Candy Dash - pattern available in Make Modern

Last year I was excited to learn that a group of enterprising Aussie crafters were launching their own online quilting magazine.  Make Modern includes patterns, articles, interviews and lots of interesting tidbits.  I don't buy a lot of quilting magazines, mainly because I think they aren't great value for money (so much advertising!), but Make Modern is really packed with content and well worth the very reasonable purchase price ($6.95).

I'm now very pleased to be able to let you know that I have a pattern in the newly released Issue Four of Make Modern.

 

I really love the classic churn dash block and a couple of years ago now, I sketched out an idea to make the churn dash shape look like it was floating on a multi-coloured background.

 

This mini quilt, called Candy Dash, is the realisation of that idea.  It's paper pieced for accuracy, and although I made the background to my version out of a rainbow of blenders, you could use any combination of fabrics that took your fancy.

You can preview Issue Four of Make Modern here, and if you like what you see, you can buy the issue (or a subscription) here.

P.S. A QuiltCon recap is coming soon!  

Pink, red and blue cushion

A few weeks ago I shared a quilt I was working on.  The quilt is finished now, but I'm keeping it under wraps until I'm ready to hand it over to the recipient.

 

When I was making the quilt, I made four extra blocks.  Making more blocks than is strictly necessary for a quilt is a technique I like to ensure a good balance across the quilt.  It can be easier to make extra blocks up front, rather than feeling like you're finished with the quilt top and then having to make more.

 

I may also have had a cushion made from the extra blocks in mind as well!

 

I'm pleased with this cushion.  Without the sashing and the border fabric, it's quite different to the quilt, but similar as well.  The quilt is straight line quilted, but I decided to stipple this one.  I like the contrast of the curvy quilting against the angles and straight lines of the churn dash blocks.

 

Sometimes I buy fabric and it sits in my stash I start wondering whether it was a good purchase.  The binding is one of those fabrics - I bought it with binding in mind (hello, stripes) and then it sat in my stash for quite a while.  When I pulled the fabrics for this quilt, I realised it was the perfect binding for this quilt, and this cushion.  I'm going to have more faith in my fabric buying abilities from now on.

I used my covered zip cushion back tutorial for the back.  It's been a while so I had to refer back to my tutorial for a couple of the steps.

I'm tempted to keep this cushion to add to the growing pile on my couch, but I think it probably belongs with the pink, red and blue quilt that spawned it.

Anyone else like to make extra blocks for their quilts, with or without cushions in mind?

I'll be linking this finish up with crazy mom quilts.

WIP Wednesday

There's a classic scene from the first season of Mad Men, where Don Draper is pitching for the job of advertising Kodak's new slide projector (you can watch it here).  This quilt reminded me of that scene, because I think it invokes a sense of nostalgia, for something that never really existed.

 

This quilt has evolved quite a lot from when I last showed it to you (here).  The sashing and the border really change the look of it and have taken it from quite a crisp looking quilt to something a lot softer, and less orderly.

 

The sashing is a print I bought from the Fabric Store a while ago - it's not quilting cotton and feels similar to a poplin to me, although slightly softer (it is 100% cotton though).  It's hard to tell in these photos but the background is actually a very pale pink/peachy colour, which adds to the old fashioned vibe of this print.

 

The strawberry print I used for the border is again not quilting cotton, but another type of cotton fabric, from Spotlight.  It's quite soft and a really cute print.

I think this may be the most traditional looking quilt I've made so far.  I can't wait to quilt this one - I think it's going to need to be washed to properly look finished!

Have you stepped out of your comfort zone to make a quilt that's much more traditional (or modern) than your usual quilts?

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

WIP Wednesday

I started a new project this weekend, as part of another skills swap, with a friend of mine from work. She is painting me a picture (or possibly a triptych) in exchange for a quilt, and I'm excited to see what she comes up with. She showed me a few photos of her bedroom which has a pink, red and aqua theme going on, in a fairly eclectic way. For whatever reason, that colour combo screamed vintage to me, so I'm running with it.

We set a deadline to complete our projects by the end of the year, but on Saturday morning I thought I'd just have a quick look through my stash to see what suitable fabrics I had. This block appeared shortly after.

It was quickly joined by 3 others.

And then another four.  And by the end of the day I had the components of 24 blocks made, so my HST blocks are ready for trimming and then to be assembled into churn dash blocks. I'll only use 20 blocks in the finished quilt, but I wanted to make extras so I can determine the layout later.

I really enjoyed getting into my stash of 1930's repro prints, and doing something quite different from my norm.  I'm planning to sash these blocks and add a border, so it will end up quite a traditional looking quilt.  Hopefully I'll have more progress to show you soon!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced: