A New Project!

Today I have a new project to share with you.

(Like, I really need a new project, hey? 😉 )

These blocks are a free charm squares pattern Ocean Breeze (by Susan Emory) for Michael Miller Fabrics.

I was given a pack of Moda Simply Colorful II (by V & Co.) charm squares for my birthday last year and have been on the hunt since then for a suitable pattern.

I’m not 100% sure at this stage whether I will follow this pattern as written, although it is very tempting. An “on point” quilt is on my quilting bucket list!

Instead, I’m thinking about making either a table runner or altering the pattern by adding extra sashing strips and thereby increasing the finished quilt size. Any thoughts?

I love the colour palette of this collection and am especially enamoured by the following two fabrics:

I hope you’re having a wonderful Monday. It’s the start of school holidays here in Tasmania, Australia and the kids and I are enjoying a wet weather pajama day at home!

Deb 🙂

Linking up to MCM @ Cooking Up Quilts and Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts

 

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Modern Crosses Quilt Finish

Quilt Statistics:

Completion Date: June 25, 2016

Pattern: modified Modern Crosses Quilt from the book Modern Log Cabin Quilting (see previous posts here and here)

Finished Size: 45″ x 57″

Fabric: rainbow Kona solids scraps and various low volume fabrics

Backing & Binding: Ikea Nattljus fabric

Quilting: Diagonal crosshatch

Photo location: GASP! (Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park), Hobart, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA

 

Linking up to MCM @ Cooking Up Quilts, Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and TGIFF @ Celtic Thistle Stitches

 

Plus Plus Quilt Top

On Sunday, my guild – the Tasmanian Modern Quilt Guild – held a casual sit and sew day where members could bring along their chosen WIP’s. I have been desperate for a chance to do some serious “head down” sewing and so was rather keen for this day to arrive!

My main goal for the day was to finish my Plus Plus Quilt top after I managed to make the remaining fifteen blocks during the week.

I was very pleased to be able to achieve this goal – yay!

I had organised the blocks into rows at home and so had the relatively easy task yesterday of sewing them together.

For this project, I felt that I really needed to see the blocks on a vertical design wall to achieve the best arrangement of fabrics and colours. (Usually I lay my quilt blocks out on the floor and stand on the dining room table to see 🙂 )

So I came up with the perfect temporary design wall at home – I cut a piece of batting to the required size and attached it to my dining room roller blind with binding clips!

This method worked perfectly and as this window isn’t the only one in the room, I was able to keep the design wall there for a few days until I was satisfied with my arrangement. The added bonus is that I now have the batting cut to size for this quilt top. I will definitely use this “wall” again!

This wonderful quilt pattern is by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs and is a pattern I won as a prize for participating in the 2015/2016 Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long. My lap size version measures 63″ square and the fabrics are all Cotton and Steel fabrics from various collections including Basics, Playful, Zephyr, Moonlit, Spellbound and August.

I’ve already purchased some Playful fabric (at half price!) for the backing. Although I have other projects that need finishing, this quilt may become a priority as I’m seriously crushing on all those gorgeous fabrics!

Linking up to Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts, Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation.

Plus Plus Blocks

Last year, I was the lucky winner of two digital quilt patterns donated by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs. I won this wonderful prize as a participant in the 2015/16 Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long which was hosted by Cheryl. (I must make mention that I’m super excited to have just signed up for the 2016/17 Meadow Mystery Quilt-a-long which is due to start next month!)

Cheryl is an amazing pattern writer and has some lovely patterns for sale.  It was hard to choose but eventually I decided on her Plus Plus pattern and Sea Star pattern.

I decided to use a selection of Cotton and Steel fabrics from my stash for my Plus Plus Quilt.

I am, like many others, a huge fan of these funky modern fabrics and made a Cotton & Steel Quilt for my daughter last year as a gift for her 10th birthday. I have amassed quite a collection of these colourful fabrics and already have plans for a future third Cotton & Steel Quilt…

The Plus Plus lap size quilt I am making will end up at 63″ square and consists of 25 large plus blocks and 24 small plus blocks.

Of the required forty-nine 9½ inch blocks, I have so far made thirty four of them and hope to complete the remaining blocks this week.

