Showing posts with label quilt along. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 07, 2022

June's OMG and Summer Book Club QAL

A quick post to announce that I'm going to be playing with fun fabrics as part of Kate Basti's The Summer Book Club QAL.

Making more book blocks

I'm thrilled to have found out about The Summer Book Club QAL on Instagram. It uses one of my favourite foundation paper piecing blocks - the Tall Tales Quilt Block. Kate Basti has designed the block and it can be purchased on her Etsy shop (links in Related links below). The pattern is only $1, and she's donating all of her sales of the pattern to the Ronald McDonald House Charities until the end of 2022.

The Summer Book Club QAL on Instagram
with Kate Basti (@katebasti)

I made a few of these blocks as minis in 2019 (feels like so long ago!). I've always wanted to make a quilt of them, since they look amazing on Instagram (#so this is my chance. The block sews up easily and is great for featuring beautiful fabric.

The QAL runs for 8 weeks.

Week 1: Decide Your Project & Pull Your Fabric
Week 2–7: Make Tall Tales Blocks
Week 8: Assemble Your Project

Week 1: post (an) image(s) of our fabric on Instagram. Here is my fabric pull. As you can see I have lots of choices. I'll be choosing as I go along. I'll be using a variety of solid colours for the book borders.

Critters fabrics - some of my absolute favourites

Misc. fabrics, from cute to books to everything else

Travel fabrics

You may have noticed the small frame that I made to view the fabrics since I will be fussy-cutting them.

Solids for the block borders

More solids

Here are the blocks that I've made. I love that I can add so much to these book covers. Some have appliqué while another is mostly free motion quilted (FMQ).

Paddington book mini for my daughter of course!
for the Nifty Novelties Blog Hop

"The Earth is not flat" book for my son
during the Summer Book Club QAL of 2019

And a few mini book blocks for my colleagues!

Mon jardin with FMQ

A Fantastical Book Block with appliqué

Bambi book, also made during
the Summer Book Club QAL of 2019

June's One Monthly Goal (OMG)

My goal this month is to make 10 blocks for the Summer Book Club QAL. I'll report back here at the end of the month (or before if I need to ~~showoff~~ share 😊)

What I learned

I love this versatile block and hope to be inspired to make a whole quilt of it.
I'm hoping to use a few techniques, but since it will be a quilt, I won't be adding embellishment (I think!)
Ten blocks may be ambitious but I really want to give myself the opportunity to play!

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top finished

Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top

It's done! About a year late, but it's done....well at least the quilt top is done 😊

I'm just posting a quick update for the One Monthly Goal (OMG) Finish link-up.

I'm really thrilled with the quilt. It is a little longer and wider than expected because when I sewed the diamonds together, I managed to sew two of them in the wrong place. Finally I only had to un-stitch one diamond and add two more to get it to a finished top.

Close-up of the quilt top

It's done!

It does need to be ironed but since I'm not ready to make the sandwich and quilt it yet, it's only going to get wrinkled again.

Looking pretty 😊

A final picture - say cheese!

What I learned

Hexies with flower

I knew that I wouldn't finish the quilt within the time frame of the Stitch-Along, but it was fun to see everyone making their quilts.
I was very intimidated by putting the diamonds together. It was easier than I thought but working at an angle instead of straight up or across did confuse me more than once. I'm sure that's why I made a mistake sewing them together.
I'd like to make another quilt with diamonds again. They looks so wonderful and it would be great to be comfortable working with them.
I love free motion quilting but I really, really dislike getting the quilt ready, so until I get the energy to make the quilt sandwich (on this and a couple more quilts), it's going to remain a quilt top.

Last two hexies

However, I've got all of these ideas about how to FMQ it, so it may happen soonish!

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Almost ready to quilt at Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks link up (Week 240). Click here if you're looking for Throwback Thursday (TBT).

Finishing up my Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top

The Kingfisher Stitch-Along started in May 2018 and officially finished in July 2018. However, I do see a few other stragglers on Instagram - we are encouraging each other 😊

Blue flowers and blue hexies

The stitch-along was wonderful, but a LOT of work! 46 hexie flowers to be pieced and then sewn onto diamonds. It's no wonder that I didn't finish it last summer, but I love the hexies and the quilt design so much that I knew that I would eventually get it done!

There was a lot of pictures taken of these hexie flowers last summer! It was so much fun posting and seeing them on Instagram!

