quilts on the line

Hello, hello, I've finally got a couple of finishes to share today!  Two quilts that have now been quilted and... the binding all done & dusted... real finishes! And I'm loving how they look on our washing line.

You will have seen earlier photos of my progress on both of these quilts, but here's a little catchup and lots of photos. First up, my 'log cabin' quilt.
Karen Lewis' book wabi sabi sewing is full of projects "inspired by the wabi-sabi ethos of finding beauty in the ordinary, repairing rather than discarding, and appreciating simple design".
Inspired by Karen's scrappy log cabin quilt and her ideas of using bits of this & that when we run out, I decided to make another 'log cabin' quilt.

I started out raiding my scrap baskets, using a selection of low volume scraps of mismatched fabrics, mainly in blues, white & creams teamed up with mustard and just a wee 'pop' of coral. And to add to the perfectly (im)perfect vibe, all my centre squares are different sizes.

My finished quilt measures 46" x 58" and is quilted in an edge to edge pattern called '3tours wavy stripe'. I think it’s great that some people are able to do beautiful quilting with their home sewing machine but I’m not one of them, and so I saved up, and had both of these quilts professionally quilted by Leeanne from quiltmekiwi.
My backing is a piece of 'grey stone flower' Kaffe fabric and I chose a cheeky multi-coloured Basic Grey print for my binding, it seems to draw out those warm 'pops' of colour in the quilt really nicely.

- close up of backing

- this quilt has been claimed already! 

Linking up with Wendy for the 'peacock party' here

And my 'modern bertha mitchell' quilt is all finished too. I love the random arrangement of colours in this utility quilt. You can link to my post from back here in June for more details about the pattern I used and about Bertha and her quilt.

It's a scrap friendly quilt, charmingly wonky, in a pretty colour palette of pinks, red, and blues. The simple HST layout works easily and, along with a healthy dose of plaids, I also added in a few solids = always good for contrast, yes?

My finished quilt measures 60" x 73". I pieced together a scrappy floral backing and had it quilted in an edge to edge pattern called 'wacka doodle.' I chose an AMH dusky teal blue fabric to use as my binding.

- close up of scrappy backing

Until next time, Linda

in which lots of ideas collide

I love scrap sewing. This week I've had a few ideas whizzing around in my head, and they all seem to have collided into the one scrappy project.
My main idea was to have a go at combining fabrics à la Margaret, Margaret from semichaotic over on IG that is. Now her fabric stash is amazing, an eclectic variety of cottons and other mystery fibres like vintage remnants and her son's beach shorts, certainly lots of fun happening in her quilts.

I tentatively started out with my first few inner circles of matching colours and low volume backgrounds. Then I popped in a few center circles with a co-ordinating colour, and just for fun I swopped out the values, light in the center and darker backgrounds. I'm loving how these look all mixed up together.

Several years ago, while I was still nursing, I had about a year of getting a little fabric bundle each month from Amitie, 10" squares, all sorts of fabrics. I've used these as my starting point - trying for that eclectic Margaret #mixanddon'tmatch look -  and adding in other fabrics from my stash, like a few designer treats and blending-in staples. I'm hoping, with good use of value, this will make even my dated scrap collection shine!

I can't remember where I found my pattern, but there's a great 'wagon wheel' pattern here at redpepperquilts, with lots of scope for unique interpretation.

I'm trying not to overthink my choices, just having fun getting it all up on the design wall. At the moment, I have a vague sense of my colour palette.
The arcs are real scrappy plus a healthy dose of black & white, and I'm combining blues & red (in lots of different values) with neutral greys for the centres & backgrounds, and it looks like orange could be my highlight.
I plan to have a couple of simple border rows too, using mainly plaids with just a little floral. I've still got seven lots of foundation paper pieced arcs to make up, but I now have more of a sense of my colour palette/direction. Here's how it's all looking so far . . .

I'm going for more of a modern meets vintage look, more interesting rather than 'pretty'.

And still delightfully scrapilious!

Until next time, Linda

work in progress - trellis quilt

I'm continuing with my goal of working with quilts-in-progress every now & then, trying to move each one forward a little. I had a quilty few days last week and managed to finish up another quilt top.

I pulled out my scrappy 'trellis' blocks {pop back here to see earlier post in August}. I was so close to finishing, so I set to making up the last handful of the 6 1/2" blocks.
I've reshuffled things around, and taken out the bright blue solid blocks, and it's all looking much more like how I imagined it now.

I've used lots of my favourite fabrics, from lots of different projects over the years, plus a few new designer treats mixed in too. It was fun pairing up the light & dark fabrics, little unexpected surprises occured each time. And, I'm now right down to the very last piece of my main fabric, this treasured Amy Butler fabric...

My inspiration came from seeing all the different variations of this quilt over on instagram - @therootconnection  @quiltdivajulie  and the more recent sessoms quilt 
and, Leeanna's delightfully scrappy 'lattice' quilt over here at 'not afraid of color'

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here
and with Em for 'moving it forward' over here tomorrow 

Wishing you a scrap-happy week, Linda

on the lighter side

This is a small inbetween project.

Lots of log cabin 12" blocks, a simple design but always a favourite.
It's a real mix of old & new fabrics, in whispery light low volumes, all from the scrap basket.

Linking up with Wendy for this weekends 'peacock party' here
and with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' over here
- pop on over to see what delights others are making too.

Wishing you a scrap-happy week, Linda

this little WiP of mine

Thanks for the comments & feedback, both here on the blog and over on my IG feed, about this little WiP of mine. You all gave me heaps to think about. Here's where I ended up, my 'summersweet' quilt, now a finished top. 

Jo's pattern 'wintersweet' quilt captured me and I wanted to do it justice as well as, you know, make something I was happy with too. 

I remembered {in the middle of the night!} a quilt made by Kaffe years ago, where he had lots of 9 patch squares alternating with big rosy floral squares, a border of toile squares, and then a final border of smaller squares of fabrics from the centre. 

And so I rummaged thru' my fabrics to find some toiles{fabrics with floral motifs on light white backgrounds}, and picked out the most 'modern' looking of my toile prints. I also picked a few prints that I could reverse to give that slightly softer effect. 

Loving how the 5" squares border shines out amongst all that delicious bright AMH colour! 

Here's a few progress photos . . . 

#myquiltcouldlivehere

imagine an all white, airy, high ceiling bedroom in the tropics, 

with a ceiling fan and plantation shutters . . . 

Many thanks to Jo from frankieandray for the +ve  feedback & the visualisation.
To see what others are making using AMH fabrics pop on over here #amhsewalong19

Linking up with Emily for 'moving it forward' over here

Wishing you a scrap-happy week, Linda