This quilt is one of my Quarter 2 goals for A Lovely Year of Finishes and although, unfortunately, I can’t see myself finding enough sewing time this month to completely finish this quilt…  I am remaining optimistically hopeful of at least a flimsy finish 🙂

Linking up to Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts, Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

OMG for June

I have five new patterns that I purchased during the recent May is for Makers campaign that I’m itching to start!

But I’m trying to behave and have chosen a current WIP as my One Monthly Goal for June.

Last year I participated in the 2015-16 Midnight Mystery Quilt Along, hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs. I finished my quilt top in March and it’s been sitting folded up in a cupboard (like many others!) since then, waiting patiently to be quilted…

You can read more about this quilt in my post here and see some of the other amazing finished quilts in the Reveal Parade here.

Cheryl was the mentor of my group “The New Bees” when I participated in the 2015 New Quilt Blogger’s Blog Hop. She is a quilter and blogger who I very much admire and she very generously donated two of her digital quilt patterns as a prize for the Mystery Quilt Along. I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of her generosity so I think that it’s about time to finish off this quilt and feel worthy of her prize. (Also, the 2016/17 Mystery Quilt Along is just about to start and I’m yet to finish the 2015/16 quilt!)

So, my goal for this month is to baste, quilt and bind my Mystery Quilt. Wish me luck!

Incredibly, I seem to be on a lucky streak and have just found out that I am one of the winners from OMG May. I have won a $25 gift certificate from The Fat Quarter Shop. I feel incredibly fortunate and I’d like to express a huge thank you to Heidi from Red Letter Quilts for hosting OMG and to The Fat Quarter Shop for donating this fantastic prize.

Linking up with Heidi @ Red Letter Quilts for OMG June

 

May is For Makers Week 5

May has come to an end and my last purchase for the May is for Makers campaign is the Courtyard Tiles quilt pattern by Kelly Young of My Quilt Infatuation.

I purchased this pattern as I’m always thinking ahead to possible future projects. I think this pattern would be the perfect opportunity for me to use some of the large scale prints from my stash.

I’ve really enjoyed participating in the May is for Makers campaign and admit to having a large number of other wonderful indie patterns on my wish list!

Here is a wrap up of my five purchased patterns:

• Week 1 – Spinning Quilt Pattern by Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts
• Week 2 – The Snazzy Slouch Handbag Sewing Pattern by ChrisW Designs
• Week 3 – Modern Sorbet Quilted Pillowcase Pattern by Seraphym HM
• Week 4 – Hexie Framed Quilt Pattern by Quilty Love
• Week 5 – Courtyard Tiles Quilt Pattern by Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

I’d better get sewing!

Deb 🙂

Colour Happy Quilt Finish

Winter has now descended upon us here in Tasmania, Australia. The days are becoming much shorter and we’ve had our first frost on the ground and snow on the mountains.

My family and I made the move in 2013 from the warm-all-year-round weather in central Queensland, north eastern Australia, to the temperate climate of Tasmania. It was partly a yearning by my husband and myself to try something new and also in part, an escape from the oppressive humidity and heat of the north.

This will be our fourth winter here and I am preparing myself mentally for the cold and often grey days ahead. The cold and snow is still a novelty for us “northeners” but I will admit to craving the brightness and warmth of the sun during winter – something I took for granted while living in Queensland.

However, my latest quilt finish will be sure to lift our spirits (and keep us warm) during the long winter months ahead!

My Colour Happy Quilt was started and finished in February this year.

After doing some scrap sorting, I used the pattern “Pride Flag” from the great quilting book Modern Quilt Perspectives by Thomas Knauer to make a dent in my pile.I ran into a few problems during my first quilting attempt when I used poly wool batting and a shot cotton backing fabric. My little Janome machine with it’s tiny throat space struggled to cope with the bulk and my first quilting attempts were puckered and eventually unpicked.

After a few months of sitting abandoned in the quilting “naughty corner”, I decided to re baste this quilt using a thinner cotton batting. Although the end result is not perfect by my self-imposed high standards, I have learned a lot through this experience.

As we say in the quilting world…

“Finished is better than perfect!”

I quilted my Colour Happy Quilt with straight lines about ½ inch apart, but only in the middle “third” of each colour section.

