Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sunday Stash #180

Several bits and pieces today ...
Geekly Chic - Geekly Glasses - by Riley Blake

Stitch Square from the Mod Basics collection by Michael Miller
(available in more colorways as well as in Stitch Circle)

Classic Diamonds from the Color Basics Collection by Lecien


And locally sourced a bundle of Japanese Imports ~ beautiful and unique designs in great colors.

Enjoy Spring break - school holidays - Easter.

Rita

Friday, March 29, 2013

New York Beauty Circle of Flying Geese Quilt

I first spotted the Circle of Flying Geese in an email from Sew Modern Online - a Paper Piecing Class for this New York Beauty:
New York Beauty Circle of Flying Geese
Gasp! I love paper piecing, and rainbows of color! I immediately envisioned myself packing my bags in preparation for a flight to LA.  However.  My financial controller advised that the expense would have to come out of my fabric budget for the next 12 months ... or however long it takes.  Really?


The very next day I was checking out the latest at Craftsy and as fate would have it I stumbled across the NY Beauty Circle of Flying Geese Pattern ready for immediate download.  The pattern includes the foundation papers required to paper-piece this block. A knowledge of the paper piecing technique is a pre-requisite.


Paper piecing is a great way to tackle quilt blocks with challenging shapes.  It is accurate and methodical, but also a little fiddly.  In piecing this block I made sure to oversize my fabric pieces, reduced stitch length and have left my papers in until the four quarters were joined together.


The New York Beauty Circle of Flying Geese Pattern
 is by Janice Ryan from Better Off Thread

Background fabric:  First of Infinity by Kumiko Fujita


Nice going.

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
The finished New York Beauty Circle of Flying Geese Quilt

Pin It!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Liberty Tana Lawn Baby Quilt

The Weekend in Stitches
Satisfying a need to use my stash of Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric as well as a need for teeny tiny patchworking  - although not all that small with each each finished square measuring 2 inches x 2 inches.   In additional to working with my stash of Liberty Tana Lawn I have also used a selection of complementary quilting cottons.  


A random layout assisted by the occasional passerby and cross breeze ...  my design floor is doomed but wall space is limited and I hesitate to block natural light from windows.  I will have to continue to take my chances and accept such "interferences".  I am not complaining.


For the back of the quilt I have used a dainty floral print from the recently released collection by Aneela Hoey - Posy ~Bouquet in Daisy.  It's no secret, I love this particular print and have added yardage to my fabric stash.  You'll see it make a regular appearance for some time to come.


I have quilted this quilt with edge to edge diagonal lines (cross-hatched) which has given the quilt a lovely drape and added softness to the already luxurious and Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics.   For a better idea of scale the quilting lines are approximately 1.25 inches apart.
Binding fabric - again King's Road (in Lemon) from the Carnaby Street collection by Pat Bravo.

I have updated my Etsy Store.  You'll find the listing for this quilt here:  Modern Baby Quilt.  SOLD


Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Stash #179 ~ Inside Voices

A major fabric management crises from weeks of neglecting to return fabric to stash in an orderly fashion came to a head this week when I could not find my Clover Wonder Clips (for binding) nor my scissors .... really frustrating.


And so I spent almost  2 days hauling fabric, ironing, folding, and stacking.  I like to arrange my fabric stash by color but this time I also separately stashed the low volume - light/white background - fabrics.  Pictured above are all low volume fabrics; fat quarters or smaller and most have been cut into.  It's quite a task ironing and folding irregular pieces of fabric into the same size format.

Before and After

Of course in the process of tidying I found several great hoarded hidden treasures which I am now committed to using rather stashing.  A tidy stash also means there is room for more fabric!
Inside Voices II - Low Volume bundle from Westwood Acres (Etsy)

Clockwise (above) starting with the large scale yellow floral fabric:

Indie Chic - Main in Yellow - by Riley Blake 
Serenity - Luck in Blue by Riley Blake
Avignon - Dots in Green by Riley Blake
Love Notes - Font in Gray by Echo Park (Andover)
Tiny Dot from Spot On by Robert Kaufman
Bungle Jungle - Crosswords by Tim and Beck for Moda Fabrics
Posy by Aneela Hoey for Moda
Mixmasters Dot in Silver by from Robert Kaufman
Cherry Christmas from Aneela Hoey
Love Notes - Life in Multi by Echo Park (Andover)
Little Apples - Button Stripe in White by Aneela Hoey for Moda

Arriving just in time to be added to stash is a low volume FQ bundle from Westwood Acres.  Amanda has cleverly been collating low volume fabrics and this is the second installment in a series of Inside Voices fabric bundles.


Both the first and second installment of Westwood AcresInside Voices have not surprisingly sold out quickly.   Inside Voices III is expected to be available early April 2013.

Enjoy Sunday!
Rita

PS  By the way, after two days of tidying I did find my Clover Wonder Clips - just where I always keep them ~ right there in the container with Basting Pins.   So crazy.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

A Custom Quilt - Not Quite Low Volume

The Week in Stitches and Pictures
And it has been a good week, a much more sewing/quilting friendly week in terms of weather.  There is the occasional hint of Autumn in the air, although rather fleetingly.
On the agenda this week was a custom order quilt with a "not quite" low volume feel; using a selection of low volume fabrics interspersed also with splashes of random color.  


A simple squares patchwork design featuring the fabrics and the colors.  I love working with these varying shades of pale (and I imagine though that reads as "pale" or "low volume" to me may not necessarily translate to be "pale" to anyone else) and have been pleasantly surprised to find so many suitable fabrics in my stash that are perfect for this palette.   


For the back of the quilt I have used a black polka dot fabric with a white background: Pinhead in Ebony by Michael Miller, and the binding fabric is a narrow blue/white stripe by A Day in the Country.

