Number 8

Many of my quilts have a gestation period of a walrus (15 months)...very occasionally they have less than that of an opossum (12 - 13 days). Ta-dah, the uneven coins quilt is done - the 24 hour quilt!

Yesterday morning at about 10 AM, I thought I really should get on with making a quilt for my new nephew. He was born a couple of weeks ago. However, there hadn't been a rush as my husband's brother and his wife live right on the other side of the country.  Still, my husband would be going to see them later in the month and I wanted to send something with him.

The colours I chose for the quilt top were inspired by the backing I was going to use - this lovely blue Valori Wells' flannel owl fabric, which was part of my SMS winnings from sweet Rebecca. It gets really cold in Morocco during the winter nights and this has the perfect snuggle factor.

So I pulled some  yellowy green and blue FQs and added in the Chicopee plaid to balance out the black/grey of the Silent Cinema print.  Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that this is not a palette I use often (despite blue and green being my favourite colours). As to the pattern I was going to use, a coins quilt has been on 'the list' for ever and so I set to. By lunchtime I had a quilt top..a small one, but a quilt top nonetheless.

I had some leftover Orient Dream batting from my Field Study triangles quilt, which also adds to the softness and drape of this baby quilt. I quilted it 'lite' by doing some horizontal straight lines either side of the seams.

For the binding I used some blue Caravan fabric from Jenean Morrison's new line Beechwood Park (which I have and miserably failed to show you in my recent happy mail post). I wanted to bring out the blues in the quilt and I think it is perfect.

I am still a little hesitant about the Chicopee plaid but I think I tilt towards it working - it looks modern and adds a touch of manliness. This is probably the smallest quilt I have made - it measures 34" x 34" so will be perfect for kicking about on over the next few months and will make a nice blanket for the next couple of years.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

* GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED*

It's May 6 and that can only mean one thing - Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day! If this is your first visit or your ...nth visit, then welcome.

So that you get a quick flavour of what I make, here are some of my latest favourite makes!

I won't keep you as I know you're anxious to see what other wonderful goodies are on offer!

I am giving away this Chicopee and low volume fabric Modern Blockade cushion/pillow cover (pillow form not included), which features in the latest issue of ezine Fat Quarterly! It will easily fit a 20" x 20" pillow form.  The front of the pillow is the Blockade block surrounded by flying geese in Chicopee and low volume fabrics. The back is a simple envelope closure in Chicopee.

To be in with a chance of winning, here's how:

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favourite quilting magazine is.

2. Followers get an extra entry - you can follow me through Google Friends Connect or Bloglovin'.

I shall ship internationally. The giveway is open until May 10 at 5PM PST. 

Modern? Modernitional? Tramodernal?

Do you consider yourself a modern quilter, a traditional quilter or a bit of both? This seems to be a hot topic at the moment. If you're the latter like me then I like to refer to us as tramodernal.  At the start of my quilting journey I definitely wanted to think of myself as a modern quilter but as time has gone on I have become increasingly inspired by more traditional blocks.

I'm excited to share with you a project I worked on last month. Back in January, the Fat Quarterly team put a call out for people to take part in the next edition's designer challenge - to use a traditional block and make it modern.  I've always loved the Blockade block - a Civil War block, ever since I made this one.  It remains to this day an orphan and this is a reminder that I need to do something with it!

For the challenge I decided to make a cushion using some Chicopee and low volume fabrics. As I had a huge 22" cushion insert, I decided to go bigger and influenced by all the gorgeous medallion quilts being made, I added a clockwise 'circle' of flying geese - another traditional block which I only made for the first time this year.

Who would have thought Chicopee fitted in so well with our Moroccan floor tiles?

Issue 13 of Fat Quarterly is out now and it's full of seriously gorgeous tramodernal projects - and you can see how I made my cushion. So go have a look - you might be inspired!

Linking up with the Let's Get Aquainted Link-Up, which this week is being hosted by Kirsten.