Playing with hexies on the train to Florence

It was also such a portable project that a few hexies got pieced and then placed on their diamonds on my trip to Italy last winter

Hexie flower in
Florence coffee shop

July One Monthly Goal (OMG)

To give myself a little bit of encouragement, I made the Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top my OMG goal for the month of July. I haven't quite finished but it's important to celebrate all these accomplishments. This goal was purely arbitrary - so I'm thrilled to have gotten this far. For the record, I'm going to make the quilt top my August OMG!

Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top - almost assembled

I was doing really well on Sunday and I thought that I might be able to finish the quilt top, until I ran into a glitch. I must have mixed up my diamonds when I sewed them into rows because it didn't work out as planned. The easiest way to deal with this was to add a couple more diamonds. The quilt will not be square, but it will be done. 😊 I'm linking up to To-Do Tuesday and Slow Sunday Stitching because I'm going to get these final 2 diamonds finished!

I'll spend some time on what I learned on my next Kingfisher post. Today is Free Motion Mavericks and I couldn't even pretend to have done any FMQ - but I think that this is just as exciting.

Related links

Slow stitching update, April 13, 2019
July's One Monthly Goal Setting - Relaxing and playing, July 1, 2019

Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Join me to see how quilters are keeping cool this summer! August One Monthly Goal linkup (OMG), Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Monday Making, Moving Forward, UFO Busting!, Finished or Not Friday, Needle & Thread Thursday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Friday Foto Fun, To-Do Tuesday, Slow Sunday Stitching, BOMs Away!

Free Motion Mavericks Link Up
Thanks to everyone who linked up last time. It's always so amazing to see everyone's work. I have been shamelessly inviting many of you to link up in my comments to your site. I really hate bothering people (which is why I never pursued a career in marketing!) but everyone has been so kind and happy to link up - so Thank you!!!

It would seem that Karin from Germany, now living in Australia is thrilled to have found the linking party. As you look at her quilt, you can see why! We hope Karin will link up often 😊

Check out Karin's post at The Quilt Yarn

Friday, July 06, 2018

2018 Mid Year Review

Hooray! The July heat wave has been pushed away, at least temporarily, so I may come out of the house this weekend :-)

2018 Mid Year Review

Hexie flower for the
Kingfisher Stitch Along

In December when I was planning my year (courtesy of Yvonne at Quilting JETgirl), I had learned a hard lesson from 2017 - to keep it simple and as stress free as possible. See, I can learn 😊 So I kept it quite simple, with a few categories and general projects and learning. Let's review:

Possible Quilt Alongs

I knew that I would be participating in Alida's Starry Bright Sky QAL. So far, I'm up-to-date on my blocks, even if my June block was a mess.

I was seriously considering participating in Block of the Month Series presented by Bernina and even bought loads of Alison Glass fabric for it. Although it's a lovely quilt, I think that it's the colours and the fabric that impressed me the most. I will use that yummy fabric but I've decided to minimize the amount of traditional quilting - as in following a pattern - that I'm going to do.

One of two cuddle quilts

I joined my second Postcard from Sweden QAL, this time hosted by mmm! quilts. I'm happy to report that my quilt top is finally done!

Also, I combined my wanting to make charity quilts with Amy's Comfort QAL in April. I adapted the simple pattern to make 2 lovely charity cuddle quilts.

A mix of FMQ designs based on
Angela Walter's FMQ Challenge

I did join the Kingfisher Stitch Along since it's all about making a very simple quilt with hexie flowers. I'm still crazy about hexies but I wanted to make them as part of a larger piece. I've had lots of fun photographing the hexie flowers in nature and slowly hand-appliquéing the hexies onto the diamonds.

Since I wanted to keep practicing my FMQ, I joined Angela Walter's FMQ Challenge QAL. That was a lot of work but I really enjoyed it. Here's the square where I practiced most of the FMQ designs.

Update my blog

I've slowly been updating my blog like I wanted to. Many are just minor changes, like using consistent headings and post formats. All best practices of writing for the web that I've learned at work.

Project finishes for 2017 page created using the InLinkz tool

I've also created more pages for the blog, highlighting the projects that I've completed in each year. Pages for 2014 to 2017 have been created using my InLinkz tool. I only have 2012-13 left to do. I've created a Linking Parties and Events page to help me keep track of dates as well as make it easier to post buttons on the side of my blog. I've learned a lot and am hoping to create a Tips for working in Blogger page sometime this year.

Art Quilts

Morning Has Broken

On my holidays in January, I worked on some embroidery as well an art quilt. Isles Canarias was my first art quilt of 2018. As I hoped, I made another art quilt, Morning Has Broken, for Alida's Art with Fabric Blog Hop.