I used Gutermann thread in the corresponding section colours of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

I was unsure about what fabric to use for the binding but eventually settled on a fun grey polka dot.

This quilt is a finish for OMG (One Monthly Goal) May and my first finish for Quarter 2 (Link up #40) of the 2016 Finish Along.

Linking up to OMG @ Red Letter Quilts, Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts, Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, TGIFF @ Devoted Quilter and Scraptastic Tuesday at She Can Quilt.

Modern Crosses Quilt Top

After sewing my thirty-five log cabin blocks together, I was happy to discover that my finished Modern Crosses Quilt top measures 45″ x 57″ which I think is a reasonable size for a lap quilt. I made this quilt using a pattern from the wonderful book Modern Log Cabin Quilting but I made a few modifications which you can read about in my previous post.

I did play with a few alternative layout ideas

before deciding that I liked the staggered arrangement best with the colours fading from left to right.I’m still contemplating how to quilt this one but already have it basted and ready for when I decide…

This week, I also finished quilting my Colour Happy Quilt and have started hand stitching down the binding. I’m hoping to be able to show you the finished quilt very soon.

 

For Week 4 of the May is for Makers campaign, I decided to purchase a pattern that I can see myself making in the near future.

While on a road trip with my family earlier in the year, I stumbled unexpectedly on a quaint little gift/quilt shop in a small country town. I managed to pick up a bargain jelly roll from the Moda fabric collection Road 15 by Sweetwater.

I’ve been searching for a suitable jelly roll pattern and think that this Hexie Framed quilt pattern by Quilty Love will be perfect!

Linking up to Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts, Design Board Monday @ Bits ‘n Bobs, Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

 

More Log Cabins

I have plenty of WIP’s that I should could be working on but instead I have been spending my recent sewing time making colourful log cabin blocks.

These blocks are for my new project from the book Modern Log Cabin Quilting. The project, called “Modern Crosses”, is featured on the book cover.

I wrote about this wonderful book in a previous post and showed you the log cabin pillow I recently made using strips of my cherished Carolyn Friedlander Doe fabric.

For this new project, I have used solids leftover from bunting I made for our Guild’s booth at the local Craft and Quilt Fair last year.

If you’re interested, the bunting pattern is a free tutorial by Jeni Baker @ In Color Order.

There wasn’t a lot remaining from the original fat eighths after the bunting was made but I’ve been holding onto these small scraps just waiting for an opportunity to use them.

I can honestly say that there was just enough leftover fabric to make my Modern Crosses blocks and I literally sewed right up to the selvage edge (as shown in the photo below).

I did have to make a few changes to the original pattern as 2 inch strips were required for the “logs” and I only had enough coloured fabric for strips 1¾ inches wide. So, as a result, my blocks measure at 8½ inches square instead of the 9½ inch size in the pattern.

Each block is made up of four log cabins:

I used various low volume fabrics from my stash for the background .

And as I had five varying shades of seven different colours to begin with, I only made 35 blocks (as opposed to the 60 in the book pattern).

I’m really looking forward to sewing these blocks together and discovering what size quilt I end up with! 😉

In support of the current May is for Makers campaign, I have purchased another pattern from an indie designer this week.

For week 3, I have purchased a quilted pillowcase pattern – Modern Sorbet by Seraphym Handmade.It’s no secret that I love making pillows and as Drunkards Path blocks have always been on my bucket list, I thought this small project would be a great way for me to try curved piecing for the first time!

Deb 🙂

Linking up to Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts, Design Board Monday @ Bits ‘n Bobs, Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation 

 

May is for Makers

If you read my last post, you will be aware of my decision to participate in the May is for Makers campaign, started by Lindsay of LR Stitched.

For every week of this month, I will purchase a pattern from an Indie Designer and write about it on my blog.

Last week, I purchased the wonderful new quilt pattern Spinning by Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts. As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew I wanted to make it. However, with all of my current WIP’s, it may be a while before I make a start…

For Week 2, I decided to purchase a new bag pattern.

I bought The Snazzy Slouch Handbag Sewing Pattern by ChrisW Designs.

I love making bags and my current everyday bag is a Noodlehead Super Tote that I made last year. I really like the casual slouchy style of this new bag pattern and already have the perfect fabric in mind!

Deb 🙂