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

• Postcard from Sweden Quilt-Along with MMM! Quilts
• Postcard from Sweden quilt posts
• Lots of projects in the works, March 13, 2018
• April finishes, April 30, 2017
• Getting things done, March 23, 2017
• Alida's Starry Bright Night Quilt Along
• Starry Bright Night Quilt Along posts
• Block 3, March finishes and April beginnings, April 1, 2018
• Starry Bright Sky - Block 2, March 4, 2018
• Starry Bright Sky - Block 1, February 4, 2018

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 Thursday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Linky Tuesday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving it Forward Monday,