A work in Progress…

Posted in WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

This week I have been working away, starting new projects and desperately trying to get other projects finished. Wednesday used to be the day that I posted Work in Progress posts but I have slipped out of that habit a bit. Last night as I was struggling with the computer and its strange technology, I realised that Wombat Quilts is very much a work in progress…

When I took the leap to start blogging a couple of years ago I did not know what I was doing… I jumped in and started working it out as I went along. The quilting bit was easy, the computer stuff was much much harder. This week two things happened that reminded me I am still working this stuff out…for better and worse.

The first thing that happened was on Monday I reached 1 million views on the website. For me this is a staggering thought… now I know some websites get that in a day but I never expected my little old quilting blog to hit that landmark. Thanks to all of you who have stayed with me through this all…. an appropriate giveaway will be coming soon!

The next thing that happened this week was not so positive. Facebook has forced me to migrate my Wombat Quilts profile to a Page. Last night, with tears streaming down my face, I complied…actually I had no choice they shut my Profile down. I am only just working out what this means, but in a nutshell I have lost two years of posts and photos and most importantly lost the ability to see what my 3000+ friends were making. It is heartbreaking….and there is nothing I can do about it. I will keep posting to the Facebook page but the joy of using that platform has gone (as has its effectiveness as far as I can see!)…

But in the mean time I am doing the only thing I know how… I am keeping on quilting. I have a class coming up at Modern Domestic where I am teaching paper piecing using this great pattern ….

I have been working on making hexies for an Instagram friend, which has been a blast. I am raided my stash for pretty fussy cut prints and have a nice little collection of basted hexagons so far….

And I have been finished up some Bee blocks and putting together charity quilt tops. I am working away, sewing little bits of fabric together and hoping that the computer stuff does not eat me alive…

4Sep2015

Back to School Blog Hop – Paper Piecing edition

Posted in Other fun stuff by wombatquilts

Today it is my turn on the Back to School Blog Hop and today I wanted to talk about an under rated paper piecing tool – coloured pencils.

As you can tell my pencil set is well used. Most quilters will pull out colour pencils to colour in pattern sheets or maybe sketch out block ideas, but as a paper piecer I use mine all the time to colour code my patterns.

Not all paper piece patterns need to be colour coded… simple patterns can be easily followed without coding help…but with more complex paper piecing patterns, a splash of color can save on the unpicking and hair pulling when you are sewing a pattern.

For example this block is little complex…

For this pattern I used EQ to play with colour placement, but coloured pencils and paper work just as well, particularly if a colouring sheet has been provided…..

So before I started sewing it I pulled out my coloured pencils and scribbled away, marking the pattern with the predetermined colours I am using.

I choose colours from my pencil box that corresponded to the coloured fabrics I was using for the block….

So that the coding made sense to me as I sewed….

I regularly use this process for my paper piecing blocks… and will use symbols if I am using more than one type of fabric in the same colour range… remember the code just has to make sense to you…

When making my Cross Star quilt colour coding with pencils became an integral part of the quilt making process as I had to work out how each block fitted into the overall quilt pattern.

So next time you are paper piecing, dust off those colour pencils, do a little colouring in and make the paper piecing process a little easier. And if you want to play with this block, I have included a colouring page in the pattern PDF… Cross Plus extra block.docx

But before then, check out the rest of the super awesome Blog Hoppers for their tips:
Sept 1: Peta Minerof-Bartos of PetaQuilts
Sept 2: Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com
Sept 3: Teresa Coates of Crinkle Dreams
Sept 4: Cath Hall of Wombat Quilts
Sept 5: Sam Hunter of Hunter’s Design Studio
Sept 6: Melanie McNeil of Catbird Quilt Studio
Sept 7: Mandy Leins of Mandalei Quilts
Sept 8: Rose Hughes of Rose Hughes
Sept 9: Megan Dougherty of The Bitchy Stitcher
Sept 10: Lynn Krawczyk of Smudged Design Studio
Sept 11: Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty
Sept 12: Sarah Lawson of Sew Sweetness
Sept 13: Jane Victoria of Jolly and Delilah
Sept 14: Jemelia Hilfiger of Je’s Bend
Sept 15: Ebony Love of LoveBug Studios
Sept 16: Misty Cole of Daily Design Wall
Sept 17: Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams
Sept 18: Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps
Sept 19: Bill Volckening of WonkyWorld
Sept 20: Jessica Darling of Jessica Darling
Sept 21: Debbie Kleve Birkebile of Mountain Trail Quilt Treasures
Sept 22: Heather Kinion of Heather K is a Quilter
Sept 23: Michelle Freedman of Design Camp PDX
Sept 24: Kathy Mathews of Chicago Now Quilting Sewing Creation
Sept 25: Jane Shallala Davidson of Quilt Jane
Sept 27: Cristy Fincher of Purple Daisies Quilting
Sept 28: Catherine Redford of Catherine Redford
Sept 29: Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz of Fun From A to Z
Sept 30: Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts
October 1: Tracy Mooney of 3LittleBrds
October 2: Trish Frankland, guest posting on Persimon Dreams
October 3: Flaun Cline of I Plead Quilty

3Sep2015

A fabulous little Bee Block

Posted in Quilt patterns, Quilts by wombatquilts

It has been a while since I posted any of the Do Good Stitches quilt blocks I have been making. Every month I make blocks as part of this charity Bee and I love it. I look forward to the first of the month when the new pattern is put up on our Flickr Group and I always eagerly make the blocks. I love being challenged to make things that I would not usually make in colour schemes I may not necessarily think to put together.

Twice a year I get to be the Queen and set the block and in June I choose this block and colour scheme for my month….

The block is from a free pattern by Clover and Violet which they originally put up as part of a Christmas quilt they were making. The colour tweaks I made changed how the finished block looks and made for a striking quilt top…

I love how the yellow strings make a grid pattern and the stars just pop. Each of my fellow Do Good Bee members made two blocks, so there is so much variety in the stars, which I LOVE.

One of my favorite bits about being Queen Bee is getting to see all the blocks as they come in and ohh and ahh over the fabric used (I may have a bit of stash envy!).

When these blocks came in I absolutely fell in love with the Barbar fabric one of my fellow quilters used…

I have not seen this fabric before and am now obsessed with getting my hands on some. It is so fabulous. This quilt top is now awaiting quilting and binding and then it will go out into the world to Do Good! I am Queen again in November and I have already started planning what block I am going to set.

31Aug2015

Some more mini fun for Paper Piecing Monday

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

A couple of months ago I signed up for another mini quilt swap, this time for Heather Ross fabric… it was another opportunity to make a fun little quilt and I could not resist.

When I pulled out my Heather Ross stash I knew I wanted a quilt block that allowed me to do some serious fussy cutting…and after some umming and ahhing I decided on a simple triangle block.

These blocks are 2 1/2 inches square and are the perfect size to fit some of the darling illustrations on the fabric…

I made each block individually, so that I could play with layout and colour placement… and turn one block on its side….

But for the free pattern for this mini quilt, I included a two triangle block to make things a little quicker and easier, if you know you layout before you start. You can find the free pattern PDF here….Triangle mini quilt pattern

I was away when the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt swap sign ups were on… but with 1008 people signed up to play there is going to be a lot of mini quilt activity over the next couple of months on Instagram, Flickr and blogs. I love it.

29Aug2015

100 Quilts for Kids

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

It is my favorite time of the year… and I am a little late to the party this year. It is the 100 Quilts for Kids drive which this year is being hosted by Quilts in the Queue. 100 Quilts for Kids is an annual charity quilt drive to encourage quilters to make a quilt, donate it to a child in need, and be entered for fabulous prizes for their efforts. In 2015, 100 Quilts for Kids will run from August 1st-September 30th. When you have finished a quilt you add it to the Link party to be entered.

For me it is not about winning a prize (though that is nice), I use this drive as a kick up the butt to finish up quilts for Project Linus. So to kick off this years Quilts for Kids run I finished up these two beauties…

I used the Gigantic Fancy Fox pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. I love this pattern, it was so easy to finish up a baby quilt in no time…. so I made one in pink and one in blue.

A selection of Kona solids, some simple quilting, a single cloth back and I have two lovely quilts to drop off at Project Linus this week. The quilts finish up at 30 x 36 inches which is a great size for a baby.

So for the next couple of weeks I will be trying to finish up as many of my work in progress quilts which I have been procrastinating about and encourage you to do the same. Make a simple quilt or dust off some old WIPs or orphan blocks and finish a quilt or two for a Kids charity in your area.