Aunty's Quilt: now with actual design!

Last night I did a bunch of cutting, layout out, arranging, organising, and came up with a design that's more me (although still not entirely to my tastes) and still manages to hold to my aunt's style.

Apologies for the dodgy pictures. Bad light and not-so-great photographer!

There'll be a thin green border around the 9x9 block configuration, and then the pieced borders.

Backing will be a big bitsa. All those browns/greens/foresty/woodlandy fabrics that I bought back when I first started buying fabric and which I now no longer like.

Ah, the learning curves of fabric preference!

I'm not the only one, surely? Have you ever bought fabric which seemed like a great idea at the time, and then when you pulled it out of stash was just not your thing.

Lunchtime today will involve trimming the HST and 4-patch blocks down to 4.5" square. (That's probably why the Jacob's Ladder Quilt I initially created with them was so wonky - the sizes varied ridiculously.)

WIP Wednesday: the one with quilt design (or lack thereof)

Relatively quiet quilting week behind us, the crazy busy quilting week before us!

WIPs

Snap Pop Baby Quilt Top

Done! Very bright and colourful, and will go to baby-of-unknown-sex (as compared to baby-of-known-sex, who is a boy).

Pinning the rows together:

And done!

Quilting to happen in the next week. Maybe.

The Aunt's Quilt

My aunt spotted some fabric and wanted a quilt made out of it. She wanted just the fabric with the edges hemmed.

This is my compromise. It's not a style I like, but it's in the taste of my aunt, so...

Although I am thinking about doing the Starburst Quilt by Sukie with the fabrics as a background, and solids:

More work than I have time for in the next two days, though!

Maybe chop it into squares and sash it, posting it with the four-patch squares? That would break up the main fabric a little.

I've had people suggest framing it, and one person suggesting I leave it as is. Any thoughts? If you have suggestions, make them here at the post.

To Do

SydMQG Group Quilt

We got the blocks all sewn up a couple of weeks ago:

They're gorgeous!

SydMQG President Penny Poppleton then added sashing and posting. All of it. By herself. (OMG.)

She also did the main piecing for the backing, before handing it off to me so I could add the remainder (yardage, mostly):

I'll be quilting it on Saturday at the LQS with the longarm. Alas, this means I cannot attend the SydMQG sew-in at Greta's Handicrafts. *sadface*

Edge-to-edge quilting - nothing fancy - just my usual fiery curls:

Hopefully, I will also be quilting at least one other quilt, possibly two if there is time enough. I was hoping to get Aunty's Quilt top and backing done so I could quilt it on Saturday, too. I've got the machine booked for the whole day (although 8 hours of longarm quilting may very well do me in). It depends on how tricksy things get...

Quilt-Alongs

I really really want to join in with Scrap Attack{String Fever} from over at Stitched In Color. Just no time!

Ditto with the Bloom Bloom Pow QAL. *sigh*

And the Retro Rubies QAL.

BAH TIME.

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So, what you been doing? I've been bad about commenting on other people's WIP Wednesday projects. Too squished for time, alas!

ETA: Penny Poppleton (SydMQG Pres) has another pic of the quilt blocks (and me laying them out) over at her WIP Wednesday post! Go check it out!

Aunty's Quilt

While over for dinner last Father's Day (September in Australia), my aunt spotted some of my quilting supplies and was particularly taken by a 'traditional US harvest' fabric I bought for the bright colours but which soon palled beneath the attraction of modern brights.

She wanted the fabric. Not even a quilt. "Just sew an edge on it and I will spread it on my bed!"

Yeah, like that was gonna happen.

She's getting a quilt. Perhaps not as full-blown as I would like - after all, one of the issues I had with this fabric is that it's such a large print with so many colours. It's either going to completely dominate, or get cut into teeny-tiny pieces.

I chose to let it completely dominate, and to add in some blocks that I've had in the works since, oh, gosh, it might be as far back as 2006? My friend Bec got married and I have her and her hubs a wedding quilt. I'm not even sure I have the original photo anywhere!

Oh wait, I do!

Jacob's Ladder.

Don't look too long, I made it before I realised the meaning of the words "squaring up"! (Okay, so I still don't square up as often as I should, but my seams are much better these days!)

But that pink and dark gold fabric? That was originally the red-and-gold blocks in here:

I thought they were a little too stark for the movement in the Jacob's Ladder, and have had them lying around for pretty much forever. They're a bit too stark in this one, too, but I don't think my aunt will mind too much. And I need something to bulk out the quilt size a little.

The column fabric down the sides is another harvest fabric I bought - actually, it's the one I used in the Jacob's Ladder.

I don't like this design, but my aunt was very insistent about "oh, don't do anything with it" but I can't leave it plain - I know some people do wholecloth quilts with beautiful quilting, but that's not really me. Quilting is design and layout and colour and pattern and tricking the eye.

