Oh no more stars…

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

After an extended break from paper pieced stars I am now venturing back into familiar territory. At QuiltCon I ran into an old friend who challenged me to make a special quilt… my response to that challenge will unfold over the coming months….starting with this block…

This is an adaptation of one of the blocks I did for my pink Snowball quilt (which means you can use this pattern too if you want to make your own version of my fun modern baby quilt).

You can see I used my tried and tested technique of marking the colour variations on the pattern. If you want to make your own block, and do your own markings… you can download the free paper piecing pattern here….Adventure Star block 1

15Apr2016

Cotton & Steel Economy Blocks

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

This week I managed to finish up my Cotton and Steel Economy block quilt…and I am very pleased with myself.

cotton steel economy block quilt

You see I signed this week for the 2nd Quarter of the 2016 Finish Along and I am determined to get more done than I did last quarter. I am finding having a bit of accountability in my quilting a good thing… it really is making me conscious of finishing things up instead of just adding them to the large pile of works in progress.

cs quilt detail

This quilt is such a fun one to start with. I really had a blast fussy cutting up my Cotton and Steel stash. I had been collecting bits and pieces of the C&S since the line first came out but it was not until I started this project that I realized how well it all works together.

economy block detail

I have used prints from just about every Cotton & Steel line (including some of their new Garland line which has just come out).

quilt detail 2

And definitely have a piece of fabric for all the Cotton & Steel designers. I must admit for a brief little bit I was thinking that I might hold onto the blocks and wait till the next line comes out and add more to the quilt, but in the spirit of getting things finished, I just put what I had together and called it good.

quilt detail

I kept the quilting simple… lots of straightish lines using the lines in the block as the guide for my walking foot.

cotton steel quilt detail

For the back of the quilt I used some larger pieces of my stash…

quilt back

And to finish it all off I used a navy blue scrappy binding…

binding

So my first finish of quarter two is done and dusted…. now to get another quilt out of my WIP pile and finish it up. I am highly motivated at the moment…I just hope it lasts.

Quilt Details:

Name: A Cotton and Steel Economy
Pattern: 7 1/2 inch Economy blocks
Fabric: Cotton & Steel collections
Finished size: 45 x 60 inches

11Apr2016

Another miniature Paper Piecing Monday

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

This week I was excited to get my latest delivery of Ava & Neve’s monthly Liberty Club. Once a month I get a wonderful curated bundle of fat sixteenth’s cuts of Liberty Lawn to add to my slowly growing collection of Liberty.

If you are not familiar with Liberty Lawn it is a beautifully delicate cotton that has been made for centuries by Liberty of London. What makes this fabric so special is how soft the handle is and how vibrant and varied the prints are. I have been collecting little bits and pieces (fat eights mainly) for about two years and have a small but pretty collection… and I am loving adding to my stash every month with new prints through the subscription service.

So when the latest bundle of fabrics arrived I felt the need to make something immediately with all my little pieces…. so I took one of my old patterns and shrunk it down just a little and started making 2 inch Liberty hearts….

Lots and lots of two inch Liberty hearts. What I love about this pattern is that it showcases the fabric so beautifully without taking too much fabric to make…. oh and it is really easy to piece too.

So if you are interested in making some really small hearts for a project you can find the free paper piecing pattern here….Mini hearts pattern

31Mar2016

Another group effort…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

I wanted to share another one of Portland Modern Quilt Guild’s charity quilts… the blocks for this quilt were made in October 2014 and we now have a beautiful finished quilt….

pink cross quilt

I love the wonky cross block for group sewing because it is so easy to make… with lots of wiggly room and creative options for any miss-sizing issues.

I love the pink and brown colour combination… the brown tones down the pink so the finished quilt does not feel to bubblegum or over girlie…

pink cross quilt detail 3

When we were putting the quilt top together we also used some solid squares of fabric to give the eye somewhere to rest…

…which also gave our fabulous quilter, Coleen Bernhardt from the Quilted Thistle, room to play.

quilting detail

And Coleen really had fun and the back of the quilt shows just how much variety she put into the blocks…

quilting detail 4

For the back of the quilt I pieced together a collection of brown and pink scraps…

quilt back

Add some binding and you have another wonderful quilt ready to give some comfort.

23Mar2016

Spring is in the air…

Posted in Other fun stuff by wombatquilts

Today I am sharing another PMQG charity quilt… and although this one is from our Charity Sew Day in September last year, it seems seasonal appropriate to share it now…

flower garden quilt copy

I call this the Flower Garden quilt, and it is made up of a piece of just about every floral fabric every donated to the Charity program…as well as a few from my scrap bin…

flower garden quilt detail

The floral squares are in three sizes, all of which work nicely together… 8 inches, 3 inches and 5 1/2 inches unfinished.

flower garden quilt detail 2

Each quilt block that was made was 15 1/2 inches unfinished… allowing each sewer to put together what ever combination of blocks they wanted too to get to the allotted size.

flower garden quilt detail 3

The left over blocks were sewn together to make part of the quilt backing….

flower garden quilt back

As with nearly all the Guild charity quilts, one of our talents long armers weaved their magic to finish things up…

flower garden quilting detail

Jolene chose an all over vine pattern, which works beautifully with the floral theme of the quilt….and viola we have another wonderful finished quilt ready to go out into the world and do some good.

As always thanks to the wonderful Guild members who donated their time, fabric and skills….