Cushion addicton…

I have recently become slightly obsessed with quilted cushions. It all began when I started making class sample for Modern Domestic (my local quilt shop)…and it has not stopped yet.

After making my tiny Economy block mini quilt I wanted to do a bigger version of the block, just for fun. Using a 5 inch block I made this easy cushion in no time…

I used more of my Cotton and Steel stash and just loved fussy cutting the little bunnies in particular…they are so darling. What I love about the Economy block is it is so easy to pick three colours – with this pillow it was pink, navy and yellow… and just go.

Your colourway guides your fabric choices as you rummage through your scraps and stash. As I was pulling fabric I made sure I had a variety of tones – lights and darks in the three colours. The rest is as easy…make the blocks and sew them together. Because you have a coherent colour scheme you can lay out the blocks randomly and get beautiful results.

The cushion top took twenty 5 inch blocks or if you are more adventurous you can do a baby quilt with just sixty three (63) blocks..

This cushion gave me my first opportunity to test out the walking foot on the Bernina 550… and oh what fun it was…

It was so easy to attach the foot (unlike my old machine which involved screw drivers and painters tape!) and the sewing was a breeze. I can not wait to try a bigger quilt with this foot. Hopefully next week I will have quilt done and dusted!

13Feb2015

Scrap busting quilt…

Posted in Finished Quilts by wombatquilts

This morning I managed to finish up the improv baby quilt I started last week.

I started making blocks last week as a way to take a break from doing old WIP’s (see my original post about the process) and found myself making blocks here and there as I worked on other things.

The blocks are all random improv and used up quite a nice selection of my low volume and pastel scrap stash.

There are lots of novelty prints with enough bits and pieces to play a good game of I spy (aka eye spy). But for me the most fun of this whole process was the quilting. If you follow this blog you know I am determined this year to get better at free motion quilting and this week I got some help.

Last Friday I took delivery of a wonderful Bernina 550, which I have on loan to play with and oh what a difference a good machine makes. When it came to quilting this baby up, I was excited to attach the free motion foot and stitch regulator and really play.

Now the quilting is far from perfect but it is okay and so much better than anything I have free motioned before…. and most importantly it was great fun to do. I just free motioned squares and I am now chomping at the bit to try some new things. I have dusted off my Angela Waters books and bought Christina Cameli’s new book “Step by Step Free Motion Quilting” and I am ready to get serious about this quilting thing.

9Feb2015

A little miniature fun

Posted in Finished Quilts, Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

Any one who is active on Instragram will be aware of the flurry of miniature quilt swaps going on at the moment and last week I finally succumbed signed up for one … now if I am honest I would say that I did not always get what was so cool about miniatures but I finally worked it out…

(a) It is a quilt you can complete quickly and easy and have the satisfaction of a finish

(b) You can try new techniques quickly and easily (I keep thinking they are going to be a great way to practice my free motion quilting).

So with this in mind I had some fun this weekend making 3 inch Economy blocks…

What I love about the Economy block is that it allows for really great fussy cutting and what I love about paper piecing is that it allows for accuracy when working on such a small scale.

I must admit I got a little carried away and finished a whole mini quilt this weekend…

You can find a pattern sheet for these blocks here….Miniature Economy Block and these mini blocks will join my mini log cabin and my mini flying geese patterns in the “Free paper piecing pattern” tab.

I must tell you I am not done yet with miniature patterns…but it is back to green stars next week…promise.

6Feb2015

Wee Wanders finish

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilts by wombatquilts

This week I managed to get a proper finish on one of my old wip quilt tops…finally.

This darling quilt has been made for a friend’s daughter who lives on a horse ranch. When I saw the fabulous fabric I knew I had to make her a quilt with these horses on it..

The block I used is a modern interpretation of a classic block. You can see my original post about starting this project from July last year, which includes a link to the block pattern HERE.

Most of the fabric is from the Michael Miller Fabric’s Wee Wanders by designer Sarah Jane with a number of different blenders thrown in. I love the warm colour palette floating on the crisp white background.

I must admit it was pouring rain this morning when I photographed this quilt, which means I did not get as many shots as I wanted. The quilt and the photographer were getting way to wet!

I did manage to get a quick shot of the quilt back which uses some of the left over pieces of Wee Wanders and Kona Snow. To finish up I used Kona Flame, a wonderful tomato red, for the binding.

Quilt Details:

Pattern: Rolling Stone – traditional and paper piecing
Fabric: Wee Wanders by Michael Miller
Size: 55 inch x 55 inches

5Feb2015

A little creative play…

Posted in Other fun stuff by wombatquilts

After weeks and weeks of working on just old WIP’s I found I was going slightly crazy. It initially seemed like a good idea to spend January and February finishing up old projects and not starting anything new but this week I discovered the down side…I was bored and creatively stunted.

My solution was to pull out my large pile of low volume scraps…

and to start making some improv blocks…

I love how freeing this process is. I usually start by sewing similarly sized pieces together into strips of various sizes…

I then just go with the flow…I will grab a piece of fabric I like or a colour I want to use….

The joy of these blocks is that anything goes. My finished blocks are 12 inch (12 1/2 with seam allowance) but they can be any size you want. There is no right or wrong way to do things with these blocks…. there is no measuring, no patterns just play….pretty pretty play.

I am now heading back to finish up quilting another WIP…but when I need a break I will be making some more of these fun blocks. So how do you get your creative groove going when you are in a rut?