Happy Scrappy Houses And Other Projects

I finally finished the quilting of the Happy Scrappy Houses quilt. The quilting is minimalist....did not want to loose the soft, cuddly feel of this quilt. Only quilted the sashing down with a curvy design that was used in Natalia Bonner's last quiltalong. Struggled a bit with that then and thought that this was a good opportunity to practice some more (really got that down pad now!). Settled on a very simple scallop design in the border.

Had a bit of fun in the border with variegated thread to match the scrappy quilt.

To speed things up I then attached the binding with the sit down longarm...had done this before on smaller baby quilts and thought it was about time that I try this on a bigger quilt.

This worked like an absolute dream...no pinning, no wrangling of the quilt through the DSM. Found this to be so much easier and faster! You cannot see it in the photo, but I usually baste around my quilts 1/8in  from the edge, so the border is already stitched down. This makes attaching the binding very easy. I always use the Handiquilter Versa tool for this (and for the basting of the edges) as it has a somewhat wider footprint and when placed on border and binding, keeps everything nice and flat. I actually think I am somewhat more accurate with this method too as my quilt does not drag off to one side so I have a very consistent 1/4in stitching line. When I come to the end of one side of the quilt, I crease the binding where it should end, then place the notch of the ruler directly onto that line and hence stop exactly 1/4in before the corner. Too easy!

Also finished my little improvisational quilt made out of a Fat Sixteenth Bundle from Hillstitches Fabric. It came out at about 37in x 37in. This is next to be quilted. Planning an allover design to really give the stitch regulation a workout. Thinking of the 'Loose Thread' design but that might change still a number of times.

Lots to do...also need to finish Natalia Bonner's 'A Year of Stars' quilt. Bought some dusty pink sashing for this and just need to do the cutting and then finish it off. One more month to go until the quiltalong kicks off, so that should work!

Karin

Finished The Piecing!

I am so glad I finished the piecing for Natalia Bonner's 'A Year of Stars' quiltalong. I had left the most challenging block to last (did not think that through). By that time, I had hardly any fabric left, so was faced with the scenario of only being able to have one go at it. Must admit, while I was putting it together I was already thinking  about what other block I could substitute this one for with the scraps I had left over. Was not at all confident that this would work out, 

but, tada... The Spider Star!

Amazement over amazement...after an excruciatingly slow cutting this to size it came out at 12 1/2in. Only problem were the corners...they were totally off. I only had one corner that resembled a HST but I fixed this since taking the photograph and it is looking good. Basically maneuvered that inaccuracy into the last flying geese unit by re-doing the corners which then makes it hardly noticeable. Very pleased. 

Now I am ready to do the sashing and get going on putting this together. Thinking of getting a dusty pink sashing as the white is always hard on the eyes if we are going to quilt in the sashing. I am really looking forward to this quiltalong...lots of ruler work coming up for the entire year!

This exercise has got me thinking that I probably should piece a bit more so as to not get so woefully out of practice. Most of the time I freemotion quilt, so I might have to work on finding a bit of a balance. So at the moment I am super motivated with at least three new patterns  in the pipeline. Even made a test block with my newly refined piecing skills.

This is the Duck Tracks block...

...an oldie, but I like the older type quilt blocks. Planning a cute little baby quilt around this, just need to work on cutting requirements, making the quilt and putting the pattern together. This morning then I thought of another pattern that I could whip up relatively easy...that makes it three in the pipeline. I am on fire!

If you are interested in easy to construct quilt patterns, have a look at my Etsy shop (link above in tab) or on the new Madeit site

Currently running a 20% sale for this week only on the entire range. 

Karin

Still Piecing

We are in lockdown again! This time they went in hard and fast and so far we are looking at 6 days of strict lockdown and then another 8 days where hopefully restrictions are eased somewhat. Can't leave the house at all, unless you do need to go to the shops. No exercising, walking or meeting anyone. Very impressed really with the government's quick reaction to our new cluster over here. We  currently have  23 cases in Adelaide with a few more expected. Compared to other countries this does not sound too bad, but I am really glad the government is taking this that seriously. It's been such a horrific experience across the world.

I am still piecing the Natalia Bonner quilt for the 'A Year of Stars' quiltalong.

There is an end in sight...have done 10 blocks! 

Only 2 more to go and I am done. Then will have to see how the situation is going to develop over here as I was going to buy some sashing to go with this. This may not be possible to happen now and I will just have to improvise when ready to attach the sashing (or maybe go online). 

Have not been idle otherwise...in fact life has been incredibly busy. I finally explored other options (then just Etsy) for selling my patterns and have opened another little shop with Madeit, a uniquely Australian online buying and selling platform that supports local independent Australian talent.

You can find my little shop HERE

I am including a few quilts to sell as I am literally running out of space to keep them all. While I do give away many of my quilts as gifts, it is just getting too much and I do need to get rid of some to create room for new projects 😂. So, we'll see how this will go. Speaking of patterns...I have at least two patterns in the pipeline and today washed the fabric for the first one. 

Cute Anne Kelle fabric with tone-on-tone colours mixed in. I am motivated to finally put this together. It will be a smallish baby quilt and I am hoping to have that done by Christmas. I love pattern writing and this one will be fun with lots of diagrams which usually means days upon days on the computer. 

Also still need to finish off my Scrappy Houses quilt...so much to do!

Karin

Plugging Away

I cannot believe it, but I started a new project. Still working on my Scrappy House quilt, but got a bit bored and promptly whipped up something else in preparation to freemotion quilt an allover design.

This is my win from the 2019 Finishalong...a Fat Sixteenth Bundle of fabric from Hillstitches Fabrics. I was really curious what I could make with this. I did develop an irregular grid some time back in the EQ8 program and promptly gave that a try. The quilt will turn out at 36in x 36in using every available fabric. I got quite excited by the possibilities of the pattern. Comes together so quickly and looks great. The selection of fabrics is just beautiful. Not sure what I use it for, but it will find its place.

My brain went into overdrive as I am already thinking of extending the pattern somewhat making it into a bold toddler/baby quilt using solids or tone-on-tone fabrics, echoing the wooden blocks we used to play with when the kids were small.

But...I need to also complete what I am working on and get a move on on the Natalia Bonner Quiltalong coming in January (A Year of Stars). There are 12 blocks to make and they are killing me. I am not a strong piecer and am finding it quite difficult to put together. There is the option of a panel, but with postage that is just not feasible over here, so I must persevere. 

Does not look like much but there were so many pieces! So far I have done 5 blocks, alternating between really involved and less involved blocks. That seems to be working for me as I have given up on being super precise...now I just want to get them together !

Take my hat off to people who can just whip this up in no time at all. The way I am going, I might just make it to January. I bought the booklet, so I am committed to participate, even if I now fall behind. As the quiltalong goes for the entire year, I will be able to catch up, but wow...

Don't want to turn people off, this will be great when it is finished. Looking forward to the quilting as per usual. The blocks are quite big so lots you can do with them and no doubt Natalia will stretch our skill level just that little bit further. 

Karin

Progress On House Quilt

Not much happening over here. I have been steadily working away on my Scrappy House quilt. The ditching took a while, but I eventually finished it.

Now I am up to the sashings. Decided to further practice Natalia Bonner's design that she used in the recent 9 patch stitchalong. Struggled a bit with it then and thought this might be a good idea to try this again. Must say this is going much better than when I first did it. Worked out that I either need to stitch away from me or towards me. While I can also stitch it sideways, I discovered that I find it much harder to hit the right spot consistently. Love the way this little design looks in a sashing. Very unassuming.

In the stitchalong we went over the sashing one more time filling in some of the diamonds. For this quilt I will not do this...I think I prefer the simple line design as there is a lot going on on this quilt. I stitched this out in a very pale green Aurifil 40/2 thread and on some of the sashings it blends in and on some it really stands out. Quite like the look of that.

Not sure what I am going to do in the border. Going through a bit of a scallop phase, so I might do that again or something else really simple. This quilt is really quite happy to just have been ditched.

I also need to get going on Natalia Bonner's 'A Year of Stars' Quiltalong. Have pieced 3 of the 12 stars! While not difficult, there is a lot of piecing to do and I do struggle with accuracy. Just not that great at piecing, but hoping that I will get this done before the new year. Might also do another impromptu lap quilt as I still want to run an overall design on the new machine. So much to do!

 

Karin