Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I finished my Hand Drawn Garden Plus quilt a couple of weeks ago but have been saving its reveal for the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side - one of my favourite online events which happens twice a year.

I am a huge fan of anything Anna Maria Horner and unlike many people I have no problem taking my rotary cutter to my favourite fabrics! So a few weeks ago, I decided to make a simple patchwork quilt from my FQs of her Hand Drawn Garden line.

But when I laid out the 5 1/2" squares it didn't look quite how I had seen it in my head. So I decided to try a plus block layout and liked it. I've made a plus quilt before and don't normally repeat blocks but I broke a personal rule and I'm glad I did.

The plus design isn't always immediately obvious due to the eclectic designs and colours in this line but I quite like that!

After finishing the main panel, I decided to add a border of low volume fabrics in varying sized squares and rectangles. Then I added a second border of 2.5" x 3.5" rectangles of Hand Drawn Garden.

I backed and bound it using fabrics from Anna Maria Horner's True Colors line - so pretty and they work perfectly together. The batting is my favourite -  Dream Orient (a mix of silk, bamboo and cotton), which is beautifully soft and has the perfect drape.

I quilted it in straight lines, vertically and horizontally echoing the squares. This is the largest quilt that I have made, measuring 75" x 85" and will be perfect for snuggling under in the cooler months.

Oh and it seems my hubby is finally becoming more comfortable with quilts these days.  Here's a shot of him walking us back to the car after bundling up the quilt in his arms.  Happy Days!

Quilt Stats
Quilt Size: 75" x 85"
Quilt design - Plus blocks using 5 1/2" squares
Fabrics for Quilt Top - Anna Maria Horner's Hand Drawn Garden and various low volume fabrics
Fabric for quilt back -  Medallion in Aquamarine from Anna Maria Horner's True Colors
Binding Fabric - Sealing Wax in Amethyst from Anna Maria Haorner's True Colors.
Batting: Oriental Dream

Thank you so much to Amy for hosting this fun event. Now to hop over there myself and get me some inspiration!

Like the No.33 bus...

...you can wait ages for friends or family to come visit and then 3 lots come along at the same time.

Hand Drawn Garden Plus flimsy

It's been pretty busy round here lately. As Ferris Bueller would say, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Two weeks ago, fellow Stitch Tease bee mates Di and Helen came to visit, and stayed in our little riad. On their first morning, Zaki and I gave them a basic orientation of the souqs.  Here's Di and Zaki having a chat and putting the world to rights.

And here's my 'How am I going to carry 2 stools home!" face. Thank you Di for your help!

Photo credit - Helen at Runquiltknitwrite

I'll admit it was sometimes difficult to make conversation or share a joke. Not.

Photo credit - Di at Quiltova

 

 

It was great fun to show Helen and Di around - by Day 2 they were old hands...sipping mint tea, negotiating like a local and telling me about places I should go to!

Of course, you can't have 3 quilters in the same room without the obligatory show and tell.  Here are the three of us holding my first Stitch Tease quilt. It was snapped by our guardian while Helen and Di's taxi to the airport waited outside hence it is a little fuzzy.

I hope they'll come back and visit again. It was fun to have them around.

 It was also lovely to catch up with my best friend from high school who came to visit too!

And yesterday my mum left after staying for 2 weeks.   Here she is waiting for her camel burger at Clock Cafe.

...and here's the camel burger. A-MAZING!!

...and here's a snap of me having a cuddle with my boy.

So has there been any sewing going on I hear you cry.  Well yes there has.  

A few weeks ago, I cut up most of the half yard bundle of Anna Maria Horner's Hand Drawn Garden bundle I bought from Jennifer a few months ago.  I cut it in to simple squares as I wanted to make a simple patchwork quilt.  Only this line is very eclectic and I wasn't sure the whole thing was working.  After asking for advice on Instagram and receiving some good stuff, I ignored it and made a plus quilt.

Crazy and eclectic.

I added a 2 1/2 scrappy border of low volume fabrics to frame the craziness and then added a 2" border of more Hand Drawn Garden.

This may not be everyone's cup of Orange Pekoe but it's most definitely mine.  I absolutely love it - it's big, bold and beautiful and I can't wait to baste and quilt it.  I just have to order some backing!

So now it's back down to earth with a bump. Back to work but with the promise that summer hols offically start in 10 weeks - woohoo, oh and a quilt commission too.

More of that next time. Happy Days.

I Shall Tease You No More

As some of you will have gathered, I have been struggling to find a balance between family life, work and blogging these last few months. My new teaching job has taken up much more of my time than I thought it would with lesson planning replacing any sewing and blogging time. I've missed sharing everyone's makes  - the highs and the lows.  Still, I'm hoping that as this semester winds up, things should improve and I resolve to be a better blogger!

