iced vovo in busy brights

Over the holidays the iced vovo quilt caught my eye, from @jenkingwell @amitietextiles_newhome from her new book, Gathered. I wanted my version to look quite scrappy and have enjoyed digging deep into my stash. I tried to include a healthy dose of pink, as a little nod to the original, along with the occasional darker print for contrast and added interest. 

Unlike the inspirational quilt* (which has lots of pastel small-scale pink fabrics) my busy bright mix feels more like a gloriously messy tangled garden. 

I've been slowly making the 8" blocks whenever I get back in the sewing room. I decided to stop at a 7 x 7 layout, as I'm not wanting to make really big quilts anymore. It seems like it took me forever to sew the blocks together because there were so many seams to match, but I got there, and now this quilt top is all in one piece! 

*iced vovo by Jen Kingwell was named after Australia’s pink & cream (and irresistibly tasty) biscuit.

And here's a few one-line synopses of my holiday reading ...

'Wild Dark Shore' by Charlotte McConaghy, my best read so far this year.

A novel of heart stopping twists, dizzying beauty and ferocious love, this is a story about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us is ending.

'Buckeye' by Patrick Ryan

Propelled by an irresistible cast of characters, Buckeye is a warm, funny and emotional novel about two families living in one small town, bound together by secrets that will not stay buried.

'Last One Out" by Jane Harper 

A rather different novel from Jane Harper, it's a location driven drama about a family grieving and a town dying, very much a slow burner.

"Mad Mabel" by Sally Hepworth

Again, not what I was expecting, but I did enjoy getting to know Mabel as we learnt about the secrets of her past, an entertaining quirky read.  

Until next time, Linda

behind the seams

Once all the holiday madness passed, I indulged in some summer sewing,

a little bit here... a little bit there ... it all adds up

First, an update on my Iced Vovo progress. This sweet quilt is featured in Jen Kingwell’s new book Gathered, check the link here. I don’t have an abundance of subtle pastel small-scale pinks like all those used in the original pattern so, this is a #stashbusting project for me.

Basically, it's a play on values, and I'm trying not to overthink my choices but working mainly with a scrappy selection of bright mediums. I am trying to use as much pink as possible, a little nod to the original, along with the occasional darker print for contrast and added interest. 

Not all my "lights" are white/cream LVs. To add a little more colour, I've also included a few pale solids in pink & green & blue. I'm thinking these quieter fabrics are really -ve space, they don’t disappear, but they make everything around them stronger.

#stashbusting has some very rich rewards. 

I'm rediscovering a few old favourite pink fabrics🩷 

You know, fabrics I bought years ago with no specific intention other than just because I loved them? 

a close-up view

And an old quilt has found a new home. Just before Christmas, I spent a morning tidying my hallway cupboard. I was very ruthless, chucking out old pillowcases, sheets, towels, tablecloths, and made a pile for donating. Part of the process was refolding all the quilts too. 

Enter my granddaughter Evie, she spotted all the chaos and asked if she could give a quilt to her teacher for the end of the school year. What could I say, the quilt shelf in my cupboard was overflowing! Time to redistribute one or two! 

Off to its forever home now, my "bricks" quilt was initially made for a single bed in our new house back in 2016. But some of my interior design ideas changed during the moving-in process & it was never used. I had included so many of my favourite HTF fabrics.

If you want to check out more of my quilts you can always type your search into the Blogger search box in the top left-hand corner.

Just before I finish today

... a new start for a new year!

If you stop by occasionally, you will already know I always have multiple projects on the go, because I love having a choice in projects. It might take a bit longer to finish them all, but it keeps me interested and inspired.

You might have seen Jolene's latest quilt, country star medallion? Well, I downloaded the pattern over the holidays and have begun pulling a few fabrics. I'm trying to be more intentional about using what I already have here, so I started out with an old tablecloth from the hallway cupboard and am mixing & matching with fabrics from a few different collections. 

after some tweaking here's where I landed ...

it's not exactly all planned out yet... 

🤞things will unfold more once I start cutting & sewing.

Until next time, Linda