Daisy Patch

 Another UFO is completed!  This is one from my 1.5years of patiently waiting quilts to have the binding finished, and now it's done-done!  

Daisy Patch was a fun, easy, happy project to make.  Take 12 Fat Quarters, some fabric for applique and away you go.

The fat quarters that I used were in the Aldi "special buys" when it was Mother's Day a few years ago.  They have a calico base and required a very hot wash to soften them.  After washing, the fabrics were a dream to work with.

Large 1/2 square triangles meant that the quilt top went together very quickly.  Good pressing made my blocks nice and flat to make the machine applique easy.

After the applique was completed, it came time to quilt the quilt.  Initially, I took it to a friend's house to use her DSM which had a frame and we had quite a few issues with the thread tension as well as both of us trying to squeeze it in on a bleak weather Friday night.  In the end, I pulled out what we had quilted, which was simple and open and replaced the quilting with what you can see here in the pictures.

I traced the flower shape and randomly traced around it on the quilt top.  I then 'squiggled' in between the flower shapes, going around them when I got to them.  I outlined the appliques on the outside edges and around the flower centres.

       

The piece of fabric for the backing was not quite big enough, so I used the rest of the fat quarters and made more large half square triangles for an insert panel in the backing.

The quilting does show up quite well on the backing - you can see it, but it's not overpowering.

           

Finally, here is the completed quilt in it's entirety.  I love this pattern and I really like the quilt.  Unfortunately, because it sat folded up for so long, waiting for the binding to be finished, you can see the fold-lines in the quilt.  However, with some loving use, they will disappear.

This quilt will become a donation quilt.  I'm just not sure where yet.

The free pattern for this Daisy Patch quilt can be found here: Daisy Patch Pattern

12 Fat Quarters - So Simple!

A new set of 12 Fat Quarter and a super easy pattern - this is a sure fire way to get the sewing mojo happening!  I'd had the Fat Quarters for a few weeks before deciding what to make with them.  They are so gorgeous, especially some of the weird and funky flowers in the bigger prints.

The 12 Fat Quarters - ready to cut....

I cut out all the blocks and sewed them up in January 2020.  They got packed away and my sewing room was turned into an extra room for a belated Christmas celebration with Hubby's family.

Blocks made and laid out.

They stayed packed away until May 2021, when in the midst of another set of "stay at home" lockdown orders and the late Autumn/early Winter blues were setting in.  I decided to open the box and let the joyous colours help me beat those 'blues'.  

Can almost see the quilting detail.

I was hoping the photo above would show a detail of the quilting, but it hasn't come up as well as I would've liked.  I quilted this quilt in a lime green thread on my domestic sewing machine with a tumbling heart-shaped leaf design.

The piece of fabric for the backing was not quite the correct size, so the left-over squares and fabric pieces were added.

And, of course there must be the shot of the backing onto the front.  The orange binding is just the ticket for creating a good contrast between the front and back.

Finished Quilt - measures 49in x 56in

Here is the finished quilt.  Taking the photo on quite an overcast day has really made the colours sing.  Unfortunately, the fold lines show, so it's been re-folded along different lines and put aside until it's forever home becomes known to me.

Pattern used:  So Simple by MODA.

Spring Splash

A short and sweet post for a pretty little quilt that went together very quickly and easily.    

Completed quilt top.

In progress.

Nice, easy instructions, just perfect for something quick to sew that isn't a great big project.  With simple crosshatch and straight line quilting, it's nice and soft.

     

Detail of quilting plus the cute backing print.

A quilt that I'm sure to make again when I need a quilt in a hurry!

Another quilt for donation to the Very Snuggly Quilts Program.

The free pattern for "Spring Splash" can be found here.  

52 Blocks in 52 Weeks

A fun, modern and funky sew-a-long by Jackie White and the Canadian Quilters Guild.  By combining each month with the colours issued from the 'rainbow scrap challenge', I  can use this very gorgeous, just had to come home with me, indulgent splurge of the Fat Quarter pack and the white tone-on-tone print.

I thought they looked very nice all stacked up, but when I opened the pack and laid them out - oh heavens above - a very pretty rainbow.  The fabric range is called "Dashwood Ditzies".  The white is a tone-on-tone from Robert Kaufman.

The blocks are very different and far more modern than I would normally make, but they were super fun to construct.

January 2109

February 2019

March 2019

April 2019

May 2019

June 2019

I had never kept up with challenges before, but this one had me eagerly awaiting the pattern downloads each week.  Such addictive blocks to make.

July 2019

August 2019

September 2019 - oops, no photo!

October 2019

November 2019

December 2019

January 2020

During December the decision was made by the Organiser to have 54 blocks for a more even quilt layout.  I added 2 extra blocks to have 56 for a 7x8 block layout.  It's truly wonderful to have been pushed into making something so modern and not at all like anything else I've ever made.  I am certain that there are more 'modern' quilts in my quilting future.

