Spring Garden quilt finished

I've named this one Spring Garden. I'm trying to name them all but I find it really hard to do. I'm really pleased with how it all came out. I loved doing the wonky log cabins and the freedom from accuracy you get with the piecing.

The quilt got a bit rumpled when drying, it does lay flat really, promise! For the quilting I did random wavy line across the horizontal. I didn't worry if the line crossed over or not. Its a bit hard to see the effect but in real life it gives an illusion of movement, and its all lovely and snuggly!

Nine patch top completed

I've finished putting all of this top together and I am a lot happier than I thought I would be with it considering some of the fabrics in the patches. Unfortunately I can't get a full picture as its too big to hang from the picture rail.

Nine patch coming together

I'm getting my nine patch top together now, there are 70 blocks in a 7x10 layout and I've finished putting 4 of the rows together.

I found a simple plain green for the sashing which I think works really well with the random fabrics in the blocks. I decided to put a corner square into the sashing as well. This is the first time I've layed a quilt out like this and some of the corners aren't perfect but I'm pleased with it. It is looking better than I thought it would when I first started making the blocks.

Nine patch love

I really should stop starting new quilts when I have a pile of tops ready to be finished off but I can't help myself.

The last few days I've been making a load of Nine patch blocks. I think this is my favourite block pattern, I've already made a baby quilt and a single bed quilt using disappearing nine patch. There is just something about its simplicity and its so easy to get into a rhythm.

The fabric I'm using isn't exactly my first choice, it was all gifted to me by an aunt at the end of last year. She has made a few quilts but has decided she can't manage anymore. Its a bit of an odd mix, but I wanted to use it all in a quilt that is going to go to the family cottage in Ireland. No one lives there anymore, its just a holiday home but it where my Mum was born. There are some old handmade quilts there from my Granny and some beautiful embroidered linen.

My auntie Chris who gave me the fabric and owns the cottage hinted for years that she wanted something handmade by me to go back there. This was when I was very into needlework so she expected a tapestry or something. What she didn't know was I was working on a cross stitch rug but it stalled for a long time and eventually was finished 10 years after starting it! It finally ended up on a wall and I am determined not to have this quilt take so long to get back there.

I just need to decide what fabric to use as a sashing, I think the patches need one to bring a bit of order to it all.

Using the scraps

Ever since I started quilting I've been obsessed with keeping all the scraps to find other ways to make use of them. This week I have been playing with my tiny fragments and made some coasters.

First of all I arrange the scraps on lightweight fusible and iron them to bond. I then run over them with the machine to help fix them in place and trim to a 4.5x4.5 inch square. I then assembled the tops and back with a piece of leftover wadding and sew together. Once I've turned them the right way round I then stitch as close to the edges as possible to fix them and then sew through the main part of the coaster to stabilise it. I'm really pleased with how they can out apart from messing up the back on one so it ended up the wrong way round!

I also finished a baby blanket from my new wool stash. Its a simple ripple pattern and ended up around 32x36 inches.

This will end up either as a present for a friend or go to charity.

Back to old stuff

I haven't got anything new to blog about at the moment, so I am going to continue showing some quilts from last year.

This was my first baby quilt and the first time I had done a snowball patch. I know it is easy in theory, but I managed to cut these wrong so many times I was really fed up with them by the end. I had also very foolishly bought a white fabric with a stripe pattern so I was constantly sewing the corners in the wrong direction and having to unpick.

Despite that, I was really pleased with how it came out in the end and the simple straight line quilting made it really soft and pouffie. It ended up 36x36 inches and hardly shrunk at all in the wash. It was gifted just after Christmas to a friend of the family.

Green Sea

I finished the machine quilting in the ditch and binding of this storm at sea quilt before Christmas. It is 72x72 square and made from just 5 colours which makes it the only one I've made with so few fabrics in it.

The only thing left to do is some hand quilting in the dark green squares. There are 16 of these and I am using variegated embroidery floss, however I've only managed to finish 2 so far! Its not that I don't like hand sewing as I do, I've done loads of tapestries, cross stitches and embroideries over the years. For some reason though I seem to have a mental block when it comes to hand sewing on quilts. Hopefully this won't be an unfinished object for too many years!

Little houses top finished

I have finished the quilt top I've been working on, "Little House" see I named something which is taken from Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott.

I did find the instructions weren't as accurate as they could be, you end up cutting more strips than necessary for the little houses from the layer cake squares. Also, it is supposed to end up with a 10x10 patch but I couldn't get any squared off to that, I just made them a little bit smaller, 9.75 instead.

The pattern is in a 5x5 block layout but I found there was enough spare to make 5 more little houses but only 3 layers for the rest of the block. Luckily I had some leftover moda squares from another project so found 2 that blended nicely. You wouldn't know they are from a different collection, the beauty of moda!

Overall I'm pleased with it, even with my niggles!

This lot will keep me busy for a while

My first real splurge on wool in years, yummy! Its all on sale but it still adds up.

I have plenty to work on charity blankets now don't I? I also added some embroidery floss into the mix, you can never have too much stash!

Keeping busy

I've been busy working on bits and pieces this week.

I continued making some more of the wonky stars from leftover triangles and have quite a pile now. Not sure what I will do with them, probably keep making them as I go until there is enough to make a decision.

I started a new quilt using a moda layer cake and a pattern from Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. Lots of little house...

become bigger blocks.

I also made a couple of little crochet blankets from left over wool, very scrappy but an easy thing to do watching the telly. These end up with a great aunt in Ireland (via another aunt who drives over from England every year) and they are then sold to send money to her son who is a priest in southern Africa.