Welcome to week 430 of Free Motion Mavericks. I didn't get much free motion done this week, except for adding details on one of the Neighbourhood houses.
Houses at Night
The two houses that I completed will be at the bottom of the quilt and are night scenes. I have beautiful night sky fabric and chose colours for the houses that are a little darker than those done to date.
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| Two houses at night |
The last time I made these houses, I did two at a time - so that's what I did. At least if I mess up the first house, I'm not likely to do the same mistake in such a short period of time 😁
I made the mustard coloured house first and had to unpiece the roof section a few times. Luckily my theory worked - the second house went together easily. The roof fabric was bought last weekend at a quilt show. It's great for a night scene, as is the flowers on brown fabric.
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| Mustard house with an Evening Star block, at night |
For the extra details, I used images on darker fabric - in the windows you see bees (or teddy bears with wings) and lots of buttons! I also added a bunny, because they tend to wonder in the evening. There is a bird that looks like a moth (or a moth that looks like a bird - you pick!), and since the porch over the door was off-centre, I added a lantern on the over-hanging edge.
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| Teddy bear (or bees) playing with buttons |
The second house is a lovely deep orange colour. I used the mustard fabric for the centre of the star, but found some rich brown/burgundy for the star points and frame. For the lawn, I used a darker green.
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| Deep orange house with an Eight-Pointed Christmas Star |
I had so much fun finding fabrics for this party! I remembered that I have a basket of novelty scraps. These are really perfect for this fun house! I didn't FMQ these little additions yet. I used adhesive bonding web to keep them on. I'll FMQ them when I'm more alert. 😊
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| The night is filled with music and dancing. |
Here are my 6 houses so far.
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| Six houses so far |
What I learned
- Making two houses at a time was still a good idea!
- I'm so happy that I remembered my scrappy novelty fabric basket. There was so much to choose in there!
- I've been experimenting with different ways of adding those lovely details on the quilt. So far, this time was the best. I used adhesive bonding web and then FMQ the first house. The second house will get FMQ soon.
- After making 6 houses, it's time to start planning my quilt layout. I know that I want it larger than the throw, but smaller than the twin, especially the length.
- I drew quite a few pictures until I found something that may work. Here's my very rough plan.
- I want to add sky fabric above all of the houses. For the bottom houses, this will be a night sky.
- Between the top and bottom row of houses, I would like to add picket fences and a tree or something. This could be a lot more complicated than I want...so we'll see.
- There will be a road between the first and second rows.
- The middle row will have two houses. The first house will be one of the ones I have made, but the second one will look more like my friend's home. I will add a lake between the two houses, and a small forest on the other side, probably using the trees provided in the pattern.
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| A very rough plan of the layout |
Related links
- Rainbow Neighbourhood Houses - Blocks 2 to 4, April 25, 2023
- Block 1 of the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL, April 08, 2023
- Link to the Rainbow Neighbourhood pattern by Sandra of mmm quilts
Linking parties
Sandra of mmm quilts, who is hosting the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL, is having a mid-point link-up. Let's go see what everyone else has done 😊. Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Midweek Makers,
Put your foot down, Finished (or Not) Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Peacock Party, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2023, Oh Scrap!,
Free Motion Mavericks
Last week we saw some wonderful finishes. Thanks to everyone for linking up!
My Free Motion Mavericks partner, Muv, quilted her first quilt in a long while. It's a Union Jack baby quilt - just in time for the Coronation. Glad to have you back Muv! It's a sweet quilt in a variety of blues.
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| Muv's Union Jack baby quilt |
Denise participated in the Tool Craze Blog Hop. She used a tool to make Half square rectangles from Studio 180. The fabric is Island Batiks "Make A Wish" - they are so lovely and vibrant in her quilt. I just love the details at both ends of the quilt, which she FMQ with feathers.
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| Denise's Half square rectangles quilt |
Sandra is working on her PHDs (Projects Half Done challenge) and finished up her last 2 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts from 2015. She had so many blocks that she got two quilts out of them. They are called Dawn and Dusk. Each got a different quilting design. They look so comfy. Congrats Sandra!
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| Sandra's Dawn and Dusk quilts |
It's now your turn!
Your houses are adorable! I love the little details. Gardening has taken me away from my sewing room, so I’m living vicariously through other quilters.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Your houses are clever. :) They will make a great quilt... bright and cheery! Thanks for sharing in the Sew & Tell party.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melva - they are a lot of fun to think through and make!
DeleteLove your 2 new houses & their fussy cut windows. Looks like lots of work putting the completed houses into that great setting. Enjoy & thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan - I'm hoping to keep the work to a minimum by appliquéing the lake. Otherwise, except for those fence posts, I'm hoping that it will go well. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment :-)
DeleteYour houses are really cute! One of the first quilts I ever made was a house for each month of the year and simple sashing between (I quilted pebbles on the sashing like it was a pathway between them). Will be fun to see how you place yours.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cheree! I like your idea of the sashing being the roadway with quilted pebbles. I'm thinking of doing something like that.
DeleteYour houses are so much fun to see, Andree! I love the newest roof fabric with its stars and moons. I hadn't thought to use some nighttime sky colors on some houses - now you've got me thinking!
ReplyDeleteThanks Diann, once I got that roof fabric, the next step was doing a night scene! I have one more night house to make in a gorgeous dark purply pink that I found. I'm looking forward to making it. Looking forward to seeing you other houses.
DeleteYour neighbourhood is coming along so nicely and I love that you are putting the houses together with some extra additions like a sidewalk and maybe a picket fence. The little appliqué and FMQ touches are terrific!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sandra, I haven't had this much fun making a quilt in a long time :-)
DeleteA fun idea to make some night time houses and also a party house!! Your little pops of applique really make your blocks unique.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Raewyn. It's been so much fun adding these little extras. I think that my friends are going to love it!
DeleteI so enjoyed reading your descriptions of your fabric choices, etc. for your wonderful houses. I love hearing how and why a quilter makes their decisions, etc. and try to learn from it too. You are such a wonderful quilter, Andree.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jocelyn. I love quilting and playing with fabric, and as long as it's not expected to be perfect (because I really am accuracy challenged), then all is good and fun. Have a great weekend!
DeleteI love your houses, gonna dive into the stash and see what I can come up with. Making two at a time is brilliant. Love your fun additions to the houses, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen, I've been away from my blog and quilting for a couple of weeks - it's now time to check out your houses and finish up mine! I did buy some fun fabric, just for these houses :-)
DeleteJ'adore les petits ajouts, ça rend tes maisons uniques, et amusantes à découvrir ! Le plan d'assemblage semble bien élaboré.
ReplyDeleteBonjour Frédérique, je dois m'y remettre avec les maisons! J'ai trouvé des très beaux tissus qui sont parfait pour les maisons. C'est le temps!
DeleteYour house blocks turned out beautifully! Your quilt plan is really ambitious, but it would be so cool if you can fully implement your vision.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate - I've been away from making these and my blog in general for a while. It looks like it's time to get back into it. I bought some very cute fabric for the houses and even found some great fabric in a scrap bag that I got at our last quilt guild meeting. I'm hoping that my plans are not too ambitious - I do plan to appliqué the lake to the quilt!
DeleteFabulous Houses!!! I love the little additions to them - what fun to see!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alycia - it seems like it's now time to get back to these soon!
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