Adding to my stash

Over the last couple of weeks I have been hand quilting a Bonnie Hunter 'Wonky Wishes' style quilt. 
I made a very similar one last year which was gifted to my step granddaughter's baby girl Ella. 
It was so well received - many photos of Ella show her lying on the quilt, gazing at the colours and trying to touch the different patches - and I so enjoyed making it that I decided to make another.
I finally finished it the day I discovered the new baby( mentioned in yesterday's post) had been born and was a boy. So this quilt would not be suitable for Tommy and into my Finished baby quilts stash it will go!

 

 

When I first discovered this particular Bonnie Hunter design it was a Free Pattern on her website.

Now, however, it is a pattern you buy through her Shop, just click on the tab at the top of her blog page (quiltville.blog). It currently costs $10 US.

 

I have called the quilt "Girly Stars" but I expect it will get another name when it is finally gifted.

 

 

As you can see there are 4 stars to every block.

Using 12 blocks plus sashing and borders as I have done makes a large quilt, 40" x 54", so it can be used for years: initially as a playmat/for cuddling the baby and then is large enough to be used as a topper on baby's first bed.

However, when I make it again (I already have some Baby Boy stars made up) I think I will just use 9 blocks which will make a Baby Quilt more the size I normally make.

 

The pink sashing and border is a Kona solids fabric, cut at 2.5" and cornerstones are from scraps of  a Riley Blake Owl fabric.  The original large piece has been used in a lot of projects over the last 2 or 3 years and I literally only have scraps left. These cornerstones were already cut to size, stashed in my 2.5" squares box.  In fact, all the squares used in this quilt came from that box - the only fabric cutting required was for the sashing and borders. This is a tip I picked up from Bonnie Hunter's Scrap busting System.
Lots of hand quilting with Perle cotton in this quilt.  My choice as I like hand quilting and I think the double row of stitches around each star make them stand out from the background. Bonnie Hunter machine quilts most of her quilts on a long arm so her finished Wonky Wishes is a little different from my finished look.

Linking up to Mrs Sew & Sow's Scraptastic Tuesday Link Up.

I am now working on another Commission quilt. The baby was born this week so  know I am making another Boy Quilt.  Such fun!

 

Another quilt for New Zealand

I was delighted to hear that Libby Rose's quilt arrived safely in New Zealand.  Everyone loves it and I hope Libby Rose uses it a lot.

Another New Zealand neighbour emailed us on Sunday to tell us that their 7th grandchild had been born. Last year I made a quilt for the elder brother Max and now I needed another boy quilt for new baby Tommy.  The last two quilts I have made are definitely "girly" quilts but I already have two Boy Quilts in the cupboard which I made last year. It always pays to have a stash of completed baby quilts.


Last night I finished the hand embroidered label and so now I am going to parcel it up and take it to the Post Office and send it on its way to NZ.  Tommy and his family actually live in South Africa but as Granny is flying from NZ to South Africa in a month's time I am sending the quilt to her and she will take it out for me.  We have decided that's a better way than sending directly to SA - I don't think the post is always reliable.

So here is the quilt which I called "Elephants on Parade":

 

And in an hour or so it will be on its very long journey:  UK to NZ to SA!

Travel well little elephants!

Another finish!

I have been working on 4 baby quilts in order to have a stash ready for the 3 babies that are due in the next couple of months.

At the beginning of the week we received the news that New Zealand friends Anna and Tony became grandparents on 14th August when Libby Rose made her way into the world.  Always lovely news to receive!

Initially we didn't know whether the baby was going to be a boy or girl but one of the 4 quilts I was making was very pink and girly and I had earmarked it for this NZ baby should she be a girl.  I had already quilted it up to the space I had left at the top for the appliqued name.  So this week I have added both names - Libby Rose - and also another border of the candy striped border fabric.  I realised once the letters were in place that it needed another border to look balanced.  Fortunately I had plenty of fabric left and more than enough batting and backing at the top for another border to be added. Phew!!!

