Top of the Lake Quilt

Way back in May last year, I was inspired to make a quilt featuring the colours of the TV show Top of the Lake.  I used the St Louis 16 Patch tutorial to make my blocks and the quilt top went together at the speed of light.  I threw in a few rogue blocks for interest and to use my fabric to maximum efficiency - they blend into the top surprisingly well,

 

I basted the quilt pretty promptly, but since then it has sat and sat in my cupboard waiting to be quilted. Initially, I started quilting 1/4" off the seams, but I really didn't like how it was looking, so I ripped that quilting out.  Then I had grand ideas about tracing the pattern of the fabric on the back of the quilt using free motion quilting, but I realised that there was so much happening on the front of the quilt, the quilting wouldn't really show up anyway.

 

I ended up quilting a simple diagonal crosshatch grid, using a light grey Aurifil thread (#2600) on the top, and my trusty off-white Aurifil #2021 in the bobbin.  They both just melt into the quilt leaving a great texture.  This quilting has also left the quilt beautifully drapey and soft - I can't wait to wash it and see whether it crinkles up much.

 

For me, this quilt is full of unexpected fabric combinations and contrasts, with soft and pretty florals mixed with dark, graphic and challenging fabrics. For the back of the quilt, I wanted to continue this unexpectedness by clashing the front, which is full of slightly off, dirty colours, with fabric that looks like soppy sweet old-fashioned wallpaper.  I ended up with this floral stripe from Spotlight, which is so not my usual type of fabric but I love it on this quilt.

I pretty much want to put this black and white pin dot binding on every quilt!  In my original post, I described this quilt as deliberately un-pretty.  I still think it's brooding and a bit dark, but I have come round to thinking it is pretty as well.

Have you ever had a quilt grow on you as you've worked on it?

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

A quilt for a kid

This weekend I quilted up a little quilt top that has been sitting in my cupboard for I-don't-know how long.

 

It's a cousin of the first finished quilt I ever blogged about.  I bought the fabric, a couple of charm packs of Moda's Oasis collection, before I really knew where to find modern fabric.  I wouldn't say it's exactly to my taste but I do like how soft and pretty the floral prints are. 

I took the opportunity of only having a small area to quilt to play around with a few different quilting designs.  I really wanted the quilting to emphasise the distinction between the cream background and the coloured chevrons.  Quilting the background more densely makes it recede, and this back and forwards wiggle adds some movement an directionality to the quilt.

 

The coloured sections are not only quilted less densely, with a reasonably loose stipple, but the much more curvy quilting also contrasts nicely with the quilting in the background.

You can see that I experimented with a different quilting design in one of the coloured sections - rather than the stipple I've quilted little flowers on a meandering path.  I wasn't very happy with this design when I quilted it, but looking at the photo it's growing on me.  I'd like to try this design again when I'm not so constrained for space - making the flowers that small was a bit tough.

I'm really pleased that this quilt top is now out of my cupboard and in a usable state.  I'll take it along to the quilt guild meeting this weekend and hand it over to the lady in charge of collecting quilts for donation to the neonatal ward of Wellington Hospital.  They are always in need of more quilts so I'm sure it will be useful.  

I'm linking up to 100 Quilts for Kids at swimbikequilt.  It's heartening to see over 100 quilts linked already.

Quilt Stats
Pattern: half square triangle chevron quilt

Finished Size: 28" by 32"

Fabric: Moda's Oasis collection, very subtle cream floral 

Backing: white on cream print from Spotlight

Binding: DS Quilts print from Spotlight

Pieced and quilted by: me.

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

Planes, Bikes and Cars Quilt

A friend and colleague of mine is expecting his first child soon.  When asked if he and his wife had any requests for the baby's quilt, he told me, quite seriously, that he likes planes and his wife likes trains.  Um, right. Anyway, the plane idea stuck, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about it since the aeroplane themed quilt patterns I'd found weren't really doing it for me.  Then I dropped into a local quilt store to buy thread, and lo and behold they had just gotten the perfect aeroplane print Echino fabric in.  I picked up the car print at the same time and I already had the bike print (also Echino), so after that all I needed to do was add lots of different blues and greens from my stash.

I fussy cut the centres and then pieced each log cabin block with logs of slightly different widths, dispensing with the usual light/dark convention to get a really scrappy look.  These were really speedy to make up - I had all the blocks together in about half a day (and happily I have a lot of the strips I used to make the log cabins left over so I think I'll make some more soon).

