Tag: Simply Solids

Surf and Turf meets The Birds and The Bees

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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

Plus, Plus, Equal

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My nephew turned eighteen at the beginning of February and a few days earlier I decided that I was going to make him a quilt. A bit last minute, I know. It had to be a quick make and I thought a wonky plus quilt would be fun.

My stash has a lot of girly fabric in it so finding proper ‘man fabrics’ was a little difficult. I managed, however, to find some Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander and Curious Nature by Parson Gray. Some Kona solids in blues, greens, greys and off white, Sketch in two different greys and two fat quarters from my LQS meant that I had enough for a biggish quilt.

Plus, plus, equal quiltI really enjoyed making the plusses, eighteen in total, and the one equal sign. At first I was going to make all wonky plusses but after making nine or ten and laying them out, they were too busy for my liking. I decided to make eighteen plusses and leave the rest of the squares plain. In the end I added the equal sign; just because I can.

Equal Sign

The quilting is straight lines 0.5″ on either side of the seam and then another two lines 1″ apart throughout the middle of the squares. I wanted to keep the quilt modern and, by not quilting too many lines, keep it nice and soft. The quilt was quilted with Aurifil 50wt in 5004, a dark grey, on the top and 2600 in the bobbin.

Plus, plus, equal

The backing is the oh so popular Britten numbers by Ikea. I thought it would fit this quilt perfectly. The binding is Pearl Bracelets by Lizzie House in Hi Ho Silver which I bought at Simply Solids.

Plus, Plus, EqualI love this quilt and I really hope that Leon will too. He’s a great lad who asked me to teach him to sew before I moved to Switzerland. We managed to make a pin cushion and cushion cover which he literally finished minutes before the removal company arrived to collect all my boxes.

Plus, Plus, Equal

The quilt is a little smaller than I would have liked (Leon is tall) but I ran out of fabrics. In the end it finished at 57″ x 66″.

Categories: Quilting1 Comment

Wonky Princess Bee

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Hello again, I decided to seize the fact that mojo was lurking in a corner and started on my wonky stars again. Stellar is the wonderful pattern some of the Sew Solids Crew Stash Club are using for the Sew Solids Quilt-Along. You can see the posts about my first stars here and here. Because I was lagging behind I had two colours to sew stars from, pink and blue. To be honest the most difficult part of this sew-along is pairing up the colours to get enough contrast between the star and the background.

Stellar Sew-AlongDon’t look too closely please. The blocks have lots of stray threads hanging off them and my floor is…. let’s just say it needs a good clean. This quilt is definitely going to be colourful and I’m not sure how much I like it yet.

Something I love, however, is the fabric that arrived today from Simply Solids. I know a lot of people prefer prints to solids but I really enjoy working with solids.

SolidsNext month it’s my turn to be the Princess Bee of the Sew-Euro-Bee-ans. For a long time I didn’t know what to ask for but then I decided to go for colour rather than block. This means that my fellow bees are allowed to make any block they like, in any size they want to make (I’m sure I’ll regret that decision later) and with any extra scraps (solids or prints)  they want/need. I’m only asking them to stick to this colour palette. I would like the blocks to be something they enjoy making and that, I suppose, therefore represents them.  Now that the fabric has arrived I’m really excited about sending it out to everyone.

It’s good to have you back, mojo.

 

 

Categories: Quilting, Sew Euro-Bee-An, Sew Solids Crew Stash Club, Sew Solids Quilt-Along2 Comments

Stellar Update

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Hello! This week a lovely orange bundle of six fat quarters arrived on my doorstep, courtesy of the Simply Solids Crew Stash Club. I was feeling a little bit low due to missing a lovely meal in a lovely restaurant on Sunday so decided to cut into it straightaway. You might wonder what a meal has to do with sewing and the answer to that is…nothing. Sewing does cheer me up, though, so that was good enough for me to get the rotary cutter out instead of the duster and hoover.

Stellar OrangeA couple of hours later I had three bright orange stars to cheer me up. As mentioned before Stellar is a great free pattern on the Simply Solids website and although it was designed for the quilt-along I’m sure it would look just as great in patterned fabric or a combination of the two. I love making these stars and can’t wait for the March bundle.

Stellar PhotobombI think Charlie likes the stars too.

 

 

Categories: Quilting, Sew Solids Crew Stash Club, Sew Solids Quilt-Along2 Comments

Stellar Fun

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Just before Christmas I signed up for the Simply Solids Sew Solids Crew Stash Club and thus became a Sew Solids Crew member. There are different options on how much fabric you want to add to your stash and I went for six fat quarters. Duly, six lovely purple fat quarters arrived on my doorstep in December, which I cut into straightaway to use as binding for my Mindless Flannel quilt.

Purple Stack

This month six yummy green fat quarters arrived. My favourite colour is green but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have ordered most of the greens that arrived. Now that I have them, however, I’m in love with them all. The colours are from top to bottom: Peridot, Holly, Candy Green, Avocado, Olive and Ice Frappe.

Green Stack

Justine from Simply Solids is a very clever (and lovely) girl and initiated a fun quilt-along. Stellar is a free downloadable pattern by (the equally lovely) Laura Jane Taylor from Needles, Pins and Baking Tins and was especially designed for the Sew Solids Crew Stash Club (quite a mouth full, I have to say, maybe I should call it the SSCSC?). The pattern consists of wonky stars, something I’ve always wanted to try.

Green Wonky Stars

Wonky sewing is not in my nature and I seem to have to work really hard on breathing and relaxing. The first star was the most difficult and I realised once I’d finished it that I was going to cut off three of the points when I sewed the sashing on. I was awake half the night wondering if I should start again but in the end decided not to. Wonky stars with missing points? Hurrah, for giving up control!

I’ve now gone back to the purples for December and they’re all cut and ready to be sewn when I can sneak in a little sewing. First, however, I have to clean the fish tank.

Categories: Fabrics, Quilting, Sew Solids Crew Stash Club, Sew Solids Quilt-Along3 Comments