Another Do Good finish…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

I am back with another finished Do Good Stitches quilt… actually the weather in Portland has been lovely these last couple of weeks so I had the chance to photograph a few quilts which I will share over the coming weeks… but first up…

These blocks were made by myself and my fellow Hope Circle Bee hive members. I love a good wonky star and this block was extra fun because of the low volume background.

Using blacks and dark grey for the stars meant that the fabric we used as the background could have more color and interest in it. The stars were going to stand out against just about anything we threw at them… so we went fussy cut, novelty print crazy. The background does make for a good game of I spy.

The only low volumes that were a little problematic were the black and white ones… and only when they were used in making the star points. When choosing your low volume fabrics for a project it is always a good idea to:

(1) double check that they read low volume…. I do this using the mono chrome setting on my phone camera. Some low volumes can be deceiving and are tonally much darker than they appear.

(2) check that the print does not interfere or intersect with the foreground or main fabric. I have had this happen when the low volume print have had a strong print with the same color in it as my foreground fabric (this is why the black and white prints could be problematic with this quilt).

Because of the structure of this block you have a bit of built in negative space to play with. The block uses 3 1/2 inch squares, so one side of the block is just negative space (you can find the directions for the block here)…

Scrappy wonky Star 12 inch block

This allows you to play with the layout of the stars on the finished quilt. The layout can be uniformed or more off grid, like I did.

I must admit I loved the randomness of the star layout in this top… I think it gets your eye moving around the quilt in interesting ways.

As always this quilt is heading out into the world to do some good… at our local Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. So many hands help make this beauty and I am constantly reminded how many good people there are out there in the world, trying to make a difference.

Quilt Details:

Block: 12 inch off set wonky star
Fabric: Scraps and more scraps
Size: 60″ x 60″

1May2018

It is time for another Bee Block….

Posted in Quilt patterns by wombatquilts

Ah yes it is that time again… I am setting another block for my fellow Do Good Stitches gang… and this month snuck up on me so I have resorted to a variation of an old faithful….the wonky star…

For this 12 inch block I used:

Fifteen (15) low volume 3 1/2 inch squares
One (1) black/dark grey 3 1/2 inch square
Eight (8) black grey triangles – I used scraps but you can cut a 3 inch square in half to make the triangles.

Step one is to make the star points:

To make the star points you will need 4 of your low volume squares and your triangle pieces.

Take one of the squares and sew a triangle onto one corner, making sure the pattern sides of your fabric are together and when the triangle is flipped it covers the corner of your square.

Next trim the excess low volume fabric from the corner and press the triangle over into place.

Then add another triangle of fabric to the other side of the square…. sew it down … trim the excess low volume fabric and press over.

Your next step is to trim your block back down to 3 1/2 inches square.

The back of your block should look like this…. now repeat the process until you have 4 star point sections.

Step Two:

Lay out your block as illustrated….

Step Three:

Sew the block together in rows… then sew the rows together to make a completed block.

What I love about this block is that has built in negative space which allows for you to stagger the stars layout when putting the quilt top together. You can also make a couple of blocks that are just low volume squares (no star) to break up the layout of the quilt.

In the coming months I will have two different variations of this quilt to show you, as I also used this block recently at out Guild charity sew day. For the sew day we used a rainbow of solids and a white star which gave us a really fun bright quilt. If you want to see a work in progress shot of that quilt head over to my Instagram account.

4Apr2018

Forgive my tardiness…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

This week I am sharing a quilt that I finished up a while ago but I completely forgot to share…. though the photos are not brilliant as they were taken quickly before I gifted the quilt.

finished fox quilt

This quilt is one of the rare quilts I have made for and given to a friend… a friend who has an affinity with foxes needless to say….

I actually started making this quilt a few years ago, well before I taught classes on making Elizabeth Hartman’s Fancy Forest. I learnt so much teaching and I wish I had known how to make her patterns before I started this….

fox quilt detail 2

Some of things I learnt the hard way is to make sure you are cutting accurately (there is no wiggle room in her patterns)…sew with a scant quarter inch to give yourself some leeway …. and make sure you trim the subsections to the correct size before you sew the block together.

fox quilt detail

As this quilt was a gift I sent it out to be quilted and loved the wood grain that was used to finish it up. I also learnt with this quilt it is worth taking the time to take decent photos… and I now try very hard to get good photos before I send the quilt out into the world. Mr Wombat did not even get a chance to stick out his pinkies…we were in that much of a hurry.

But my friend shared a great photo on Instagram which shows the quilt in the wild…

katies cat

Quilt Details:

Pattern: Fancy Fox by Elizabeth Hartman
Fabric: Various orange/red scraps.
Kona White and Windsor for faces and Cross Hatch in blue grey.
Size: 60 x 72 inches

23Mar2018

Saved the best for last…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

So this is my favorite Cotton & Steel quilt I have made so far…. and yes it uses the same block as last week’s quilt – the Ohio Star. I always use the wonderful tutorial by The Sewing Chick when making this block.

Same quilt block but such a different quilt…. the Cotton & Steel fabric really make this quilt sing…

…modern, bright and fun. It always surprises me how different quilts can look with different fabric…

This version feels so much more scrappy because of all the different low volume fabric used (there is not one repeat!)…

Oh and all the colors used… I did have a blast fussy cutting the centers for these blocks…

The beautiful quilting was done by our wonderful guild member Kazumi Peterson, who is so generous to our Charity program with her time and talent.

I finished the quilt with just a solid navy binding… the quilt is so fabulously busy it did not seem to need anything else.

So this is Cotton & Steel quilt number 5 and I have just finished the top for number 6. I may have a C&S problem and they are not helping at all… have you seen the latest collection to hit stores? It is called Spectacle and is by the amazing artist Christian Robinson. Now in my defense I have not bought EVERYTHING they have released but they really do make fabulous fabric.

Quilt Details:

Quilt Block: 12 inch Ohio Star block
Fabric: Various lines from Cotton & Steel
Size: 60 x 72 inches

9Feb2018

Cotton & Steel is my new obsession…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

I have a confession to make… I am obsessed with Cotton and Steel fabrics. I have been hoarding (and using) them a lot lately. Today I am sharing one of the many C&S quilts I have made lately…

cotton steel cross quilt

This quilt used tons and tons of different Cotton & Steel Prints – actually there is a print from every fabric line they have released… all cut into 3 1/2 inch squares. I must admit I cheated a bit and used my Accuquilt cutter to cut all the fabric which made things much quicker.

cotton steel cross quilt 2

Because so many of the C&S fabric lines have the same or similar color stories it makes it easy to mix and match all the fabric…

cs quilt detail 2

And oh the fussy cut potential. I had so much fun. All the blocks have a navy blue center and there is a plethora of low volume goodness as well…

cs cross detail

I quilted this quilt myself on my Bernina and using my walking foot. I just followed my seam lines… simple but serviceable for this simple patchwork quilt.

cs cross quilt detail