 

The back is very simply strip pieced, mostly using fabrics from the quilt top.  I deliberately chose slightly softer colours to give the back a more peaceful vibe than the front.

 

I quilted this quilt in an all over square spiral pattern.  It looks kind of complicated to do but it really is not.  I used my mother's Bernina Aurora 440QE with the Bernina Stitch Regulator for the quilting. It was a bit strange since I am used to free motion quilting without a stitch regulator, but the back is much neater than I can usually get it and I don't have the little thread bobbles I tend to get when I stop.  I think it also helped me keep control of my quilting so it didn't get ridiculously dense.

The parents-to-be have a totally adorable (and very naughty) miniature dachshund.  I think this little fabric dachshund makes just the cutest quilt label ever! It was also much easier to write neatly on the upholstery weight fabric I used - it didn't move around under my pen as much as quilting cotton.

I'm so pleased with how this quilt has come out and I can't wait to give it to this little family.  I think the discovery that making quilt labels can be a lot of fun will encourage me to label more of my quilts (because I always think I should and then don't get around to it!). Do you label your quilts?

Quilt Stats

Pattern: Make it up as you go along scrappy log cabins

Finished Size: Approximately 36" by 42"

Fabric: Assorted designer quilting fabrics including Echino, Tula Pink, Kaffe Fassett, Lizzy House, Michael Miller and Carolyn Friedlander

Backing: Various

Binding: Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton (makes incredibly soft binding)

Pieced by: Me, on my domestic sewing machine
Quilted by: Me, on my mother's domestic sewing machine, using a stitch regulator.

Linking up with:

    

 

and with Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Milestone giveaway!

UPDATE - GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED

Hello lovely readers! I recently passed the 300 follower mark which was an exciting milestone, and I want to celebrate by giving YOU some fabric.

I have two prizes up for grabs - this bundle of Prince Charming fabric from Spotlight in cool colours...

...and this bundle of Prince Charming fabric from Spotlight in warm colours.

 

There are 6 metric fat quarters in each bundle - which adds up to a metre and a half of fabric - definitely enough to make a baby quilt top or be the base for a larger quilt top.  Or, you know, just add it to your stash!  A different person will win each bundle.

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment, any comment.  If you want, you can get an extra entry for each of the following (just leave an extra comment for each that applies):

- following my blog through google friend connect or a feed reader (new and existing followers both count);
- liking my facebook page; and
- sharing this giveaway via your favourite social media (you could blog about it, share it on facebook, tweet about it, whatever!).

This giveaway is open to everyone (including international participants), but if I can't contact you, you can't win. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email address in the comment.

The giveaway will stay open until around 10 pm Sunday 23 June 2013 (New Zealand Time), and I will use the random number generator at random.org to pick a winner for each bundle then.

UPDATE - GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.

Setting up shop

Ever since I heard that Spotlight was releasing a line of quilting cottons by Australian fabric designers Prints Charming, I have been anxiously awaiting their arrival.

I first fell in love with their designs when I saw their cotton poplin prints in Spotlight, which I used to back my Scrappy Trip Along quilt (one of my favourite ever quilt backs!).

When I saw a couple on Kirsten's blog, I knew they couldn't be far away, and last weekend I managed to get my hands on a good range of the prints at my local Spotlight.

I think the fabrics are super cool - the colours are bright and very fun and the prints are naive, whimsical and a little bit folksy, in Prints Charming's usual style.  I really like that there is a good range of print sizes - there are a couple of really large scale prints, some medium sized prints and a couple of smaller prints.  This fits with the classic design advice given to quilters - to use prints of varying scale to add interest and movement to quilts.

I managed to snap up a reasonable amount of fabric, and while I am keeping some for myself, I decided to list a few fat quarter bundles in my etsy shop (very newly opened).  I particularly had in mind those outside New Zealand and Australia who won't be able to get their hands on this fabric at Spotlight, but of course anyone should feel free to take a look.

This is the cool fat quarter bundle, which features 6 fat quarters in the following prints.  To give you a better idea of the different prints and their scale, the swatches below show an approximately 18" square of each fabric in the bundle.

I have made these up as metric fat quarters, measuring at least 50 cm (20") by 55 cm (21").

This is the warm fat quarter bundle, which also features 6 fat quarters, in the following prints.

Tempting, right?  I have four fat quarter bundles in each colour way.  If you are interested, check out my shop!

