A Four-Patch in a Square Scrap Quilt - Part 1

 Work in Progress

The last few months have been hard, really hard. Our family has suffered losses (not covid related) which have left us with in deep shock and aching hearts, all made more difficult by a hard lockdown due to the pandemic. Although our lockdown has indeed come at great expense and many sacrifices we have eased out of isolation to find ourselves in an enviable position with currently no active covid cases in our state!

During this period I have aimlessly dithered around my cutting table and sewing machine. I have started several quilt projects but failed to complete any - as yet. I've lacked focus and commitment but have allowed myself to take it one day at a time. I knew that eventually the joy of working with fabric would return, even if that means short bursts of activity on some days and none the next. I'll take it. 

This quilt in progress was again inspired by a vintage quilt. It is a simple four-patch set in a square. It is a perfect scrap buster project as you only need small scraps of fabric for each block, and many of the fabric pieces were indeed pulled from my scrap bin. I set myself a small target of making just 10 blocks a day as a starting point, and pushed myself last weekend to complete all blocks - a total of 324 blocks.

QUILT DETAILS

Four-Patch in a Square Scrap Quilt

Quilt top measures 63.5 inches x 63.5 inches.

18 rows of 18 blocks ~

324 blocks in total ~ 2592 patchwork pieces.

Each finished block measures 3.5" x 3.5".

BLOCK TUTORIAL

I used step 1 to 4 from my Economy Block Tutorial to make these blocks.

**I have substituted the centre square for a four-patch block by cutting

four 2" squares, sewing the four squares together, then trimming 

the four-patch centre block to measure 3" x 3".**

You'll find the tutorial here:

https://www.redpepperquilts.com/2013/08/economy-block-quilt-in-progress-tutorial.html

(Step 1 to 4 only for this block)

I find the sew and trim-to-size method easier for small patchwork pieces. It is a lot of extra work but it results in accurate patchwork pieces, and as a result the blocks and matching seams come together neatly. Yes, this quilt does have some bulky seams! 

It feels good to be back at it, but I make no promises. The only thing for sure is that I have plenty of fabric on hand and all the tools to make many more quilts. There will be more quilts and I will continue to share them here on my blog and on Instagram as and when that happens. I am quietly excited to see what 2021 brings.

As always, thank you for stopping by and scrolling through the photos. 

Happy stitching,

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS

Economy  Block Tutorial (Step 1 to 4 only for this block)

More RPQ Scrap Quilt Projects:

Scrappy Quarter Log Cabin Quilt and Tutorial

Bear Paw Scrap Quilt and Tutorial

Bright Hopes Quilt and Tutorial

Checkerboard Quilt and Strip Piecing Tutorial

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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.

My Pandemic Quilt 2020 - Part 2

A Finished Quilt

Click on any image for a larger view.

My Pandemic Quilt is finished and I have lots of photos to share with you today. Our Covid situation is improving, and we are keenly anticipating the lifting of some restrictions that has seen us at home for what seems like all year. It does mean I have had lots of time to reflect, ponder, prioritise, and of course sew. There have been some dark days, but we're optimistic, grateful for family, friends, and that Spring is finally here to help lift our spirits.

I am pretty happy with how this quilt turned out. I have enjoyed stitching it together by hand (English Paper Piecing), and am proud of having quilted this one myself. I do machine quilt most of my own quilts, but despite having quilted many quilts I do worry with each new quilt that I could mess up the quilting, particularly when the quilt is larger and involves many small patchwork pieces.

The quilt has been quilted with closely spaced straight lines - ¾ of an inch apart. I use the hexagons as a quilting guide and quilt from edge to edge - no lines were marked. For this quilt I have again used QuiltLite as batting. QuiltLite is a light weight woven fabric similar to a loosely woven flannel fabric. I really like the look and feel of a low loft finished quilt, and although this quilt is quilted it feels more like a coverlet.

For the back of the quilt I have used a beautiful floral fabric Social Climber from the Floral Retrospective collection by Anna Maria Horner. I adore this fabric and was pleased to be able to use some of my stashed yardage for the back of this quilt (see below for a photo of the full quilt back - print matching success 👍).

QUILT DETAILS

Pandemic Quilt 2020

The finished quilt measures 55 inches x 73 inches.

Started: May 2020.

Finished: August 2020.

English Paper Pieced.

137 Hexagon Flowers.

¾ inch hexagons.

A total of 2768 hexagons.

Background fabric:

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in ASH.

Black dot fabric: Swiss Dots  in Black - Riley Blake Designs.

Green text fabric: Dictionary in Green from the

First of Infinity collection by Kumiko Fujita.

All solids fabrics are Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton.

Backing fabric:

Social Climber - Floral Retrospective 

by Anna Maria Horner for Freespirit Fabrics

TOOLS AND NOTIONS
¾ Inch Hexagon Papers
¾ 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 in
neutral tones including a dark beige - color #654 - for the
red hexagon border.

This quilt is inspired by a quilt called Talking to Flowers made by 山口智恵子＊Chieko Yamaguchi; a quilt that I very much admired at the Tokyo Quilt Show in 2018 and will not be offered for sale.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and scrolling through the many photos.

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
My Pandemic Quilt 2020 - Part 1 (Work in Progress)
Tokyo Quilt Festival 2018 - Part 1
Tokyo Quilt Festival 2018 - Part 2
More RPQ English Paper Pieced Quilts:
Liberty Stars Quilt January 2018
Floral Hexagon Quilt September 2017
The Daisy Chain Quilt November 2016
B is for Blues Hexagon Quilt August 2020

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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.

My Pandemic Quilt 2020 - Part 1

So ... I started another English paper piecing project a few weeks ago. I love English paper piecing and at this time of uncertainty I have felt the need to sit quietly with my thoughts and stitch like crazy. For a fleeting moment all is right with the world. Despite the prolific handmade works, I have struggled with creativity, and as such this quilt is very much inspired by a quilt that I fell in love with when I saw it at the Tokyo Quilt Festival in 2018: 

Talking to Flowers by 山口智恵子＊Chieko Yamaguchi (my own photo)

I couldn't get enough of this quilt when I saw it! I think it was the traditional quilt style - a Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - made with Japanese fabrics that I so adore. In fact I recognised many of the fabrics, and some fabrics were part of my own stash. I have retained the background fabrics and general layout of the quilt as per the original.

I did bring a few of my own elements into play ~ fussy cutting fabrics, a bright color palette, and instead of adding borders I have made my own "border" fabric by replacing the border fabric with more hexagons in a huge range of red fabrics. Also, once I got started I quickly realized that the hexagon size that I had chosen to work with (¾" hexagons) was significantly larger than that which make up the original quilt.

Click on any image for a larger view.

All of the photos here are of the quilt top with all papers removed other than those along the outer edges. I have included these photos of the quilt back as many of my readers have asked to see the back of my quilt English paper pieced quilt tops.

I cut my fabric hexagons with a template and rotary cutter (instead of cutting fabric squares) for my quilts because I have my own thing about neatness despite not being able to see the back of the quilt once it is quilted. I am a still an avid glue baster and I have not encountered any issues removing the papers. Tedious yes, difficult no. I press my quilts once the papers have been removed with a warm steam iron - lots of steam, and I do not use spray starch.

QUILT DETAILS

Pandemic Quilt 2020

Quilt top measures 55 inches x 73 inches.

Started: May June 2020.

English Paper Pieced.

137 Hexagon Flowers.

¾ inch hexagons.

A total of 2768 hexagons.

Background fabric:

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in ASH.
Black dot fabric: Swiss Dots  in Black - Riley Blake Designs.
Green text fabric: Dictionary in Green from the
First of Infinity collection by Kumiko Fujita.

All solids fabrics are Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton.

TOOLS AND NOTIONS

¾ Inch Hexagon Papers

¾ 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 in 

neutral tones including a dark beige - color #654 - for the

red hexagon border.

Months of pandemic craziness and anxiety has been stitched into this quilt. I am in Melbourne and we have been living with Covid restrictions for months, and a harsher lockdown since early August. Many people are facing great difficulties, but we're doing this together to save lives. No one is unaffected by the sacrifices that are being made every day and I have been comforted by being able to focus on my stitching when all else seems to be unravelling. This quilt will be staying with me, as a keepsake of a time that was like no other. And of course, I need to thank Chieko Yamaguchi for the inspiration!

I have LOVED working on this quilt and will soon have photos of the finished quilt to show you.

Thank you for stopping by!

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Tokyo International Quilt Festival 2018 - Part 1
Tokyo International Quilt Festival 2018 - Part 2

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A Traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - Part 2

A Finished Quilt

Click on any image for a larger view.

Next! Another finished quilt. This quilt top too had been languishing at the back of the cupboard, but not forgotten! It has sat there untouched for more than  12 months. It was definitely time to get this one done. This project is a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt; with a traditional layout, and hexie flowers with a solid yellow center.

