Liberty Butterflies

It has been a while since I have done a Paper Piecing Monday post, as I have not been doing as much paper piecing lately…. but this week I started a fun little project…. Liberty Butterflies.

butterfly block 2

Everyday I am making one butterfly, just to so I am keeping my paper piecing skills sharp!

butterfly block 1

The pattern I am using for these darling 5 inch butterflies is a free one from Lillyella… and you can find the pattern for all three of Nicole’s butterflies here...

butterfly block detail

These blocks are a great way to use up some of my little scraps of Liberty… it does not take too much fabric to make a butterfly.

butterfly quilt block detail

I am not sure what I will do with these when I am done but I am sure I can come up with some way to use them all.  You will find the latest butterflies in my Instagram feed if you want to track the projects progress…. now I am off to make today’s butterfly…

 

Some bad habits…

Some bad habits have formed over here at Wombat Quilts.  I seem to have got out of the routine of documenting what I am up to, and in turn out of the habit of blogging.  After a stern talking too from my darling husband I am trying to get back into the swing of writing more regularly…

The good news is that I have a plenty of finished quilts to share.. because I have not blogging does not mean I have not been making….

So turning over this new/old leaf I am starting this Friday with a lovely work in progress I have just finished…

finished green star quilt

Yep my Paper Piecing Monday green star quilt is now done… thanks in part to the wonderful long arm services of Kazumi Peterson.

quilt details 5

Last week I did a talk at a local Traditional quilt guild and while preparing my talk I realised that I had given away most of my quilts…. I have kept a handful but I wanted more to show.  So there was a couple of weeks of feverish activity to get some quilts done, as well as a trip or two to my local long armer.

quilt details 2

I really love how the quilt to turned out with all those lovely 8 inch stars floating about on a sea of scrappy low volume prints…

quilt detail 6

There is a lot of work in this quilt, but doing a star a week really makes the process less daunting…

star detail

If you are crazy enough to want to make your own version the patterns for all these stars are on the blog… you can find them under the “Free Paper Piecing Patterns” tab.

quilt details 4

I love the movement that quilting gives the stars… it is just a simple all over pattern but it is really effective…

quilting details

I must admit I also love the little flying geese blocks I scattered around the border of the quilt… I am not usually one for adding borders but this quilt needed some space around it, and the three little triangles on all sides made everything all right…

flying geese details

To finish everything off I hand bound the quilt using a variety of scrappy solid and marbled greens….

binding

This quilt also marks another finish for this quarters Finish-Along.  After a very slack first quarter I have taken a decent bite out of my WIP list, while adding only a handful of new projects to my slate!  If you want more information on the Finish-Along check out Debbie at A Quilter’s Table post… this quarter’s fun is already underway but you can always join in next quarter.  It really has been a wonderful way to keep myself focused on finishing stuff and not just making new WIPs!!!

Oh no more stars…

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…

adventure block 1

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).

block pieces 1

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

Another miniature Paper Piecing Monday

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.

Liberty fabric

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….

heart block

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.

miniture liberty hearts

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

Do Good Stitches PP Monday

I am finally back… did you miss me…  This week I am sharing the pattern for a 6 inch traditional block called Birds in the Air.  I made this pattern after this block was set as this months Do.good.stitches assignment…

Do Good stitches block

The idea of doing that many tiny half square triangles traditionally was too daunting for me…. but this pattern makes it so easy…. you can find the free PDF pattern here…Do Good Stitches block pattern

The process was so easy that I managed to get four blocks made in no time… and I love how they look together….

Do Good Stitches block layout

I am not sure what Grace, our fearless leader this month has in mind for the layout but I am loving how the possibilities…