oh, baby, baby #2 – another little quilt finished

Jun17

Today was entirely dedicated to quilting. I have pieced the top during the week and yesterday I could finally prepare the sandwich. All fabrics with pattern are from Kaffe Fassett. I always wanted to make a quilt using his wonderfully designed fabrics.

I decided to finish this quilt with both free-motion and straight line quilting. The hourglass block literally invites you to quilt with the walking foot, this one is in diagonal. I was wondering how I could highlight the BABY part. After looking on the title page of the book Quilting Modern, I decided to try the pebble quilting. It also matches the fabric pattern that I used for the letters BABY. Pebble quilting is a new technique for me and I enjoyed learning something new. Here the result :

And a detail with both quilting techniques :

I have used different colors of quilting threads. Yellow for the top and yellow/orange variegated for the bottom of the letter part. For the hourglass block part I have used red/orange/lilac variegated thread. And for the double folded binding in pink I have taken a matching color.

Please find this quilt listed on my Etsy shop.

Happy quilting, B.

oh, baby, baby – a cosy little quilt finished

Jun9

Today I managed to finish a small and cosy baby quilt. The log cabin blocks were a rest from my Abstract Dreams quilt. I was thinking how to complement this quilt with a unique touch. After all I decided to try something new and added a few letters to the quilt. I went for BABY as it is a baby quilt. First I draw the letters on paper, divided them in segments, cut the fabric and pieced them. Here the result :

Please find this quilt listed on my ~~Etsy shop~~. S O L D ! !

floating colors – another finished quilt

May23

This week I did my best and finished the quilt. Yesterday my sewing machine had a hard day – quilting for hours. I enjoyed sewing all these parallel lines. It was something else than free-motion quilting. I like both techniques and think it is always good to change the routine. The quilt size is 40″ x 54″.

My next project is a quilt with the same pattern but larger, with more blocks. This one I shall definitely finish with free-motion quilting. So that I can compare the same pattern but different quilting techniques.

Can’t wait to start with it!!

looking back the years and starting something new (2x)

May20

Looking back the years :

A friend of mine gave me a couple of weeks ago some quilting books. I’ve looked through them and thought how much has changed in patchwork and quilting over the last 40 years .

My favourite one is “The Perfect Patchwork Primer” by Beth Gutcheon. It was first published in 1973. The issue is in black and white, includes a few photos and many block illustrations, designs or quilt assembly instructions. The author is a devotee of hand quilting. Machine piecing is OK, but machine or free-motion quilting is unthinkable. The other thing that surprised me, is that in those days there were no cutting mats, cutters or rulers. Only “home-made” templates were available and for cutting there were just scissors. Today we are very spoilt with all our sophisticated tools and various helpers.

Starting something new :

# One : From next week on I shall give classes in machine piecing and quilting. So last week I sew an easy sampler quilt top for beginners. At the same time I made tutorials about basic cutting and piecing of square and triangle units, blocks with flying geese units as well as sashing and borders, quilting and binding. I enjoyed preparing all information and I am looking forward to start with the classes!!!

# Two : While working on the computer I got an idea for a new quilt. A simple design with all the solids I love. It is based on the ideal proportion of the sides of a rectangle : golden ratio. As the top has also a “golden” solid fabric I named it ~~Golden Ratio~~ . Changed my mind, the name is Floating Colors This one shall be quilted in straight lines in vertical and horizontal. The goal for next week (but more probably weekend) is to finish the quilt.

Happy quilting, B.

finally there – another quilt is done

May7

Well, well, well – I have finally done it – the Abstract Dream quilt is finished and thus this week was full of free-motion quilting and binding. It is my very first “big” one quilted on my sewing machine in free-motion style. It was a challenge that needed some cups of coffee. I had a great time quilting it and practicing the style. So I decided to finish one of the UFO’s that I have put aside and that have been resting for some time in my closet. The quilt measures 58″ x 76″ or 148 x 195 cm.