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Wednesday 25 March 2015

This week my works in progress are some place mats. A recent visit to my mother-in-law reminded me that it's been some time since I made some for her (a usual annual gift). A recent sort through some fabric found 4 small panel pieces that I thought would suit the purpose, being garden themed. So I framed each suitably and then figured out how to put some pin wheels or four patches around them.


The quilting was fun too, doing some swirls on one, trying some triangles (much practice required) and some daisies on the pin wheels. 


I still need to complete the binding on one and do quilting on the last one. They've been fun to do and I was pleased to have fabric in my stash that co-ordinated well with the central panels. I hope she likes them!
Until next time,
Lynn
I'm linking up with Quilt Story [quiltstory.blogspot.com]
Works in Progress Wednesday [www.freshlypieced.com]
and Confessions of a Fabric Addict 


Tuesday 17 March 2015

Squares and Stars

I have one completed quilt this week, or end of last week really. Squares around a sqaure and then the sashing between. A friend and I had a try of a machine on a frame (a new experience as I usually just machine quilt on my own machine) and it was good fun doing a big loopy stipple. It's very forgiving as 3 people had a go on the same quilt and other than the stitch length, which does vary, the shapes were not identifiable as belonging to one person or another. Clearly the stitch length is something to be worked on - control of speed being the key issue. I can now understand why stitch regulators can be an expensive but useful add on.



I'm on the way with a fun use of scraps - stars, thanks to the inspiration from Deana (Dreamworthy Quilts).
I really enjoy using up scraps and have previously made a rainbow quilt (Rainbow Connection 26/2/2014). This time I'm making the 61/2 squares but adding the 'star' effect which gives it just a different feel. I'm quite happy with how it's going so far - though it's not seeming to make much of a dent in my scraps. I may be making these forever!


These two are completed (looking forward to the quilting I can do in the square that is created as they meet too! The pink and purple ones below are on the way. I've done 12 to create the top I like how that looks but am not sure whether I may add more. They are great fun and very addictive to make. I suspect they will be very versatile too as the bright colours would even suit a baby quilt. 


 I'll be linking up with:
Quilt Story;
Work in Progress Wednesdays (Freshly Pieced);
Needle and Thread Thursday and
Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Until next time,
Lynn

Friday 6 March 2015

Canadian Maple

I've been working on a project for a while now that is finally finished and ready to give away. It began with 4 large maple leaf blocks, then it grew to include some smaller brighter ones. I had to adjust the sashing sizes to make it all fit together well, but I think it worked out OK.


The quilting was the fun/challenging part with deciding what to do - both with the leaves and the spaces. I'd seen somewhere (hard to keep track of all the sites/books/magazines I check out) a softer loopy shape within the maple leaves, so I gave that a try. Then in the sashing I did a mix of feathers for the central part with more ordinary leaves on the others. 

My Janome 1600QP works so well, with the throat space that is so helpful. I like the versatility of being able to do custom quilting but also try out a pantograph type pattern when I want to as well. It's still a challenge finding a large enough space to sandwich the quilt though - this time it was the tiled floor though at times the table tennis top has proven to be very useful too!





The quilt is for my son's girlfriend who has just arrived in Perth with the hope of working and staying for several months. Since they both worked together in Canada, I thought the maple leaf would be a nice memento for her. It's her birthday on Monday, so that's when we'll see how she likes it.

This is a photo of the backing, which shows the quilting well too.


Now that it's finished I'll have to get busy on the other projects I've set aside for a while. It's satisfying to complete something but makes me itchy to get busy with something new too. 

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and My Quilt Infatuation

Until next time,
Lynn