Archive for the 'Quilts' Category

Bloggers Quilt Festival Spring 2013 – All Stars

Published on 19/05/2013 by Mary in Boys, Patchwork and Quilts. 19 Comments

I knew that Bloggers Quilt Festival was almost upon us and then a lot of blog posts appeared with lots of lovely quilts in and I realised I wasn’t prepared like I’d aimed to be.

The quilt I’m going to show you today has not appeared previously except in a sneak peek at the end of March. There is a story behind it which is not mine to share. But what I can share is my reason behind the making of this quilt.

A lovely young boy that I know has been going through an extremely tough time and things recently got a whole lot worse, I was lost for words. Tobit (my husband) was away in London for a couple of days but once he was back I told him what was going on and how I needed to make a quilt for this boy.

Sometimes there are no words, but there was a stash of fabric and the ability to sew, so I did. With every cut and stitch I thought about this boy and his family, a couple of times I thought they might think me weird for doing this but so what.

I pulled out from my stash every bit of the All Stars collection for Riley Blake that was one of my first full bundle purchases, I’ve used it in various projects but still had plenty left. In addition are a few pieces from the Wheels collection (also Riley Blake) and some charms from the Andover Dimples range:

I made a pile of 9 patch blocks, cut them up and moved them around a few (hundred) times before agreeing a layout with myself.

I was on a bit of a mission not just for the young boy but also because we had started major building work on the house and I was about to lose the dining room (also my sewing space) and the kitchen.

I didn’t want to hang about so made a scrappy (very) back with all my leftovers and a large piece of All Stars flannel for extra snuggle factor.

So with an hour to go before time was up and the dining room was sealed and off limits I got down on my hands and knees and basted this quilt.

I quilted it myself in straight lines either side of the main block lines (someone please tell me a more technical way of explaining that) and hand sewed the binding on.

There’s a label on there too, which had a message added before it was delivered:

I worried about how to deliver this quilt and how it would be received, but I needn’t have. There were tears from the mum and me and smiles and amazement from the young boy as he wrapped it round himself. I hope that it will continue to give him comfort for years to come.

Thanks for reading. I’m entering this into the Throw Quilt category as think that’s the best fit.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 45″ x 58″
Fabric: All Stars and Wheels Riley Blake, Dimples – Andover
Backing fabric: All Star Flannel and scrappy
Binding: Summersville Cross Hatch red
Quilting: Quilted by me on my machine
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Wadding 80/20
Pattern: 9 patch

A quilt finish for Siblings Together

Published on 09/04/2013 by Mary in Girls, Patchwork, Quilts and Siblings Together. 11 Comments

So I finished this quilt a week or so ago, I just needed time to write about it!

Last year I bought some charm packs of Little Apples by Aneela Hoey from an online fabric store that was closing down, they were a bargain price and ideal for a quilt for a girl.

It took me a while to decide what to do with them. I had ideas of making 2 quilts with the 4 packs that I had, but after much sketching and calculating I decided to it would be easier to make just the one with this fabric.

I’d seen Jeni’s Patchwork Chevron Quilt and liked the idea but didn’t want to make quite such a big quilt. So I scaled it down using 4 patch blocks instead of 9 patch and this is the result:

Believe it or not we actually had sunshine one day last week so I took the opportunity to take some photo’s in the park, pegging the quilt to the fencing of the tennis courts.

The yellow fabric was left over from last years Siblings Together quilts, I used it to back the Sew Cherry quilts. I had enough left to make 3 rows of chevrons but I then decided I didn’t want a square quilt, so I ordered some more fabric, enough for another row and for the backing too.

The Klona is wide 54″ so a metre goes a bit further than other solids. The finished quilt is 54″ wide, I basted it on the floor in the half an hour or so that I had left before the dining room was shut off in the building works. Unfortunately when I’d finished basting I discovered that it had a big crease in the back, so I decided to unbaste it and add a strip of Little Apple charms in to the back which made the backing fit a bit more comfortably and basting easier (although with no dining room floor I had to take it to my mums to get it done).

