A very Pink wip Wednesday

Posted in Quilt patterns, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

This week I have been working my way through a friend’s copy of Tula Pink’s “100 Modern Quilt Blocks” . It has been a lot of fun.

I started by pulling some soft, pretty fabrics. It was the name, Tula Pink that made me want to go with this palette. I pulled soft pinks, reds and greys including a handful of solids.

Then I worked my way through some of the patterns I had flagged. One by one I selected the fabric, cut it, then sewed the block together. It was a slow, deliberate process and I loved every minute of it. I definitely do not have as much done as I would pre-cutting my fabric and working with just one pattern but this is a refreshing change of pace.

My work space is little more hectic as well, but I found a great use for my cookbook holder….

At the end of yesterday I had a nice little pile of blocks…

Here are some of my favorite so far, using the books numbering system to name them.

Block 72

Block 79

Block 96

Block 36

Block 12

Block 32

I have about 40 more blocks to go… this is another “on going project” that may take a while!

3May2013

An abundancy of turquioise

Posted in Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

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!

12Apr2013

The joy of 5 inch squares.

Posted in Finished Quilts, Project Linus, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

Last year I had a brief period of time when I had some back issues that meant that sitting was not a fun thing to do. I decided that, seeing I could not sit at a sewing machine, I would cut fabric. For weeks I cut 5 inch squares out of my scraps and stash. The end result was hundreds and hundreds of 5 inch squares. Now all I had to do was find ways to use them.

My first step was to make a pile of simple baby quilts for Project Linus which played with colour (please excuse the dodgy i-phone photos).

This year I have got a little more creative with the squares, while still keeping it simple. First I used the squares as the basis for my wonky star quilt which you can see here. I then used the left over bits and pieces of that quilt (plus some left over scrappy white squares) to make this.

The 5 inch squares were used for the center pieces of the block, the background of the quilt plus I cut a number of the squares diagonally and used these triangles to make the star points. Wonky star quilts really are so ridiculously easy.

The latest quilt I used my 5 inch squares on is my extra-large granny square quilt, which I have just finished.

With this quilt I just lay the blocks down diagonally to make the pattern, sewed the blocks together then trimmed the extra edges and it was ready to go. Again ridiculously easy.

With both these quilts I did a simple straight quilting, running down both sides of the “ditch”.

The backing for both these quilts is from Ikea. The granny squares got the most fabulous fun lips fabric as it’s back (yes the photo is upside down!)

And for the wonky stars I went with a simple black & white music note fabric.

What I love about Ikea fabrics is their width. You can easily piece larger kids quilts with one piece of fabric plus their prints are really fun. Both these quilts are now finally finished and ready for delivery this month to Project Linus.

9Apr2013

Triangle love – wip Wednesday

Posted in Quilt patterns, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

This week I have been playing with triangles just to try something different. Some months back I bought a triangle ruler after seeing some many fabulous triangle quilts on-line. I promptly came home and cut stacks of fabric and made my first triangle quilt.

The finished quilt was cute but far from perfect. The blocks did not line up exactly which annoyed me no end, and it was more time-consuming than I had thought it would be. I put the triangle ruler away in a drawer and moved on.

Fast forward 6 months and I had the urge to try triangles again. This time I found a paper piecing pattern in my copy of “Modern Blocks” which I scanned and amended a little. The end result was blocks that looked like this.

I love this pattern. It can easily be done free hand, using a triangle ruler and 1 1/2 inch strips. I have been playing with this block over the last couple of days using two different kinds of fabric from my stash. The above blocks are part of my scrappy quilt, which is coming together like this.

I love the olive and hot pink colour combination, but I did discover that my stash has a disturbing lack of bright pink. There is a trip to the fabric store in my future to rectify the situation. I also took this pattern and tried it out with some Denyse Schmdit fabrics I had in my stash.

I am not totally sure about this version of the block. I like the idea of using just one print in the middle with appropriate fabrics for the outside sashing but I think I may need a stronger central print. What do you think?

22Mar2013

Loud, bright and fun… the quilt

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

.. and the nephew. When I was back in Australia I took the opportunity to photograph the quilt I made my nephew last year. I finished the quilt just before I started blogging and forgot to photograph it before I sent it on its way. Better late than never right….

This pattern was an out-and-out steal/borrow from a “do good stitches” quilt posted on Blue Elephant’s site. I fell in love with the pattern immediately and thought it would be great for my nephew. The block is simple and the directions are easy and clear – its foundation is a 16 piece block of rainbow colours. If you are interested in the pattern check out the above link for all the great instruction straight from the source.

For the back of the quilt I used some of the extra blocks I had. I usually have blocks left over because I make more than I need so that I have choices when I am putting the finished quilt together.

This quilt replaced a baby quilt I made for my sister about 12 years ago. I actually made the quilt without knowing that my sister was pregnant or what sex the baby would be. All I knew was I was heading out on an adventure and I did not know when I would be able to quilt again. This is the much-loved, much washed old quilt.

Photographing these quilts involved more time and effort than usual as there was much misbehaving, silliness and photo-bombing going on.

In amongst the crazy I did manage to get a photo of Miss Banana and her new quilt.

What I did not manage to photograph was the hilarious sight of my 6ft tall husband walking around Portland Airport with a pink and yellow quilt sticking out of his backpack. It is a sight I will not forget in a hurry.