WIP Wednesday

Late last year, I bought a fat quarter bundle of Alison Glass's wonderful collection, Clover Sunshine.  I happened to set it down next to a bundle of Oakshott Italy fabrics, and I realised that they are both quite greyed out and I thought they would look interesting together.

I've started making these wonky cross blocks and I love them (I still need to square them up).  I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with these blocks.  Of course, I could just stitch them together to make a very bright and vibrant quilt.  Sashing, or negative space so it looks like they're floating is another option.

What are you working on this week?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

Introducing Oakshott Fabrics

I have to say, I've been incredibly lucky with my sponsors.  Today I'm thrilled to introduce Oakshott Fabrics as my newest sponsor.  I approached Oakshott Fabrics because I am totally crazy about their fabrics and after I sent off the email I crossed my fingers and toes that they would want to work with me.  I was so happy when they said yes!

Oakshott Fabrics make the most gorgeous luminous hand woven shot cottons (a different colour thread is used for each of the warp and the weft of the fabric).   I've used their fabrics in several projects, starting with my Rubies in the Rough quilt made using a fat eighth Ruby Reds bundle.  You can find the tutorial for this quilt here.

The Oakshott shot cottons have an amazing sheen and depth of colour.  In the photo above, each hexagon is made of the same Oakshott fabric, and you can see how different the colour can look depending on the angle from which you are viewing it.

I know shot cottons have a bit of a bad reputation for being stretchy or slippery or thin but you won't get any of that with Oakshotts. They look like silk but they are 100% cotton and they behave like cotton - they iron out beautifully and are a delight to sew with.  For instance, I had no trouble sewing the wee tiny scraps left over from my Rubies in the Rough quilt into a panel for this matching cushion.

I also used Oakshotts and a mixture of improv and ultra precise piecing to make this Butterfly Ghosts mini quilt.  Sometimes freezer paper can stick to delicate fabrics and be hard to remove (I've had bad experiences with freezer paper and double gauze) but it was just fine with the Oakshotts in this project.

I especially like the colour packs and blocks, pre-cut bundles of fabrics ranging in size from fat eighths to half metres - there are some glorious combinations.  My low volume and Oakshotts plusses quilt is made with the Sunrise bundle.

I bought a fat quarter bundle and I have loads left over.  Look how pretty the fabrics are all together in colour order!  This is possibly the only bad thing about Oakshotts - the bundles are so pretty that it can be hard to open them up and cut into them!

Apart from the fabrics, I'm really enjoying working with Oakshott Fabrics.  It's a small family owned company and Michael Oakshott is really great to deal with.  I recommend that you sign up for the newsletter (I did, long before I approached Oakshott Fabrics for sponsorship) to make sure you keep up to date with new products and any promotions.

For anyone who hasn't tried Oakshotts yet - be warned, Oakshotts are highly addictive!  So, any other Oakshott addicts out there?

Butterfly ghosts

A while ago, I had the idea to try and make a quilt block that looked like a circle of flying butterflies.  Inspired by the circle of flying geese tutorials out there, I decided to try and make a paper pieced pattern that didn't involve sewing any curves (I've sewn curved pieces before but it's not something I'm confident about).

A lot of the time I use Touchdraw for designing quilts and blocks, and I do really like it.  However, sometimes its more satisfying to draw something out on paper with a pencil and a ruler.  You might be able to tell that I used freezer paper - I like the extra accuracy that comes form having the paper in place when you're dealing with bias seams.

This little wallhanging is made with lots of scraps from my Oakshott and low volume quilt top and eight different white on white prints.  I love the combination of improv piecing and highly controlled paper piecing - the "background' really ended up looking like a kaleidoscope.  I never thought I would be able to find a binding fabric to match, but Anna Maria Horner came through for me with her Sinister Swarm print in Vivacious.

I wanted to show you the back of this quilt, because it's something that didn't go entirely to plan.  I originally intended to make a cushion cover with this block, and I knew I only wanted to quilt it minimally, so to give it extra stability and body, I decided to fuse the pieced front and the backing fabric to the batting.  Turns out, using Vliesofix / Bondaweb to do this is not necessarily the best idea...  The fabrics went quite lumpy, and the extra stiffness made hand stitching hard work (so hard, in fact, that for most of the quilting, I just stitched through the front and the batting, not the back).

In the end I managed to steam out most of the lumpiness from the front, and the extra stiffness is quite good for a wallhanging, so all is not lost!  Ivy still likes it, even if it didn't go quite to plan!

Have you needed to do any quilt "troubleshooting" lately?

Linking up with:

and finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

Oakshott and low volume plus quilt top

I managed to get some photos of my Oakshott and low volume plus quilt top this weekend.  

Actually, for a change, my sister was the photographer, and I was the quilt holding assistant.  A typical Wellington windy day meant I was holding on for dear life and my sister was trying not to get smacked in the face by the end of the quilt!