*sigh*

WIP Wednesday

It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me in the non-quilting area, which is why I've been so quiet here. It's easier to quilt when I have:

1. spare time
2. a job that isn't taking up all my brain and whatever spare time I have
3. story plots that don't require me writing them
4. a deadaline

Since I do not have any of these things, I'm not doing a lot of quilting right now.

WIPs

I have the tops for two baby quilts:

One all sewn together with Make Life by Sweetwater:

One all laid out formed of Snap Pop by Sandy Gervaise:

One probably-a-boy, one unknown - one due at the end of the month, the other due at the start of next. So I might just wrap them up and do a 'pick a parcel, here's your card' mixer when I gift them!

future

I am planning to join in with the Scrap Attack {String Fever} over at Stitched In Color. Note the word 'planning'.

But I have design ideas - see?

And no shortage of string scraps. Although I might just be boring and do selvedges, because I have far far far too many of those.

Also, the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild charity Quilt 1 has the top and most of the backing, and I have the batting. Now I just need to book at time at the longarm.

Oops. Better go do that now!

So what have you been doing this week?

WIP Wednesday: the one with baby showers

It is Wednesday, I have WIPs, and I have a fabric swap proposal for anyone who happens to have some Mendocino Mermaids fabric and would like to swap it, possibly for a different print in the collection.

More on that after the WIP.

Baby Season

Two quilts for a Baby Shower next weekend (after Easter):

One is probably a he. The parents are 99% sure, but they keep repeating there's always the possibilty that the check is wrong! The other is...unknown. But I decided I'd just make them gender-neutral ones anyway. Gender neutral is always safe, and either way ze (gender neutral pronoun) will be sure to get plenty of other 'colour-coded' stuff from family and friends!

Disappearing Nine-Patches are nice and easy. And yet so effective!

I've reserved around half the layer cakes for the backing - simple squares, I think, nothing fancy. Although maybe I could do a stack-and-whack...? That could be interesting...

At any rate, lots of sewing together this weekend and quilting next week!

Mendocino Swap

I'm looking for some Mendocino Mermaids fabric and am willing to swap more Mendocino Mermaids fabric for it!

These are the ones I don't have and want (these are scraps):

And these are the ones I have and will swap:

Not selling any right now, although later in the year, most definitely! (And there will be giveaways.)

Finally, have a picture of a kitty 'approving' the mermaid fabric. Kitteh Buttstamp of Approval!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

How about you? What's your WIPs looking like this Wednesday?

Mendocino Mermaids Swap?

Public Announcement Time

I'm looking for some of Heather Ross' Mendocino Mermaids fabric, Yes, I know, it's impossible to get, shy of paying quite a bit of money over ton Etsy. However, I was wondering if anyone who happens to have some (yardage, or FQ) would be willing to engage in a swap?

I have the following fabrics I'd be willing to swap, up to half a yard.

willing to swap

That's:
- Mermaids on Gold
- Swim sisters on Fuchsia
- Kelp forest on Blush
- Seahorses on Gold (Dark Gold and White)
- Seahorses on Blush (Orange and Pale Pink)
- Giant Octopi on Fuchsia
- Kelp Stripe On Blush

I'm looking for:

That's:
- Swim sisters on Gold
- Swim sisters on Purple
- Swim Sisters on Blush (Pink Octopus)
- Swim Sisters on Blush (Fuschia Octopus)
- Seahorses on Fuschia (Purple and Gold)
- Seahorses on Gold (Dark Gold and Pink)
- Seahorses on Blush (Gold and Pale Pink)

Finally, I'm not up for selling any yet, but I promise that when I do, it'll be rather less than $60/yd here on my blog.

WIP Wednesday: the one with fairytale forests

Finishes

Books And Blocks Bee

Last block done! Thank heavens! Not that it wasn't fun or lovely to do, just that I don't think I'm cut out for Bee blocks. And it's been a tricksy and busy year, difficult to get them done.

The last one is 'Four Acres' from the 99 Modern Quilt Blocks book. There are some lovely designs in there, and when I finish putting together my quilt from the bee blocks I received, you'll see what I mean!

I didn't join any Bees this year - I think it's for the best.

WIPs

A very long time ago, there was a Dead Simple Quilt-Along, where the point was to pick fabrics, cut them into squares, and sew them together without any fancy piecing.

On the frame, set and ready!

I did a kind of 'winding vine' pattern around the border, and tried to do some pretty stuff in the insets. (It didn't work very well.)

The centre was pretty much my trademark 'fiery curls':

I was beleaguered by problems while doing this quilt. To start with, I didn't have the right colour Aurifil thread, and while I had a pale grey, I didn't want to use it. The shop with the longarm has thread, but the best colour match was the Mettier brand. A bit expensive though.