I quilted the background fabric between the chevrons following the line of the chevrons.

The binding is Cross Hatch in Bus Red from Lucie Summers Summersville line, I’ve used it on another quilt that I’ve yet to blog about and I do love it as a binding fabric. I bought 3 yards of it with plans for clothing but I might just keep it as my ‘go to binding’.

So I hope that while this is my first quilt this year for Siblings Together it will not be my last, only time will tell! Oh and I must get a label from Laura Jane to finish it off.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 54″ x 72″
Fabric: Little Apples charm pack by Aneela Hoey, Klona Maize
Backing fabric: Klona Maize and Little Apples
Binding: Cross Hatch in Bus Red from Summersville collection by Lucie Summers
Quilting: Quilted by me on my machine
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Wadding 80/20
Pattern: Based on this idea by Jeni Baker

March projects

Published on 31/03/2013 by Mary in Paper piecing, Patchwork, Quilts, Upcycled and Vintage. 5 Comments

March seemed to be a really long month, mostly very cold and draughty with some sewing!

I squeezed in some paper piecing before we ‘lost’ the dining room:

Blog post about them here.

I joined in the Orbit QAL and completed the whole quilt not just the top. All made from wonderful vintage sheets.

(Read more about it here)

I started and finished 2 other quilts, here’s a quick peek of one:

The other one I don’t have any photo’s of, it’s for Siblings Together. More details on both to come.

I was able to attend the first Sewing Directory meet up which was a wonderful afternoon with a group of lovely ladies. I’ve not blogged about it but Fiona, Kerry and Rachel have. I don’t have a great deal to add to what they said, you had to be there really, but it was fun to sit and sew and chat, to catch up with friends and to meet some ladies in the flesh who I know online. There will be a bit more about it in my next vintage sheet post. It was truly great, so much so that Fiona is already onto organising the next one for Exeter in the Autumn. If there is one you can get to then I’d highly recommend it, the next one is in London on 27th April.

I squeezed in a commission for a earbud pouch, it all happened so quick and was in the post before I could take a photo, so it looked like this but with a pink zip and a pink Sherbet Pips lining:

And I may just have started cutting up leftovers from my vintage sheet charm to make a Scrappy Trips quilt.

So despite the state of our house I feel like I’ve managed to achieve quite a lot this month, for those of you who don’t know it looks a bit like this:

We have no kitchen or dining room, so are living in the living room (with the dining room table, chairs and a cupboard), the 3 children are sharing a room and the newly vacated bedroom is our temporary kitchen.

Next month? Who knows, but there is a Spring Quilt Festival next weekend which a few of us locals are planning to go to on Saturday, meeting up with Katy and showing her the sights of the south (or maybe just dinner!). If you’re local too and fancy joining us please let me know.

Linking up with:

Orbit quilt finish

Published on 25/03/2013 by Mary in charity shopping, Patchwork, Quilts, thrifting, Upcycled and Vintage. 14 Comments

On a freezing cold day I’m able to share with you a quilt finish.

This is the original fabric pull, all vintage sheets from my stash (some recently obtained from the vintage sheet FQ swap):

It changed a little and I went with the bottom floral print for the background fabric rather than the plain blue solid.

There was a fair amount of cutting to be done but thanks to Lindsey’s clever pattern which includes a quilt by number chart it was easy to put together. The pattern is currently free to download and after 1st April it will be available to buy from Lindsey.

Last night I finally finished sewing the binding on:

Finishing the binding meant that all that was needed were photographs, so despite the temperature I took a walk to the park at the end of our road and pegged the quilt to the fencing of the tennis court. I was concerned about the strength of the wind and the ability to get a decent shot but it was obviously blowing in the right direction, I think it would have stayed up without pegs!

Backed with a vintage sheet:

And the quilting? I’ve never free motion quilted a quilt so I thought ‘why not start on this one?’ For the centre of each Orbit I used pebbles:

For the outer square I did a loopy something or other:

And then for the Orbit I used parallel lines following the outer edge of the Orbit:

I’m pleased with it as a first attempt at free motion quilting (obviously the straight lines are not FMQ!), I can see how with practice it should improve.

Thanks very much to Lindsey for a great pattern (I can see myself using it again) and for hosting the QAL.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 60″ x 60″
Fabric: Vintage sheets
Backing fabric: Vintage sheet
Binding: Vintage sheet – 100% cotton candy stripes
Quilting: Quilted by me on my machine
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Wadding 80/20
Pattern: Orbit by Lindsey Rhodes of LR Stitched

I’m linking up with:

My goal for the month was to just get the quilt top made but as building work on the house was slower than anticipated (i.e. I was not evicted from the dining room until last week) I was able to get the whole quilt finished – great big hurrah!

Not so hurrah is the cold weather and this sight at the end of today:

Yep that’s right even more of the back of our house is missing! Spring/summer please come soon, our house is so cold.

Vintage sheets – January/February

Published on 06/03/2013 by Mary in charity shopping, fabric, Patchwork, Quilts, thrifting and Vintage. 10 Comments

It’s been a quiet few months on the finding front. A sheet from the car boot:

A handmade duvet cover from the charity shop, this was quite expensive, especially considering the one side was plain, but still I had to have it:

A couple of pillowcases in a fairly rare dark blue print:

A gorgeous pile of pillowcases in this print:

Fortunately I also had the UK and Ireland Vintage sheet swap going on. I think in the end we had 11 swappees and 200 or so FQ’s! I was so intent on sorting and attempting to meet requests for particular colours that I neglected to take any photographs.

Here’s a photo of the bundle that Judith received back that gives you a taste of the gorgeous prints and colours we had:

Judith was also incredibly quick off the mark and made up a block:

She then sent off some fabrics to her Brit Bee ladies who have made up blocks for her, so you may see them popping up on other blogs too!

Jan found that the arrival of the fat quarters helped her find her sewing mojo and quickly sewed up a quilt top:

And I’ve been sewing with mine too:

If you’re interested in joining a future vintage sheet swap then please do let me know here or leave a comment in the flickr group and get searching.

I may have started another quilt…

Published on 02/03/2013 by Mary in Patchwork and Quilts. 6 Comments

I pulled out a selection of vintage sheet fabrics last week:

I was tempted by this:

My final selection of fabrics has changed slightly but I now have a whole pile of blocks that need to be sewn into rows.

This was a scene at our house last week:

The kitchen is about to be removed, the dining room sealed off and all it’s contents dispersed throughout the rest of the house! So my goal for March is to get that quilt top complete, please note I am not going for a quilt finish just a complete top, I need something to keep me sane.

I do not know where I will find space to sew but somehow I think I will!

Do you have a goal for the month?

Linking up with:

February…

Published on 01/03/2013 by Mary in Boys, Commission, Dress a Girl Around the World, Paper piecing, Patchwork, Quilts and Scraps. 8 Comments Tags: amy butler, bunting commission, fresh sewing day, happy quilting, lily's quilts, quilting exeter, starburst quilt, triple zip pouch.

My oh my what a freezing cold month it has been. Despite other stuff going on here I’ve spent a fair bit of time with my sewing machine:

1. You Little Ripper!, 2. Triple zip pouches, 3. Patchwork journal cover – commission, 4. Bunting Commission

In January I did some quilt pattern testing. In February I basted, quilted and bound the quilt, not sure if I should be showing you as the patterns not been released yet, so here’s just a little peek:

I helped out at a Dress a Girl Around the World evening that a friend organised. We managed to complete 16 dresses and had a pile of others that needed finishing. I took along a couple of double sheets from my vintage stash along with a pile of pillowcases – you may well recognise some of them below:

I also did some pattern testing for Kristy at Quiet Play:

I tested the whole set of numbers and punctuation, Kristy has now released them for sale and you can purchase them here.

