Tag: mini quilt

A Little ‘Thank You’

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I told you about the mini that I was giving away on Instagram in this blog post. In it I also told you about Karie who helped me get to the last three followers by posting about my giveaway to all her followers. Well, I decided to make her a mini quilt as a ‘thank you’ for her help.

This is how far I’ve gotten:

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Only two more rounds and then I can appliqué it onto a background, quilt it and bind it.

I really love making these EPP patterns and I like making minis and cushions but my next plan is to make a big quilt with various designs in various sizes. It’s been floating around in my head for a while and I now need to grab my iPad and turn these ideas into patterns. I get a real buzz with every new idea so you can imagine how excited I am at this project. A couple of WIPs to finish first and I’ll be able to start. I’ll make sure to show you the progress.

TTFN (ta ta for now)!

Categories: English Paper Piecing, Quilting1 Comment

Shining Bright

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I’ve finished my Pantone 2013: Emerald Quilt Challenge mini quilt and I’m very happy with it.

Réalt Glas Finished

As it’s name Réalt Glas means Green Star in Gaelic, I decided to quilt some wandering clover on the grey Essex linen. It’s not my first time free motion quilting but it’s still rather wobbly and I realise that I have to practice a lot more. I used the same grey Aurifil 50wt  (2605) that I used for piecing.

Réalt Glas Finished

Except for the centre, the star (stars?) itself isn’t quilted. I did stitch in the ditch around the grey pieces but left the green pieces alone. I could tell you it was because I wanted them to stand out but in reality it’s because the inner star was too pouffy and I was worried that I would have lots of little pleats if I quilted it.

Réalt Glas Finished

The pattern tweaking is still going on for this but I should be finished by this weekend. All I need then is a little help from Master to turn it into a PDF file.

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing16 Comments

BQS 3 – The End

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The mailing window for the British Quilt Swap Round 3 opened last Thursday and I’m happy to report that I will be sending my mini off on Monday, a little later than I wanted.

On the other hand I’ve been very lucky and have already received my mini from my partner Teresa, The Lochside Quilter. Look what she sent me:

Little Miss Bossy-Boots took one look at the  hexagon quilt and asked if she could have it for her dolls. I’m still thinking about it… Did you notice the cute little tissue holder and fabulous charms Teresa included? The latter will definitely find their way into my Spring Carnival quilt.

Thank you so much, Teresa!

 

The quilt I made isn’t something I would have made for myself and it really took me out of my comfort zone. However, it has taught me a lot. First, I loved the curved piecing and can see some more of it in my future. Second, raw edge appliqué is fun and can be very effective. I like the fact that the tree trunk’s and leaves’ edges are a bit fuzzy. Third, autumnal colours are beautiful. I don’t use them much although I was obviously attracted to them before this mini as I bought Denyse Schmidt’s Hope Valley a couple of years ago.

Here’s the label I embroidered for the back.

In addition to the quilt we’re supposed to send a little extra gift.

I love pincushions and think that you can never have enough when you’re sewing so that is what I’m making for my partner. I’ll show you a picture once I’ve finished it. I know the number of pincushions I have has quadrupled in the last few months because they are so much fun to make and receive.

Now all I can do is wait and hope that my partner likes what I made for her. Fingers crossed.

 

Categories: Quilting1 Comment

Summer Luv

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On the train back from London I was thinking back to the fantastic three days that I had just spent in the great company of such creative ladies and gentlemen. I thought of all the things I had learned and the fact that I would have to try them out independently (ie without a teacher holding my hand) to really internalise them. I’m the kind of person who has to use my hands to learn, I write things down to remember them. I can’t read a pattern and understand it, I have to get the materials and make while I read the instructions. I’ve always been like that to a certain degree but it has become more prominent in the last eight years and is probably down to the flippin’ chemo.

Anyway, long story short, I was thinking about the portholes technique and especially about the flower template that Lu gave us together with the circles and heart. In my mind the flower became more abstract and suddenly I could see a picture in my head of three very stylised flowers in bright colours.

What do you think? I realise I could have appliqued the flowers onto the background and it would have taken me half the time but I love the more refined look that you get with the portholes technique (who am I kidding? it’s still something I made). I tried to keep the shapes as simple as possible to practice. The colours were chosen for their zing, I wanted the whole quilt to really pop. I’m very happy with it even though the coloured fabrics show a little through the white and I didn’t bury my knots at the back (as it was only supposed to be a trial piece I didn’t think it would matter). It finished at 12″ by 16″.

I put a picture up on Instagram and it seems I have two takers for this mini quilt. However, as I haven’t got any of the ladies’ addresses I might just hang it up in my room for a little while.

Next stop, finishing my double circle of flying geese. I just hope I remember enough to do it without having to bombard Lynne with too many questions. Watch this space….

Edit: At Di‘s suggestion I’m linking this mini quilt up to Ellison Lane Quilts‘ Summer Sewing Contest. Just for fun 🙂 

Categories: Quilts3 Comments