QUILT DETAILS
Traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt 
The finished quilt measures 72 inches x 80 inches.
Started: May 2019.
Quilt top finished: June 2019.
Quilt finished: August 2020.
English Paper Pieced.
46 Hexagon Flowers.
1¼ inch hexagons.
A total of 1440 hexagons.
Background fabric:
Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Snow.

The quilt "borders" or edges of the quilt have been finished by adding additional white hexagons.

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.

The quilt has been quilted with closely spaced straight lines - about 5/8 of an inch apart. I use the hexagons as a quilting guide and quilt from edge to edge. This quilt was bigger (72 inches x 80 inches) than what I usually make my quilts and ultimately quite heavy to work with, despite again using a lightweight batting (QuiltLite). I think that too played a part in the delay in finishing this quilt. I am however very happy with how it turned out.

For the back I have used two pieces of yardage from stash: Jardin De Paris in Peony from the Menagerie collection by Rifle Paper Co for Cotton + Steel (top) and Ring o' Roses in Sand from the Playground collection by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics (bottom).

For the binding I have used a wide pink stripe - this stripe fabric by Moda Fabrics from the Essentially Yours collection (in baby pink).

More photos and detail of this quilt in progress can be found here:

A Traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - Part 1

I am not selling my quilts at the moment but will make them available again when domestic and international shipping settles into a reliable new normal. Quilts will then be listed in my Etsy Store.

This quilt was particularly challenging to photograph due to size and lack of suitable light during these Winter months. But I am calling it done. I am so looking forward to showing you my  next project, another hexie quilt. More of that next week.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and scrolling through the many photos. 

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
A Traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - Work in Progress - June 2019
A Scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - September 2018
B is for Blues ~ A Hexagon Quilt - August 2020
Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt - October 2018

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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 3

A Finished Quilt 

Next on my to-do list was to finish this English paper pieced hexagon quilt. I started this quilt top in October 2018 and finished it in December 2018. Since then the quilt top has remained untouched, although not forgotten, as quilting it was put in my mental too hard basket. I am not sure what it was that caused me such anxiety; maybe it was the fact that I had spent so much time fussy cutting the fabrics and English paper piecing the many hexies, or even the mix of fabric bases ~ quilting cotton and cotton/linen blend fabrics. Even though I have never had to unpick my quilting efforts, the worry that I will ruin the quilt with my quilting is still there with every quilt.

Thankfully my concerns were not warranted, and the basting and quilting were completed without a hitch. For this quilt I have again used QuiltLite as batting (a super light-weight batting, more like a loosely woven flannel fabric).

The (edge to edge) vertical quilting lines are evenly spaced across the quilt - 7/8" inch apart, which is the same as the sides of the hexagon, thereby using the hexagons as a stitching guide. It is a slow and steady process, although once the foundation lines are in place - starting with every second line - and most basting pins have been removed,  I do pick up the pace.

Consistent with my 2020 commitment to using fabric from stash, for the back of the quilt I have used yardage by Cotton + Steel - Starry in Black from the Printshop collection by Alexia Abegg and by Heather Ross - Small Roses in Yellow from the Tiger Lily collection. And for the quilt binding I have used a narrow blue/white stripe fabric ...

QUILT DETAILS
B is for Blues ~ A Hexagon Quilt
The finished quilt measures 55 inches x 67 inches.
Started: October 2018
Finished: August 2020

 Click on any image for a larger view. 

English Paper Pieced.

108 Blue/Green/Grey Hexagon Flowers.

88 White Hexie Flowers with (Black Centers).

Hexagon size: 7/8" SIDES.

Total Hexagons: 1861

Fabrics Used:

Quilting Cotton

(Many of the floral fabrics are by Japanese designer

Suzuko Koseki for Yuwa Fabrics).

Kona Cotton in White (Robert Kaufman)

Melange Yarn Dyed (Chambray - Cotton) in Natural by Lecien

TOOLS AND NOTIONS
 7/8 Inch Hexagon Papers (1861 hexagons)
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
in white (621), cream (655), and beige (652).

Machine quilted on a domestic sewing machine.

More photos and detail of this quilt in progress can be found here:

B is for Blues ~ A Hexagon Quilt | Part 1

B is for Blues ~ A Hexagon Quilt | Part 2

I am not selling my quilts at the moment but will make them available again when domestic and international shipping settles into a reliable new normal. Quilts will then be listed in my Etsy Store. 

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and scrolling through the many photos.

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
More RPQ English Paper Pieced Quilts:
Daisy Chain Quilt (November 2016)
A Floral Hexagon Quilt (September 2017)
Scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt (September 2018)
Warm Hearted Quilt (May 2020)

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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.