If you are interested in making something similar, you can find the measurements I used to make these blocks here, together with the similar but slightly different measurements used by Rachel, whose quilt inspired mine.

I'm really happy with how this quilt has turned out so far.  I don't think the background looks too busy any more, and I love how vibrant the Oakshott fabrics look against all the low volume fabrics.  The variation in the low volume fabrics is great too - it's a bit like a grown-up eye spy quilt!

Now, I just need to find a backing and work out how to quilt it. Any suggestions for the quilting design? This one has me kind of stumped!

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WIP Wednesday

Just a quick WIP Wednesday update this week.  I just finished up this fun block for Sally - I think all the blocks together are going to make an amazing quilt!

After some solid sewing last weekend, my Oakshott and low volume plus quilt top is finished!  This is a photo of all the blocks laid out on my design wall before I assembled the quilt top.  I'm hoping to get proper photos tomorrow, weather permitting.

I also whipped up this little (approx 27" square) baby quilt top from scraps.  The picture is really not doing it justice - the colours are much softer in real life.  It's on my design wall at the moment, but I think it needs something... in fact, I think it needs appliqué!  Hmmm - good thing I seem to be in the mood to try new things at the moment.

What have you been working on this week?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

WIP Wednesday

This week, I've been growing my Oakshott and low volume plus quilt from this...

 

to this.  I'm planning a quilt which will be 7 blocks by 7 blocks (80" square), so I'm just over halfway there in terms of making blocks.  I'm really enjoying all the variety in the background squares (from the low volume charm swap hosted by Lori), but the background is looking a little too busy for me at this stage, so I plan to add in some even quieter fabrics in the next 24 blocks.

I've also been working on my item for the Modern She Made Swap.  This is the large item - I've quilted it up and turned it into a cushion for my partner (I think I can say that without giving the game away!).

I am so happy with how the piecing turned out I think I will have to make another version for myself!  

I've also been working on the small item - this is the beginnings of a pincushion - with my first attempt at hand quilting.  I used perle 8 cotton and it was a bit of a learning curve (for example, I used a thimble, which I have never done before).  I probably should have watched this fantastic Sarah Fielke video before I started, rather than once I finished, but never mind, the hand quilting has a mainly decorative function here.  Apologies for the crappy instagram photo! 

What are you working on this week?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

WIP Wednesday

On my design wall this week are these two teeny tiny baby quilts - they will finish at about 16" by 20".  One of the members of the local guilt I belong to very generously went through her stash and scraps, and made up little packages of pre-cut squares for guild members to make quilts to be used in the neonatal unit of a local hospital.  

I got a little bag of 1930's reproduction prints, which I'm really rather fond of, and I decided to split it up to make two quilts - one with a navy pin dot which is slightly more boy-ish, and one with a grey and white low volume print which, due to the light purple binding I plan to put on it, is a bit more girly.  I'm pretty happy with how these are turning out, and they should both be pretty quick finishes.

I've also been working on some plus blocks using Oakshott shot cottons and low volume fabrics.

This is an idea I have totally copied from my flickr friend Rachel aka wooden spoon.  We were both part of a low volume charm swap, and she is much further through making a completely gorgeous quilt using the charms and very bright and colourful prints.

If you want to make your own plus quilt using 5" charm squares, Rachel put together this handy dandy diagram showing what size to cut the other pieces.

I have a psychological aversion to cutting pieces with a 1/4" or 3/4" measurement if I can avoid it, so I used slightly different measurements, as set out in the diagram below, to make unfinished blocks which are 12" square.

Of course, Rachel's quilt is inspired by this stunning Marcelle Plus Quilt from film in the fridge, which is in turn inspired by the stunning Marcelle Medallion Quilt by Alexia Abegg.

What are you working on this week?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

Handmade Christmas Revealed - Day 2

Next up on the reveal list is the project using some teeny tiny scraps from my Rubies in the Rough quilt, of which I showed this sneak peek a little while ago.

I can now show you the finished item.

I made the focal section from the little parallellogram scraps from cutting equilaterial triangles.  I simply sewed about half of them together in a strip, sewed the other half together in a strip pointing the other way, sewed the strips together to give a kind of herringbone effect, and squared off the sides and ends.  Making this part was a very quick but satisfying little project.

I then sashed it out in the same charcoal crosshatch sketch fabric I used in the original quilt, and pebble quilted all around it.  I have to say, I really like pebble quilting, but it uses A LOT of thread.  This 18 inch square pillow took about 400m of thread to quilt.

The back is a fun white on black text print from Spotlight, with a covered zip using this tutorial.  The zipper covering is a Kaffe Fassett print that picks up the colours of the Oakshott fabrics from the front.

