comfortstitching

shells

Yesterday I got on with pin basting my Skip quilt.

I haven't free motion quilted a quilt for a long time now.  I keep meaning to try some different quilting designs and even bought Angela Walters'  Free Motion Quilting book last year to give me some idea's.  But every time I get to the quilting stage I chicken out of trying something new and go for easy styles that I go to time and time again.  And there's nothing wrong with that except I really really want to try branch out and get quilting more creatively. So that is how I came to quilting this one in Clamshells, using an idea from Angela's book.  

And despite feeling a little anxious I am really REALLY enjoying it.

I love how doodle-y they look, they fit perfectly with the playful nature of this quilt.  I am already three quarters done and can't wait to show you the finished quilt!

skip

This is the other quilt I have been busy working on.  I wanted to make something that was quick and easy to put together but had a wonky playful feel.  It took me a few hours to sew up the blocks which included cutting out all the 10" squares so it would be a lot faster if you used a layer cake, you could easy make the top in a day or so.  This is a perfect beginner friendly pattern and also good for emergency baby quilts that dont look like a run of the mill job but don't take long to put together either.

I am dying to make it up in Hello Petal but the digital preview below will have to do for now.  December please hurry up and get here now...

xxx

Meow quilt

This quilt started in my head several months back when I started to think about quilts I could make in my forthcoming line Hello Petal (especially with those Kitty Cat prints).  Once I got the idea of using the sillouhette of a cat face as the basis for a quilt block I couldn't wait to put one together.  I had never seen another cat quilt block but I am certain that many have been sewn over the years because cats and quilts go together like tea and sugar.

I made a few practise blocks, wrote up the pattern and lots of work deadlines got in the way until finally last week I was able to sew up the blocks.

As I don't have any Hello Petal fabric just yet I decided to make this quilt top from a mix of some of my other lines.  Mostly Sherbet Pips, Little Apples and Posy.  It's been fun to see how these lines combine with each other.

These blocks are simple to put together.  They involve only the most straight forward piecing, no tricky templates or paper piecing.  Their big size means they come together quickly and they are ideal for using even large scale prints.

The pattern is now on sale in my shop and is an instant download PDF so you can buy, download and start sewing straight away.

Moda are also selling printed copies of the pattern wholesale alongside the Hello Petal line in July.  So if you are a store interested in carrying the paper pattern, be sure to order from your Moda rep.

If you'd like to see how the quilt would look made up in Hello Petal the cover image below gives you an idea.  I will definitely be making another in December!

 

 

trip is over

My scrappy trips around the world quilt is finally finished.  I am totally smitten with it, I loved making it and I'm going to love dragging it around with me from room to room like some kind of magical magnificent lucky charm because that is what it is - my technicolour dream quilt.

All those pretty little squares make my heart race and normally this kind of quilt would be too tedious for me to consider but the tutorial I used make it, made it fun to put together.  I highly recommend it.  There is also a Flickr group here which is handy if you plan on making one.

Finished stats: 72" x 72" (36 of the 12" square blocks)

Fabrics include lots of my Posy line for Moda as well as some Sew Stitchy and some Sherbet Pips.  Lots of Denyse Schmidt and a bit of Lizzy House as well as some Mono Pez by American Jane.  The deer print is an old line by Lecien.

Backing is Meadow in lilac from Posy, binding is Stripe in hollyhock from Posy.  I quilted it in a herringbone/chevron pattern.

One last thing - About quilt hanging for photography.  I always find the photography part quite challenging, the weather in the UK is tempremental to say the least.  I thought I might have found the ideal solution in this Deka hanging wire I bought from Ikea (see pics above).  It's not proving as robust as I thought, it really is made for hanging light curtains so the product itself is not to blame.  We tried a number of wall fixings including anchor screws and butterfly/toggle fixings (we have plasterboard walls).  And while it is still hanging in place, I don't think it will last which is a shame because it made photographing this quilt a breeze.  I'd love to know what hanging devices any of you who photograph large quilts use for indoor photography?  I'm thinking I may have to resort to an actual curtain pole, I'd love to know if any of you use one already? or if you have any thoughts on this?

Scrappy trips quilt

My Scrappy Trips Around The World quilt top is done.  I might rename it the speedy trip around the world because I started out last Thursday evening cutting the strips and sewed the last row on to the top yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

I made 36 blocks which makes a 72" square quilt.  There's something like 2000 odd 2 1/2" squares but it's all strip pieced using this genius tutorial which makes it one of the most enjoyable quilts you can make.  My twelve year old daughter has already cut out 6 strips so she can try a block for herself (she's making it in school for her textiles class).

