Tag Archives: nine patch block

baby quilt and matching cushion covers

This week I would like to show you a colourful baby quilt and matching cushion covers. The pattern is Campfire Glow Quilt by Meghan from Then Came June.

21 Q campfire glow 3 - skalabara quilts

I really liked the simplicity of the pattern. A super combination of nine patch blocks and sawtooth star blocks. How come I didn’t get this idea?

21 Q campfire glow 1 - skalabara quilts

The nine patch blocks are strip pieced and are quick to make. As I had some “leftover” blocks, I made two matching cushion covers.

21 CU campfire glow 1 - skalabara quilts

All three pieces were fun to make. Only working with these colours, summer comes into the house! All fabrics are Robert Kaufman from the collection Kona Solids.

21 Q campfire glow 2 - skalabara quilts

I have used the following Kona Solids : Medium Pink with Ash Grey, Bright Pink with Pewter Grey, Kumquat Orange with Grellow Yellow.

21 Q campfire glow backing 3 - skalabara quilts

Backing fabric is a duvet cover from IKEA. Used on both the quilt and cushion covers. The cushion covers have an envelope closure with a double layer of fabric : the flower pattern on top and calico on the interior.

21 Q campfire glow 4 - skalabara quilts
21 CU campfire glow 7 - skalabara quilts

I have quilted all three pieces in straight lines with the walking foot. The cushion covers only in one diagonal direction with dense stitching. And the baby quilt has stitches in both diagonal directions, but is not as dense as the cushion covers.

21 Q campfire glow detail 3 - skalabara quilts
21 Q campfire glow detail 2 - skalabara quilts

For quilting, I have used a stitch length of 4 mm. Quilting thread for the cushion covers is Superior Threads King Tut 40/3 cotton in color 962 – a grey variegated thread. The quilting thread for the baby quilt is my favourite from Amann Group Mettler Silk Finish Cotton in 40 weight and color 0331 light grey.

21 Q campfire glow binding 2 - skalabara quilts

For the binding I have selected the Kona Solid in Bright Pink. It is such a happy and bright color!

21 Q campfire glow binding 1 - skalabara quilts

And here two captures of the quilt sandwich with all the safety pins.

21 Q campfire glow pinning 2 - skalabara quilts
21 Q campfire glow pinning 1 - skalabara quilts

These pieces are going to the dog rescue center where I got Dotti. Also, both the Summer Sampler 2019 and the 2020 went to the rescue center as donations.

  • 21 CU campfire glow 4 - skalabara quilts
  • 21 CU campfire glow 6 - skalabara quilts
  • 21 CU campfire glow 3 - skalabara quilts
21 Q campfire glow 6 - skalabara quilts

Baby quilt size : 54″ x 42″ / Block size : 6 x 6″

Cushion cover size : 18″ x 18″ / Block size : 6″ x 6″

Wadding : Natur Bamboo Blend by Rosello – 50/50 bamboo cotton blend

Quilting thread for baby quilt : Mettler Silk Finish Cotton 40 – color 0331

Quilting thread for cushion covers : Superior King Tut Cotton 40/3 – color 962

flower small skalabara quilts

Happy quilting and stay safe!

barbora

getting back to quilting

It has been nearly a month since my last post. Don´t know where the time has gone, but it was a busy time for me : my Mum was with us, had some challenging work at my daytime job and sorted out the garden before the summer heat arrives. Last Thursday (13th!) we have experienced 2 fairly strong earthquakes. One got me out of bed early in the morning at about 5:30 and the other one when I had my siesta after lunch. As our house is build on a rocky hill, we could really hear and feel the earth moving. Luckily nothing serious happened, only a few pictures in the house were hanging crooked.

The spring has come to an end : the first crop of figs is ripe on the tree (have to eat them before the birds spot them) and my favorite pot plants are in blossom – Agapanthus africanus alias African Lily or Lily Of The Nile. I just love the wonderful blue flowers. What a pity that they do not flower for a longer time.

agapanthus

fig (breva)

Also all of my orchids on the windowsill are full with flowers. They are so easy-growing plants and give so much joy with their long-lasting flowers in all the different colors.

orchids

Talking about WIP : I have finally finished the “Squirrel” quilt that I started last year in November. The collection I have used is “The Birds and The Bees” by Tula Pink and some solids I had in my stock. The quilt size is 48″ x 60″, I have pieced nine patch and log cabin blocks together. Quilted straight line with the walking foot in diagonal. There are 2 panels with squirrels that gave the quilt its name : Meet the Squirrels.

sq 1

My new project is with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Somehow I can not resist his fabric designs and colors. Both packages have 20 different fabrics cut into 6″ strips – Happy and Blue; purchased at the Fat Quarter Shop. I have a quilt design on my mind, just need to do some calculating and hopefully I can start cutting later today.

kafee fassett fabrics

That’s for now, thanks for stopping, Barbora

As it is Monday I am linking up with Lucy over at Charm About You for Plum and June’s Let’s Get Acquainted Link Up!

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

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