my orchids and a new top “avenue loop”

Jul12

This week was once more filled with some surprises – not only that the painters came, but I have also received all the books I ordered from Amazon. I am fully smitten, love them and I am a proud new owner of these wonderful books.

Let me list all titles, one after the other:

Especially #4 was very inspiring for me. I have done some FMQ but a few new hints always make life easier. I have found some new ideas and some other information about quilting threads. The threads are already on their way down to Spain and I am looking forward to work with them. Well, I live here in a quilting “desert” and any kind of literature and information is warmly welcome.

In the meantime I have started with a new quilt “Avenue Loop” with fabric that I have ordered some time ago. It is a FQ collection of Freshcut from Heather Bailey. It has sat some time in the closet and I finally got an idea for a new quilt. Here a small detail :

Also a few snapshots of my orchids :

and blossom in Spain :

This all for now, have a good time and thanks for stopping, Barb

floating colors #2 is ready for quilting

Jul8

The summer has taken over a we had a few very hot days. Luckily the nights are still a bit cooler, so no need for air-conditioning through the night.

I have worked on my blocks for the MQG Challenge. I am nearly there, just need to do a few small alternations and think about block names.

My second and larger quilt “floating colors” is ready for quilting. This time also I want to combine straight line and free-motion quilting – like on “oh baby, baby #2“.

We are having the house interior painted. This puts the quilting back, but I can always do something on the computer or go a take a few photos of the flowers that are now full in blossom.

Happy quilting, B.

modern block challenge from www.quiltcon.com

Jun28

Some time ago whilst I was catching up with my favorite blogs on the web, I found QuiltCon, presented by The Modern Quilt Guild. This is a quilt block challenge with the motto “What does modern quilting mean to you?” So I thought this could also be a new challenge for me. I have ordered and received the solids from Fat Quarter Shop.

All the colors are very bright, both the cool and warm ones, and the grays have nice shade. These eleven fat quarters are waiting to be cut into smalls pieces and sewn together!

Every morning, when I take my dog for a long walk, I have enough time to think about different designs of modern blocks. Ideas are running through my head: what block size shall I go for, which colors and what color combinations do I prefer. I have done a few sketches, both drawn by hand and in the computer. Now I just need some time to fiddle around, cut, sew, pin, get the design wall full with pieces, design blocks and rearrange them. Looking forward to this “different work” over the coming weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Barbora

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 :