And not very good. It frayed and broke a lot. As in, a lot of a lot! So, yeah not going to use that brand for quilting again!

So thread issues. Resulting in tension issues on the back of the quilt. Bother! And then after all that, I got to the end of the quilt and realised...I hadn't left enough space at each end of the backing - or I hadn't matched the quilt top as closely as I should have when I started.

So, yeah, the bottom of the quilt is 2" shorter than the top. Luckily, this is not going to be a competition or display quilt. But I'm annoyed at myself for not planning it better.

Let's just say that putting this quilt together was a PITA. Ironic that the Eternity Quilt was hell to piece and a dream to quilt; this was the reverse!

But finally we are finished!

And some detail along the border. Not as good as I'd like - it won't win any prizes - but decent enough.

No progress on a lot of other projects, and I'm going back to work tomorrow. Drat!

What have you been doing this week? Have you linked up to the linky party?

Free Motion Quilting Day!

No, it's not anything official, but that's what today is for me: Free Motion Quilting Day.

I'm going to FMQ these two quilts:

Santorini Sun & Sky

The Dead Simple Quilt

I've been reviewing Angela Walters' Free-Motion Quilting patterns for most of the morning, trying to work out what to use and how to do it, and also checking out the Free Motion Quilting Project - although those seem to be mostly fillers. I'm thinking something with waves and pearls on Santorini, and maybe a leafy design on Dead Simple - still haven't quite worked that one out!

I figure that after the Eternity Quilt and the tricksy difficulty of doing the Eternity Quilt (I did not start with an easy quilt), these two should be relatively simple...

Relatively...

Pics on the other side!

Quilt Show Choices!

The Sydney Craft And Quilt Fair is on again this year, and I'm submitting a quilt to the Quilt Show. I've never put a quilt in a show before, so this will be an experience!

We can submit at least two.

Quilt 1: Eternity

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Quilt 2 is a question mark right now.

My options are:

1. Crooked Summer Sampler

I'd submit this one mostly just to imagine their faces when they receive the submission.

2. Santorini Sun And Sea

I like this one, it's been finished for a while, and all I have to do is get it backed and quilted, which I could do myself, easily enough.

3a) I <3 Kona - without borders

Latest work, up on the design board now, trying to work out if I should just go borderlerss like this or...

3b) I <3 Kona - with borders

The black border is pretty dramatic. Not sure I want to go with it - a better option would have been a range of subtly tinted 'blacks' - alas, for I cannot find my Kona Colour Card and so I don't even know if they have that.

I thought the border would give an opportunity for the colours to really pop - but black looks like it blends too well into the dark colours, and would just make the light ones really obvious.

Your thoughts? On the quilt choices, on the borders/no borders, on the whole submission in general?

WIP Wednesday: The One With New York!

Finishes

After what feels like a lifetime of effort, I finally got the New York Beauty Mini done!

I used it for FMQ practise - lots of radial line, bubbles, snail-shells, and my trademark 'fiery curls'

Funny story: I broke the needle just as I was starting to edge this, and so I had to lever up the plate under the foot and needle. And found...quite a lot of lint.

Had a go at it with the good old vacuum... :)

Books And Blocks Bee

These are ridiculously late. But done and in the mail!

Blue Lagoon:

Parisian Star:

And I still have the last block to go! (January, I believe.) I also stuck a bit of Mendocino Mermaids in there as compensation for lateness. I hope they like Heather Ross!

WIPs

Coloured Charms

Sewn into columns, but not fully together yet.

Looking pretty good, though, I think!

Sydney Modern Quilt Guild

You remember those hexies I've been doing for the last, oh, FOREVER?

Well, at the end of last week, we abrutply realised that the submission for the Sydney Quilt Show in June this year must be done by the end of this week. Cue panic. And several days of Sit 'N Sews to get most of the blocks done so we can lay it out and take a photo to give an indication of the design. It doesn't have to be finished just yet, they just want to see the design!

So we sat, and we sewed. And we sewed. And we sewed. And after two days sewing with Penny Poppleton and two other lovely ladies...we had this!

Isn't it magnificent? Pretty damn awesome, isn't it? If you're thinking it looks familiar, that's because you've probably seen Tascha Bruher's Hexa-Go-Go book, from which the pattern comes. Tascha has been wonderful about giving permission for the Guild to make the quilt from her pattern, even if not all the members could buy the book. And it is a wonderfully dramatic quilt - and looks even better with the sashing, posting, and borders on! (I don't have that photo - if you check out @pennypoppleton on instagram, it'll be there. I'm @seldear on instagram if you're interested in following me.)

Lily And Will Baby Quilt

I have the binding fabric cut and sewn and ironed and ready to sew on...I just haven't done it yet!

To be done by Sunday.

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Anyway, that's me. What about you? What have you been doing?