mess up the sequencing in the process!

Super happy working from my fabric stash in a way that is now beginning to feel cohesive and intentional

... one block at a time!

Marjorie quilt

- party in the quilt back

And here's my 'Marjorie' quilt, another recently finished quilt that has now been gifted. I used a pattern from Jennifer @penelopehandmade. My colour concept was simple, I was (loosely) channeling a soft pastel "Bridgerton" vibe, with colours of soft blues, springtime pinks & peach, and lavender. All the colours seem to dance softly over & around the dutchman's puzzle blocks.

For my backing I used two vintage sheets from a local Hospice shop, which I cut into 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 I had it quilted in an e2e 'peeling good' panto by Leeanne @quiltmekiwi.
I chose an early Henry Glass stripe in purple for the binding, I think it works perfectly with these colours.

Happy weekending, Linda