Gator Quilt Paper Piecing Monday

A few months ago I agreed to test a paper piecing pattern for Louise at I’m Feeling Crafty. I was thrilled when Louise sent thru the most darling Alligator pattern, in three different sizes no less.

To test the pattern I decided to make the smallest version of the Alligator, my theory being that the smallest patterns are most of the time the fiddliest/hardest to make.

This pattern does have a few parts to it, but Louise’s instructions are easy to follow and the design makes assemble straight forward. I used the pin method to make sure that my points aligned, and it worked perfectly. When I was done with my small Gator I had a block measuring 9 x 21 inches.

The three different sized patterns Louise’s includes are designed to make this lovely quilt…

But I wanted to shake things up a little, so I put the Gator up on my design wall and started playing… a butterfly and some scrappy cream solids later I had a finished baby quilt.

My Alligator is definitely the star of the show…

button eyes, and all…

For the butterfly I used a paper piecing pattern I found on Craftsy. It adds such whimsy to the quilt I think.

To finish things off I used a yard of Michael Miller fabric I had hidden in my stash for the backing…

I did some straight line quilting with some kitty help… yep you warmed me last week this would happen and it did!

And finally some Kona solids, in blue and brown for the binding…

Using the small Gator pattern this quilt ended up at 35 x 39 inches. Next time I think I will use the medium Gator pattern and add more butterflies. It is such a great block I will definitely be using it again.

You can find Louise’s pattern for sale on Craftsy and if you want some Gator inspiration, check out the other testers work on the …

June 9th- I’m Feelin’ Crafty

June 11th- A Quilter’s Table

June 13th- Marci Girl Designs

June 14th- I’m Feelin’ Crafty– showing off other Testers work!

June 16th- Wombat Quilts

June 17th- Wholesome Midwestern

June 18th- Shaffer Sisters

June 19th- Crafty Shenanigans

June 20th- I’m Feelin’ Crafty

13Jun2014

Another quilt top done…

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt patterns by wombatquilts

If you follow me on Pintrest you will know that I have been obsessed this past week with finishing my orange and brown quilt top. I got a bee in my bonnet and could not let it go, even though I had other pressing quilts with deadlines.

The quilt started life some months ago as this simple block – you can find the free paper piecing pattern link on my original post. So over the last week I have feverishly been making blocks….sew, iron, trim repeat.

With scrap quilting there is not a lot of opportunities to chain piece usually but with this project I found myself chain piecing a bit. First I chain pieced an orange block to a brown block and then I match up those units and chain pieced the blocks together. It worked wonderfully well and I used so much less thread. Eventually it all came together to make this…

I love the meta pattern this block creates…and I extra love the scrappy feel to the quilt. The splashes of white and the variation in the tones of both the orange and brown make the top really sing.

The paper pattern makes for pretty accurate piecing so that there is a lovely crispness to the points and joins.

Now all I have to do is rip the paper off, baste, quilt and bind it. I already have a backing fabric chosen and have a name picked out. This is my Jaffa quilt.. .named after a fabulous Aussie chocolate orange lolly/sweet/candy.

9Jun2014

Tackling the Night sky

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

This week I made the last star block for my Starry Night quilt and started to think about how I want to put this top together. The final block …

….is another wonderful creation from Don’t Call Me Betsy’s Lucky Star BOM. I am loving revisiting these patterns in both the 12 inch and 6 inch sizes. There was no way I was going to do this pattern at 6 inches… too many little pieces for even me, so I went with 12 inches.

As I started playing with all the blocks I had done for this quilt I realised I wanted to have quite a bit of “night sky” in the quilt top. I also decided the negative space for this quilt has to be pieced and scrappy to stay true to the blocks I have made. So the fun of making the sky has begun…

I am going to make lots of random strange scrappy blocks to make the sky… using bits and pieces of left over paper piecing patterns I have lying around. My hope is the effect will be like this…

Just when I thought I was close to a finish, I have moved the goal posts a little.

Finally I leave you with the joy that is currently my quilting life. Somehow my husband got talked into looking after a friends cat for a couple of months. I, of course am allergic and unfamiliar with their strange catty ways. Can someone explain why they insist on doing this?

