A little more Improv…

I have done quite a bit of Improv quilting over the course of the last year or so…. for me it is a great way to dust off the cobwebs, particularly if I have lost my sewjo a little.

So this wonky log cabin was a fun project that started after I had collected a hug bag of navy scraps….

So I started with the navy scraps and as I begin putting the log cabin blocks together the navy seemed boring… it needed a little something to give it a lift. It just so happens that I had a small scrap pile of orange bits that were left over from another quilt and the navy and orange were the perfect combination.

The orange is the perfect contrasting color to the blue… these two colors are actually opposite each other on the color wheel…. which just enhances the impact of the color splashes.

The trick is to only put a few pieces of the highlight color in each of the log cabin blocks…. some of the orange is a full strip and other bits of orange are only inserted into the navy strip…. and I think those little splashes are the most successful pops of color.

Because of the randomness of the orange inserts your eye moves around the quilt more… hunting out those little splashes of contrast.

This quilt is also already out in the wild. I made it after the hospital said they needed a few more quilts for older teenage boys. I am a pink girl through and through but I loved the challenge of making something not too girly.

16Feb2018

I was not joking about my new obsession…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

Last week I said had a Cotton and Steel…and to prove it here is Exhibit B….

hop skip jump cs quilt

This pretty little thing was made using a pattern from V & Co called Hop Skip Jump. It is just one block but two different color ways to give the scattered affect.

Cotton steel quilt

The prints are all Cotton and Steel prints, of course with Kona Snow background….

hop skip detail

The block is made up of half square triangles and broken dishes sections…. I became quite proficient at matching my points by the end of this process. I may have cheated a little by using glue basting to match my seams for the broken dishes section of the block… but don’t tell anyone!

hop skip detail 2

What I really love about the Cotton and Steel selection in this quilt is their “kind of grey” color that they use. It is not quite a grey and not quite a bone color. It is really a unique color shade that they use over and over again in their prints. I must admit my stash of this color took a big hit with this quilt particularly because…

cs quilt back

I used a swath of it on the back. This print did not work in the block so I kept it whole on the back. I know the typewriters are the wrong way but I love them anyway… and as always the kid that gets this quilt is not going to care at all.

QUILT DETAILS:

Pattern: Hop Skip Jump by V & Co
Fabric: Assorted Cotton & Steel prints and Kona Snow
Finished size: 60 x 72 inches
Expert quilt holding: Mr Wombat

8Jan2015

Looking forward and looking back…

Posted in Other fun stuff by wombatquilts

This week, as I was reading peoples posts of their quilting goals for 2015, I was reminded that I had made a list for 2014 and that I really should revisit it….

I was a little hesitant but I am please to say that 2014 was not a complete bust and I did accomplish some of my 2014 goals including finishing my Briar Rose Quilt, my Granny Square quilt, my Red star quilt and my Tula Pink quilt. I am also very pleased that I managed to conquer my fear of curves this year.

2014 also saw some great firsts for me including being a finalist in this years MQG Michael Miller Challenge with this quilt…

and I was published in a magazine…

and I was thrilled to be selected as part of Sew Mama Sew’s “31 Inspiring Quilters” series.

Unfortunately the 2014 list also contained some things that now have to carry over into my 2015 list so to those projects I need to add…..

1. Quilt up my UFO quilt tops including my Jaffa quilt …

My Altlantic Sea quilt…

and my PMQG Medallion Quilt

2. Finish some of the projects that are currently sitting in boxes in my craft room including..

and

I actually have 11 shoe boxes with WIP blocks in them and 9 quilt tops which need quilting. I may have a commitment problem, I admit it!

So I have decided that in January I am not allowed to start any more projects at all and I am going to spend January and February trying to clear the backlog. I am not sure if I am strong enough not to start anything new but some of the projects are so old it will feel like they are new…right…right… oh please say they will!

17Dec2014

Continuing the catch up with curves

Posted in Quilt patterns, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

I am still playing catch up… and today’s work in progress is another project that was on my design wall before we headed to Australia… to give you a hint it all started with this…

Yep I have been making more curved blocks! It is not my fault really…you see after cutting out this quilt (you can read about the original crazy here..) I realised I had a whole collection of pink/purple quarter circles… what is a girl to do but make more blocks out of the scraps.

So I made some Drunkard paths like this…

Which became blocks like this…

So my design wall was looking like this…

I played a little with proportions on this block, making the black and white background blocks larger than the background blocks of the previous quilt. I think the solid circles hold their own well against the scrappy.

I also discovered that the smaller the circles get the harder the curved sewing becomes. This curved block is 11 inches finished, with the full circle being 8 inches in diameter.

Now of course I have a pile of black and white quarter circles, which are going to become there own quilt… yes it is a rabbit hole of curves but I already have a cunning plan for the latest scraps… I just need the time to implement it!

As it is Wednesday I am linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced…

14Jul2014

My highlights from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Posted in Other fun stuff by wombatquilts

I beg your indulgence as I replace this week’s Paper Piecing Monday with a selection of highlights from my weekend at the Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show. First up has to be…

The firemen putting up the quilts. We arrived early (around 7.45am) to set up the PMQG bits and pieces for the show and managed to see quite a few of the quilts go up.

This was my first time to the Sister’s Show and I was blown away by the volume of quilts. Everywhere you look there were quilts hanging from building… over a thousand of them in total.

What follows is a smattering of the quilts that caught my eye on Saturday, starting with some of the PMQG quilts…

: Ann Marie Cowley’s Pantone Quilt

: Cheri Langley’s Converging Corners Quilt

And on the other side of the building Elizabeth Hartman’s new Sampler quilt was hanging…

There were modern quilts scattered all over town including…

: Parts Department by Jeanette Pilak

: Untitled by Maren Johnson

This quilt is made up of the same little block, the detail is just amazing….

: Detail of Lines and Spaces by Carol Webb

: Detail of Teal Zeal by Elizabeth Beck

In the air-conditioned library (it got close to 100 degrees outside) local quilt artists Wendy Hill and Pat Pease had an exhibition of their amazing work…

And the Central Oregon Modern Quilt Guild had a wonderful exhibition of its members quilts, which all used the Ohio Star block in the most wonderful ways including Katy’s Camp Fire Ohio Star…

and this wonderful quilt with the Ohio Star printed onto the quilt… genius!

: Ohio Wedding by Christy Merrit

Scattered around town there were a number of quilts that used denims in their construction including…

: Aerial View by Diana Jacks

The details in this quilt are amazing..

I can not imagine piecing such a thick fabric let alone quilting it… but Diane Jackson managed to do the most amazing quilting on her piece “Red Square”.

: Detail of Red Square by Diane Jackson

Animals were also well represented in the show with my favorites being this fellow…

and Elizabeth Hartman’s Liberty Fox quilt…

There were of course hundreds of more classic quilts including the fabulously scrappy…

: Pineapples for Joanne by Jane Jensen Davis

: Poppy Blaze Big Bang by Sheree Lloyd

As well as some beautiful vintage quilts….

But my favorite of the show has to be this beauty…

: Under the Waves by Malleva Abenes

It is a seriously amazing quilt… and that wave… wow….

To finish up I leave you with our Modern Quilters group shot. Towards the end of the day a group of modern quilters from all over gathered to say hi before scattering to the wind…