#igminiswap

I haven't been swapping much this year, but when I saw heaps of my online quilting buddies signing up to the #igminiswap being run on instagram, I couldn't resist.  It's being run by Sandy aka @curly_boy1, and the mailing deadline for international participants (i.e., me) is coming up soon.

This is the mini quilt I've made for my partner.  I wanted to use some of the very special handprinted fabrics I got from Karen Lewis Textiles (formerly Blueberry Park).

This log cabin variation, which uses wide logs and narrow logs (which are half the width of the wide logs), is something I've been wanting to play with as well.  I know my partner likes a low volume background, so it seemed like the perfect way to let the hand printed fabrics shine.

Hopefully this doesn't give the game away, but my swap partner has some mad machine quilting skills, so I decided to take the complete opposite approach and hand quilt this mini.  I've been enjoying hand quilting a larger quilt but it's taking FOREVER, so it was nice to have a quicker hand quilting project!  I used Aurifil 12 weight thread in white (2024) and I love the effect.  I actually bought a box of assorted 12 weight threads (this one) because I see more hand quilting in my future.

I bought a cute "made with love" stamp from Typo a couple of months ago, and I've been waiting for the chance to use it.  I used permanent fabric ink with the stamp and then added my own name and my partner's name (edited out in these photos) with a fabric marker.  The hand-worked blanket stitch is kind of my label signature now.

I had a few scraps left over from cutting the logs for my mini quilt, so I decided to use them to make a cute little pouch to go with the mini.

I'm not sending the threads but they just looked so pretty with the colours of the pouch!

 

My partner can use this pouch for whatever she likes.  But, it does fit lots of threads!

 

As usual, I used the open wide pouch tutorial, but made a fairly random size (basically the size my scrappy panels came out) and didn't box the corners.  I quilted the pieced exterior to a scrap of batting to give the pouch a bit of body without having to use interfacing (I hate interfacing so much!).

I'm really happy with how this mini turned out, and I enjoyed making it.  I really hope my partner likes it!

Have you been making things to swap lately?

Quilt Stats 

Pattern: I think this is a traditional block, but I did the quilt math myself

Finished Size: 18" by 18"  

Fabric: various low volume fabrics, Pretty Potent Co-ordinating Solids Fat Quarter bundle, printed by Karen Lewis Textiles

Backing: Ephemera

Binding: Print from Lotta Jansdotter's Sylvia line

Pieced and quilted by: me

WIP Wednesday

Well, technically, my part of this quilt is finished, so it's really someone else's WIP, but that still counts, right?

This is a quilt "chunk" that I made for my friend Jess from The Elven Garden. We are both part of a little bee called the Pinprov bee - there are just six of us and we are making blocks for each other based on images we've pinned on pinterest. Jess asked for pops of cool colour on a low volume background.

The first thing that popped into my head were these fun wee star blocks. I made three in different colours, using this Scrappy Star tutorial by Clover and Violet.

Then I needed to fill in the space around the star blocks. Some of the quilts Jess had pinned featured improv curves. I meant to make this year my year of getting comfortable with curved piecing, but it really hasn't been happening so far. Anyway, I decided to take the plunge and pieced some very simple improv curves. I used the method described by Anne from Play Crafts in this tutorial (hosted on Lily's Quilts) and the very similar method described by Rita from Red Pepper Quilts in this tutorial. Really, like they both say, improv curves are not so scary once you give them a try!

I really enjoyed making this chunk and I'm glad it gave me the opportunity and little push I needed to try improv curves. Expect to see more of them from me!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

Bloggers Quilt Festival - AMH All Day Mini

This mini quilt is my favourite thing I made for a swap I did last year with Kelsey from Everyday Fray, and definitely one of my favourite makes of 2013.

I took a photo of the back of the mini quilt once all the petals were stitched down and the piecing was done, because I thought it might be interesting to see what it looks like.

 

From the front, you can see that all the coloured petals are made from Anna Maria Horner fabrics.  100 different Anna Maria Horner fabrics to be exact.  These were all from my stash.  I didn't even have to hunt very hard for them, which means I have well over 100 different Anna Maria Horner fabrics in my stash.  You can probably tell, I love AMH!

I set the petals on a variety of crisp white low volume fabrics, and arranged them in a sort of rainbow order.  I think I had about 10 days to make this mini, so I was very fast at stitching down the petals by the time I was done!  Because there was so much happening already, I kept the quilting super simple, just stitching in the ditch with my trusty Aurifil 2021 in 50 weight.  The binding is an awesome black and white pin dot - I bought a bunch on sale a while ago and now I wish I had more because I want to bind everything with it!

I had in mind that this would be on the wall, so I included a hanging sleeve (photo taken before it was stitched down).

I'm entering this quilt in the Mini Quilts category of the Bloggers Quilt Festiva. Make sure you head over and check out all the quilts that have been entered - there's a heap of inspiration out there!.

Quilt Stats
Finished Size: approx 20" by 20"

Fabric: 100 different Anna Maria Horner prints, 8 different low volume prints

Backing: Tipu in Orange from Lotta Jansdotter's Bella collection

Binding: black and white pin dot from Pam Kitty Love

Pieced and quilted by: me

WIP Wednesday

What?! I'm posting WIP Wednesday on an actual Wednesday (not a Thursday like the last two times I tried to do WIP Wednesday)?! What is the world coming to??

Actually, the world has been set to right because I am back home after a couple of months working in another city during the week. It really cramped my sewing style, even if I did take my (backup backup) sewing machine up with me after the first few weeks. That's not a typo by the way, I now have three sewing machines. Oops.

So what did I do to celebrate my return to Wellington? Cut up fabric into little squares and then sewed them back together, obviously. Ever since Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches posted her Pixelated Heart Quilt, I've wanted to make one myself. But I never really had a reason to make one. But then she made another one, and Amanda at A Crafty Fox made another, even bigger one and then my friend Lara made this one (and started making this one) and then my friend Anne made a heart quilt as well and then I HAD to make one RIGHT NOW.

So I did and this is it.

Jolene's original pixelated heart quilt is still my favourite iteration of this pattern and I spent a bit of time looking at it to work out why. I think it's that all those ultra saturated Kaffe Fassett fabrics really glow against the very muted creamy peachy background. In more technical terms, there is a high degree of contrast between the heart fabrics and the background fabrics. So, I shamelessly copied Jolene's approach. I took leftover squares from the darkest, most saturated end of the spectrum of fabrics in my I See Fire quilt , and then used the softest, lightest creamy and peachy fabrics in my stash for the background. Seriously, I have a pretty good collection of low volume fabrics and these were whispering compared to most of them.

And I love it. I'm giving it to the cats, obviously. Now to raid my stash of cat fabric for the backing...

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

P.S. If you're looking for my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day giveaway, it's here.

AMH All Day Mini Quilt

I've been meaning to share details about the handmade items I made for Kelsey from Everyday Fray as part of our skills swap.  This mini quilt is my favourite thing I made for the swap, and definitely one of my favourite makes of 2013.

I took a photo of the back of the mini quilt once all the petals were stitched down and the piecing was done, because I thought it might be interesting to see what it looks like.

 

From the front, you can see that all the coloured petals are made from Anna Maria Horner fabrics.  100 different Anna Maria Horner fabrics to be exact.  These were all from my stash.  I didn't even have to hunt very hard for them, which means I have well over 100 different Anna Maria Horner fabrics in my stash.  You can probably tell, I love AMH!

I set the petals on a variety of crisp white low volume fabrics, and arranged them in a sort of rainbow order.  I think I had about 10 days to make this mini, so I was very fast at stitching down the petals by the time I was done!  Because there was so much happening already, I kept the quilting super simple, just stitching in the ditch with my trusty Aurifil 2021 in 50 weight.  The binding is an awesome black and white pin dot - I bought a bunch on sale a while ago and now I wish I had more because I want to bind everything with it!

I had in mind that this would be on the wall, so I included a hanging sleeve (photo taken before it was stitched down).

So,  I'm sure I don't have the largest collection of AMH fabrics out there.  Anyone willing to 'fess up to having a larger stash?  Or maybe there's another designer you love - I'd love to hear about them.

