Let's Go Green!

I am observing and celebrating St Patrick's day with a pair of green hand warmers :o)  Let the party begin!

This is my second pair of hand warmers made from the free Purl Bee project: 

 Whit's Knit - Colorblock Hand Warmers. 

The yarns are all leftover skeins from previous knitting projects:

Madelinetosh Merino Light in (left to right) Grasshopper, Antler, Clover and Silverfox

For more pictures and all the details check out my Ravelry page:

Enjoy St Patrick's Day!

Rita

Amy Butler ~ Sun Glow ~ Pillow Cover

In between larger quilt projects, but with time up with sleeve and in need of a sewing fix, I thoroughly enjoy making pillow covers.

Emma from Ballarat Patchwork very kindly sent me a whole range of batting samples that I have been keen to work with ~ ranging from cotton, cotton/poly blends as well as 100% wool and wool/poly blends.  The sample pieces are more than generously large enough for pillow covers and I have enjoyed this opportunity to try out a different batting as well as quilting designs.

I love quilting small projects!  If you look closely at the quilting lines you may notice that I have used different colored threads for the horizontal and vertical lines of the grid ~ a green and a blue thread ~ although not immediately distinctive the colored threads do add small detail to the pillow cover.

The threads I have used are by Rowan and are designed to match Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms fabric collection.  They are 100% cotton 50 weight thread - extra long fibers - which more simply translates into a lustrous and fine quality thread.  Previously blogged here:  Threads.

For the back of the pillow cover I have used Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush Home Dec (Lovesme Lovesmenot) in Leaf.  The pillow cover has a zippered seam for easy insert removal and cleaning.

Pattern:  Sun Glow is a free Amy Butler Pattern available HERE (pdf file):  The pattern is for a large pillow measuring 24 inches x 24 inches and is well written with easy to follow instructions.  I used my own method for sewing the quilted pillow top into a cushion with zip inserted in side seam.

Fabrics:   Soul Blossoms by Amy Butler (quilting cottons)

Batting: Hobbs Heirloom 100% Cotton (which quilted beautifully and combined with the quilting grid created a texture that I hope to replicate on more quilts).

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

Quilt Labels

Today ... 

 

I finally pulled out my Amy Butler fabric stash and enjoyed a little piecing which was soon followed by some super quilting ~ a closely spaced quilting grid using colored thread (It's so nice to use thread in a color other than the usual grey/white/beige/cream).  More progress pictures soon!

 

 In the mail today ::  A restock of quilt labels!  

These tapes are custom printed by Anna, the talented

 and very clever designer of all things

 Lillalotta @ Etsy : :   Facebook - Lillalotta

Many more quilts yet to be made!

Rita

Sunday Stash #133

Courtesy of Michael from Oakshott Fabrics this bundle of fabric promptly arrived gratuitously on my veranda all the way from the UK.  

Oakshott cottons are a fine quality fabrics which are ethically hand loomed, in an environmentally friendly way, in the south of India. The cotton weave is shot - with a warp and weft of different tones - which creates a beautiful luminous and iridescent hue.

As pretty as this bundle is, and as much as I have enjoyed having it sit right near my sewing machine whilst piecing my Flea Market Fancy Quilt, I really did want to have a little test run (play)!

So, using 16 different colors from my bundle, I have taken the traditional Bear Paw quilt block, re-gigged the placement of the colors without much aforethought, and made a patchwork pillow cover. 

The half-square triangle units are tiny - 1 inch finished squares - and I was able to piece them effortlessly, no spray starch required.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with Oakshott cottons and certainly enjoyed my fix of color play. The quality of the fabric and weave was consistently even and on-grain. 

For the back of the pillow cover I have used Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush Home Dec (Lovesme Lovesmenot) in Leaf.  I adore this print!  The pillow cover has a zippered seam for easy insert removal and cleaning.

The pillow cover is available for purchase in my Etsy Store.  SOLD

With thanks to Michael from Oakshott Fabrics for my glorious bundle (I still have lots of fabric left over and already have several Oakshott projects rumbling around in my mind ...)

Enjoy Sunday!

Links:
Oakshott Fabrics and Subscribe to Mailing List

Flea Market Fancy Progress III

My current quilt project has taken some time to complete, but the Flea Market Fancy Quilt top is now finished (and will remain without borders).

The quilt top measures 60.5 inches x 60.5 inches

With 100 paper pieced blocks each measuring 6.5 inches x 6.5 inches.

200 paper pieced units,

800 pieces of fabric,

and many happy hours of stitching.

Once all the blocks were complete the quilt top came together without too much difficulty.   Although all of the corners of each block (the edges of the printed fabrics) were off-grain, I had taken steps to ensure that all of the edges of the white fabric were perfectly on-grain.  Most seams aligned without too much fudging ...

Fabrics used:  Flea Market Fancy  ~  original collection as well as 2012 Legacy Reprint.

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in White

I am now wondering if my quilting style suits this quilt (I am concerned that I might ruin it!) and therefore contemplating sending the quilt top to my long arm quilter.