6Jun2014

Group effort quilts

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

First up I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful, supportive comments that were left on my last post. After being so nervous about sharing my story, you made me so glad I opened up. Thank you.

Now back to the regularly scheduled programming….today I am thrilled to share two finished quilts that were made as part of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild Charity Sew days….

A fabulous group of ladies helped make blocks, piece and quilt these beauties which were made for local charity Camp Erin. If you are interested in making your own simple quilt like this check out my post about the block we choose for directions.

Finished PMQG chairty quilt 2

The block was so simple but really effective – we managed to get two large tops made in one day. At the same time we also managed to make sure that each top had its own unique flair.

For both these quilts we used the Guild’s left over Riley Blake Challenge fabric. We had quite a few of our Guild members share their left over pieces with us with some added touches – Rachel supplied the coolest airplane fabric, Michelle supplied the navy umbrellas and I raided my stash for some Pearl Bracelets in navy, yellow and grey.

Our two completed tops were then handed over to two of the Guild’s fabulous longarmers, Dawn and Jolene, who set to work weaving their magic.

For the backing we used some of the bigger pieces from the Riley Blake stash and I then add some scrappy binding for the finishing touch.

We now have two fabulous teen boys quilts done and ready to add to our growing collection of quilts for Camp Erin.

4Jun2014

The comfort of Quilting

Posted in Quilts by wombatquilts

** warning things are about to get a little personal in a very un-Australian way

As I pondered the quilting I had been doing this week I realised that it had been exactly a year since my quilting was rudely interrupted by some Emergency surgery. This time last year I had posted my Icky Thump block on Monday….

and was working on my Tula Pink blocks when I realised something was not quite right. You see I had recently found out I was pregnant which was an incredible shock, as I had assumed that being over 40 was a great form of birth control. Boy was I wrong.

Anyway a call to my doctor and a quick conversation about what my body was doing ended with her saying “go to the Emergency Room now, I will meet you there”. Slightly freaked out, I managed to grab my hexagon travel kit, my keys, my purse and my husband (in that order) and headed out the door.

Well it transpired that my pregnancy was ectopic and after some emergency surgery I found myself sore, confused and chock full of hormones… and this is where the quilting comes in.

Over the last year quilting has been my life line. When I could not move after the surgery I made hexagons like crazy…. I do not do well with doing nothing and hexagons were something that kept me busy, kept me from going crazy.

Then as I slowly recovered I found I could do small stints at the sewing machine. I designed a quilt block and slowly set about making it piece by piece.

My damaged body meant that I could take the time to carefully select the scraps and fabric for this quilt. To spend so much time designing and making this quilt top was a gift and a luxury. I have not finished this quilt yet… the completed top has been sitting in the cupboard but I have not been emotionally ready to deal with the baggage attached to it. Soon I will be strong enough.

As time went on and my body healed, quilting commitments kept my mind from wondering and my feelings from overwhelming me. I signed up for fussy cut swaps…

and quilted container swaps…

I tested paper piecing patterns, joined Quilting Bees and threw myself into the Let’s Get Acquainted Blog Hop. I kept quilting….kept posting…kept busy.

It has been 12 months of ups and downs. As an British/Australian hybrid I struggle to share personal stuff. Sharing does not come naturally to me – as my best friend Margaret told me recently “it takes you a while to let people in…. usually 2 to 3 years” – but somehow on this anniversary it seemed important to let you know what quilting, has meant to me over the last 12 months. I survived one stitch at a time, pushed forward by the lovely comments left about my work and the support of the wonderful online quilting community.

And to my online friends, who had no idea this was going on, but who supported my quilting and my creativity during this time a very big thank you. To Ashley, Marie, Amy, Michelle, Nicole, Sarah, Susan, Kate, Mel, Julie, Laura, Stephanie, Renee, Cari, Amanda… extra special thanks for your constant comments and support over the last 12 months.

Okay soppy emotional stuff is now over…. it will be back to normal programming by Friday… promise.