Liberty of London and Chambray Checkerboard Quilt - in Red

Work in Progress.

I've had this beautiful piece of red cotton chambray fabric in my stash for some time, and these last few weeks it had taken up residence on my cutting table. I was keen to use this chambray fabric and eventually decided that luxury Liberty of London lawn fabric would make the perfect companion, and a simple patchwork checkerboard layout the classic way to feature both.

The red chambray fabric is by Andover Fabrics (Chambray in Coral). It is a lightweight cotton woven fabric, with red warp and a white weft for contrast. This fabric is similar in weight and presses, cuts, sews and feels just like standard quilting cotton. The texture and weave of the background fabric is difficult to capture in a photograph and are best pictured in some of the close-up photos. 

All of the Liberty of London fabrics are lawn prints, and all are from stash. Yes, I have quite an extensive collection of Liberty prints, and I have been collecting for more than 10 years. Most are small pieces - as small as fat 16ths - and almost all have already been cut into for a previous quilts. I do like to keep adding to my collection of Liberty prints!

QUILT DETAILS

Liberty of London and Chambray Checkerboard Quilt - in Red

Quilt top measures 60 inches x 75 inches.

100+ different fabrics. 

I  have made 42 16-patch blocks + 6 8-patch blocks.

  A total of 720 patches of fabric (30 rows of 24 squares).

(Refer to the Checkerboard Strip Piecing Tutorial for detailed piecing details).

Each finished square measures 2½ inches x 2½ inches.

Printed fabric:

Liberty of London Tana Lawn

Background Fabric:

2½ yards chambray fabric in Coral by Andover Fabrics

I can't wait to add quilting detail to this quilt. I know the quilting will add interest, especially so on the chambray fabrics where the stitch details will settle neatly into the chambray fabric. I did purchase some red thread last week to quilt this quilt, but have decided the color was not quite right, and that the colored thread did not sit well with the Liberty prints. It's back to a neutral/beige thread for now.

Click on any image for a closer view.

And while it doesn't look like much, I have simultaneously also cut out my next Liberty Hexagon Quilt. There are almost 800 hexagons here, from almost 200 different Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics. I thought it might save time to cut these while I pulled out fabrics for this Chambray Checkerboard Quilt. It was of course way more time consuming than I thought it would be, but it's done now ... ready for basting onto papers, but not before finishing my current English Paper Piecing project - B is for Blues Quilt.

More soon!

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:

Checkerboard Quilt - Strip Piecing Tutorial

More RPQ Liberty + Chambray Quilts:
Liberty and Chambray Quilt - June 2018
Liberty and Chambray Quilt - April 2018
Liberty and Chambray Quilt - July 2014

Follow RPQ on:

Follow

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

B is for Blues ~ A Hexagon Quilt | Part 1

I couldn't wait to start a new English Paper piecing (EPP) project and am excited to show you what I have been working on since finishing my Liberty Hexagon Quilt. Hexagons are synonymous with both traditional quilts and classic EPP - and I am passionate about both - and as I have loved working with this simple shape in the past I decided that I had yet another hexagon quilt in me. 

For this quilt project I have dug deep into my stash of blue fabrics; from deep dark navy to teal, aqua, and baby blue, mixed with a hint of green and shades of grey. All fabrics are printed quilting cottons and range in design from simple basics (dots, stripes, gingham) to floral and text fabrics. Many of the fabrics have been repeated for multiple hexagon flowers.

Many of the fabrics have also been fussy cut to feature a fabric design element which has been repeated across the six "petals" of the hexagon flowers. The fussy cutting process was way more time consuming than I thought it would be, however it is well worth the effort for the graphic effect.

QUILT DETAILS

B is for Blues

108 Hexagon Flowers
(756 Hexagons)
Hexagon size: 7/8" SIDES

Fabrics Used:
Quilting Cotton
(Many of the floral fabrics are by Japanese designer
Suzuko Koseki for Yuwa Fabrics).

TOOLS AND NOTIONS
 7/8 Inch Hexagon Papers.
7/8 Inch Hexagon Template with 3/8" seam allowance.
Water Soluble Basting Glue - Sewline.
Straw Needles - Size 11.
The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads.

Now all I need to do is make a plan on how to piece these hexie flowers together and then take action: stitch, stitch, stitch. Easier said than done but, as always, I am taking it one stitch at a time.

More soon,

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
More RPQ Hexagon Quilts (EPP): 
Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt
Scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt
A Floral Hexagon Quilt  
Sewing School Hexagon Quilt 
AND
Sewing Hexagons by Machine - A Tutorial

Follow RPQ on:

Follow

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt ~ English Paper Piecing

I've been quietly working away on some of my unfinished projects including this Liberty Hexagon Quilt which needed basting and quilting. Last week I decided I had put off the inevitable long enough and basted and quilted it. Basting is still not one of my favorite tasks and it requires the kind of effort that includes crawling around on the floor (sore knees, back, elbows, fingers ... you know it) but it is a task that needs to be done well or there may be all sorts of quilting dramas. 