The quilt is loosely based on a quilt called "Flowery Applique Quilt", a Lynne Edwards' design from her book called 'Making Scrap Quilts to Use it Up!".  However I have substituted my favourite Sun Bonnet Sues for the flower clusters and also put a simplified flower in some of the appliqued blocks, alternating with Nine Patch blocks.

I think this quilt will be well received by baby's Mum and Dad as it's a very traditional design and Shelley and Anthony appear to be a traditional couple.  We had an emailed photo of the baby all dressed in knitted garments made by Nana Anna. Gorgeous!

Now it is bound and finished and I have embroidered the label for the back of the quilt.
On Monday I will take it to the Post Office and send it on its way to NZ.  I could have posted it today but didn't fancy the idea of it being held in some Sorting Office waiting for Monday. I am always nervous until I know my quilts have arrived safely.

In view of the candy striped border fabrics I have called this quilt "Sugar Candy", just right for a sweet little baby girl.

 

And a couple of close-ups:

 

 

Everything used in this quilt came from stash including the pretty backing fabric which has been in my backings drawer for years. Every time I have tried to use it the fabric just didn't seem quite right but this time it was.  :

 

I love the cute little red cat faces dotted around the fabric:

And I have a small piece left to include in patches in future girly baby quilts.
Happy sewing!

 

 

Whoop whoop Fridays

 Just a note to say I am linking Tuesday's post about my 7th quilt finished to
Sarah Craig's Whoop whoop Fridays on her Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Don't you love my husband's legs poking out from underneath the quilt?

7th quilt finished!

Yesterday I finished my 7th quilt of 2016.  It's a Baby Quilt which I have called Strawberry Patch.

In the next three months I know of three babies on the way - one is due any day now.
So, I have been busy making baby quilts - four in the pipeline, one of which is Strawberry Patch.

Here it is:

 

The finished quilt measures 42" square and consists of alternate 4" Crumb blocks and 4" fabric squares.

I hand quilted in the ditch.

I love striped bindings and just had enough of this bright pink and white fabric to bind my quilt.  I literally had a 3" piece of binding left!

 

The backing fabric was a piece I bought at last year's Festival of Quilts. I love owls and couldn't resist this one. However, when I came to use it for the backing I discovered it was unusually narrow, nowhere near the normal WOF and once the selvedges were cut off  it was not wide enough to back my quilt.  So, I decided to put a pieced strip off centre down the length of the quilt.

I used some 10" squares of vintage sheet fabric I had bought many years ago at a Table Top sale at my NZ Group.  I have been steadily using these squares in my projects this year but still haven't finished them all.

 

 

 

And a couple of Close-ups to show some of the variety of fabrics I used up in this quilt.

 

I am pleased with it, it's really bright and cheerful. Stimulating for a baby I think and lots of opportunities to play "I Spy". 

So, if Fiona's baby is a girl, this is for her.

 

Kaffe Fassett excitement

I love Kaffe Fassett!  I have been a follower for many years: having been lucky enough to hear him speak,attend a couple of 'Show and Tell' type of evenings when he discussed various pieces of his work, visited two of his exhibitions (in London & York), and bumped into him on several occasions over the years.

As Kaffe is originally a trained artist he views colours and patterns with an artist's eye, so different from my view of the world as I am definitely NOT an artist. I love art and can appreciate it but I cannot draw or paint.  My cousin Paul is an artist - as was his father, my uncle - and years ago I marvelled at how he remembered our living room, how it had been many years ago, now altered and looking quite different.  Paul reminded me that he looks at everything very carefully - he "observes" and those ideas are locked into his head.

So, I was very excited to catch Kaffe's tour of his Gallery at last week's Festival of Quilts.
The collection of quilts comprised quilts and quilt tops that Kaffe has purchased over the years.
He picked out some which had been the inspiration for new quilts which are in his new book
Bold Blooms.
Kaffe walked us around the Gallery, pointing out the things in each quilt which fascinate and excite him and lead him to create a new quilt design.