As always, thank you for stopping by,
Rita

Pattern reference:  Quilt Revival by Nancy Mahoney.

Progress Links:

Flea Market Fancy Progress I

Flea Market Fancy Progress II

Sunday Stash # 132

I've been bitten by the Spoonflower bug - again ...

Spoonflower is a custom fabric printing service, which allows you to upload your own textile designs, printing only what you need on fabric weight of your choice.  You can also purchase fabrics designed by other Spoonflower community members and I have found some goodies:

From top left to bottom right:

• Time Travel by SURLYBIRDSTUIO
• Kunda Linen in Ocean by Holli Zollinger
• Lemon Squares by Thebline
• Selvages on Steroids by A Few Scraps  (Eep!  I also like the tiny version of this selvage print, which is still en route).

I so love these bold, colorful and clever designs.

In contrast these rather sweet vintage reclaimed linens have also found their way to the stash:

So pretty!  The colors are so vibrant and the quality is excellent.  A reclaimed fabric project is slowly unfolding and has been shortlisted on the to do list.

Vintage sheet fat quarters were purchased from: So So Vintage @ Etsy. 

Enjoy Sunday!
Rita

Flea Market Fancy Progress II

Just so that you know that I haven't been sitting on my hands this week, here is a little of the progress that I've made on my Flea Market Fancy Kaleidoscope Quilt.

The above image was taken at first count.

 You know when you are beavering along sewing blocks, 

not stopping to check on "how many more?" 

in the hope, that when you do eventually count, 

that you're almost done?  

Well, this only half way there ...

But late last night early this morning I finally met my target of 200 paper pieced triangle units and therefore 100 blocks.  Paper piecing is a wonderfully rhythmic process, but after say 100 the same units it does become a little tedious.  Trust me on this.

I have minimized off-grain side edges of  blocks and therefore all foundation papers have now been removed.  I can't wait to sew the blocks together and finally see the full impact created by the fabrics and the design.

Rita

Sunday Stash #131

I enjoy working with environmentally friendly organic fabrics and I am always on the look out for new organic fabric prints and designs that suit my style of quilting: ~  Colorful ...

Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Ellie Fam

and it usually involves a dot or spot design!

Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Dottie Color

The recently released organic fabric collection Mod Basics by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics is a versatile range of fabrics that will blend well with a modern stash.  The range includes a selection of colored dots on a cream back ground (as pictured above) as well reverse print range with cream dots on a colored background (as pictured below):

I have a long standing love for dots and spots, especially Kei Honeycomb dots (Japanese imports) which feature a similar color and dot arrangement.  For the sake of comparison the Jay-Cyn Organic Dottie range sports a larger diameter dot, with Kei Honeycomb in blue pictured in the bottom left hand corner (below).

By the same designer and for Birch Fabrics but from the Commute collection is this print ~ Bike It:

Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics Commute, Organic, Bike It

I have a soft spot for fabric with bicycles!

Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics Mod Basics and Commute are available from:
The Quilted Castle - Mod Basics  and Commute 

Fabric Worm

The Fat Quarter Shop 



Enjoy Sunday,
Rita

Flea Market Fancy Progress

My Flea Market Fancy blocks are coming along nicely!

These twinkling star blocks are machine paper pieced and rather slow going, but for the sake of accuracy it is a technique well worth the extra effort.  I drew up my own foundation papers for a six inch finished block, and have since discovered that this same paper pieced design/pattern is available in, and featured on the front cover of this book:

Quilt Revival: Updated Patterns from the 30's 

by Nancy Mahoney

This star block is a traditional pattern from the 1930's and isn't unlike a Kaleidoscope block.

I have set up my work area for better work flow; moving the ironing board alongside and at the same height as the sewing machine was definitely a step in the right direction for efficiency.  The rubbish bin for threads and used papers is right at my feet.  Coffee within easy reach.

There are many blocks already at various stages of completion with good intentions to work on creating more on the weekend.

Rita

Flea Market Fancy ~ Legacy Reprint 2012

Flea Market Fancy. So this is where it all started.

Way back then, when my children were still - children - in primary school the release of Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt sparked an interest in fabric and quilting.  I was surrounded by crafty family and friends (and their fabric stashes and projects) but crafty was just not my thing.  I had dabbled a little, but not with commitment.

And then Flea Market Fancy came along.  The bold colors and simple designs drew me in completely.  Katie Jump Rope also be Denyse Schmidt followed thereafter, and I was committed.  I am a Fabricaholic.  There, I said it.

By popular demand Flea Market Fancy ~ Legacy Reprint is back!  Legacy reprint is a selection of 21 prints from the original range. The hues are refreshed, and the collection includes new colorways of several designs, including two additional grey prints, which I adore!

As much as I like to work on just one quilt project at a time I have had to cut into my Flea Market Fancy fabric stash (and these are still just blocks which goes some way to explaining the mismatched seams).

Rita