Fortunately, it all went really well, even with an all those hand sewn seams, fine Liberty lawn fabric, and extra low loft batting. I have kept the quilting super simple, and have stitched vertical straight lines across the quilt, spaced 1¼" apart. Lots of straight line quilting!

For the back of the quilt I have a small scale floral fabic - Emilia's Bloom (B), which is also a Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric. For this quilt I have also used a light weight cotton batting called QuiltLite. Quiltlite is a woven cotton fabric similar to a loosely woven flannel fabric; it offers the presence of batting without adding bulk and gives this quilt a lovely soft drape. This batting adds almost no loft to this super lightweight lawn quilt.

Click on any image for a larger view.

I have finished the quilt with a Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric for the binding; a dark blue and  small scale floral fabric called Summer Blooms (C) from the Garden of Dreams collection. And while I do usually machine stitch the binding, I did hand slip stitch the binding to the back of the quilt because ... Liberty! It is so lovely to sit and hand sew with Liberty fabric.

ALL ABOUT THIS QUILT:

Liberty Hexagon Quilt

Quilt top measures approximately 50 inches x 61 inches.

English Paper Pieced.

783 Hexagons.

Hexagon Size: 1¼" sides.

27 vertical rows of 29 hexagons.

Fabrics:

Liberty of London Tana Lawn.
Most fabrics have been used at least three times.
Quilting:
Machine quilted on a domestic sewing machine.

STARTED: July 2018.

FINISHED: October 2018

TOOLS AND NOTIONS

 1¼ Inch Hexagon Papers.

1¼  Inch Hexagon Template with 3/8" seam allowance.

Water Soluble Basting Glue - Sewline.

Straw Needles - Size 11.

The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads.

See also previous blog post:

Liberty Hexagon Quilt - A finished Quilt Top - September 2018

Liberty Hexagon Quilt - Work in Progress - July 2018

I am continue to enjoy English paper piecing (EPP) more than I thought I ever would, and once this Hexagon Quilt was finished I gave myself permission to started a new project. More hexagons! I look forward to sharing my progress with you soon.

Thank you for stopping by and for scrolling through the photos!

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:

Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt - Work in Progress Part 1

Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt - Work in Progress Part 2

More Red Pepper Quilts English Paper Pieced Quilts:

• A Scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - September 2018
• Mandolin Quilt - May 2018
• Liberty Stars Quilt - January 2018
• The Daisy Chain Quilt - November 2016

Follow RPQ on:

Follow

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

Change is Good

Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt ~ English Paper Piecing

I don't quite know how where to start with this blog post, and I made several attempts at writing it, but let me begin by saying that the last 10 years have been an absolute blast, and I am so grateful. I have been fortunate in many ways, I have been supported by the many readers of this blog (20 million+ page views!), have had financial support from many wonderful sponsors and businesses, and have revelled in the making of so many quilts - I haven't counted just how many quilts. I have also been fortunate to see my quilts go to homes all over the world, many to repeat customers. I have learned so much!

Click on any image for a larger view.

It is now time for me to take a break from actively running Red Pepper Quilts as a business - at least for the foreseeable future. While this decision wasn't an easy decision, it feels very much like the right decision, and one which will give me time to prioritize the things that ultimately are more important than quilts and fabric, like health, family, and friends. 

I will still be making quilts (including quilts to sell - see my Etsy Store) and I will continue to update this blog with all the photos, but there will be no regular/scheduled updates (no more Sunday Stash). This blog will continue to be a quilting blog! Blog posts will be published when time allows and I am not yet sure what that is going to look like. I have a long list of things I'd like to do with my more flexible schedule, and that includes more work with yarn, more time for slow sewing (maybe even learn how to hand quilt), but also more time spent with family, and time tend to my neglected garden (no, I am not writing a book 😂 - #frequentlyaskedquestion).

A BIG shout-out to all of my long time sponsors - those businesses whose click-through logos you see in the left and right side bars - for understanding my current circumstances, and for having been a pleasure to work with. I will shortly be moving the sponsor logos off this front page, so if you sometimes stop by here to click through to your favorite fabric shops, be sure to book-mark these stores.

ALL ABOUT THIS QUILT:

Liberty Hexagon Quilt

Quilt top measures approximately 50 inches x 61 inches.

English Paper Pieced.

783 Hexagons.

Hexagon Size: 1¼" sides.
Hexagon Papers available from from Tales of Cloth.

27 vertical rows of 29 hexagons.
Fabrics:
Liberty of London Tana Lawn - all from stash.
STARTED: July 2018.

