quilted cover for my new sewing machine

Mar14

Hurray, hurray, my new Bernina has arrived! At the end I got the B 720 and the free space right to the needle is absolutely perfect.

sewing machine 1 - skalabara quilts

So over the last weekend I made a dust protection cover for the new machine. There is a cover provided by Bernina, but it is dark blue. But I need bright colors in my sewing room! Bright color fabrics = Kaffe Fassett Collective designs. I got out my stash collection and started cutting from each fabric a 4 1/2 inch square. At the end I cut double so many squares as needed. The idea was to make a rectangle of 6 x 7 squares.

sewing machine cover design - skalabara quilts

After a busy afternoon with cutting, piecing and pressing – the dust protection top is ready to quilt.

sewing machine cover sandwich - skalabara quilts

sewing machine cover sandwich 1 - skalabara quilts

This is a perfect small project to try out the new Bernina B 720 with the walking foot. I have used two different quilting threads. The red/pink variegated quilting thread is from King Tut, and the yellow one is from Gutermann Sulky.

sewing machine cover quilting 1 - skalabara quilts

sewing machine cover detail 1 - skalabara quilts

sewing machine cover detail 2 - skalabara quilts

Added some straps using a bias tape to knot the dust cover on the sides.

sewing machine cover 1 - skalabara quilts

sewing machine cover 2 - skalabara quilts

sewing machine cover 3 - skalabara quilts

And a few colorful shots from the garden. This winter has been very mild, and we have had hardly any cold weather. Since weeks we have nice and warm sunny days, sometimes with some wind. Spring is here.

sewing machine cover 5 - skalabara quilts

sewing machine cover 6 - skalabara quilts

I started writing this blog post before the pandemic spread of the corona virus. At the moment our area is secure, but this can change any moment. My trip to Prague to visit my Mum has been cancelled – which I approve. If each of us can help a little, we all together can achieve a lot. So, I shouldn’t let sewing machine wait for a long time, it is time to sew. Get out the best of the situation!

barbora flower small skalabara quilts

modern sampler

Jan28

Over Christmas I have started a new quilt and finally I managed to piece the top. I have used a pattern by Emily Dennis from her great book Modern Quilts. It is not a one-to-one copy of the Block by Block Sampler. Some blocks were not my favourite ones plus I have changed the quilt size.

modern sampler - skalabara quilts

The original quilt design is 60 x 66 inches. My quilt top is 56 x 67 inches as I prefer rectangular quilt shapes to the square ones. I have also used other block layout. I had so much fun selecting the fabric colors, cutting and piecing each block.

modern sampler detail 2 - skalabara quilts

Once more I have used only solid fabrics, most of them are Kona solids by Robert Kaufman.

modern sampler - churn dash - skalabara quilts

modern sampler - first place - skalabara quilts

modern sampler - hopscotch - skalabara quilts

modern sampler - hourglass - skalabara quilts

modern sampler - shine on - skalabara quilts

modern sampler - sideway arrows - skalabara quilts

modern sampler - tiled stars - skalabara quilts

A detail quilt top view

modern sampler detail 3 - skalabara quilts

modern sampler detail 4 - skalabara quilts

This week I want to visit the Bernina representative in my area (2 hours drive) to try out the Bernina 720 and 770QE. I am so happy with my Bernina 440QE, I have had it for at least 10 years now and it is time to move on, to a higher level. What I like on the 720/770 is the larger space to the right of the needle. 3 inches more space make a big difference. This is the reason I am piecing so many blocks and not quilting. I want to leave it for the new machine!

Happy quilting !

barbora flower small skalabara quilts

two cushion covers with kaffe fassett fabrics

Dec10

The idea to make these two cushion covers came from Saija when looking at her blogpost. Instead of the blue hues and white background, I decided to go for fabrics from my Kaffe Fasset Collective stash. For the background I have used Kona Solid in eggshell. Here the cushion covers from the front :

cushion cover red - skalabara quilts

cushion cover green - skalabara quilts

From the back :

cushion cover yellow - skalabara quilts

cushion cover orange - skalabara quilts

And some more photos :

cushion cover red green - skalabara quilts

cushion cover red orange - skalabara quilts

cushion cover gren yellow - skalabara quilts

Piecing details, the pinned sandwich before quilting. I always add backing to my cushion covers sandwich : Bomull from IKEA. The orange backside has rectangles cut 2,5″ x 3″.

cushion cover orange detail - skalabara quilts

I have pieced the yellow back with rectangles cut 2,5″ x 4,5″ and squares cut 2,5″ x 2,5″. See quilting details on the photos below.

cushion cover yellow detail - skalabara quilts

For the half-square triangles I have cut 24 squares 4″ x 4″ – from the Kona Solid in eggshell and 24 pieces 4″ x 4″ from my Kaffe Fassett Collective stash. For the golden accent triangles I have cut squares 2″ x 2″.

cushion cover blue - skalabara quilts

I have inserted a zipper closure to both cushion covers. Quilted with my favourite walking foot in straight lines folowing the design :

cushion cover red quilting - skalabara quilts

cushion cover red quilting detail - skalabara quilts

cushion cover yellow quilting - skalabara quilts

cushion cover orange quilting - skalabara quilts

The two cushion covers together :

cushion cover red and green - skalabara quilts

cushion cover red and green in the shade - skalabara quilts

Cushion cover size : 24″ x 18″, inserted zipper closure on the bottom

Quilting thread : diverse colors Gütermann Cotton 30

Thanks for visting, happy quilting

barbora flower small skalabara quilts

pineapple mini quilt

Aug29

As you know I am a big fan of all quilt patterns designed by Elizabeth Hartman. So I decided to make for my sister-in-law a table runner for her kitchen using the Pineapple Farm pattern.

table runner pineapple 1 - skalabara quilts

Free-motion quilted with a meander pattern.

table runner pineapple detail 1 - skalabara quilts

table runner pineapple detail 4 - skalabara quilts

table runner pineapple quilting1 - skalabara quilts

For the pineapple blocks I have used Kaffe Fassett collective fabrics. Background fabric is Kona Solid Eggshell. Backing fabric is Bomull bought at IKEA. All fabrics are from my stash.

table runner pineapple 2 - skalabara quilts

Happy quilting, barbora flower small skalabara quilts

no quilting in sight

May10

Well, I think my sewing machine is getting rusty, just standing on the table for the last six weeks with no movement at all. In the meantime I went to visit my mum in Prague and also visit the Prague Patchwork Meeting. I go there for several years now, but I haven’t seen the event so full like this year. I was trying to take some photos of the wonderful quilts on display, but after a while I gave up. It was totally impossible to take an “only quilt” photo. Visitor crowds were found in all sections of the location, well distributed between the quilt exposition, fabric and template shops or stands with sewing and quilting machines. This time I had a close look on the Bernina stand. I got detailed information about the high end sewing machines and could try my sewing and quilting skills. What a luxury, something to dream about! I think I must start saving for a Bernina 770 QE.

The Easter here in Spain was very cold and extremely rainy. But I was lucky to attend a golden wedding anniversary in Germany and we had the most beautiful Easter weather since years. The few days I spent near Bonn were a real retreat.

Two weeks ago I went to Alicante to visit a patchwork exhibition of the clubs in the Alicante, Murcia and Valencia regions. It was located in the old building of the Alicante railway station. So many nice quilts to admire and there were also about 20 fabric and patchwork shops. In the center there were tables and chairs so that the clubs could spend a day together working on craft and sewing projects.

alicante quilts collage - skalabara quilts