Little Folks Quilt II

This week I am working on a custom quilt; a baby quilt very much in the spirit of the Little Folks Quilt made earlier this year (see here), albeit a miniature version.

The quilt top is pieced with all fabrics from the Little Folks collection by Anna Maria Horner and Dobby Dots from the Pastry line.  The baby quilt top is finished, the backing prepared, the quilt sandwich basted and I have started quilting - a familiar process.

Again, I wish I could convey in a picture how deliciously soft this quilt top is, and how similarly beautiful  the voile fabrics are to work with.  There could not possibly be a more perfect fabric for babies.

Today I am going to spend some time adding machine and hand quilting detail to this baby quilt, the combination of these two together with  the use of brightly colored threads will add  much detail to the quilt.

Happy Stitching!

A Finished Lady of the Lake

Warning, warning picture heavy post coming up!

 The Lady of the Lake Quilt

Finished quilt measures 45 inches x 45 inches.

The Lady of the Lake quilt is finished in all its glory - backing, quilting and binding complete.

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Basting took place eventually late Friday evening after much procrastination, but the usual basting discomfort was much alleviated by the use of a nifty notion recommended by Cheryl from Naptime Quilter. 

The Kwik Klip helps to close basting pins without effort, so no sore or pricked fingers, although as karma would have it I scored the biggest paper cut on the weekend at work - yikes why does that have to hurt so much?!  (Kwik Klip YouTube Video here - although I did end up using the Kwik Klip as I felt most comfortable myself).

The back of the quilt features some rather minimalist piecing, a really simple but modern design using left over solid fabrics.   The above picture of the quilt back also depicts the quilting lines rather well; keeping it simple and no fuss.

I thoroughly enjoy piecing with small patchwork units, and I do believe I still have many more Half Square Triangle units left in me!  I am not finished yet.

I have updated my Etsy Store, where if you are interested, you can find The Lady of the Lake quilt listed for sale (here).  Happy browsing!  SOLD

Sunday Stash #54

Today Sunday Stash features more Liberty love, purchased from my local patchwork store, Patchwork on Central Park.

Large scale pink and white floral:

Smaller scale modern design on white background:

And my favorite of this set of Liberties - a small scale white floral print on vivid red (Millie)

Enjoy Sunday!

The Lady of the Lake

Another Half Square Triangle bonanza!

The Lady of the Lake Quilt 

449 Half Square Triangles!

(I totally shocked myself with that number, no wonder it took so long to piece and then trim back everyone of those tiny blocks!)

The solid fabric used in this quilt top is by Reece Scannell, and purchased at the Australian Quilt Convention earlier this year.  Their fabrics are very much like shot cottons;  the warp and the weft are different colors creating subtle color effects.  Reece Scannell fabrics are sold by the piece rather than yardage from a bolt and available in over 100 hues.
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Unintentionally and barely noticeable I have ended up with my own "humility block", with a set of Half Square Triangles sewn together incorreclty.  * marks the spot.  Even though I had noticed this error before the blocks were sewn together, I did not correct the orientation of those triangles.  A little quirky piecing adds a little interest.

I have also pieced a very simple quilt backing using some of the left over solid fabrics.  Just for fun. (See above).
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 Piecing close-up.

The batting has been soaked and tumble dried.  Ready for basting.

Kaffe Polka Dots

Another bundle of basics: - polka dots by Kaffe Fassett, for stashing and of course for cutting into. Love love love ....

With strong color contrasts and regular shaped polka dots I use these fabrics often throughout my quilts, and particularly for binding.

This bundle of Fat Quarters was purchased from Fabricpalooza on Etsy.

Still piecing ...

This traditional quilt block design is called Lady of the Lake and dates back to the 1850's. Very traditional.

Seven more Lady of the Lake blocks need to be pieced, which involves another 112 Half Square Triangles which are still in the process of being pieced.  These blocks will not be sewn together as pictured above, a set of alternating blocks is also yet to be pieced.

I also thought I would also introduce you to my new best friend. The Lint Roller.  I use it often on my quilts, (especially after quilting to remove batting fluff) and on my clothes before I walk out the door.  The battle of the endless threads continues.

Weekend sewing

Admittedly sometimes, just sometimes,  I have a short attention span and tend to get bored easily. 

I allowed myself to get completely distracted over the weekend which resulted in some doodling and then some piecing. Sketching out an idea is a rarity - I even had to borrow the pencils from the teens. Quilts are  normally planned in my head and often inspired by traditional quilt designs.  From there the colors and fabrics just happen.  I don't have any color theory knowledge and although I've heard of the color wheel I use my own instincts in choosing colors and fabrics.

I also sampled two different blocks sizes to get a better idea of the overall effect.  My head tells me to go with the bigger blocks, my heart with the smaller blocks.

The heart rules.  I've pieced a whole bunch of Half Square Triangles from 2 1/4 inch squares.  Chain pieced and individually trimmed back to exact size. These HST's measure 1 3/4 inches and will be 1 1/4  inch finished patches.  Call me a little crazy. Maybe.

Sunday Stash #53

Now and again I need a nudge or a gentle reminder;  it should go something like this:

Hello Betty (Retro) by Chloe's Closet for Moda

"This really is pretty collection - don't let it pass you by - you should get some of that now - in your cart and press "buy" - you'll want some of that in six months time -  when it is hard to get - all gone - and then you'll spend way too much time searching the net - and then it becomes a challenge and an obsession!" Aargh ...

... but I did find a layer cake and I have picked a favorite (above), it's grey - no surprises there.

Progress

Some "Quilt as you Go" progress:

More Birds:

Brown:

Pink/Red:

Orange:

And Underwater World:

Loads of stitching and fabric play, with a bunch of finished blocks.  Loads more stitching to go ...

Basics

It has been a week of stashing basics .... you know, those fabrics that you use often and then without notice they are all gone.  For me basics generally means dots, checks, and stripes, all in vivid colors and often with an element of white.

Simply Sweet by Barbara Jones for QuiltSoup

Purchased at SewDeerlyLoved on Etsy.

Simply Sweet has been around for some time, but somehow escaped my attention when they were in abundance.  More readily available, and from my local patchwork stores, are these checks:

Both the green and the yellow check fabric are from a range called "A Day in the Country", an Australian owned fabric company (purchased at Patchwork House).  The small and larger red checks are good quality lightweight woven fabrics purchased at Patchwork on Central Park.

And then of course there are several solids that are "must haves" in my basics stash.  These are Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids and from left to right they are:

Snow, White, Bone and Pearl Pink - all subtly different, and therefore a little difficult to picture correctly.  All purchased from The Fabric Shack.

What are your basics?

Note to the fabric budget auditor:  these fabrics were not all purchased in just one week! : )