Sunday Stash #185 - First of Infinity by Kumiko Fujita

First of Infinity - Block Letters

I am ending the week with a selection of text fabric from the First of Infinity collection by Kumiko Fujita.  And let's hope that it is indeed the first of many more fabric collections by Kumiko because these are so good!

First of Infinity - Vocabulary

Each print comes in a range of saturated colors with a strong contrast text color - not all shown here - as well as text on a perfectly white background.

First of Infinity - Letters and Symbols

FIRST OF INFINITY BY KUMIKO FUJITA is now available from:

Pink Castle Fabrics

First of Infinity - Vocabulary and Alphabet Song both in White

And just in case you need a little inspiration to get started with this fabric collection you'll want to browse through the latest issue of Patchwork Tsushin (text in Japanese).  Patchwork Tsushin #174 features the First of Infinity range as well as a number of pictures from QuiltCon.  This magazine can be a little tricky to track down, but I have found it available from Amazon JP as well as Ebay.

Enjoy Sunday!

Rita

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The Week In Stitches

I have been working on a custom order this week, an order for a quilt top only as my customer is going to be hand quilting the quilt herself.  This makes a nice change from my "normal".  Often whilst basting a quilt the thought I'd be quite happy making quilt tops for the rest of my life  runs through my mind, and this was my opportunity to sample what I have wished for.

It does however feel quite strange to be shipping off a project that is incomplete, and I'm not sure that this is the way to go forth.  But I have enjoyed the fabric play for this quilt and there are many I-Spy themes including fabrics with clothing, shoes, cups and saucers, food, bikes, bugs, and fish, and animals.  There are also numerous hard to find Heather Ross fabrics as well as other Japanese imports.

221 fabric squares

and approximately 200 different fabrics,

all of which take much longer to cut than to sew back together again, 

and has created a fabric mountain of gigantic proportions.  

Now planning my next project,

Rita

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Fabric Fly Giveaway Winner

The winner of the $50 gift certificate is:

Congratulations Lindsey!  I don't imagine that you will have any difficulty 

spending your gift certificate on goodies from Fabric Fly.

And in case you didn't win Laura and Sharon want you to 

enjoy 10% off your entire purchase through May 22, 2013.

Use coupon code RedPepper10 at checkout.

ONLINE STORE  : :  FACEBOOK  : :  NEWSLETTER

Thank you for all of your entries and to Laura and Sharon from Fabric Fly for a generous giveaway.

Rita

Fabric Fly and a Giveaway!

A SPONSORED GIVEAWAY

It is time to introduce and thank a new sponsor!

Fabric Fly was started in 2009 by two sisters, Laura and Sharon, who love fabric!  After selling on Etsy for four years the time has come for Fabric Fly to move to a stand alone website:  www.fabricfly.com   Fabric Fly specializes in high quality designer fabrics from Riley Blake, Moda, Michael Miller, and Free Spirit ... just to name a few.

And there is much to love about Fabric Fly including:

• Loyalty Points - Rewards for everything you purchase.  Cha-ching!
• Same day or next business day shipping.  And all US orders ship for just $5.75.
• Awesome customer service, always striving to please every single customer. Fabric Fly want to be your favorite local quilts store - online!

Laura and Sharon want you to

 experience everything they have to offer

 so they are giving away a 

$50 gift certificate to Fabric Fly. 

To be in the drawn please leave a comment on this blog post.  Only one comment per person/email address will be eligible to enter the draw. The draw will take place at 12 noon (Australia EST) on Friday 17 May, 2013 at which time comments to this  post will be closed. The winner will be announced here on my blog the same day, and will also be contacted by email.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

And in case you don't win Laura and Sharon want you to 

enjoy 10% off your entire purchase through May 22, 2013.

Use coupon code RedPepper10 at checkout.

ONLINE STORE  : :  FACEBOOK  : :  NEWSLETTER 

ENTRY HAS NOW CLOSED

A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY

Good lucky everyone!

Rita

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Edges by Laura Gunn and a Flying Geese Pillow Cover

This bundle of goodies arrived in the mail late last week courtesy of Michael Miller Fabrics.  Edges is a new collection by designer Laura Gunn.   Edges is a unique range of basic designs all of which have been hand painted by Laura.  The careful brushstrokes and subtle color changes are evidence of Laura's love for hand painting and color.

I was immediately taken by the range of colors in varying shades, especially the softer colors (so pretty!).  Out came the rotary cutter and together with a wide selection of black/white (predominantly white) fabric for contrast I got busy making flying geese in a similar style to those made as part of the Marcelle Medallion Quilt.

50 Flying Geese each measuring 2 inches x 4 inches and made into a pillow cover.

As usual there was the battle of the bulky seam when quilting, but I pushed on and have quilted with a grid of lines just 1 inch apart.  

For the back of the pillow cover I have used a home decorator weight fabric - Artemis in Black by Alexander Henry.

The pillow cover is ready for shipping! I have updated my Etsy Store.  You can find the listing here:  Modern Patchwork Pillow Cover.

EDGES BY LAURA GUN IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM:

Hawthorne Threads

Fabric Worm

The Fat Quarter Shop

My thanks goes to Michael Miller and Laura Gunn for the sampling of the Edges collection.  I have enjoyed the fabric play and plan on adding a few of these prints to my stash - in particular the light greys, soft pinks and the neutrals.  

Rita

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Hand Quilted With Love by Sarah Fielke

Hand Quilted With Love by Sarah Fielke

Welcome to my stop on the Hand Quilted With Love book tour!  I am a huge fan of Sarah's work and love Sarah's unique design style and use of scrap fabric. Rather than lead you through the chapters of the book I have taken snippets of the quilts, the color and the detail; a feast for the eyes, and a little temptation...

