After Quilts

 I have been trying to use up scraps left over from finished tops. If I can't I put them in my scrap bin in a bag so I can locate them more easily, either a particular fabric or the combination. I did this with the Fibonacci scraps thinking they will be suitable for a bag. There's an Oast workshop in March. 

I have thought of these as leftover quilts but Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts (I've been watching a lot of her YouTube videos lately) calls them "after quilts" which I like.

I did this with my Crisscross quilt using up leftover HSTs (plus a few extras) to make Breaking Dishes. As quite often happens the after quilt is quilted and bound before the original one perhaps because I take a more casual gung ho approach.

Breaking Dishes, all done.

Detail

Two Tulips followed the Tiptoe quilt and the last few 2" squares went into a doll quilt.

Doll Quilt

Two Tulips

Tiptoe, the original version

Another respite

Very quick and easy

 

Having made the Fibonacci top which enabled me to put off quilting the Crisscross top I now have two largish tops to quilt, so in a further excuse I made the baby bargello from Karen Brown's Stashbuster 4 pattern. Now I have another top to quilt albeit a more manageable size. I made it from a set of fat quarters which arrived from a subscription service which had me nonplussed but were just the job for this project.

I found just the right backing fabric easier when the top is less than the width of quilting cotton.

In my defence I am also joining my BOM QAYG blocks on my Pffaf machine because with the IDT I can use the quarter inch foot whereas I walking foot quilt on my Janome. Once the BOM is finished I'll get down to quilting.

Fibonacci top

 

I completed 5 of the blocks in Saturday's workshop and am pleased I've kept at it, sewing a sixth one then resewing another so as to get a better colour balance with two large turquoise patches, then adapting  Carole Lyle Shaw's plan to space out the blocks and yesterday I added borders - just enough fabric.

It's very odd but a break from recent work and I expect it will find a home somewhere.

I think I'll quilt in straight lines of serpentine stitch.

The colours fit in with the view from here this morning.

Through the bedroom window. Sorry about the strange blodge ...

Transatlantic workshop

 

The wonders of Zoom will never cease. From 4 till 9 (11 to 4 EST) I did a Fibonacci block quilt work shop with  Carole Lyles Shaw. I was impressed with how once pieces were cut how quickly the blocks went together. I incorporated some background (the light) into my blocks and am intrigued with how this will look in practice. I chose not to incorporate improvisation at this point. I finished 5 out of the six blocks in the time and have lots more pieces cut out. Here are three:

The two bottom fabrics are
quite unusual - not sold as
quilting cottons.

Serendipity Curves

 

Freely cut

On Saturday I and nineteen other Quilters Guild members did an improvisational curves workshop with Brenda Gael Smith. It was an interesting experience as she was live from NSW Australia and it was 5 am for her and 6 pm for us. We saw the view from her sewing room window - lovely sunny coastline! All very jealous. I have used hand dyes for various other workshop samples and will attempt to combine them into a quilt top at some point. She did say  cocktails optional but perhaps I shouldn't have taken her at her word and had that G&T. I was flagging by 9.30 but kept going and completed my stint. 

Further cuts

Kawandi/Siddi piece

Kawandi quilts are made by the Siddi origiinally from Africa, community in India. The pieces are added from the outside in. This has its origins in a February 2020 Quiltcon workshop in Texas. It's very rough and ready, I'm afraid and my shoulder is still recovering - I don't handstitch as well as I did. I shall machine it to a background and it will be a kitchen chair cushion.

 Meanwhile I am still struggling through quilting broken dishes - very tedious.

Goodbye

 In the first lockdown nearly a year ago I pinned a roughly raw edge applique rainbow to the bench under my kitchen window. I vowed to throw it away on the day I got vaccinated. That day has arrived. I got my first dose. It is very intriguing to see how much the fabrics  have faded, however "good" the quality.

2020

Today

In it goes

Sandwiching

To sandwich quilts I set up a foldable table in my living room and to give it a better height use furniture risers under the legs. I spray basted the Breaking Dishes quilt but I am tacking the larger Crisscross one which has 80/20 wadding and another pieced back.

Now for the back

 

I couldn't find a single piece for the back of Breaking Dishes - I pieced three pieces of Laura Ashley lightweight curtaining fabric for the centre. Although I know it's not great quality I love the weight and feel of this which I think  I must have bought as a remnant at a stash sale. 

 Then I cut strips of my border fabric for the top and sides - I had to piece the side strips. I still didn't have enough which was an opportunity to insert a strip of pieces leftover from the top.

Using wadding from the roll would have led to wastage and I had pieces of poly I could tape together to make the piece just big enough.

By the time I had finished I had just a few 3" dark squares remaining and small scraps of the pink and the wadding. I think the pink may also be  Laura Ashley - her brushed cotton. The wadding is Hobbs Tuscany poly a really nice puffy quality with no kinks or creases. It makes for a very nice snuggly quilt. 

Bordering

 Looking at my last post I realise I've made considerable progress  since. I felt the triangles needed a border to finish it off and make it a better size. It was the usual problem of having lots of fabric but not one that seems just right or that I have enough of. In the end I went for an older pink ditsy print that I think by its texture might be a Laura Ashley brushed cotton.  

There was enough to miter (I usually write "mitre" but the spell check disagrees) so I cut my pieces the length of the sides plus two border widths and a bit extra. To aid accuracy I marked my stop point a quarter inch from the corner and sewed on all four border pieces doing a back stitch at the point to stop the seam unravelling.

Here you can see the border piece extending beyond
 the edge of the top.

Sewn seam with back stitch at point

Having attached all four border pieces I drew a 45 degee angle from the marked point.

Then I aligned the adjacent borders to form a point and sewed along my drawn line taking care not to catch the seam allowances but again to stop at the point.

Once pinned sew along the drawn line.

All that is left is to trim and press for a nice neat finish.

Breaking more dishes

 I finished piecing all the HSTs into broken dishes; there are even more than I thought.

Broken Dishes unit

The dark ones make it much less pretty.

 I put them all in a bag and stirred them round before laying out.

This view includes the two spare star blocks. In the final arrangement I took them out. Now, looking at this, as I have only joined a few rows I think I shall leave one in.

Tidying Up

After the concerted effort to complete my "CrissCross" top I have been catching up on minor jobs, clothes mending and altering for one but also adding the remaining jelly roll strips and border to the top for Carolyn Forster's Big and Utility Stitch Workshop.  This will be a sample piece but not this January as planned - I hope to rebook next year when I'll get round to sandwiching it.

I thought I was short of HSTs for Criss Cross but over produced so I am piecing them into Broken Dishes.

Broken dishes: these are all light/medium or light/light medium shades. More variations to follow.

Moda Jelly Roll top

Detail

This is my sofa with a richly coloured quilt on it appropriate for the season.

Busy Busy

I haven't been busy blogging but busy finishing up  including lots of binding. Now I'm onto labels. 

I have finished the CrissCross (as I have decided to call  it) top. I was thinking of adding a border but having put it on the bed I've decided it's just the right size, 72 by 81". I'll make note of this for future projects. Instead I'll put my idea for the border on the back with two viyella side strips to bring it up to size. 

I have also finished facing my "Frieda's Cafe Curtains" quilt and plan to add a hanging sleeve (more hand sewing) and photograph it hanging up. Watch this space.

Backing fabrics for CrissCross

CrissCross top on the bed

The rest of my finishes have been projects long awaiting completing, about 10 years in the case of the Tiptoe quilt and its Two Tulips leftovers version which I shall put in the sales/donation pile while Pinwheel Blossoms for which friends contributed blocks will be for charity.

"Two Tulips" 24.5" SQ.

"Tiptoe" started in a Janet Goddard FOQ class 50x58"

"Two Tulips" on the bed

Folksy backing for 
"Pinwheel Blossoms"

"Pinwheel Blossoms" (blocks from a Sarah Fielke class)
30.5x31"
Do you like my slippers?