Modern Waves (Storm) – a Finish!

I’ve had this quilt up my sleeve to show you for a little while now. I made this for my brother who’s a keen obsessed sailor so when I was picking a colour scheme I decided to go with a stormy sea theme. I’m guessing but I think the colours are silver, slate, dark blue, indigo and charcoal.

I love the simple graphic nature of this design by Initial K Studio and we all love this quilt – my brother, my niece and me. Luckily, I can make one for myself as well and I’m definitely going to! I have fabric pull possibilities lying around the house as I tap this out and it’s just a matter of slotting it somewhere on the to-do queue.

It’s a really simple quilt to make, suitable for a beginner, and the instructions are really well written and set out. The pattern is available here.

The quilt finishes at 60 by 72 inches and is straight line quilted 1 inch apart.

Happy sewing

Sue

Linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Curated Quilts: Flapping of Butterfly Wings (a finish)

Improv is not really my thing so when the latest Curated Quilts Mini Challenge was announced I thought I was going to sit it out. The theme is ‘Connections’ and like a dog with a bone I kept trying to brain storm ideas. Eventually I came up with this idea: in chaos theory small events can make big differences in outcomes and a common analogy is the connection between the flapping of a butterfly’s wings and the occurrence of a tornado.

That off centre section in the navy background is my attempt at a cyclone/ hurricane/ typhoon symbol. 

Note, also, that like a real meteorological map my quilted spirals are closer and more organic around the cyclone symbol? That wasn’t exactly intentional but more a product of the difficulty of quilting a tight circle. It gets better as it goes further out and the circles are larger.

The challenge colours are yellow, mustard yellow, navy, cream, grey and moss green. I made a moss green butterfly as well but I couldn’t fit it back into the mini within the size limitations I set myself. Finished size is 10 ¾ inch square.

I’m trying to keep track of the issue with Blogger and comment notification but so far there has been no fix and time marches on. They say they are working on it but in the meantime I won’t be able to reply – my apologies, it’s one of the best parts of blogging.

Happy sewing

Sue

Linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Regatta Cushion – a finish (with faux binding)!

It’s taken me a ridiculously long while, but I have finally finished my Regatta Quilt Along project – this cushion.

I wrote about it when I finished the top back in early February. The QAL is being held by Roseanne over at Home Sewn By Us. This is a Quilt Along with a start date but no set finish, so you can pick it up whenever you like throughout the year. I decided on a seaside inspired cushion, so I downsized the pattern by making the strips only 1 inch wide finished and reducing the number. I love the stripe variation this pattern gives. The free pattern is by Block M Quilts and is available here. You can see a number of different versions on Instagram here (you don’t need to sign up to see them).

I took these photos on a bit of a dull day (finally some much needed rain) so I wasn’t sure if the lighting was going to be okay in them. As it turned out they were all fine so now I have a lot of photos of a cushion in various spots around my house, that probably definitely look extremely similar.

Except this one. I made an envelope backing (my favourite method) and used a faux binding. In this shot you can see the seam where the front and back meet.

And you can see in the others that I added a border around the central block after quilting and before trimming (yes, there is batting in there and you could definitely quilt it if you wanted to). I made the border size wider than I would ordinarily end up with if I was binding it, from memory I think it is ½ inch finished. The backing is sewn right sides together to the front section and then turned right sides out before stitching in the ditch.

Finished size is to fit a 16-inch square insert.

Happy sewing

Sue

I think this qualifies for UFO busting with Tish

Also linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Modern Plus Signs book hop ++ Celestial ++

Hello and welcome to my stop on the Modern Plus Signs book hop. I’m Sue and I live in Perth, Western Australia. You’ll see no snow covered landscapes here, since we are just heading into autumn J.

I first met Paige (QuiltedBlooms) and Cheryl (Meadow Mist Quilt Designs) through the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Hop, although I was already a keen follower of their blogs, and I was thrilled to be offered the chance to participate in this book hop.

This quilt is Celestial. I love the way it looks on a bed with its random minimal smattering of plusses.

In the version in the book which  graces the cover as well, this quilt is made using a dark blue background and print plusses. I really like the use of prints.

Mine was made using Moda Bella solid 'Etchings Stone' for the background and a variety of other solids from my stash for the plusses.

I’ve used 9 blocks to make a 72” square version and quilted it with a simple grid two inches apart. 

It gives great texture and it made sense to use the seam lines as a quilting guide.

The book is a must-have if you are a fan of the plus block. Patterns range from modern and minimalist through to a more modern traditional look and techniques include pieced, foundation paper-pieced and applique. You are sure to find more than one quilt to put on your to-do list, I certainly have. 

The book is divided into sections according to project size and one feature that I really like is the thumbnail photos on the contents page. It makes it so much easier to find which project you’re looking for.