There's something there for everyone including designs ranging in difficulty, useful tips for successful completion, and oodles of inspiration!

Sarah's quilts are beautifully hand quilted. For newbie quilters Sarah has a very helpful free video over at Craftsy where she shows some of the secrets of hand quilting, as well as an Online Quilting Class featuring techniques such as step-down piecing, needleturn applique and hand quilting with perle cotton:

Congratulations Sarah on another great publication!  

GIVEAWAY

--------------

Happy Mother's Day!  I am giving my copy of Hand Quilted With Love away to one lucky reader.  Please leave a comment to enter, and everyone is welcome to enter.  Please be sure your email address is available on your profile page or leave it with your comment.

The winning entry will be drawn at 10am Tuesday morning (Australia EST) 14 May 2013 and will be announced by edit to this blog post.  The winner will also be notified by email.

ENTRY HAS NOW CLOSED.

Thank you for all of your entries!
The winner of the book Hand Quilted with Love by Sarah Fielke is:

  Maggie has been contacted by email.

Happy Mother's Day.

Rita


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Giant Dresden Plate Quilt - A Finished Quilt

I have finished my Giant Dresden Plate quilt.  Thank you for all of your suggestions with regard to appliqueing the Giant Dresden Plate Block onto a background fabric.  For a while there I thought perhaps that this giant block may remain a work in progress, and I spent quite some time agonizing contemplating the most suitable applique process for me - the no hand stitching route.

I started by tucking under the 1/4 inch seam allowance of the center circle by first pressing with a hot iron and then using fabric glue to ensure the seam stayed firmly in place.  I taped the white background fabric to the floor (in much the same way as when basting a quilt) and centered the circle on top.  

I then used basting spray to adhere the circle to the background fabric.  Now basting spray and I aren't the best of friends so I also basted the two layers by hand stitching long running stitches from the center out as well as right around the edge of the circle.

Once basted I top stitched the two layers (the white background fabric and the Dresden Plate Block) together by machine, stitching lines in concentric circles at regular intervals.  Happy that the two layers would  now not shift I basted the quilt top like you would a normal quilt - with batting and backing fabric.

I also made the decision to leave the outer tips of the Dresden Plates unsecured.  They add another dimension to the quilt as well as texture.

The quilting involved a lot of turning the quilt, stitching up to the edge of the circle - underneath the loose tips - turning the quilt around and stitching back to the quilt edge again.  Most of the quilting lines were marked onto the background fabric with a Clover Hera Marker as there were no existing lines on the quilt for me to use as a stitching guide.  More concentric circles were also quilted on the Dresden Plate Block.  I have used a walking foot for all of the quilting.

Dresden Plate Quilt - pre-binding.  

Drying on a delightful Melbourne Autumn day.

For binding fabric I have chosen a sunny yellow fabric from the Carnaby Street Collection by Pat Bravo.

And for backing fabric I have used a floral print from the Posy collection by Aneela Hoey; this one is a favorite!

Finished Quilt size:  41 inches x 51 inches

I have updated my Etsy Store and you will find this quilt listed here:  Giant Dresden Plate Quilt.

If you have any questions, please let me know and if appropriate I will answer them in reply to your comment.

The tutorial for the Giant Dresden Plate Block can be found here:  http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2013/04/giant-scrappy-dresden-plate-block-and.html

Thank you for stopping by,

Rita

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Mother's Day Crafting with Briar Rose

Get ready for picture overload!

Rather than leaving it till the last moment as in previous years, I got started on my Mother's Day sewing last weekend.  I quite enjoy small sewing projects (although I have discovered that small project doesn't mean quick and easy).

For the oven mitt I have used an oven mitt template from the book Quilts by Denyse Schmidt.  I have made numerous projects from this book and found that again the instructions for this pattern -the Too Hot to Handle Oven Mitt - were well written and sufficiently detailed to complete the project successfully.

Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects

I did make a few minor alterations to the oven mitt pattern including patchwork piecing the lower end of the mitt, adding a layer of Insul-Bright (in addition to the layer of batting) and finishing the edge with bias binding.

To complete the project and to make a functional - two piece - set I also made a potholder, again using Insul-Bright for insulation from heat as well as a layer of batting.  The four layers made for bulky basting and quilting.  I pin basted the layers with just a few pins around the edges which seems to have been sufficient, and then quilted with closely spaced lines.

For the quilting I used a 90/14 size needle although if I'd had on hand a heavier needle I would have used it.  I increased stitch length to 4.5 as well as increased the presser foot pressure significantly to help assist with moving the bulky layers evenly through the machine.

I made my own bias binding by cutting off-grain strips of fabric 2.25 inches wide, a standard width which I also use for my quilt binding.  Trimming the potholder's corners to a smooth curve (for which I used a dinner plate) was my challenge task in this project.  Not so much the trimming, but binding the curves.  The bias binding proved to be really easy to use and hugged the curved edge beautifully, the extra bias stretch allowed for the fabric to ease in and out of the curve with a smooth and even overall result.

Whilst I hand stitched the binding on the inside of the oven mitt I machine stitch the binding for the potholder.  I found it useful to glue down the back of the binding before machine stitching with a Sewline Fabric Glue Pen; another first.

A Few Fabric Details:

• Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed in Flax
• Flower Sugar by Lecien - backing and oven mitt lining fabric
• Lecien Dot in Mint for binding fabric
• Briar Rose by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics.

Are you crafting for Mother's Day?

Rita

Note:  Briar Rose 5 inch square fabric samples were supplied without obligation by Windham Fabrics.  The images, text and opinions expressed are however my own.

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