Bec's Quilt {the back}

I found this vintage fabric in an op shop years ago (I think its intended for curtains maybe, because it is quite heavy, and has a more open weave than quilting cotton) and decided to use it as the basis of colours for the back of Bec's quilt.

So I basically pulled all my fabrics in colours that would look right at home in a baby's nappy and went from there!

Bec's Quilt {the front}

Recently I finished this quilt for my sister for her 40th birthday.  Its a little late, she's about to turn 41 - but better late than never, right?

Chunking - New classes!

Exciting news - this year I will be teaching a new class at the Timaru Sewing Centre.  I'm really excited to be teaching patchwork classes again.

Ohio Star Quilts and the perfect binding

Recently I finished the second of the #milaandcuatroOhioStar quilts I have been making for my daughters.  When Ruby saw her one finished she exclaimed ecstatically:

#spherepicnicquilt - all finished and ready for ... winter???

I'm so pleased to share a finish with you - my Sphere picnic quilt!

Fishing for Geese: a baby quilt

When I first started making quilts I would see photos of gorgeous baby quilts that people had made and I would think "Wow, has this person ever spent any time with a baby? Don't they know that they poo, wee and vomit on EVERYTHING?"  Now I think, who cares - I'm not the one that has to wash it!  

WIP: City Samper and a Planning Sheet

Better late than never - almost 3 weeks in to the #100Days100Blocks Instagram sew-along I decided to join in ... and right from the first block I created (Block 20), I just couldn't help but rebel... Only one of the following 4 blocks was pieced strictly by the book.  Can you spot the rebellions?

This sew-along may just have helped me find my sewjo again.

Being late to the party means I need to do a bit of catchup, plus I have no time to sew on Tuesdays so I thought I would do a bit of planning and get the Tuesday blocks done ahead of time.  This means I'm doing the blocks all out of order and needed to keep track of which ones I've done ... so the planning sheet was born!  Born to be wild perhaps?

If you're interested in using this planning sheet, you can download it here (it's A4 - you may need to scale it):

• In Microsoft Word format
• In PDF format

Learn Foundation Paper Piecing with the Tartan Kiwi!

*** THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL - If you want to be added to the waitlist please send us an email ***

Want to learn Foundation Paper Piecing from an expert?  Juliet (the Tartan Kiwi) is coming to my place (in Geraldine, South Canterbury) to teach a Foundation Paper Piecing workshop, on Sunday 28 June 2015, from 10am to 3pm, the cost will be $50.

The Morpheus Quilt

My brother, a deer farmer, recently got married.  This is the first family wedding since I started quilting so I was itching to make a quilt to give as a wedding gift.  I asked my brother who his all-time favourite stag was (Morpheus) and then designed the quilt based on a photo of that (now dead) stag.

Spot the flying geese

This is no generic, stylised stag's head.  This is a representation of an actual stag, one with a world record breaking set of antlers.  I wanted it to look like a stencil, and created a stencil based on a photograph.

Applique detail - ear and tag

The background is mostly 4" squares, with three points of interest provided by a plus block, some flying geese and a friendship star.  I wanted the background to be random, with no identifiable pattern.

When the quilt is on the bed the stag's head lies towards the foot of the bed.  It is quilted with horizontal wavy lines in the same manner as this and this.  The quilting caused me a lot of grief, with the amount of shifting that occurred.  I spent a considerable amount of time ripping out quilting, and then got to the point where I decided I'd spent enough time unpicking and that it was going to be gifted with more imperfections than I would have liked.

It was very well received and looks great in their bedroom.

Quilt Stats
Finished Size: approx 97" by 97"
Pattern:  Original design - raw edge machine applique stag's head on a low volume background
Fabric: Many, many different low volume prints (no solids), three red prints used for the applique. 
Binding: Mini Confetti dot in Scarlet by Dear Stella
Backing: Doe Wideback - Crisscross wideback in Graphite
Pieced and quilted by: me, on my domestic sewing machine.

This was my first time using 108" wide backing fabric, and I have to say I was disappointed.  I felt the fabric was very thin - is that normal for a backing fabric?  I had expected it to be the same quality as Kona, but it is much thinner.  Someone I follow on Instagram called it "lovely and soft", and I agree it is soft but for me that softness stems from the thinness of the fabric. Have you used 108" wide backing fabric before?  How did you find it?

Linking up to:

Needle n Thread Thursday 

Playing with Curves

Just when my husband had given up asking if I was ever going to finish a quilt for our bed ...

The main pieced section of this quilt is based on Brenda Gael Smith's Topsy Turvy quilt featured on the cover of the June/July 2014 Quilters Companion.  I used the pattern as a guide - I wanted to use only what I had in my stash so instead of using 1/2 yard of 8 fabrics, I used a 13 x 17" rectangle of about 16 different fabrics and followed the stack technique described in the article to make 16 blocks which were trimmed to 11" square (finished).  The smaller rectangular pieced section was made using the add-on technique.

Cover of June/July 2014 Quilter's Companion - source

The layout of the quilt is inspired by Rachel Singh's Wonky Cross quilt.

I quilted it in horizontal wavy lines, in the same way that I quilted my Princess and the Pea quilt, in an attempt to echo the improv curves of the piecing.

The binding was a compromise - this is a reversible quilt, and the other side has a totally different colour scheme, I had purchased a yellow Michael Miller Ta Dot to use as the binding when I finished the other side of the quilt so stuck with that in an effort to use what I already have.