I came across an old, short, timber A-frame ladder in a second-hand shop a few weeks ago and, in my pursuit of the better quilt photo shoot, bought it. I’ve dragged my very on-trend mother-in-law’s tongue plant inside too. 

The book on the side table with the suffering and bedraggled maidenhair fern is Home Comforts – a book written by someone whose hobby is housework (a hilarious thought!). It makes a good prop. Buy Modern Plus Signs instead you'll be glad you did! 

Signed copies of Modern Plus Sign Quilts can be purchased at here:

Meadow Mist Design  Etsy Shop

Quilted Blooms  Etsy Shop

And digital and print versions from

Modern Plus Sign Quilts (Amazon)

Modern Plus Sign Quilts (C&T Publishing)

Thanks for visiting and make sure you check out the other stops for a look at different versions of all 16 patterns in the book. 

Here's the complete Modern Plus Sign Quilts Blog Hop schedule:

Monday, March 12th 
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Tuesday, March 13th
Soma @ Whims and Fancies
Ann @ Brown Paws Quilting
Kitty @ Night Quilter
Sophie @ Luna Lovequilts
Afton @ Quilting Mod
Shelly @ The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts

Wednesday, March 14th
Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal
Jen @ A Dream and a Stitch
Abigail @ Cut & Alter
Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl
Sandra @ mmm! Quilts
Karen @ Run Sew Fun

Thursday, March 15th
Linda @ Flourishing Palms
Bernie @ Needle and Foot
Liz @ Savor Every Stitch
Stacey @ Stacey Day Quilts
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
Melanie @ A Bit of Scrap Stuff Blog

Thursday, March 15th
Linda @ Flourishing Palms
Bernie @ Needle and Foot
Liz @ Savor Every Stitch
Stacey @ Stacey Day Quilts
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
Melanie @ A Bit of Scrap Stuff Blog

Friday, March 16th
Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts
Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts
Ruth @ Charly and Ben's Crafty Corner
Christa @ Christa Quilts

Monday, March 19th
Jessica @ Quilty Habit
Cindy @ Hyacinth Quilt Designs
Jennifer @ The Inquiring Quilter
Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

Tuesday, March 20th
Tish @ Tish N Wonderland
Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
Emily @ TheDarling Dogwood
Wanda @ Wanda's LifeSampler
Karen @ Tu-NaQuilts, Travels, and Eats
Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, March 21st
Anja @ Anja Quilts
Kate @ Smiles from Kate
Sue @ Sevenoaks Street Quilts -MEEEEEE!!!
Carole @ From my Carolina Home
Alison @ LittleBunny Quilts

Thursday, March 22nd
Debbie @ Esch House Quilts
Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts
Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts
Janice @ Color Creating and Quilting
Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne

Friday, March 23rd
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Sue

Linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Curated Quilts Minimalist Challenge (a finish)

Hello and Happy New Year!

I had a marvelous break that felt much longer than it actually was and I’m back feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges of 2018.

When I was thinking about maybe setting some goals for 2018 one of the things I thought I’d like to have a go at is the Curated Quilts mini challenges. I also have a long list of quilt tops to be finished. I want to improve my fabric selection in my blocks and I’m doing a bit of Pinterest study to that end J. Also use my stash – I have a Pavlovian response to the words ‘fabric sale’ and I might have gone a touch nuts at Thanksgiving. This is half of what I bought. On the up side I love it all so that’s a bonus.

I decided that I need to make 10 quilt tops before I’m allowed to buy any more fabric and that lasted till yesterday when the local fabric shop had 50% off.

Anyway enough blathering, the latest CuratedQuilts Mini Challenge was announced just before Christmas giving me a little extra time to play about and ta da this is what I can show for it.

While the other entries I’ve seen have used more of the available colours for their challenges I’ve chosen to go with black and pale grey. I have no excuse for this since I had all the colours in my stash.

I was sure I was going to mess this up somewhere and it came pretty close size-wise since it finishes smack on the minimum at 10 inches square. Next time I’ll start bigger and trim.

The little strips are ¼ inch wide so I paper pieced that section and matchstick quilted it in random widths. One resolution ticked off already!

Happy sewing

Sue

Linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needleand Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at TheInquiring Quilter

Just a Little Improv

I’ve had a little experience in improv piecing with a couple of the bee blocks I’ve made but a full project? No. So I decided it was about time I had more of a go and what better project to take a foray into this technique with than a mug rug or two.

According to improv tutorials I read a common mistake is forgetting about the seam allowance and making the blocks smaller than you wanted. I made that one, and the whole mug rug could have been a little more generous in size if you ask me, but it still works and I’m using it *slurp* so it’s practical. They finish at around 4 inches by 6.

I’m a fan of Cindy Grisdela’s work so these pieces channel her influence and I quilted them in a fairly dense crosshatch with dark green thread.

