Red Pepper Quilts

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Scrap Buster Quilt Top

I made a commitment (to myself) to finish this quilt top by Tuesday evening and after a long sewing session, late into the the evening and early morning, it was done! Well, only until I decided it really need just one more extra row. I persisted and an hour or so later I was content with the quilt top.

This quilt top involved much more time at the machine than estimated ~ and is made up of 714 pieces of fabric ~ but my scrap bin is a whole lot lighter, and these itty bitty pieces have been put to very good use.

Rita

Relevant Links:
The Finished Zig Zag Rail Fence Quilt and Pattern
The Zig Zag Rail Fence Quilt Pattern (pdf file) in my Etsy Store

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Scrap Busting!

Bring on the Winter school holidays! Two weeks of allowing the day to unfold without plan or routine, and plenty of opportunity to squeeze in sewing time.

I have started the week by tipping over my scrap bin in an attempt to salvage the many much loved bits of fabric. I usually enjoy rummaging through my scrap bin although lately it had been overflowing and I was starting to avoid having to deal with the mess that it was becoming.

And so the timing is perfect time for a quilt made just from my fabric scraps. As often seen here (at RPQ) I have contrasted the scraps with some Kona Cotton (White).

I have almost finished all of the required blocks/units and look forward to showing you more of the layout soon.

I hope you've enjoyed a great start to your week also!

Rita

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sunday Stash #100 ~ Echino Nico Spring

I am loving the new Echino Nico Spring 2011 collection by Etsuko Furuya ~ Fiber Content: 45% Linen/ 55% Cotton and somewhat heavier than standard quilting cotton.

If you're looking for a bundle of great prints to stitch up a little something for little (and big) boys you can't go any further than these: cars, trains, and scooters all set on a background of dots, stripes and great saturated colors.

I really wanted to play with my stash of Echino prints, and as I have had on my list of "things to try out" a set of pot holders suitable for use, I thought this a good opportunity to give it a go.

I have mixed the new Echino prints with others in my stash and randomly pieced 10 inch squares. To help heat proof the pot holders I have used a product called Insul-Brite, as well as a single layer of batting as is recommended by the manufacturer. I then basted and quilted the pot holders as I normal. The quilting grids were marked using a Hera Marker. I thoroughly enjoying quilting such dense grids on small patchwork pieces! (Insul-Brite is available for purchase locally at Spotlight).

The back of the pot holders feature a print from the Echino Nico 2011 Spring collection. By coincidence they are almost identical.

I am going to put these pot holders to good use in the kitchen and will let you know how they wash, wear and perform.

Enjoy Sunday!
Rita

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Finale ~ Broken Dishes Quilt

I hope you'll bear with me as I show you more pretty pics of my Broken Dishes Quilt - this time it is indeed the finished quilt. Hooray!

And so today was the perfect day for picture taking - blue sky, occasional cloud, and even mild enough to be out in my pj's at 8am to snap away with the camera. The neighbors are used to my early morning -- before the sun creeps up over the horizon, casting long shadows -- antics.

Quilt Back ~ piecing details

First piece the actual "tumbling blocks".
Arrange the blocks as desired - I arranged my blocks on a large piece of Kona Cotton (Ash) to help me visualize and plan the design.
Add to each individual tumbling block an over-sized "border" from the same fabric as your background fabric. For some of the blocks I added a basic frame border, and for others (those blocks that are "on point") I pieced over-sized triangles to each side which helps reduce fabric wastage.
Orientate/arrange the tumbling block at the angle required, and then trim back the block to a square/rectangle for easy piecing.
After trimming return the block back to the panel to see what is required from the next block; placement, size, shape.
Continue till all tumbling blocks have been placed on panel, and like a puzzle fit the squares and triangles together. You might need to trim or even add more fabric to some blocks to make them all fit.

Quilting: I've quilted a double set quilting lines from edge to edge a little further than 1/4 inch from either side of the seam lines using the outer edge of the walking foot as a quilting guide. I have also zig-zagged my way around the inner white border and stitched in the ditch around the outer border triangles.