I felt like this pillow needed a little extra shot of colour, so I put a binding on it using some of the prints I used in my Rubies in the Rough quilt.  Instead of sewing the back and front of the pillow right sides together and turning it out like I normally would, I just sewed it with the wrong sides together, trimmed the edges with my pinking shears, and then sewed the binding on exactly as I would with a quilt.  Very simple and easy.

This pillow and the Rubies in the Rough quilt are very friendly.  Which is good, because they have both gone to my mum as her Christmas gift.

WIP Wednesday

It's been a while since I did a proper wrap up of all my current projects, so thought I would take the opportunity now.

Existing WIPs

Granny Squares Quilt - I finished quilting this one a while ago, and last week I trimmed the quilt and machine stitched the binding to the front of the quilt.  Even though it's very tempting just to finish this quilt up, I am leaving the handstitching for the Christmas period, when I will be taking a break from my sewing machine.

Giant Star Quilt - all of the star sections are quilted, and I have started quilting the background.  I am doing large-ish pebbles so that I can practise my newly acquired FMQ skills and so both parts are quite densely quilted.  I might finish the quilting before Christmas, but I suspect I will run out of thread first, and will need to get my LQS to order some in for me.

Dat star cushion - I haven't really progressed on this one.  It was going to be one side of a cushion for my brother.  I had a complete disaster trying to machine stitch around some appliqued words on the other side, so I had to start again.  Now I think I will do two cushions, with different designs but similar colours and fabrics.  Its quite annoying to have had to start again, but I should be finished this weekend.

Equilateral triangle quilt - I need to baste and quilt this giant thing, but I am avoiding it, because it is ginormous.  I really want to quilt this quilt myself, but I am not at all sure my little sewing machine can handle it.  I have heard there is a place in Wellington where you can hire time on a long arm quilting machine, and I am thinking that might be the solution for this quilt.

 

New WIPs

Feeling Festive Table Runner - I just need to get the binding on this one.  I think I will give it to my grandmother for Christmas, so this is definitely one to get done soon.

Oakshott scraps project - I saved all the teeny tiny scraps from my Rubies in the Rough quilt, and I have used some of them in a small project.  I am planning to give this as a Christmas gift, so I will only show a sneak peek now.

Other Christmas gift  - this is another gift project, so I won't show a pic at this stage.  What I will say is that it caused me some grief over the weekend.  I used store bought bias binding to finish this project, and then caught it with my iron, and it melted instantly.  In one sense, I glad, because it means the binding was totally unsuitable, and I only singed a small bit and could remove it without lasting effects on the project.  The downside is that I will have to make my own bias binding, something I have been avoiding!

I have a few other small projects that I want to get wrapped up before Christmas, so it looks like I will have a busy couple of weeks ahead!  Are you scurrying to finish a few things off before Christmas?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced (check out this lovely new button!):

P.S. - Don't miss out on my giveaway as part of the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop.  It's super easy to enter and I am giving away four DS Quilts fat quarters.

WIP Wednesday

I don't have much exciting progress with actual WIPs to report this week.  I am working on finishing off a few works in progress by the end of the year, and I am up to the less fun parts of several projects - like basting, and binding.  I have been doing little bits of prep this week, so I should be able to bust through a few things this weekend.

However, I finally got pictures of my Oakshott quilt up and the tutorial is available.  The tutorial is on Lily's Quilts here, and some more info on the prints used in the quilt is here.  I haven't shown much of the back yet, but I really love it, almost as much as the front.  I think I will have to do more pieced backs from now on.

Also, don't miss out on my giveaway as part of the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day.  I am giving away a charm pack of Sew Stitchy by Aneela Hoey for Moda - check it out here.

Ivy is pretty excited about all the giveaways around the crafty blogosphere!


Linking up with Lee over at Freshly Pieced:

WIP Wednesday

Granny squares quilt - no progress since last week.

Giant star quilt - no progress since last week (but I now have photos of the free motion quilting I did, here.

Equilateral triangle quilt - no progress.

Gingham quilt - no progress.

Dat Star - no progress

Oakshott quilt - this is the reason I have made no progress on any of my other works in progress since last week.  I want to keep this quilt fairly under wraps until it is done and posted at Lily's Quilts (by the end of November).  I can reveal two things though.  One is that the plan has changed a bit.  The other is that this quilt has so far involved cutting over 500 equilateral triangles.  Phew - I'm glad that part is over!
A couple of progress photos:

The colours really are this luminescent

I am piecing four triangle units to make doing the final layout easier.

Gotta press all those seams open.

What it looks like from the front.  Notice the grain of the fabric?  That is deliberate and really going to make this quilt shimmer and sparkle.

The crosshatch sketch fabric looks much bluer in these photos than it is in real life - I think it was the early morning light.  It is actually closer to charcoal in colour.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced: