Triangle Trauma – wip Wednesday

Posted in Scrap quilts, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

I was spurred this week to pull out an old work in progress by Ashley at Wasn’t Quilt in A Day. Her Mum told her that she could not start a new quilt until she had finished one of the ones she had already started. I took this sound advice and dusted off these blocks from the beginning of the year….

This quilt has been sitting in the cupboard because I am a little scared of triangles. This is only the second time I have worked with triangle-shaped blocks and I must admit I am not enjoying the process. You really need to be precise with your points and I have done soooo much unpicking. To help with the precision i am using a paper piecing pattern.

Emboldened by the challenge to finish this top, I pulled all the blocks I had made out and pinned them up on my design wall, using some solid fabric pink and olive triangles to break up the pattern a little.

There was then a flurry of activity to make the extra blocks I needed to make the quilt a usable size (14 blocks wide by 8 rows long).
My sewing machine was awash with strings of pink and olive fabric.

By mid afternoon I was happy with how things were looking and started sewing some of the rows of blocks together. I find this is the point where you really start to see how the finished quilt is going to look.

Last night there was a lot of unpicking….I am trying to be as precise as my patience will let me. Row by row I am going to get this sucker done.

This morning I sewed two of the rows together to check my alignment and to see how the colours and pattern are working. They are a little off in places but with this pattern it you have to look really hard to notice.

I am determined to have this top pieced by the end of today… if only so I can start something new. That is Ashley’s mum’s rule and I am going to try to quilt by it. One finished before another started. I can do this… I think!

30Oct2013

Simple quilts – an ongoing work in progress

Posted in Other fun stuff by wombatquilts

Any of you that have been following my blog for a little while or anyone who has plowed through my site will know that I am pretty prolific in my quilt creation. I am constantly trying new patterns or new colour combinations. I make a lot of quilts. In the last 6 months or so I have got into the habit of cutting 3 inch squares from any of the scraps left over from my current project.

As I am cutting fabric for a new quilt, I will make sure that any scraps that are big enough get cut into a 3 x 3 inch square and put into a shoe box set aside for them. It has become a habit that means my scrap pile is a little more manageable and I have a ready supply of 3 inch squares for projects.

What can you do with a pile of 3 inch squares you may be asking… so far I have made:

1. Granny Square blocks

2. Doll quilts… that are currently in need of quilting!

3. Graduating colour quilts – Sunburnt country is made up of 3 inch squares

4. Paper bag quilts – this quilt top is being made with a bag of white scraps and bag of pastel scraps. I chain pieced white and pastel squares together, then sewed them into strings of 14 blocks long. When finished this will be a very easy, but cute baby quilt.

I have used the same paper bag process to make a number of fun quilts including my niece Zoe’s quilt.

Up next I really want to make a scrap vomit quilt with all my 3 inch squares. A total random hodge podge of fabrics sewn together to make something ugly beautiful. Sounds like fun!

11Oct2013

Rainbow I Spy Quilt done and dusted

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

Week two of October and I have another quilt finished despite some walking foot hiccups and a Briar Rose obsession. This week’s Project Linus finish is a little bit of a cheat – I pulled an old unfinished top out of the cupboard and quilted it up. But it is still a finish and still counts… right?

I made the top for this quilt about 3 years ago and finishing it up was an interesting exercise which showed me how much my piecing has improved. All over this quilt there are seams that just do not align…

A simple square quilt and my edges are squiffy. I am a little embarrassed but pleased to say that I have got better over the years. Plus the small mistakes here and there do not detract from the fun of this quilt.

The colours are bright and the fabric is varied. There is so much to see in this quilt, it is going to make for a wicked game or two of “I Spy”. And it is was so easy to put together, lots of 4 1/2 inch blocks in a graduating colour scale.

The quilting is simple… more straight lines. The backing is also simple, another IKEA fabric (part of a 100% cotton duvet cover).

All finished off with some purple binding.

I know this binding is a little crazy but I was out of solid navy fabric, which is my usual go to binding for a rainbow quilt. But now I have excuse to go shopping. YIPPEE!

16Sep2013

Paper Piecing Monday Pastel style…

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

This week I have another pastel pretty for paper piecing Monday…

I am only three blocks into the sampler, but they have all been pinwheelesque so far and I think I am going to continue that trend for the whole quilt. The red/aqua paper piecing blocks were all mainly compass star blocks, so this quilt will be pinwheels. The hunt is now on for appropriate patterns.

I know that the Lucky Star BOM, where this pattern came from, has a couple more great pinwheels. They do tend to be fun and simple patterns to make, and I think I can take some liberties as to what I include as a pinwheel. What do you think of when you think of a pinwheel pattern?

4Sep2013

Inspiration can come from the strangest places

Posted in Scrap quilts, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

I am constantly amazed by what inspires me – where ideas and colour combinations for a quilt come from. This week’s work in progress is a good case in point.

This bright scrap quilt was inspired by my local petrol/gas station logo.

Strange I know, but I was filling the car up one day and realized I really love these two colours together. I promptly came home and pulled some scraps and made up this block.

I originally posted about this flying geese pattern back in April this year. You can find the original post, with a free paper piecing pattern here. A couple of months later and I got the urge to finish this quilt top, so I pulled fabric from my stash as well as from my scrap pile and started work.

Now I have a stack of blocks and I am gradually putting the top together.

My placement is random and fun and I have thrown in a couple of reverse blocks to break things up. It is kind of fun making the arrows go all over the place.