Category Archives: quilts

Quilts of Hope and my Dreaming of Q Quilt is finished

Just a quick mention : I have send a block to Quilts of Hope. This is a nice form of helping and Deborah is doing a super job. Please take part and give a block for a good purpose. This one is from me :

Forgot to take a picture before mailing, but Deborah has documented all incoming pieces on Flickr.

The other good news is that I have finished the quilt Dreaming of Q. All colour fabrics are from the collection Little Qpples by Moda. I have decided to go for a light blue backing and a teal binding. Even though this is a very simple design, I really like – in combination with white makes it very fresh and I am starting to of dream of SUMMER !! Or spring at least.

Listed on Etsy and Dawanda.

Till next time, Barbora

Sunrise Quilt Finished

One quilt is finally finished and posted, it is free-motion quilted and the binding is stitched with the machine. I am happy with the result and really like the pink tone of the binding.  This reminds me of raspberry ice cream and hot summer. Just to comment : both day and night temperatures in our area have dropped a lot, the icy Siberian winds have reached the Med. No snow, but we have frozen puddles over night.

A short comment about threads:

  • for piecing I use MasterPiece from Superior Threads, a 50/3 ply, 100%  extra-long staple Egyptian-grown cotton, in a neutral colour (more beige than white)
  • for quilting and binding this top I used YLI Machine Quilting thread, a 40/3 ply-tex 40, 100% long-staple cotton, a variegated shade called Maui Sunset (red/pink/orange/purple)

Please find the listings for this quilt on Etsy and Dawanda This quilt is S O L D

So now it  is time to start quilting the other finished top. First choose a backing and prepare it, make a sandwich, pin, quilt …… and finish with binding … and take finally photos

Until next time, happy quilting, Barbora

Sewing Weekend – 2 Tops Ready for Free-Motion Quilting

Time is flying fast and I did not find spare time for writing the blog, but was nevertheless hard-working (or hard-sewing) over the weekend. I have finished 2 tops and they are now ready for free-motion quilting.

Last Friday my husband and me went to Alicante for the afternoon. And by this occasion we visited the local patchwork shop and I spent some money on fabrics (what else!?).

 

9 patch block variations 2012 :

Little Qpples by Moda in combination with white :

Next time some pics from my progress with free-motion quilting.

There is a lot of cold air coming, the temperatures shall drop well down, so this is and ideal time to sit behind the sewing machine.

Happy quilting, Barbora

I’ve been listed in the Etsy Spring Lookbook 2012

Yesterday was my lucky day.

When I opened my emails in the morning there were 2 mails

  1. I’ve been listed in the Etsy Spring Lookbook 2012. please use this link to open the online version, my Etsy store Skala Bara is on page 74!
  2. I’ve been asked if I would be interested in participating in a project to help girls in Romania by sending a 8×8″ block. This is also something new for me and I looking forward to do it. Please find more information on this blog: www.callingallquilters.blogspot.com/

I’ve had also a check at the hospital and I am in total remission with my lymphoma. Thanks God, everything is OK 9 months after finishing with my chemo.

And last but not least – my hubby Helmut invited my for meal at our local Indian restaurant. And this means no cooking in the evening, hurrah, hurrah.

Here more info about the Rock Around the Clock Quilt or a quick tutorial how to make a sandwich:

  1. Spread the backing right side down on the floor. Tape it firmly to the floor (using strips of painter’s tape), the fabric is completely smooth. Remember : both backing and batting should be approx. 1″ bigger on each side than the quilt top.
  2. Detail of taping. I use the tile grouts as orientation lines for positioning the quilt backing and top.
  3. Spread the batting on top of the backing and smooth out any wrinkles.
  4. Spread the (well ironed)  top on the batting. Starting from the centre smooth out any wrinkles. Watch the correct alignment of the backing and top. this is your last chance for correction before pinning. I use curved safety pins, start from the centre and pin carefully through all 3 layers (backing, batting, quilt top). Once you have pinned the entire sandwich remove the tape, fold the sandwich and you can start quilting!

At the moment I am thinking about the quilting style for this special top. Should I go for free-motion quilting (with less experience) or for straight lines with a walking foot? Since I have not decided yet, I started a new project with the same wonderful batik fabrics, it is a HST Quilt.

More info next time, happy sewing

Barbora

Red Bird Baby Quilt Finished and Started Working on Rock Around the Clock

So one more quilt finished and listed on Etsy and Dawanda. SOLD !!

Baby Quilt

I hope you can see the little red bird that is hidden in the center block.

I am happy with the design: this is also a project that can be done in a “wonky” style. Instead of cutting all the fabrics exactly, you can cut and sew together improvisationally. Just think first about the block size and the finished quilt size, get out your scraps or chosen fabrics and go for it. Cut, piece and trim the blocks to your desired size, sew together, prepare backing, batting and baste. Quilt as desired and bind the quilt to finish.

And now to my new project: I have a stash of red/orange batik fabrics that I bought some time ago, always thinking what to do with them.  Actually my very first big quilt was a sampler with batiks in blue/turquoise/yellow and I made it for my parents :

Whilst working on the Red Bird Quilt I found an interesting pattern on Quilters Newsletter. It is 9 patch block wonky variation of a classical London Stairs Block.

from Quilter Newsletter

Instead of making each 9 patch block in various color combinations, I decided to “rock around the clock”  and use one solid for the entire quilt and a different color for each “circle”. Before starting with the quilt I got on my computer and drawn the design. With 20x nine patch blocks, each of them 9″ square when finished, making the quilt size 36″ x 45″. I found a matching solid fabric in ebony, got out the batiks, cut 3,5″ wide strips and started piecing. Referring to my quilt assembly diagram I arranged the first 6 rows with units on my design wall and sewn them together. After taking a close look on the finished part I decided to add-on each side 2 more units.

In the end this quilt has not only 20x nine patch blocks but also 18 blocks of 2 units x 3 rows and 4 units x 2 rows for the corners. The quilt size is now 48″ x 57″ and has altogether 304 units. each 3,5″ square. On the picture you can see the unit and block distribution.

Wonky London Stairs design

Once more : it is important to cut and piece exactly. Square up your finished units to 3,5″ and the 9 patch blocks to 9,5″. Check your seams if the they are larger or smaller, redo if necessary. Otherwise the blocks may not join properly and your top is out of scale.

More on progress next time, please feel free to leave a comment, Barbora