Quilt Stats
Finished Size: approx 20" by 20"

Fabric: 100 different Anna Maria Horner prints, 8 different low volume prints

Backing: Tipu in Orange from Lotta Jansdotter's Bella collection

Binding: black and white pin dot from Pam Kitty Love

Pieced and quilted by: me

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

By the way, my local friends Anne and Lyndy are going to the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2014 (and yes, I am consumed with envy!) in a week and a half, and would love to know if anyone else from the modern quilting blogging universe is planning to attend, and if anyone has any tips for first time attendees (and first time visitors to Japan).

Texting Quietly Pillow

So on Friday I mentioned that I received the most wonderful pillow in the X-Factor Pillow Swap from Alison at Little Island Quilting.

 

I just had to share some more pictures of Alison's beautiful work - this pillow is full of amazing details and I don't think I'll ever get sick of looking at it.  It has such a vintage feel with all the different text prints, including many I've never seen before and which are no doubt from Alison's extensive stash.

 

Even the back is perfectly in theme!  Alison is one of my quilting heroes - she uses lots of different fabrics and techniques but her style shines through in all her work.  I really admire that quality in Alison and in a few other quilters out there - I think it shows that they are being true to themselves in their designs and fabric choices etc.

Thank you Alison - I feel like a very lucky lady!

Falling Softly - a low volume cushion cover

Have you caught the modern maples madness that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment?  I think it was started by this Modern Maples Throw Quilt which has gone viral!  Check out the flickr group which is jammed full of inspiration.  I caught a bit of modern maples fever myself, but since it's spring here and I'm already working on an autumn quilt (my Midnight at the Oasis Quilt), I didn't want to go overboard.

 

So, I was restrained and instead made a cushion for the X-Factor Pillow Swap.  I've been lurking in this group for a while but hadn't actually participated before.  This swap is a little different to traditional swaps in that a theme is set (this round was low volume) and everyone makes a cushion but you are not allocated a specific partner.  Rather, once your cushion is finished, you send a photograph to the administrator and she uploads it to flickr so that no-one knows who make which cushion.  Then the cushions are voted on by the participants and the person who made the cushion with the most votes gets their first choice, the person who made the cushion with the next most votes gets to pick next, and so on.  I really enjoyed this format - it was a lot less pressure than making something for a partner and it was really fun to see all the different cushions.

 

Each maple leaf block in this piece finishes at 3" square.  I essentially used the same method as in the original pattern, but scaled all the sizes down.  It was actually rather fun making these tiny blocks (probably because I only made 9!).  I'm pretty sure the background solid is Moda Bella Snow - a nice creamy fabric.  I really wanted to add texture to all that solid go I free motion quilted the cushion cover with my go-to flower design (of course, using Aurifil 2021).  The quilting is really dense in the centre and then the design gets a bit larger to the sides - a simple way to add a bit of interest.

I was a bit sad about sending this cushion off to someone, until I got told who was getting my cushion.  It has now arrived with the lovely Rachel - a fellow New Zealander and the creator of so many gorgeous quilts and swap items (really, go and look at her flickr photo stream and swoon).  We are yet to meet in person but I'm sure it will happen one day!

 

The back is a random Japanese cotton/linen blend fabric from Spotlight - with text and writing instruments and hints of gold I thought it was sort of appropriate for an autumn cushion.  I have been enjoying using slightly heavier weight fabrics (like a drill or a duck) for the back of cushions lately and I looked for something suitable but couldn't find anything.  This lighter weight fabric is fine too, especially since the front of the cushion is so heavily quilted.

I added a lapped zipper to keep the back really neat and tidy - I think this is my new favourite way to make a cushion back.  I find it quicker and more economical with fabric than the covered zipper technique where you add a contrasting strip and I think it looks more professional than an envelope back.  I'm planning a tutorial on this technique because although its easy to do if you work through instructions step-by-step, it is seriously non-intuitive!

Now I'm just waiting for the pillow I've been allocated to arrive.  I don't know which one I'm getting, but given how difficult I found it to rank the entries in order of which one I preferred, I'm very confident I'll love whatever shows up!

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

WIP Wednesday

A very quick WIP Wednesday post - this is what I am working on at the moment - my project for Sew Sew Modern.  The next step is blanket stitching around the fox's body.  I also have something pretty cool planned to add interest around the edge.  Can't wait to see this one finished!

As with my last little fox project, the fox shape is from Kajsa Wikman's book, Scandinavian Stitches.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

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!

Linking up with:

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: