Category: Quilting

Surf and Turf meets The Birds and The Bees

eli # # # # # # #

When Jess from The Elven Garden asked for pattern testers for her new Roundabout pattern I couldn’t help myself and volunteered.

I’m on a (self-imposed) fabric buying ban but still get the Simply Solids stash club every month. When I saw all the pinks and oranges together I really wanted to make a quilt using just the two colours. However, when I started pulling fabrics for the Roundabout pattern I added some fresh blues to the mix. As a neutral I decided to use some Heather Ross fish which I got when Claudia from Machen und Tun München had her destash.

Roundabout Pattern by The Elven Garden

I loved the combination and soon started cutting. I checked the fabric requirements for all the colours but not for the neutral as I was convinced that I had enough of it. Well, long story short, I didn’t. After piecing two quarters I realised that I wouldn’t be able to cut enough for another two. I wasn’t going to unpick; unpicking foundation paper piecing is a nightmare and I didn’t want to waste my precious Heather Ross. So I hunted around in my stash for a neutral I would be able to use for the other two quarters and found some My Happy Garden by Cloud9 Fabrics that I used as backing for Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ flannel quilt.

Roundabout Pattern by The Elven Garden

The top was pieced with my beloved Aurifil thread (2000). I don’t really need to mention it anymore, do I? I don’t use any other thread since falling in love with it two years ago.

I have a few things I need to finish before I can actually think about quilting this. The plan is   to practice my fmq and hang it on my wall in the sewing room.

The pattern hasn’t been released yet but once Jess has finished all the editing you will be able to win a copy on her blog as well as all the tester’s blogs, including mine!

Categories: Quilting, Quilts1 Comment

Cobwebs

eli # # # # #

Goodness, I can hardly remember when I last wrote a post for this blog. However, the cobwebs have well and truly been dusted off and I’m excited to share lots of new makes with you.

First, is a cushion I’d promised Little Miss Bossy-Boots ages ago. She’s gone off the pink and wanted more purple in her room so I bought some lovely Kaffe Fassett’s and made her a Dresden plate cushion. Everything was going really well until I decided to hand quilt it. Hand quilting is hard on your hands so I put it away for a while before finally finishing it yesterday.

Dresden Cushion

I added some free motion quilted pebbles to the centre and some leaf shapes to the background. The cushion was pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50wt (2024); for the hand quilting I used some Perle cotton but the very fine one. Could it be a 12? I’m not sure.

Next is a quilt to go with the cushion. I’ve already started cutting the fabrics and I’m adding lots of other colours to the mix. This is going to be a big quilt that will, hopefully, last the Little Miss a long time so I don’t want it to be too restricted colour wise.

 

Categories: Home Projects, QuiltingLeave a comment

Circle

eli # # # # #

I have an idea for a quilt. Now, I have a lot of ideas for a lot of quilts and I’ve had to start writing them down as I’m worried I might forget.

This quilt design involves some circles. You may remember that I did some portholes after the first Fat Quarterly retreat and I love this technique but I’m worried it might make a quilt fairly heavy and a bit stiff. I therefore decided to try out some inset circles. What better way than to experiment than making a mug rug.

Mug Rug

I think it turned out really cute. I like the improv circle and the way the circle sits flat. It’s a little fiddly but once you get the hang of it it’s actually quite quick. All you need is a little freezer paper and some glue. Claudia from Machen und Tun München has a great tutorial.

I used some Kona solids and Timeless Treasure sketch and think the mug rug looks sweet in those pastel colours. I’m not normally a pastel girl as they remind me a lot of the 80ies when I was growing up (showing my age here, guys).

Circles Mug Rug

I’m really looking forward to making this quilt. Probably some time in 2075 after I’ve done all the other designs that are on my list.

 

 

Categories: Quilting3 Comments

PatCH

eli # # #

Friday I went to a quilt show here in Switzerland. It was organised by the Association of Swiss Quilters and was held in Solothurn which is only 20 minutes away by train. I met up with the lovely Helen from runquiltknitwrite and we had a great time looking at all the quilts and shopping for a bit of fabric.

You weren’t allowd to take any pictures of the quilts which I thought was a real shame as I really didn’t want to spend money on a catalogue (not if I could spend it on fabric!!!). I did sneak in one picture though with my phone.