Ok - I spent my weekend doing everything (buying fabric, attending a guild meeting, and a massive tidy up of my craft room) except sewing, so now I'm off to do some stitching!  See you later in the week with my latest finished project.

Baby play mat - finished!

Last weekend, this little linen and minky baby play mat was nearly finished, and now it is done and dusted.  I finished hand stitching down the binding, and gave the quilt a good wash.

I also made a simple strap which co-ordinates with the binding, in case this little quilt wants to go travelling.  All I needed for the strap was a little extra of the binding fabric, a scrap of batting to give it body, and a wee bit of velcro to fasten.   It took all of 15 minutes to make, but I really think it adds to the usefulness of this item.

Now this quilt is finished, clean, and stashed away (out of cat reach) ready for me to give it to Cathy at  our stitch group meeting this week.

Linking up with:

and, of course, Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Emeralds and Ice Quilt - finished!

I finished stitching down the binding on my Emeralds and Ice quilt late last week - yay!  A change of backdrop - I thought this quilt might look good in this cool green corner of my parents' garden.

Finally, I managed to get a picture of the back of the quilt.  I used a lovely soft voile from Spotlight that had a fun modern floral design in just the right shade of green.

I am very happy I decided to include the little pops of print.

The sun was going down as I took these photos, so the quilt looks darker here than it is in real life.

The first photos were taken before I washed and dried this quilt.  Because I starch the quilt top and back before basting, I like to pre-wash quilts before gifting them.  I used a couple of colour catchers with this one to soak up any colour bleed from the dark green fabric, and was glad to see I didn't have any issues.  I did, however, get a lot of crinkle.  I will give this quilt a light press before I send it off to my friend, but I don't mind the crinkle.

Ivy really loves this voile.  I only put the quilt down for a second and she was on it instantly.  I wouldn't normally let my cats sit on a quilt that I am gifting after it has been washed, but I know my friend will let her cat on this quilt, so I wasn't too worried this time.

Quilt Stats

Pattern:  My own, inspired by this quilt from Red Pepper Quilts.

Finished Size:  Approximately 62 inches square.

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Ice Frappe and Clover, Philip Jacobs Rambling Rose in Green for Westminster Fibres.

Backing: Flora and Fauna voile from Spotlight.

Binding: Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Clover.

Pieced and quilted by: me, on my domestic sewing machine.

This quilt is the second of my first quarter goals for the 2013 Finish-A-Long - two down, seven to go!  I might just get there!  If only I could stop starting new things...

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, and TGIFF, this week hosted by the talented Nat at Made in Home (seriously, this lady has a new born baby and she is still producing cute handmade items with startling regularity).

Typewriter cushion

I was in a cushion making mood this weekend.  Last weekend, I came into possession of some Melody Miller typewriter fabric.  Basically, Lyndy from Stitchbird started following me everywhere - one quilt guild meeting, fabric-a-brac, another quilt guild meeting - until I was forced to buy some of her lovely fabric.

I really want to make the most of this fabric, so fussy cut one of the typewriters to be the feature of this cushion.  I then surrounded it with a black texty fabric (a Spotlight find - what is the world coming to!) and then Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Flax.  I have the perfect teal fabric which I will use to bind the cushion once it's sewn up.

I'm a bit stuck on how to quilt it though.  My preference is for the quilting thread to blend in, so I will probably have to use something different on each section.  In the meantime, I am off to watch Angela Walters' Craftsy class on free-motion quilting to see if that provides some inspiration...

How do you think I should quilt this cushion?  I would love suggestions!

Linking up with Plum and June and Sew Modern Monday:

 

Dat Star

This weekend, I decided to get creative and design my own block.  This is the freezer paper template that I used to foundation piece it.

If you put the corner squares together, you would get a Tippecanoe block (like this one made by Jess at The Elven Garden).  I wanted to make a nine patch block though, so I came up with an arrangement for the other squares that I thought looked nice.

And this is the final block.

This block will be one side of a cushion for my brother N.  Someone somewhere has probably come up with it before, but I haven't seen it, so until anyone tells me the official name, I am going to call it "Dat Star".

I used three dark DS Quilts prints, the dark text fabric which is from Spotlight, and the dark fabric in the centre, which is from Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee line.  The light fabrics are from Valori Wells, Denyse Schmidt, DS Quilts, and one print from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study collection.  The border is Essex Linen in Flax.

These are all my post piecing trimmings.

So, does anyone recognise this block?  Please tell me I'm not the only one who makes a giant mess when quilting...