For instance: Handkerchief Corners Quilt

 

 

 

The aspect of this quilt which jumped out at Kaffe - and his audience once it had been pointed out to us - was the high contrast between the rounds of the log cabin blocks.  The blocks have been assembled in rows to emphasise that: light, then dark as the outer row as you look along the row of blocks.

So, he ran with that idea to create High Contrast Squares:

 

 

 

Floral Octagons was inspired by a French quilt:

 

 

Lattice with Vases is another new quilt from his book "Bold Blooms":

 

Now a few of his collected quilts which particularly appealed to me:

Pastel trip Around the World

 

Pink Spider Web:

 

Satin Hexagon Quilt:

 

and a Close up

 

Pastel Lozenge:

 

 

 

Kaffe drew our attention to this quilt which he essentially sees as "grey" with the amazing small pops

of colour which bring the quilt to life.  He particularly loved the use of small scraps of striped fabrics.

 

And lastly the most amazingly coloured and busy quilt I have ever seen. 

 Kaffe says although he has studied this quilt endless times he still hasn't figured out how the blocks were constructed, what the pattern actually was. And I'm sure I couldn't. He described the quilt as "madness" but so appealing.  I agree, you could look at it for ages and still see new things which you hadn't noticed before.

 

Kaleidoscope: Wacky & obsessive with a swirling palette of colours:

And a Close up. Kaffe pointed out the symmetry of the flowered fabrics, the flowers cut in half and positioned either side of the torpedo-shaped detail:

 

 

Thank you for "Making my Day". Kaffe. I learned a lot.  Check out Kaffe's new book Bold Blooms

which features his glorious flowers so bright and cheerful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Festival of Quilts 2016

I am very lucky to live near the NEC, the home of the Festival of Quilts. For the first 9 years of its existence I was a Quilt Angel, for some of those years a Team Leader. I enjoyed opening the packages, logging the Competition quilts, being part of hanging the quilts and getting the show ready for the judges and then the visitors. Now I enjoy being a visitor and seeing all the lovely quilts, galleries, personalities and looking round all the stalls. A little bit of Retail Therapy too!

Thursday was First Day of the Show and I took my sister. We always enjoy our day out together, marvelling at the quilts and marking our favourites in the catalogue.

Today, Friday, I went with my neighbour who is just beginning her quilting journey.  We bought basic equipment and looked at quilts as I pointed out some of the standard blocks. I enjoyed this as she was a great pupil, lots of questions and interest.

I also took lots of photos.

I was very excited to see 2 quilts made by my New Zealand quilter friend Jennie.
Firstly, "Labour of Love".  Well named as it took Jennie 4 years to hand sew this quilt.

 

 

 

She also showed her quilt called "Melinda", a quilt for her Grandma, Melinda, who had breast cancer. Jennie said" Despite surgery and being "patched up" she was still beautiful in body and spirit. The background is pieced in blues and greens to represent water as at times a cancer diagnosis can feel like drowning.

 

I had seen this quilt in NZ, didn't know it was being entered in the Show, so it gave me a lovely feeling to see it and know who made it!

Another NZ Quilter is Juliet who blogs as 'The Tartankiwi'.  She gave the heads up about the quilt she had entered in the FOQ this year, called "Hunted".  Lovely to see the actual quilt, Juliet!

 

 

 

So many other quilts I loved, so here are a few of the ones which caught my eye:

"Bullrushes" by Hilary Beattie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Walled Garden, Broughton Castle" by Australian quilter Dorothy Clee:

 

 

"Never Again" by Anne Hill:  This was a wool applique quilt.

 

 

"I want to live here" by Laura Armiraglio:

 

 

"Rainbow Lorikeet" by Helen Godden:

 

Lots more, but I need to finish here and get to bed, ready for tomorrow, my last day at the Show, looking at everything I haven't yet seen.