Thursday, April 19, 2018

Postcard from Sweden and Starry Bright Sky

Postcard from Sweden

It's done! The quilt top for Postcard from Sweden is finished.
Finished Postcard from Sweden quilt top in batiks
I absolutely love the quilt in the original Kona colours but could never have managed to follow the pattern. Instead I used batiks and roughly followed the values of the original, except for the last row. I didn't have enough of the correct valued fabric cut out but had many other half-square triangles, so I made due. I'm sure that this would work for the whole quilt since it's more about mixing the colours and values than it is about the specific colours.

It's a very grey day outside, so the colours aren't as brilliant as they should be, even with fancy technical adjustments. This close-up picture shows a bit more of the details of the fabrics.
Close-up of the batik fabrics
Thank you Sandra of MMM! Quilts for hosting this quilt along. This quilt top would still be in its lovely project bag if it wasn't for your deadlines and encouragement 😊
The quilt top is done!


Finishing the Postcard from Sweden quilt top was my OMG for April. Hooray!!!

Next steps: I'm not finished, am I? I'm looking forward to quilting this baby. I am going to quilt it very densely using all kinds of FMQ designs. It won't be for a little while because there is a line up in my quilt room, but with luck it will be finished in 2018.

Starry Bright Sky - Week 4, Improv

This is my absolute favourite block so far. I just love improv... minimal measuring, lots of experimenting!

Here is the first block. It has an improv centre as well as the star spikes. It was a lot of fun to make.

Improv star block
The second block is a small star improv block - you can put 4 together to make the full size block. I'll probably make a few more and sew them together.

Smaller improv star block
I used my new design wall to put the blocks together and to take pictures. It really is great. I don't know how I worked without it!
Blocks on my new design wall :-)
Here's the gang so far!
Blocks 1 to 4

What I learned
  • If I ever fell on my head and decided to make another Postcard from Sweden quilt, I would still use batik fabrics, but instead of matching the value of the original quilt, I would just place my fabrics randomly. I think that as long as there was a good range of values in the fabrics, it would come out great. This would take a fraction of the time to make.
  • I used some very light batiks from a couple of charm packs since I don't have anything that light in my stash. Getting a variety of charm packs could also work for a random version of this quilt.
  • I just love sewing pieces of fabric, cutting them and sewing them back together, without any pattern or plan. That, of course, is why I love improv piecing 😊
  • My design wall is holding up really well. I'm very happy with it.
Related links
Linking Parties
I will be linking this post to MMM! Quilt's Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along, to April's OMG once it's up as well as Alida's Starry Bright Sky link-up (my earlier post ever!) Needle & Thread ThursdayLet's Bee SocialMidweek Makers, Linky TuesdayCan I Get A Whoop Whoop?Finished or Not Friday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving it Forward Monday,


9 comments:

  1. Your postcard from Sweden in Batiks is so pretty and I love the improv stars!

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  2. Hi Andree,
    Your Postcard turned out beautifully! I love the batiks you used - it looks different but you can certainly see it is a close cousin of the original colors.
    ~smile~ Roseanne

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  3. Ohthose improv stars!! They are going to be so amazing!!

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  4. The postcard from sweden is great! And I love your star blocks, I am happy to hear you are having fun with those!!

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  5. Design walls ARE fabulous! Thanks so much for quilting along with us, and for linking up your gorgeous batiks beauty!

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  6. Love your stars - they look great!

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  7. Fun to see your interpretation of the Postcards from Sweden quilt, and interesting to read your tip on just getting the variety of colors and then sew it without looking at the diagram. Resonates with me.

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  8. Wow that is a wonderful quilt! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

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