Although I love asymmetrical compositions in quilts, I have come to the conclusion that I like symmetry on the bed, so the next quilt I make for our bed will feature a symmetrical design of some sort.

Quilt Stats
Finished Size: approx 85" by 80"
Pattern:  Combination of Topsy Turvy pattern and improv pieced  
Fabric: All solids - Kona Silver for the background, and a combination of orange/blue/white/grey from my stash.
Binding: Michael Miller Ta Dot in yellow
Pieced and quilted by: me, on my domestic sewing machine.

Linking up to:

Sew Cute Tuesday
Fabric Tuesday
Needle n Thread Thursday 
Finish it up Friday

GIVEAWAY - Pay It Forward

So last May I was lucky enough to win a Pay It Forward from Molli Sparkles.  Part of the bargain was that I would host my own Pay It Forward and send something fabulous to three lovely readers within six months of receiving my prize from Molli Sparkles. Here is what I received in the post back in October ....

Beautiful.  And you know what, when I saw those cushions make their debut on Molli's blog I thought "oooh, I hope I get something like that as my Pay It Forward prize" - lucky, no?  Not only did I get two cushion covers and some washi tape but also a half yard of Floressence by Art Gallery Fabrics. 

Now it is my turn to repay the kindness - please leave a comment here if you'd like to go in the draw to be one of 3 people to receive something lovely from me, the catch is that the winners need to then hold their own Pay It Forward within 6 months of receiving my gift.  The giveaway will stay open until Sunday, 18 January 2015 (NZ time), I will then randomly choose three winners (assuming more than three people enter the giveaway). 

NOTE:  the photos in this blog post are what I received from Molli Sparkles, 

NOT what I am giving away - the giveaway prize is a surprise!

Burda Style 9494 (View B)

If anyone is interested in participating in a Pay It Forward this year, hop on over to this blog post, I'm about to get busy making something fabulous to send to three lucky people! 

Two dresses for Ruby and one for Pepper-Mae, using View B of Burda Style 9494.

 

I'm not really happy with how the pattern handles the ends of the zipper at the neckline, although after making three dresses I now realise it may actually be my interpretation of the pattern and I might try a slightly different approach next time.

 

I like to get maximum value from any pattern I buy so I will no doubt make more.  I traced each pattern piece in 3 different sizes so that I could make the dress in multiple sizes.  The fit in the bodice is quite big on my girls, but they'll be able to wear them for a couple of summers.

And some matching hairties using scraps, which are project 32 and 33 of Scraps 101.

Linking up to:

Monday Makers

Fabric Tuesday

Sew Cute Tuesday

Let's Bee Social

Plus Cushions (aka Cushion Crazy Part 3)

I have started offering modern patchwork and quilting workshops from my home studio, the first of my workshops is called "The Plus Cushion - An Introduction to Modern Quilting".  Here are some samples I put together for the workshop.

The workshops are aimed at people who have never dabbled in patchwork or quilting - no sewing experience is required, and you don't even need to own your own sewing machine, as I have student machines available.  The workshop is held over weekend (with two four hours sessions) and creates this simple yet striking quilted cushion cover.

This next cushion, which to me is the most striking of the three, was made by one of my first students.  I was so pleased with how this finished, the woman who made this has not sewn since school and doesn't own a sewing machine - look at what she created, isn't it fantastic?

If you live in Canterbury, or even North Otago, and are interested in learning the basics of modern quilting, why not come along to one of my workshops?  Further details can be found on my "Workshops and Events" page.

Linking up to:

Finish it up Friday

TGIFF

Cushion Crazy (Part 2)

Crazy-pieced cushions - I've been experimenting with monochromatic colour schemes.

They all have covered zippers in the back, I used this tutorial from Adrianne, although I changed it a bit to take into consideration my short zips (8").  I wanted to use what I had on hand, rather than buying longer zips.  It's a bit of a workout to get the forms through the smaller zip but that's fine with me.

You'll no doubt be pleased to hear that there is still one more instalment of my cushion crazy series!!  Tune in next week for the final few.

Linking up to:

Finish It Up Friday

Needle and Thread Thursday

TGIFF

Cushion Crazy (Part 1)

I've gone a little cushion crazy lately, here is the first instalment with my version of the Winging It pillow (or cushion as I'd call it) from Quilting Modern.

The puffiness and 3D nature of the cushions make them quite tricky to photograph.

Linking up to:

Needle and Thread Thursday
TGIFF
Can I get a Whoop Whoop?
Anything Goes Monday 

Radiant Explosion (Bloggers Quilt Festival entry)

My entry for the Original Design category in this year's Blogger's Quilt Festival is Radiant Explosion - which placed 3rd in the Pantone 2014 Radiant Orchid Quilt Challenge. 

This is my own design and is entirely improv pieced - the original post for this quilt is here, and if you are interested in how I constructed the quilt you can read all about it here.

The quilt is approximately 50" x 60".

Thank you Amy for hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival, there are so many inspiring quilts!

Selvedge Scraps/Improv gift cards: Scraps 101

To make these I sewed selvedge strips to a piece of cardstock ...

Selvedge strips sewn onto cardstock

then sliced it up and sewed the strips onto other pieces of cardstock.  This is project 28 of Scraps 101.

Linking up to:

Frugal Friday

Finish it up Friday
Sewjo Saturday
Sew Cute Tuesday
Made By You Monday
Fabric Tuesday