For more quilts made using these same blocks, click here, where you can see the wonderful work by other quilters as well.  So much fun and so many setting ideas.  I truly enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone to try something new.

Road to St Louis - 16 patch aka "What was I thinking!"

At the beginning of April, I was asked to come up an idea for a Friday Night Retreat Project, using fabric pre-cuts.  There were suggestions of using Jelly Rolls, but as this is purely a volunteer task, I chose Fat Quarters because I had those and I wanted to challenge myself, plus the group members to use what they already own.

I decided to make this quit after seeing one at a Quilts in the Barn Exhibition a few years ago and liking it very much.  That quilter had used floral prints with solids and it has stuck in my mind ever since.  This block which can be very effective for little effort as it is a simple checkerboard pattern which has lots of scope for colour and pattern play.  

First set of blocks

While I haven't used or even replicated that first quilt I saw in the exhibition, I still want to make my own version of that with all new fabric one day.

Second pair of blocks

After testing what size to cut fabrics at and how much of the Fat Quarter would be used for the above two sets of blocks, I dove into the deepest darkest recesses of my stash and pulled out some very old as well as the “what was I thinking?” fabrics.  I chose my fabrics in 10 minutes by pulling them out and throwing them on the floor in pairs and checking that the all the fabrics worked together as a whole.

I then had a lovely afternoon home on my own and I sewed all day long, making blocks.  The very next day I laid the blocks on the floor, moved them around a bit, packed them up in order and sewed the top together at my local quilt group.

When I went online to do some research into the name of the block, I found quite a few free tutorials, including the references below. *^  There is nothing new about the 16 patch block or the method constructing it.  The first known publication of this block is Mosaic No. 20 Ladies Art Company 1897*  before being published again as Four Patch Variation Orlofsky, 1974 *  More recently, there have been online publications calling it 16 Patch Quilt Block ^ or St Louis 16 patch ^.

The 16 patch / Road to St Louis would have to be the quickest quilt I have ever made.  It was easy, it is effective and the size is only limited by how much fabric you have.

To quilt this quilt was super easy.  As I quilt on my domestic sewing machine, I chose to give extra life and movement by quilting an "orange peel" type of pattern.  You could just as easily cross-hatch it too, but I like the effect of  what I did.

The binding fabric is a Penny fabric which was donated by a friend.  The backing fabric and wadding have come from the donation stash at my local quilt group.

My Road to St Louis or 16 Patch will be donated after the Kilmore Quilters Retreat to the Axedale Quilters for their charity quilts which go to local people in need.

Finished Quilt Size:  150cm x 183cm  (60in x 72in).

To give credit where credit is due - these are the resources I have referenced: 

* Jinny Beyer - The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns, Breckling Press pub 2009

^ Poppy Makes Blog - 2013 http://poppymakes.blogspot.com/2013/04/16-patch-quilt-block-tutorial.html
  Sew Fresh Quilts Blog - 2014  https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2014/09/st-louis-16-patch-quilt-block-tutorial.html 

Penny fabric - Penny was a quilter who is now an angel, her children passed on her very sizable stash to a friend.  Penny now lives on in many quilts.

Jigsaw Quilt

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with the gorgeous fabric Fat Quarter pack that I won in a Retreat raffle in May 2014.  Gorgeous Jo suggested I make a jigsaw quilt.  She had just finished one and it showcased the fabrics beautifully.  She even had some left over jigsaw fusible web pieces as well, so I promptly started the quilt.  Super easy to put together,

- just fuse on the jigsaw bits, sew the matching squares to the sides, press the seams open to reduce the bulk after the fusible is attached....

- then fuse on the bias tape, insert a twin needle into the sewing machine with matching thread and top stitch away...

A super effective pattern that sews up fast and a great way to show off those too interesting to cut prints.

The left over pieces were joined up and inserted into the backing fabric.  Plus an extra fabric to make it wide enough - I was 3 inches not quite wide enough when I first made the backing, which I only realised when I was basting it and I had to pull it apart and insert extra fabric - sheesh......

It took me an extremely long time to come up with a quilting plan for the Jigsaw (approx 4.5 years of repeatedly looking at it and putting it away).  Initially, I was going to do a large open stipple or meander over the quilt, but that looked terrible!  Blah!  So I unpicked that.

What I did end up doing was turning the quilt upside down and quilting it by following the large hexagons on the backing fabric, which meant lots of stopping and starting on my domestic machine and having to sew in ends, but I am so pleased with the final result.

Where the insert panel is, I stitched in the ditch and put a pattern down the narrow strips for a bit of added interest. The quilting thread I used was #50 weight variegated lime green cotton by Wonderfil and a #50 weight lime green Guterman cotton thread in the bobbin.

Front of Quilt.

Back of Quilt.

Finishing at 117cm x 155cm (46in x 61in)  with 60%wool / 40% cotton wadding, it is going to be a lovely warm hug for a teenager at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne via the Very Snuggly Quilts program.