Paper Piecing Monday

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

Another week another pattern. This one drove me a little crazy, possibly because I was trying to finish it last night while also battling a cold. Not a good combination. Needless to say I was convinced that the block would not work and that paper piecing Monday was a stupid idea and that my sewing machine was out to get me. I was of course wrong on all fronts.

The pattern for this block can be found here block12celebration or at the Quilting on the Square site. It is another block that can be used to make a variety of very of different blocks, depending on how you interpret the pattern. Have some fun with it.

I must admit I could not have done this block, with all the drama of last night, without my newest quilting tool. My wonderful friend Lisa bought me an amazing surgical unpicker. It is one of those tools you do not realise you need until you have used it. Now I can not imagine life without out it.

It is a lethal wonder that is particularly great for paper piecing. Where standard tools struggle to deal with the close stitches you use when sewing a paper pattern, this little beauty just glides through them. The only thing you have to be careful of is accidentally cutting your fabric – I have not done this yet but imagine it will happen!

I am now off to cut some more fabric. I have decided the best way to deal with the fabric overflow is to make more quilts (and to shop less!).

25Jan2013

Low volume Log cabin finished

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt patterns, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

Late last night, while watching fabulously trashy TV, I finally finished up my low volume log cabin quilt. I am thrilled with the end result, even though I doubted myself a few times during the process.

This is my second low volume quilt. My first one was made up of simple square blocks, this one I decided to do a log cabin block. My previous post can be found here and here. I love the log cabin block and was inspired to use this traditional pattern by Susan Beal’s wonderful book Modern Log Cabin Quilting. This pattern allowed me to really (a) raid my scraps and (b) include an amazing number of fabrics.

For this quilt I did use a paper piecing pattern and you can find a similar one here thanks to quilterscache.com. For non paper piercers Connecting Threads has a great log cabin tutorial (with videos and all) which can be found here.

My two low volume quilts have been a challenge for me. As you can tell from my other quilts I love colour and contrast and with low volume I was well and truly out of my comfort zone. What was not a challenge, this time, was the quilting. I decided to just run vertical lines down the quilt, using the block’s lines as a guide for my walking foot. It was a lot quilting/stitching (more tthan I usually do), but the end result is what makes me really love this quilt. I can not wait to see how it puckers after washing!

I used a single fabric print for the backing – a charming Kaffe Fassett floral which worked nicely withe the gentle tone of the front of the quilt. I finished the quilt with some scrappy grey binding, just the right colour to bring the whole thing together.

23Jan2013

Postage stamp quilt madness

Posted in Quilt patterns, Scrap quilts, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

This weeks work in progress actually started in April last year when Red Pepper Quilts posted their instructions on how to make a Postage stamp quilt. I had always wanted to make one and so, inspired I spent a couple of months just gradually cutting out 2 x 7 inch strips of fabric. Every time I made a quilt I would cut some extra strips for my postage stamp quilt.

Fast forward to January 2013. My pile of cut strips have been staring at me for months, daring me to start the process, so this week I dusted them off and bravely started.

Very quickly I realised that there was a special kind of madness in making a quilt with 1 1/2 inch squares. MADNESS. I started by chain piecing two strips of fabric together , sewing piece after piece. Then I chain pieced two of my sections together to form a block of 4 strips which were then ironed and cut into 2 inch strips. Feel free to head here for Red Peppers more detailed/coherent instructions.

Then the crazy really kicks in… as you now have piles and piles of 2 x 6.5 inch strips which have to be sewn into blocks of 4 strips. At this point seam allowance becomes crucial and you also give up worrying about colour placement and surrender to the process.

I am currently putting together my blocks, slowly but surely – the direction of your seams is important to make sure that the blocks sit right, which slows the sewing for me. I have made some progress – 17 blocks done 30+ more to go!!!! I have been fascinated by how the look of a fabric changes when it is cut into such a small piece. Patterns are out of context and colours appear that you did not know were there.

I just keep reminding myself (a) that it will be worth it in the end and (b) I never have to do this again. To keep myself motivated I did sew a couple of blocks together so I could see the effect. This quilt is going to make for one crazy game of eye spy.

18Jan2013

Wonky Star Quilt finished

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

I finally finished my wonky star quilt. I had blogged about finishing the top a month or so ago and it has taken me a while to actually get it quilted. I am really pleased with how it turned out. It is a true scrap quilt using different colour bits and pieces for the stars as well as scraps of tone on tone whites for the background.

I ummed and ahhed about how to quilt it. I started doing a loopy quilting pattern but did not like it so unpicked it all and started again. I ended up quilting stars all over – no set pattern just big and little stars all over. I really do have to work on my quilting skills. I get bored with this part of the process and I must admit I get a little sloppy.

I backed the quilt with a wonderful Alexander Henry fabric that just really worked with the colours I used. I framed the fabric I had with a white border which I think works okay. I love the fabric but probably could have found another way to make it work. I have just discovered Elizabeth Hartman’s FREE Craftsy course on quilt backs which has got me thinking about other ways to back my quilts. It is a great course and you can find it here.

I have now washed the quilt and it is ready for delivery to Project Linus. I post wash all my quilts before I deliver them to PL. I do love the feel and look of the quilt when it has been washed, all soft and puckered. Are you a post or pre washer?

16Jan2013

Night & Day quilt – Work in Progress Wednesday

Posted in Quilt patterns, Scrap quilts, WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

Having just finished my gretchen block quilt top I decided that I wanted to do another modern take on a traditional quilt block. I settled on making the night & day quilt block using a grey and green color palette.

I am doing another paper piecing scrap quilt. I am really enjoying paper piecing again after 4 years of not doing even one foundation block/paper pattern. You can find quiltcache’s version of the Night and Day pattern here

I am only a day into this quilt and have already made a few blocks and a lot of mess. My work station is awash with grey and green fabric and my husband is now pulling grey thread off his shirts rather than the white he usually has to contend with.

I am really excited about how this quilt looks, even at this early stage. I am going to work hard to get it finished in the next week or so and promise to post the final quilt when it is done.