I knew I had to make this quilt after I looked up the tutorial one night right before bed and dreamt that I cut out all my strips and started piecing my blocks.  Disappointed as I was when I woke up I decided that I HAD to make it in real life. 

 

It's been quite a trip but I'm sure this wont be the last scrappy trip I make ;)

then this happened..

I usually try to avoid starting a new quilt at 9.30 pm on the 3rd of January but as soon as Megan started showing off her Scrappy Trips quilt in progress at the end of last year I fell hopelessly in love and all future resistance was tragically futile.

Today, I laid out all 36 of my finished blocks and started planning my layout.  I can honestly say in my 4 year long quilting experience, that I have never enjoyed making a quilt quite as much as this one.  It's so misleading looking as all those squares because this quilt is strip pieced using a very clever shortcut technique that had me oohing and ahhing everytime I pieced a new block.  Even my girls were intrigued, transfixed even with how 'magic' the method was.  If you fancy making one yourself the tutorial can be found here.  There's also a flickr group here

There's a good deal of my new line 'Posy' in there (did you see that precuts are now on sale?) along with some 'Sew Stitchy' and lots of others. I'm hoping to get this one stitched up (and maybe quilted??) by next week.

We'll see.

the frosty quilt

May I present to you in all it's starry eyed glory, the finished Frosty Quilt.  

This one just made itself, all I had to do was be present and hold the fabrics together whilst the machine sewed them up for me (like magic).  It's called the frosty quilt on account of the colour scheme, mainly blues and greens with a few unexpected burgundies/browns and blacks.

There's a good old mix of my fabrics (Sherbet Pips, Cherry Christmas, Sew Stitchy and a couple of the minty green prints from the forthcoming Posy line) plus a good spoonful of Pez, a couple of bella solids - Robin's Egg and Misty and a sprinkling of other prints.

You can find the tutorial I used to make the blocks here.

I quilted in a chevron pattern, binding is Jolly Holly in Noel from Cherry Christmas.

Backing is Little Robins in Aqua also from Cherry Christmas.

This is going to be my last post for the year, I need to take a break from the internet and spend some long overdue time off with my family.  I expect to be back, recharged and ready early next year.

Until then, please do enjoy yourselves a lovely, crafty and relaxed Christmas with the ones you love.

All the very best until 2013 

Love, aneela xx

 

blocking

Remember those quilt blocks from last week?  The ones that I began by thinking I would make a pillow?  Only I couldn't stop until I found myself with 36 of them, just enough to make a winter lap quilt :)

I can only blame my actions on the dip in temperature these last few days.  Something about cold air makes making another quilt seem like the only sensible thing to do.

Furniture is moved to make basting space.

Scraps of batting are frankensteined together to make a piece big enough to sandwich the layers together.

The pins are brought out and I crawl around on the floor just long enough to secure everything together (and not a moment more).

And finally the quilting can begin.  

Hopefully I'll have finished pics by next week.

starring

On Monday, I decided I really wanted to make a new winter-y quilt.  I don't have time to make a quilt, so I thought I could control myself, stick to making four quilt blocks and make them into a pillow instead.

That's how it started in my head, anyway.  Somehow I managed to make 6 blocks by accident and then mistakenly cut out more squares when I wasn't looking and now it looks as if this quilt is making me make it whether I own the feasible quilt making hours or not.

So I guess it seems this quilt is going ahead.  (It would be kind of nice to have a little company if anyone's interested.  I'm using this tutorial and these are fun blocks to make).

a bedroom in dresden

Thank you so much for all of your support both in the comments and by email to my last post :) and a big thank you too to my first sponsors now snuggled up right there on the top right.  Things are feeling a little lighter now and I have you all to thank for that.

For today's post we are returning to a favourite quilt block destination of mine -

The dresden plate.  I will never tire of playing around with those petals or blades or whatever you like to call them.  I made these projects just over a year ago for a book submission and despite having got them back about a month ago, they have been sitting around all folded up on my nice little quilt shelf, waiting (and waiting).

But no more.

This little number has been placed lovingly onto the bedside table of my daughters - it'll no doubt soon be smothered in hair bobbles and lip balm (so this might one day be a 'before' photo).

And this is the 'sister' to the table cover - a quilted floor rug  (which also makes a mighty fine wall hanging or baby quilt).

Here are my feet, testing out the performance quality of that rug-ability for my daughters. 

Let's just hope they notice the home dec updates when they got home.

The patterns for both these projects are available in the new Moda Bakeshop Book - Sweet Celebrations (along with a boatload of other good stuff it has to be said)

If you live in the UK, you can buy a signed by me copy here.

And if you happen to be in the US - look no further than right here.