TOOLS AND NOTIONS

 1¼ Inch Hexagon Papers.

1¼  Inch Hexagon Template with 3/8" seam allowance.

Water Soluble Basting Glue - Sewline.

Straw Needles - Size 11.

The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads.

Relevant blog post:
Liberty Hexagon Quilt - Work in Progress
Liberty Hexagon Quilt - The finished Quilt

And I am so very grateful for the support I have received from all of my blog readers, many of whom have followed my quilting journey from day one, and many who regularly stop by to see what I have been up to. I hope you will continue to stop by, check in on my quilts, and I hope to continue to deliver the quilty eye candy. Thank you, thank you. It hardly seems enough.

It is exciting, but it is also scary to take a step back from something that has been such a big part of my life for ten years, and I am reminding myself that change is good. This is not goodbye.

Don't want to miss a blog post?

• Follow on Facebook
• Follow on Instagram
• Follow by Email - enter your email address at the top right hand side of my blog. You'll be sent a subscribe email that requires your confirmation. ONLY blog posts will be sent directly to your email address.

Rita

Follow RPQ on:

Follow

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

The Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt

There's a sew-along happening! The Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt Sew-Along is hosted by Sewtopia, The Next Stitch and Denyse Schmidt (Denyse is the designer of this timeless version of a traditional Double Wedding Ring quilt). This pattern and sew-along is for the updated free-wheeling version of the original Single Girl Quilt pattern and includes guidelines for improvising the arcs for each block.

The Single Girl Quilt has been on my quilt bucket list for several years, and more recently (in the last 3 months) I had purchased both the Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt pattern and templates. So when the sew along was announced I was ready to go. It was the nudge I needed to just do it.

Now, free-wheeling (improvised piecing) is not exactly my preferred sewing style, and the 36 arcs required for this quilt were pieced over a one week period. Not that I struggled with the pattern or the instructions. In fact, it was easy, and together with the templates, all the blocks came together so well.  It is more that I like to measure .... everything. In the end, having to let go of creating identical pieced arcs was freeing, and I could not be happier with the finished quilt.

I have used two of my most loved fabric collections to piece the arcs: Flea Market Fancy and Katie Jump Rope. Both these collections are by Denyse Schmidt, and both have been reprinted in more recent years. Many of the fabric pieces used are from the original collections and in color ways that are now very hard to find. It was a joy working with these long stashed fabrics, and it seemed appropriate to cut into them for this quilt!

I have quilted the quilt with an all over 1/2" grid of intersecting quilting lines, and I have used a heavier weight thread (Aurifil 28wt - the grey spool) for the top thread. The heavier/thicker thread gives the stitch a lovely definition. Yes, the quilting took forever; hours and hours of mindless stitching (and almost a whole spool of top thread - 750 meters), but the texture is so worth it.

Click on any image for a larger view.

For the back of the quilt I have used a single floral/ribbon print from the reprinted Katie Jump Rope collection. I love this print and was happy to have sufficient yardage on hand to use for the quilt back.

And for the binding I was rather thrilled (and surprised) to find a half yard of stripe fabric from the original Katie Jump Rope collection in my stash. The green/black/white/ stripe adds a nice contrast finished edge to the quilt. I also decided I needed to spend some extra time with the quilt and hand slip stitched the binding to the quilt back; time to reflect and enjoy the make journey.

QUILT DETAILS

Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt

Finished quilt measures 62.5 inches x 62.5 inches.

Pattern :

Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt by Denyse Schmidt

36 quarter circle arc blocks.

9 complete circles.

Fabrics Used:

Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt.

Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt.

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in White.

THREAD for quilting:

Aurifil 28wt thread (the gray spool) for quilting:

 (28wt top thread - 40wt thread in the bobbin).

Batting:

Low loft cotton batting - bleached white.

Of course, it is not too late to join the Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt Along! It has only just begun and it is a no-pressure and at your leisure project, plus both Sewtopia and The Next Stitch offer useful hints/tips via email and Instagram videos for successful completion. For all the sew along details, pattern, and acrylic templates (although the acrylic templates are not a requirement, they sure are useful!) please check out the following:

• Sewtopia (United States)
• The Next Stitch (Australia)

And so it goes ... another quilt ticked off my bucket list. I could not be more pleased with this quilt. Thank you for scrolling through the many photos. Taking photos of a quilt with so much white fabric is tricky and I thought that as these photos turned out ok, I might as well show them!

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Sunday Stash - Flea Market Fancy Reprint (February 2012)
Sunday Stash - Katie Jump Rope (December 2015)
For more Freewheeling Single Girl Quilt inspiration check out the Instagram hashtag:

• #freewheelingsinglegirlsewalong
• #freewheelingsinglegirlsal
• #freewheelingsinglegirl

Follow RPQ on:

Follow

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.