For binding fabric I have used Kona Cotton Lagoon ~ an easy decision as it is one of my favorite Kona colors ~ it adds a subtle frame and nice finishing touch to the quilt.

I have updated my Etsy Store:

You can find the listing for the Broken Dishes Quilt ~ here ~ SOLD

RELEVANT LINKS:
1. Kona Cotton Work in Progress
2. Broken Dishes

3. More Broken Dishes

Happy browsing,

Rita

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

More Broken Dishes

Thank you for all of your kind comments left on the previous post featuring this quilt top! I really appreciate it. I never can tell how a quilt is going to be received by my blog readers; although I do know that you ~ just like myself ~ enjoy COLOR!

Today I have some pretty pictures to show you of the progress made over the last day or so.

I have added a final pieced triangle border to all four sides of the quilt. Really easy to piece and nothing was wasted ~ I've used the small triangle trimmings for the quilt back ~ herewith a quick snapshot of the quilt back (quilting as yet unfinished) :

As much as I like the overall design of the tumbling blocks I must say that I this kind of irregular piecing, with odd angles and off grain pieces of fabric, is not my favorite piecing style. I wasted much fabric trying to get all of the blocks to fit in at different angles, and although I am glad to have tried such unstructured piecing, I was quite pleased to finish the panel. More practice required.

I have basted the quilt sandwich and spent quite some time at the machine already. With a cool start to the day the Winter sunshine pouring through the window and over my work station was very welcome indeed.

I hope you've had a fun sewing day!

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Broken Dishes Quilt - A Finished Quilt
Broken Dishes Quilt - Work in Progress

Monday, June 27, 2011

Broken Dishes

It's definitely time for an update!

This traditional layout/design is call Broken Dishes ~ pieced entirely from half square triangles. I think I may have harbored a secret desire to make this block in each and every Kona colorway in stash, but I might just have reached my HST saturation point (for the time being!).

I really like this particular layout and although I tend to only see the four-patch single color block (maybe because that is what my focus has been whilst piecing the blocks), now and again I also catch a glimpse of a myriad of colorful pinwheels - can you see them?

Today I am working on adding some borders ~ which does involve piecing with more triangles. I am really looking forward to quilting this quilt top as I think it will add a whole other dimension to the overall look of the quilt.

Looking forward to, and wishing you all, a fun and productive sewing week,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Broken Dishes - The Finished Quilt
More Broken Dishes - Work in Progress

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday Stash #99

Some stashing from local stores this week ~ including Patchwork House (where everything was on sale!) and GJ Discount Fabrics:

From left to right they are:

Old New Fabric Collection 30's, Printed by Lecien (Japan)
Sevenberry Dots on a linen blend base as previously seen here: Sunday Stash #93 in two new colorways.
Echino by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka - dots on a green background ~ extra wide @ 62 inches and 85% cotton 15% linen which is surprisingly lightweight and has lovely drape.

And then ... there was this Kokka Print ~ Trefle Strawberries. There are five different prints across the width of the fabric all featuring strawberries or text relating to strawberries. Printed on a cotton/linen blend base.

I believe this elusive print has been around for a while, and I was pleased to pick it up at a sale price considering the original price tag.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday!

Rita

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Kona Cotton ~ Work In Progress

Today was a productive sewing day and after much indecision it came down to using those fabrics that were right there in front of me all along and piecing sets of four Half Square Triangles.

I seem to naturally gravitate towards the saturated colors when working with solid fabric and have enjoyed watching how nice these colors all play along side one another. Once again taking progress pictures along the way has been a useful tool in taking a step back to see what is missing from the color spectrum at hand.

Of course I have a plan for all these Half Square Triangles, and cannot wait to move onto the next step of the process to watch this quilt top unfold.

Rita

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Kona Cotton Fat Quarter Bundles

I don't know if you've seen the super dooper delicous boxes of Robert Kaufman Kona Fat Quarters (which I have been eyeing-off for some time), unfortunately shipping these across the Pacific just isn't an affordable option, and so these bundles of Kona Fat Quarters in a selection of colors are definitely the very next best thing!