'Anna's Stars'

Here's a few progress photos . . .

- hmm-m- does this go with that?

- so pretty with Bob's mums embroidery panel, made way back in 1946

My 'quilty stars' quilt {aka Anna's stars} is now all stitched together. I've used multiple lines of AMH fabrics from my stash baskets in a scrappy organised way, and it's been an interesting challenge.

There are so many gorgeous options for backgrounds these days, and I’ve loved the break away from whites & creams. It was a bit nerve racking making the first few cuts into the AMH 'social climber' roses fabric and I almost skipped adding in those skinny sashings, but am so glad I went with it.

I did find though, that the combo of 'striking & soft' was a bit tricky and it was very easy for everything to blurr together. I needed to consider a few things here . . . alternating warm/cool for the blocks created nice contrast, and popping in a few non-floral prints really helped calm things. Adding in a few solids is always good for contrast too, and some of those larger florals had nice little areas of plain colour which worked well for me, but may be hard to notice in the bigger scheme of things!

Check out all the other 'quilty stars' versions over here and more details about the quiltalong can be found here at emily from quiltylove.

Linking up with Wendy for this weekend's 'peacock party' here

quilty stars {update}

- oh my, I hope I've worked this out right! 

A change of pace today . . . nice big 16" blocks, easy sewing.

Usually, I tend to sew more by colour rather than by collection. This time though, I'm sticking to all Anna Maria Horner prints, and using a scrappy selection from my stash, from lots of her different collections. Hopefully playing with contrast a little will keep things interesting.
When I decided to make this 'quilty stars' quilt I made up my first block thinking I'd use that yummy AMH  'social climber roses' in ice for my backgrounds & borders. However, I've been unable to find it again so have opted to use the more softer, subtle 'lichen' version. I think it'll work.

Oh I did add one rogue print in amongst everything, can you spot it?
Linking up with Em this week for 'moving it forward' here at emsscrapbag

and with Kelly for 'needle and thread Thursday' here

Until next time, Linda

summer stack sundays

One of my favorite things to do with fabric is mixing & matching fabrics together from my stash here to create new combinations that might oneday . . . someday . . . become a quilt. I'm sure lots of us do that too. 

Sometimes I start out with a focus fabric. And sometimes it's a pattern that grabs my attention, like this improv flying geese pattern from treehousetextiles that arrived a week or so ago.

I love the vintage improv style of this "Seaglass" quilt, and Emma's scrappy style really caught my eye, however I'm not a big fan of the blue & green combo. So I've decided rather than follow with the safe choice shown , I'm going to switch it up with a fabric stack that's 'more me'. He-he, I might have to rename my version though.

Hope all these come together as I planned.
How do you chose fabric for a new quilt?

I'm joining in with Allison from campbellsoupdiary - she is hosting #summerstacksundays a new link-up party, which goes through til August 30th, 2019. Actually, it'll be my 'winterstack' fabric pull, because of course it's winter over here in NZ.  Follow the links to join in too.

in celebration of scrappiness

scrappiness noun
scrap·​pi·​ness | \ ˈskra-pē-nəs \

Definition of scrappiness: the quality or state of being scrappy

- and three more to add to the group

- nothing like a little bit of animal print!

- and I've been faffing about with those border choices

I'm almost decided on this blue & white stripe {above pic} for a border, and the red floral not so much. I found it hard to come up with something that worked with all the red gingham.
And as I'm using mainly scraps and small pieces, there's not too much opportunity for fussy cutting. Each block though, has been a great exercise in rummaging through the stash baskets to pair up fabrics - finding fabrics I'd forgotten about.

It's a real celebration of scrappiness, with lots of florals, gingham, and spots!

Off now to cut out a few more pairs as I need some 1/2 blocks for the sides.
Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here at quiltingismorefunthanhousework
Happy weekend everyone.

crowded on the design wall

What’s up on your design wall this week? Well here’s the current view of my design wall - with several projects underway on a wintery day, it's getting a little crowded and I’m running out of work play space!

I do like to have at least two WiPs on the go at the same time though, juggling back and forth between projects keeps me from getting too stuck or too bored.

 Here's a few close up progress photos . . .

I pulled out some long forgotten hexistars a couple of weeks ago and started making up more. I'm using a variety of fabrics - lots of favourites, old, new, Liberty & everything inbetween. And as you can see, I've now moved down onto the 'design floor' to get a better idea of where I'm heading . . .

- it's growing

- trialling border options too

And my 'quiltystars' project? It's a great mash up of AMH fabrics, using multiple collections in a scrappy organised way. While I wait for more background fabric to arrive, I've started making up a few centres . . .

- I spy a little #quiltystarsquilt prep in the works

My 'bertha' quilt is slowly progressing too - love the back story to this quilt, which you can find here. I never get tired of simple patchwork, and am enjoying the repetitive {relaxing} task of making these HSTs, cut- sew- cut- press- and repeat! 

Linking up with Kelly for 'needle and thread Thursday' here at myquiltinfatuation

and with Wendy for this weeks 'peacock party' here
Until next time,

Linda

quilty stars quilt

A recent comment by Alison from littleislandquilting got me thinking - "The genius of AMH fabrics is that you can take the simplest of blocks and totally transform them. You genuinely don’t need to have an amazing eye for colour and form because the fabrics do all the work for you. Their beauty lies in the myriad of shapes and colours many of them possess. Once you accept they all go together and see the energy and excitement they bring to a project, it’s very liberating."

And so there's heaps of other things I could be sewing this afternoon . . . but I got totally sidetracked . . . and thought I'd try out a trial block for the quilty stars quilt, pattern by Emily Dennis, using my scrappy selection of AMH fabrics from all different collections . . . just to see if they all did indeed work nicely together! 

Do you like to make a trial block too? 

the magic of gingham

Taking a little break from sewing heaps of HST's this week. I decided that every now & then I would backtrack and go through my little pile of WiPs to see if I could change or add something extra . . . anything really that rekindles my interest enough to get the quilt back on track and closer to being finished.

I began my hexistar quilt in November 2016, see here for earlier details. After setting this aside for quite some time, I'm back working on it again.
The stars I had made were entirely from stash, which feels good but also meant I used fabrics I might not have otherwise used. I've decided now, I'm still going to use scrap fabrics, going for a mix and don't match look but with the occasional designer treat thrown in.

To move this forward a bit I decided to make a-star-a-day,
and I'm getting better and quicker at piecing these.

However, after leaving this for so long, I've now changed my mind about the setting triangles, does this happen to you too? I'm going to jazz it up a bit with some red gingham magic.

I'm miles away from my original vision for this quilt,
and I'm not sure yet about the setting, but it's fun trying out ideas.

Done for today

- show you more soon