Quilt

Quilts in Switzerland don’t seem to be about snuggling or warmth but all about art. They were all made for hanging on the wall, some with paper, plastic and bubble wrap on them. One had lots of bobbins sewn on it, others had buttons or 3D flowers. Did I like the quilts? A few. Was the show inspirational? Yes, absolutely. It made me want to push some boundaries and maybe make an art quilt for hanging on the wall. Just because I would like to see if I can. However, it also made me realise that I love to make things I can use as well as look at and that I would probably be in the wrong place if I joined the Swiss quilting association.

kaffe

What about the fabric I bought? Actually it wasn’t very much. I bought a Kaffe Fassett print that I absolutely adore and a few purple fat quarters as I want to make Little Miss Bossy-Boots a new quilt. She’s getting too big for the pink log cabins (although it’s still perfect for snuggles on the sofa) and prefers purple to pink now. Slowly but surely I’m trying to find enough purple fabrics to make her a Dresden plate quilt. I’m going to add more colours but want to start with the purples first.

yellow

Solothurn also houses the best fabric shop I have seen in a long time, Stoffartig. It most definitely has everything my little heart desires: quilting cottons, voiles, corduroy, jersey etc and everything else you need for quilting and dressmaking. It was like Aladdin’s cave and I got a bit overwhelmed. In the end I only bought a remnant and some interfacing. However, I will be back.

 

Categories: QuiltingLeave a comment

Good Fortune

eli # # # #

I love all of Kate Spain’s fabric lines and would buy every single one of them if I had more money. I did, however, buy a charm pack of ‘Good Fortune’ two years ago. Some of those charms were used in my first ever foundation paper pieced project, the double ring of flying geese, Lynne taught at the first Fat Quarterly Retreat and which ended as a cushion.

Some more charms were used to make this cushion. I do apologise for the quality of the pictures. It’s a grey and miserable day here today.

Good Fortune

This time I decided to play around with the quilting as I really want to become more confident at free motion quilting. I decided to quilt a grid in the centre simply following the seams using an Aurifil 50wt (5006), do some pebbling on the orange border with some Aurifil 40wt (2150) and a leaf pattern in the blue border with my favourite variegated Aurifil 40wt (4654).

Good Fortune Detail

My pebbles are definitely pebbles and not circles and some of my leaves have been visited by caterpillars but I love the textures and imperfections and can’t wait to do some more free motion quilting on my Heron Log Cabin which is up next.

I have found that for me the ideal speed at which to free motion quilt is a snails pace. That’s alright, though, it becomes quite relaxing when you go that slowly.

This is my first finish on this quarter’s Finish Along list.

Categories: Home Projects, Quilting1 Comment

How not to…

eli # # #

…write a tutorial. I finally sat down to write the tutorial for my Modern Churn Dash quilt and totally messed up because I was trying to finish the sewing before I had to pick up Little Miss Bossy-Boots from Kindergarten. However, I really like the mess I made and am happy to show it to you.

Oops!

This is what the churn dash looks like when you sew some of the pieces the wrong way. I did it with the first row and didn’t realise it until I finished sewing together the second row. I had the choice to unpick but decided to continue instead.

Positive Doughnut

I’m not sure what this block is called but I named it the ‘positive doughnut’ and I love it so much that I’m thinking of turning it into a quilt rather than a cushion as planned. It means I’ll have to go and buy some more of the background fabric, a shimmery little Michael Miller number.

The tutorial for the churn dash will be posted this week with lots of illustrations drawn in TouchDraw…

Modern Churn Dash

Categories: Quilting1 Comment

Jewel Ta Dah!

eli # # #

That’s right, Jewel is finished. Maybe I should’ve changed the name as it doesn’t really look like a jewel but, hey ho, I can’t think of anything else.

JewelI love the hand quilting and will definitely do more of it. I also love the red binding. Little Miss Bossy-Boots was crying when I told her that she couldn’t keep this mini.

This mini quilt is off to its new home in America. Bye, bye, little quilt!

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing, Quilting, Quilts1 Comment

Jewel

eli # # # #

When I designed this EPP pattern I named it ‘Jewel’ because I thought it looked like a square cut precious stone (very original, I know…).

Jewel

However, once I started sewing I really liked the way it looked without the corners and, thus, it now looks completely different.

Jewel You may also have noticed that I changed the way I used the colours. I often start with a plan and then deviate from it. It does mean the piece looks very different to what I had originally planned. I like both versions and may still go back to the rainbow version one day.

Jewel being hand quiltedThis is the first time I’ve hand quilted any of my EPP minis and I really like the look of it. I think there may be a few more in my future. I’m hoping to have this finished tomorrow as I need a few more colours of thread for the quilting. It’ll get its proper ‘ta dah’ moment then.

 

 

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing, Quilting, Quilts1 Comment

A Little ‘Thank You’

eli # # #

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:

DSC_0049

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