Building some more houses…

Paper piecing Monday is back this week, after a flu induced hiatus, with another house block…

This 10 x 10 inch paper pieced block was a not as complex as my last block… I am getting better at this house designing thing. I simplified some of it to make sure that I was not dealing with too many little bits.

The roof construction was the only fiddly bit for me. You can find the paper piecing pattern here….WQ house Block 2.

More houses next week… and I also include a wip with the blocks done so far.

25Apr2014

Metallic Mini Finished

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

This week I managed to get my Modern Metallic mini quilt finished, just in time to get it entered in PNW Metallic Challenge competition.

This quilt is made up of 3 inch log cabin blocks, you can find the paper piecing pattern I used in my original post. As it was a metallic challenge I choose my most favorite metallic fabric, Michael Miller’s Mirror Ball Dot in Rice, Silver, Platinum, Onyx and a splash of Citron.

I knew I really wanted to quilt with metallic thread though I had never done it before. First up I tried hand quilting but that was an unmitigated disaster. Metallic thread is so fine that I was just making a hash of everything. After several attempts to get hand quilting to work, I finally resorted to machine quilting, which has its own issues.

This time I was smart enough to do some online research… resulting in a tips list:

1. Use a new, sharp needle.
2. Load a lighter weight neutral thread in your bobbin
3. Loosen the upper tension on your machine and make sure the metallic thread is not catching on any particular point.
4. Stitch really really slowly to avoid breakage.
5. Try not to get too upset when the thread breaks.

I can not imagine trying to quilt a normal size quilt with metallic thread. I do not have the patience to even attempt such a feat but I will be forever in awe of anyone who is crazy enough to do it!

As for the last step, binding, I was ridiculously indecisive and actually bound this quilt twice! My first biding was a citron solid – which I was not thrilled with and so unpicked. I finally settled on a solid black binding, something neutral and not too fussy. I have never unpicked a binding before but when you are dealing with something so small you can make these rash decisions and change your mind without too much hassle.

Quilt Details:

Block: 3 inch paper pieced log cabin
Fabric: Mirror Ball Dot
Finished size: 15 x 15 inches

23Apr2014

Keeping the volume on low…

Posted in Quilts by wombatquilts

First for all thanks for all the well wishes over the last two weeks… it has been slow going but after 10 days of wallowing in self-pity I am slowly getting back into quilting. Yesterday I finally put the machine back up and sewed a little… I thought I was at last okay enough to “operate heavy machinery”.

So I have been slowly, very slowly quilting a darling low volume quilt I had pieced before I got sick. Actually I have pieced two quilts which are almost identical – they use the same fabric but just arranged differently. It is a custom order for two gorgeous twin toddlers who happen to really like pink… girls after my own heart.

I have also discovered another joy of quilting in the last two days – you can do a little sewing and then have a lie down when you need to.

I promise I will be back on schedule next week…

18Apr2014

Oh the plans I had…

Posted in Quilts by wombatquilts

This week has been a lost week for me. I got smacked hard by the Flu and have not sewn or been near fabric since Monday..yep I have been that sick! I had so many plans for this week… so many things that needed to get finished. Oh well.

I was going to just write this blogging week off as well, but for some reason, in my Flu state, I thought it would be a good idea to share the quilt top I finished a little while ago. It is a quilt top that I was not originally going to post pictures of, as my husband had declared it the “ugliest” quilt he had ever seen. Now emboldened by an assortment of cold and flu medication here goes…

Now in defense of this top, it was made using a bunch of unloved orphan blocks from the PMQG charity drive. There are some lovely blocks in the top, but overall the colour scheme is not me.

Putting the top together I took apart some blocks, cut up others and generally took liberties. I just loved the challenge of seeing if I could make this work somehow.

In hindsight I think I would approach the task differently and use more negative space… putting in solid fabrics instead of some of the cut down blocks. Next time… and there will be a next time because there are more of these orphan blocks.

So on this Friday I say it is time for the ugly quilts to come out of the closet. Share your fuglies. Photography them. Facebook them. Instagram them. Let them have their moment in the sun.

Okay I am now going back to bed with my tissues and my Dayquil.

14Apr2014

Paper Piecing Monday #opgivewarmth

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

Welcome to a special Paper Piecing Monday. Recently the fabulous Sarah @ nohatsinthehouse set up a wonderful Bee like charity drive called #opgivewarmth. The general idea is that each month Sarah will set a colour palette and each month you can send in a block or blocks to her using any of the colours on the palette.

April is the first month for this endeavor and Sarah set this palette for the challenge

I love all these colours separately and there are some fabulous colour combinations in this palette (pink, red and tan is a personal favorite). In a moment of insanity I thought I would do some paper piecing blocks with ALL these colours included. The result was…

This fabulously trippy star block is a free pattern from Piece by Numbers called Indian Summer. There are two different layouts for this pattern and you can find it at Craftsy. This block is so weird but it is growing on me!

Sarah requested blocks in increments of 3 inches. My trippy star is 12 x 12 inch and just for a bit of variety I made up a couple of 3 x 6 inch blocks…

I was going to sew these blocks together to make 6 x 6 blocks but after making a couple of sampler quilts myself I know it is important to have some flexibility with blocks. So I am going to send the flying geese as is, and Sarah can use them as she needs.

You can find the pattern for this block at Quilers Cache in a variety of different sizes. I think the next time I may choose just to use a selection of the colours… but then again I do love a challenge!