My major project and finish this month is this large beauty:

You can read more about it here if you’d like the detail.

Who knows what March will bring, hopefully some warmer weather! This weekend our kitchen will be taken apart, my sewing things have mostly been packed away, but I may have started another quilt!

Linking up with:

Starburst Quilt finished

Published on 28/02/2013 by Mary in Patchwork and Quilts. 13 Comments

This week I am delighted to say that I finished my Starburst quilt after joining in with the Starburst QAL:

The weather here is very cold and grey, the quilt is also enormous so I knew we would have to take photographs outside. Yesterday Tobit had a day off, primarily to dismantle some cupboards. But I persuaded him to come on a trip to the park at the end of the road with his camera:

Not only was it cold but quite windy too:

You can see fairly clearly the circular quilting:

Our local park has a basketball court with high wire fencing at both ends, somehow or other Tobit managed to get up there to clip the quilt to the wire:

One day the sun will shine and we might get some brighter pictures, for now I’m pretty pleased with these. When making a big quilt I’m rarely able to take a step back and view it like this so although it was freezing cold I did enjoy standing in the park looking at my quilt, especially as I really had no idea what the quilting looked like as I’d only seen it close up!

In theory the finished quilt should have been approximately 95″ square but I discovered that my backing fabric wasn’t quite square so I took off a couple of inches from each side of the sashing/border so it’s finished size is 90″ square.

When I finished the quilt I spread it out on the bed to try it for size and it fits nicely over the sides and foot of the bed, so it stayed there and the bed has been so much warmer since.

The Starbursts are made from a FQ bundle of Amy Butlers Belle fabric I bought what feels like many years ago (I’m guessing 6), so it was great to use a chunk of it up and enjoy the fabrics again.

Thanks very much to Melissa for the pattern and hosting the QAL. Check out the Flickr group to see a whole host of different interpretations of the pattern.

Quilt Stats:

Size: 90″ x 90″
Fabric: Prints from Amy Butlers Belle range, solid: white Egyptian cotton bedsheet
Backing fabric: Dark Turquoise king size bed sheet from Debenhams
Binding: scraps from Amy Butlers Belle range
Quilting: Quilted by me on my machine with circles and overlapping circles (randomly made up as I went along!)
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Wadding 80/20
Pattern: Starburst by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting

Quilting, quilting and more quilting

Published on 12/02/2013 by Mary in Patchwork and Quilts. 6 Comments

Thanks to those of you who responded to my request on Sunday for quilting suggestions, the fact that no one said ‘don’t circular quilt’ I have been circular quilting:

It is hard work, any quilting would be hard work on a quilt this big:

I had a dream about it all going horribly wrong and another one about a long arm machine:

My back and shoulders are a little sore and very tired, but in my opinion it’s looking good:

I think I am 3/4 of the way there but maybe that’s optimistic and it might be more like half way, but the end is sort of in sight!

A basted quilt and a request for quilting ideas

Published on 10/02/2013 by Mary in Patchwork and Quilts. 8 Comments

I’m not sure that I’ve mentioned that I joined in the Starburst QAL over at Happy Quilting.

The quilt consists of 4 of these starbursts, as you can see they are pretty big!

I finished the quilt top and this week managed to find something to back it with.

This afternoon I basted it, it’s approx 94″ square:

We don’t have floor space large enough to lay it all out for basting, yesterday I did a bit of research and came across this useful blog post on basting a large quilt – thanks Julie, it worked (I think)

Now I need to work out what pattern to quilt it with and how on earth I’m going to do it. Any suggestions welcome, I’m currently thinking about circles, which is what I did on this quilt last year, but this time I’m thinking of more than just one circle. I’m no expert at free motion quilting actually I’ve never FMQ’d a quilt and this quilt is not the one to start on! What do you think?