After that experience I’m still keen to do more but it doesn’t really suit my control-freak-must-work-with-plan personality so the projects will likely stay small for a while.

What about you? Have you tried improv and what are your tips?

Till next time, enjoy your sewing

Sue

Linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Garden Snails Mini Quilts

Remember all the Garden Snail Quilt blocks I was making at the beginning of the year? This is what became of them.

I turned them into mini quilts and then I turned these two into a cover for the fan in my sewing room. It gets very very dusty here in summer and I’m not that keen on cleaning in hot weather so a cover is a necessity. I took the photos before they were sewn together (and so no binding) because I wasn’t sure how the project would turn out. Just as well. It’s functional but not highly photogenic.

The quilting for these was done in a diagonal cross hatch that I really liked.

Along with those I made these two minis for my international Pay it Forward Craft recipients. I quilted these in an experimental random criss cross way that I regretted pretty much immediately. You win some, you lose some *sigh*.

I enjoyed making these blocks… Or wait, did I? I remember complaining about them at the time but I think, looking back, with some other more time consuming blocks under my belt since, that they weren’t too bad. I had a few deadlines at the time and that didn’t help my attitude. I think I would possibly even make them again.

They certainly give great opportunities to pick a favourite fabric or two to showcase and the block pattern has an option to paper piece the shell using different fabrics. Now that sounds like a great scrap buster but could be a tad time consuming for a working girl.

The pattern is by Pen and Paper patterns and is available here.

Linking up to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Pantone Quilt Challenge 2017 Finished!

This is my entry into this year’s Pantone Quilt Challenge. Finishing up at 30 ½ inches square, it squeaks into the Quilt category.

The herringbone design has been on my wish list and all over my Pinterest boards for several years and finally I can tick it off as done.

This is made with most of a Kona Woodland charm pack and some yardage of Kona Limelight (I think) and white from my stash.

I was originally thinking of keeping the quilting to a simple outline of the shapes but decided to go denser and I’m glad I did because it gives it great texture.

Linking up to the Pantone Quilt Challenge, Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Rainbow Rose Mini – A Finish!

I missed the Rainbow Rose Quilt Along held by the Irish Modern Quilt Guild in the middle of last year but I loved all the versions that I saw. When I had to make gifts as part of Pay It Forward Craft I decided to put a mini version together for my off-line local recipient, Michelle.

This quilt measures 25 inches square and is quilted using a straight stitch. I really like the way it turned out. It was a hard one to give away, but aren’t they all!

I took it out for a lunch time photo shoot in a spot with dappled shade.

The wind blew, the shade shifted

So I took it home for another go. This time it was late afternoon and the colours seem a lot duller.

In the end I stood behind a bush, took a styled shot and gave it up.

Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday with Hilary at Young Texan Mama, Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter and Finish up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Jen and Jan’s Mini QAL

Hello and welcome to my stop on Jen and Jan’s Mini hop! There’s a lot of other places to get to (links at the bottom of the post) so I’ll go photo heavy and text light for this post.

I decided to make my version as a charity quilt so went with pastel colours and added a border to make it bigger.

And I added a cute chook print on the back.

This pattern (designed by Jen and available here for FREE!!!!) was simple and easy to use – that of course didn’t stop me from making mistakes and I had an unfortunate skewing event when I quilted my mini block hanging on the line, due, I think, to having my dual feed foot on the wrong setting. Can I pretend it was supposed to be wonky?

The little bear starring in these photos was knitted by my Mum many years ago J

Here’s the links to the rest of the participants. Prizes are available for commenters on Jen and Janice’s blogs- head there to win!

March 10 Reveal Day

Jen Rosin  A Dream and a Stitch

Kate Heads at Smiles From Kate

Jennifer Fulton at Inquiring Quilter
Karen Thurn at Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats

Melva Nolan at Melva Loves Scraps

Vicki at Vicki's Crafts & Quilting

Julie Stocker at Pink Doxies

Anja Clyke at Anja Quilts

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts

Jayne at Twiggy & Opal

Susan Arnold at Quilt Fabrication

Leanne Milsom at Lizzie the Quilter

Sandra Walker at Mmm! Quilts!

March 11 Reveal Day

Janice Holton at Color Creating & Quilting

Sola at Alice Samuels Quilt Co

Jennifer Strauser at Dizzy Quilter

Amy Gerlich at Amy Scrap Spot

Sharon Denney Parcel at Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Tami at Sew Much for Free Time

Suzy Webster at Adventurous Applique & Quilting

Tish Stemple at Tish's Adventures in Wonderland

Mary Marcotte at Fleur de Lis Quilts & Accessories

Susan Gordon at Sevenoaks Street Quilts (you are here!)

Anne Boundy at Said With Love

Barbara Wootie at The Flashing Scissors

Jan Welander at Making Scraps