Islas Canarias art quilt

I was able to exhibit my art quilts at both Fibre Fling 7 and the Common Thread Quilt Guild's quilt show. These two pieces are 2 of my best pieces to date.

I am currently working on an art quilt for a show for next summer with the Out of the Box Art Group. It needs to be finished by the end of September and is coming along nicely.

Finishing Some UFOs

This category wasn't in my 2018 plan but I'm adding it here since I also managed to finish 2 UFOs. Street Art My Way (2014) and Scrappy Triangles Baby Quilt (2015).

Scrappy Triangles Baby Quilt

Street Art My Way

What I learned

Wow! I can't believe all that I've accomplished!!! And mostly without too much pressure. I wasn't sure how true that was so I went through my posts. May was the usual busy month with the Art with Fabric Blog Hop and a quilt show, but otherwise I seem to have done pretty well keeping the pressure down.
If I'm productive, it's because I try to quilt every day, as long as I'm not too tired. I've discovered that since I don't watch television, I have lots of time to quilt or read. I don't often spend much time on the computer since I work at one all day, but I get my small doses of Instagram and reading blogs a few times a week.
Since I work on many projects at a time, I can choose which project to work on in the evening based on how much energy I have. I've been doing this for about four years now and my quilting has really improved.
I've also discovered what stresses me (deadlines and complicated piecing) and what I enjoy (FMQ, art quilts and improv piecing). That has really helped me manage both my time and my stress effectively. As I write this, I realise how lucky I am to have found what I am passionate about and how to make the most of it. I also have to add that, as you know, I love blogging and being a part of this wonderful online community :-)

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.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Lots of projects in the works

My quilting deadline season is coming up with two quilt shows in the works as well as a whole bunch of quilts started, promised or ready to finish. I made a list, with dates where applicable, so that I wouldn't forget anything. I didn't get much done this weekend, but I did start.

Scrappy Triangle Baby Quilt

Second triangle - highlighting the doggy fabric and FMQ leaves

A very long time ago I made some scrappy triangles. I was at an in-town retreat and didn't feel like working on anything. Thank goodness I had a box of scraps with me. I just started sewing them together.

At the other end of the hall, a couple of quilters were working on "Toe in the Sand" quilts. From afar, they looked scrappy. When I got close, I definitely saw my mistake. These were beautiful and very intricate - not at all what I was in the mood for. But they did spark my imagination to make a scrappy triangle quilt.

First triangle - FMQ a large starburst design

I worked on my triangles for a while and even trimmed them all to the same(ish) size and put aside a piece of solid fabric that came in a kit that I will never make. It then sat in a project box for a long time.

Block 3 - FMQ some starburst designs

As I was designing the pattern for the Charming baby quilt for Make Modern magazine, my mind turned to other baby quilts that I could make to practice my free motion quilting (FMQ). Out came the project box. It didn't take me long to make the solid triangles and finish piecing the quilt top.

The first row of the Scrappy Triangle Baby Quilt

Now that I have someone to give the quilt to, it's time to get going. As you saw above, I've FMQ the first row. I'm not sure what I'll do for the solid triangles. I want something simple that won't take away from the scrappy triangles. I FMQ another 3 blocks last night and now have 4 more scrappy triangles to quilt before I start on the solids, so I have a little bit of time to think about it. Any suggestions?

Postcard from Sweden

I've joined another Postcard from Sweden Quilt-Along, this time with MMM! Quilts. I'm really, really hoping that I will get this quilt finished this time 😊

Postcard From Sweden Quilt so far

My version is a variation of the original pattern since there is no way that I could ever go through the trouble of keeping track of all of those Kona solids, even if I bought the kit. I just printed up the original finished quilt in black and white, and then started using light, medium and darker batik fabrics to make it.

HST cut and ready to piece

Cut and ready to go

During the last quilt-along (with Busy Hands Quilts), I cut enough triangles to finish piecing the quilt. I really want to finish the quilt top so that I can start quilting it. I fell in love with this quilt when I saw someone's quilted version of it. I'll look for the link and add it to my next Postcard from Sweden post.

What I learned

As usual, I'm having a great time FMQ the scrappy triangles. When possible, I'll follow the fabric, but otherwise I will probably use Angela Walter's starburst design from her Dot-to-Dot technique course. It's easy, has lots of possibilities, does well in triangles and I generally don't have to mark them anymore.
I'm planning on making the Postcard from Sweden my next OMG to help me get it finished. We'll see what other deadlines I'll still have to meet by then :-)