An abundancy of turquioise

This month there are a couple of resolutions in our house, that may or may not work. Firstly my husband thought it would be a good idea if we did not eat any processed sugar during May. I do not remember agreeing to this at all, but it seems that sugar is off the menu. If the posts get erratic, the colours get to bright or I stop making sense, it is because I am suffering withdrawals.

The second resolution for May was to finish up more of the quilt tops I have floating around. This resolution came about as I finished another two quilt tops this week and the pile of UFOs grew to an embarrassing level. More quilting less piecing. Combine this resolution with the other one and it could be an interesting month!

Anyway the two tops I finished up this week are both from the same pattern…. I blogged them originally here. I used this pattern…

..to make this quilt.

This was a fun scrap quilt to make – lots of turquoise, navy (my favorite colour) and pink/purple. I really like this colour combination, which I stumbled across while playing with my piles of fabric.

The other quilt top I finished was my 1001 Peeps top.

I was battling the wind when I was taking these photos. It is the problem of photographing tops as opposed to full quilts – there is no weight to hold them in place in even a gentle breeze.

It is another reason why I have to quilt these suckers before I post. I see a lot of basting in my near future!

29Apr2013

Paper Piecing Monday Boston Edition

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday, Quilt patterns, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

This week’s paper piecing blocks are in destined for the Quilts for Boston project. Last week the Boston Modern Quilt Guild put out a call for blocks, in the Boston Marathon colours, that will be made into quilts that will be “distributed those who would benefit from a show of support”.

So I grabbed some fabric…..

And went in search of some paper piecing patterns. I eventually decided to use two of the fabulous Lucky Star Block of the Month (BOM) patterns from Elizabeth at Don’t Call me Betsy. I signed up at the beginning of the year for the monthly paper piecing fix and I have been thoroughly enjoying making the patterns each month. I picked two of my favorite stars so far to make this week.

Block 1 is test block that we got in January, when the program started.

The block is made up of 8 triangle sections which give you a lot of options for playing with fabric and colour.

The second block I did was a simpler pattern from the series, but still lots of fun.

This blocks is made up of four sections and was really quick and easy to pull together.

I am hoping to get some more blocks done this week, and I will post as I finish them.

22Apr2013

Paper Piecing Monday

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

We are back to paper piecing stars for the next couple of Mondays. I am only a few stars away from finishing the blocks for my quilt and with that in mind I present to you block 18 of my quilt.

A gentler star than some in the previous weeks, the pattern is again from Carol Doak’s “50 Fabulous Paper Piecing Stars“. The Nebraska star is a simple 48 piece block. It would make a fun scrappy star as well, though with this one I went more uniformed.

Now only two more to go. I am excited to get these quilt blocks finished so I can start playing with quilt layout. Do not fear that paper piecing Monday is going anywhere – I already have a couple of ideas for the next round.

16Apr2013

Jacaranda inspired wip Wednesday

Posted in Quilt patterns, Scrap quilts, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

This week I have been working on a quilt that was inspired by the Jacaranda tree and in particular the silk screen print my brother-in-law did. The print has been sitting in my quilting room, waiting to be framed, and this week I thought the colours would work well for a quilt.

I played with the idea of purple with black & white fabrics, but felt I have been overusing my b/w stash. Instead I went with greys and choose a pattern that reminded me of a tree (but ended up looking like an arrow!). The end result of my test run was this collection of blocks.

I think I am going to have fun with this one. I have made some grey/grey blocks and some purple/purple blocks and can not wait to start playing with some random layouts. My husband wanted me to put some order into the layout – he is a science geek and loves there to be pattern, even if it is hidden. Me, I love random when I can get it. I think that is why I love scrap quilting so much, it allows for random in amongst the pattern.

The pattern is a free paper piecing pattern from Christine Thresh which can be found here. I just pulled the gif from the site and sized it up in Photoshop.

I also managed this weekend to finish a couple quilt tops that I had lying around. The first one is the 1001 Peeps top I started a last week. It was quick, easy and fun to make. Now all I have to do is quilt it and bind it.

The other top I finished was not so quick and easy… I have been trying to finish it for weeks. It was a little more fiddly than some of my other patterns but worth the effort. I still have to pull all the paper off the back but I have trained my husband up to help with this process, so it should be quick.

I am trying to train myself to not start a new project until I have finished one of my old ones. The question then becomes, does finishing a top count or do I only count quilted and bound projects?

8Apr2013

Paper Piecing Monday

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday, Quilt patterns by wombatquilts

May I present the Washington Star from Carol Doak’s “50 Fabulous Paper Piecing Stars“.

I went with scraps again – I have so many little bits and pieces I feel obliged to use what I can. The scraps combined with the background fabric (from Aneela Hooey’s “Sherbert Pips”) has made for a very busy but modern block. I think this is a paper pattern you could really play with to get very different blocks depending on your fabric/colour placement.

The actual block segments were an easy piece – just 64 fabric bits make up this complete block.

I am now heading back to the sewing machine. I have 5 different projects in various stages spread out around our living room. I have to do some sewing and then some cleaning before the husband gets home. Does anyone else have little bits of thread scattered all over the house?