The finished quilt measures 52 inches x 68 inches.

Ready for shipping.
Thank you for stopping by!
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

SuperNova Pillow!

A lonely SuperNova Star Block has been put to good use ~

RELEVANT LINKS


Thank you for all of your comments on the Having a Starry Time - Blog Hop!  The winner of the Triangle Paper from the Fat Quarter Shop is:


Congratulations Monika - I know you'll enjoy these triangle papers.
Monika has been contacted by email.

With thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop for the giveaway.
Rita

Monday, March 18, 2013

Having a Starry Time - Blog Hop

A blog post sponsored by The Fat Quarter Shop although (other than the Youtube Video) all of the words, opinions, images and instructions here are my own.


The humble Half Square Triangle (HST) has long been one of my favorite patchwork units to work with.  It is versatile and can be made quickly and accurately using various different methods.  One of those methods is by using Triangle Paper.

Triangle Paper is easy to use - all seam allowances are included in the pattern sheet and all you need to do is sew on the dashed lines and cut on the solid lines.  Simple, quick and so accurate.  See for yourself ...


How to Make Half Square Triangles by The Fat Quarter Shop

My Triangle Paper of choice was a 2 inch finished square and with it I have created the SuperNova Star Block.  And so let's start making.

SuperNova Star Block Tutorial

The SuperNova Star Blocks is consists of 3 different units: 4 Corner Units made up of Half Square Triangles, 4 Flying Geese Units and 1 Center Unit.  

Step 1 - Half Square Triangles 
Using 2 inch finished Triangle Paper and following the Youtube Video guide make 36 Half Square Triangles using a background fabric and contrast fabric in the following colors (or colors of your choice):
  • 4 Blue Half Square Triangles
  • 8 Black Half Square Triangles
  • 12 Orange Half Square Triangles
  • 8 Pink Half Square Triangles
  • 4 Yellow Half Square Triangles

Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance sew together HSTs into four the same corner units as pictured.
Each Corner Unit Measures 6.5 inches x 6.5 inches.

Step 2 - Flying Geese Units
Fabric requirements for each Flying Geese Unit:
  • 2 Squares (for wings) each measuring 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches - using a pencil mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of fabric.
  • 1 Rectangle (for body) measuring 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches

1.  Place square on top of the background rectangle - right sides together - and sew ON the marked line.
2.  Trim off the corner leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
3.  Press the seam allowance toward the small corner triangle.

4.  Place another square on the other side of the rectangle.
5.  Sew on marked line, and trim excess fabric leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
6.  Press the seam allowance toward the small corner triangle.

Make a total of 12 Flying Geese Units each measuring 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches.


Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance sew Flying Geese Units into four sets of three units as pictured.
This unit measures 4.5 inches x 6.5 inches

Step 3 - Center Unit
Fabric Requirements for Center Unit:
  • 4 squares (green) each measuring 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches (with a pencil mark a diagonal line on each small square)
  • 1 square (background fabric) measuring 4.5 inches x 4.5 inches
In the same way as the you have pieced the Flying Geese Units now piece the Center Unit.
The Center Unit measures 4.5 inches x 4.5 inches.

Step 4 - Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance sew Corner Units, Flying Geese Units and Center Unit together:

The finished SuperNova Star Block Measures 16.5 inches x 16.5 inches 

The Triangle Papers were a revelation!  I certainly didn't miss not having to trim the Half Square Triangles Units to size for accuracy, and removal of the paper super quick;  a quick tug of the corner and the paper came away from the fabric without any residue.  Having shortened my stitch length as suggested made it effortless.  And as my roll of Triangle Paper makes 800 HSTs there are more 2 inch HST projects in my future.

And a Giveaway

The Fat Quarter Shop are giving away a roll of 2 inch Half Square Triangle Paper to one lucky reader.  Just leave a comment on this post if you're ready to whip up a batch of HSTs the quick, easy and accurate way ~ no trimming required.


A winner will be drawn on tomorrow - Tuesday 19 March 2013 and announced by blog post. The winner will also be notified by email.

GIVEAWAY ENTRY HAS NOW CLOSED 
A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY


With thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring this blog post.  Check out the Fat Quarter Shop's full range of Triangle Paper here:  Triangle Paper

Rita

Friday, March 15, 2013

Baby Quilts ~ A Custom Order

I have squeezed in a custom order this week for a baby quilt ~ a request for a quilt in the style of these baby quilts made way back in July 2009 when I first started blogging.  I rarely look back through my older blog posts ... I cannot believe it's been nearly four years of blogging already.  This is post #930.   
But I digress.  Working with the blue/green palette was refreshing and combining these prints with a plain linen/cotton blend adds texture and a touch of luxury.  This was a quick and simple project made during a lengthy spell of unusually warm hot weather and a great way to use my stash.  


I think you'll recognize many of the fabrics used.

For the back of the quilt I have used a fun print by Barbara Jones from the Cruzin' Collection (Henry Glass), and binding fabric is from Pat Bravo's Carnaby Street Collection (Art Gallery Fabrics).  
Already shipped!
And whilst my my blue and green fabric stashes were already upturned I thought it wise to cut an extra set of squares for a second baby quilt.   I enjoy every stage (even the basting!) of making a baby quilt but as always I particularly enjoy collating the fabrics.
This second baby quilt has already been snapped up by a keen customer and is now making it's way across the Pacific Ocean.  


King's Road in Lemon, Turquoise, and Fuchsia 
from the Carnaby Street Collection by Pat Bravo

Binding fabric for both quilts is from Pat Bravo's Carnaby Collection, it is such an effective binding fabric that I have ordered more.  You will more than likely see it used again.


Thank you for stopping by,
Rita