Still, I have a finish to share!

Almost 2 years ago, my sweet blogging friend Di invited me and a few other friends to form a new round robin bee.  We picked a theme and over the course of the next year, we secretly made for each other.

I asked for scrappy curves, and my bee mates didn't disappoint.

Di assembled my blocks perfectly and in spring this year I received my gorgeous flimsy - an eclectic, one of a kind quilt top!

I quilted it with alternate 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" diagonal crosshatch straight lines and bound it using a couple (on the basis I never have enough of anything) of different Anna Maria Horner Drawing Room prints.

I wanted a darker binding to frame the blocks, and I think the colours work perfectly. I used a bamboo and cotton batting from my mum's local quilt shop and the backing is Pagoda Hill by Tina Givens. The quilt measures 72" square.

It's such a pretty quilt, and I can't thank my bee mates enough.  It really is one of a kind!

Top Row (left to right):  Di's wonderful Drunkard's path block, Katy's beautiful abstract appliqued blocks and my clamshells.
Middle Row: Susan's gorgeous portholes in her signature bright colours, Helen's amazing Dresden block that reminds me of millefiori every time I look at it, and Di's beautiful lemon and limes block.
Bottom Row: My lozenges using my quick curve ruler, Danny's beautiful appliqued pebbles and Hadley's exquisite New York Beauty!

Thank you my friends - if I'm not checking your blogs....know that I'm thinking of you every time I look at this quilt.

Linking up with Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day.

Blogger's Quilt Festival : Field Study Triangles (Throw Quilt)

If you are visiting from the festival then a huge welcome to this comfy corner of the blogosphere! I am a Brit living with my family in N.Africa and I have been quilting for about 3 years.

A triangle quilt has been floating toward the surface of my bucket list for a while now.  I love colour and dense saturated colour at that! When I was thinking about how I could best show off my beautiful FQs of Anna Maria's Field Study, I plumped for 6" triangles.

So a few weeks ago on a dreary afternoon and completely on a whim, I cut up my treasured 24 FQs in to lots and lots of equilateral triangles.  I didn't use a special ruler - I just used this tutorial.

I then randomly pieced them together. No solids. No negative space. Just a riot of colour and designs in pinks, purples, mustard, orange, greens, blues and brown and not forgetting a little leopard print - the way Anna Maria Horner does best.

Did I mention this is a quilt for me? Oh okay, perhaps I'll let the family have a snuggle!  I know it will be used, loved and appreciated. So I went for something pretty special for the backing; I used a gorgeous Loulouthi voile - so soft and luxurious, which I found for a bargain $6 a yard.  The burnt orange and duck egg blue Coreopsis flowers are beautiful and work perfectly with the front!

I used Dream Orient for the backing - it was the first time I had used it and it is gorgeous - a mix of bamboo, silk, cotton and botanic tencel (a man made fibre from wood pulp apparently) and it gives the most perfect drape and is super soft.

When it came to quilting, I realized I was running low on thread! Living where I do, it's impossible to buy good quality thread locally. Luckily, I didn't want the quilting to be too dense as I wanted to maintain the softness of the quilt. So I reckoned I had just enough of some taupe Gutermann thread to quilt it in vertical lines 1 1/2" apart and then go over every other line with a wavy line.  I did but only just!

I love all things blue at the moment and so bound it in Amy Butler's Folly in zinc from her Cameo line.

A couple of days ago I finished the quilt - just in time for the festival!

It measures 62" x 73" and it's being suspended here by my 5 year old son!

Unusually, it was a dull and miserable day here yesterday but the quilt definitely added some colour!

Thanks as ever to Amy for hosting this fabulous bi-annual event.

Sticking to the Point

...or perhaps I should say - trying not to stitch over more than 300 of them!

Last Thursday, on a whim, I decided to cut in to my precious FQs of Anna Maria Horner's Field Study. Triangles it would be.  There was slashing and slicing and A LOT of triangles and no solids...no sashing.
Today, I finished the top.  It measures 60" x 73"

Some of the points are good. Are they all perfect? No.

Will I lose any sleep over them? No. This one is for me and I won't be checking any points when I'm snuggling underneath it.

There will be a brief hiatus while I order batting and wait for this backing fabric to arrive from Pink Castle - some Loulouthi Coreopsis voile, which will make it soft and very snuggly. Well at $6 a yard it would have been rude not to.

It was fun piecing the triangles but sewing the numerous strips together wasn't so joyous.  Needles lost their lives as did pins.  Thanks to Fiona and Collette for encouraging me not to trim the triangles - it certainly helped matching points much easier.

I love this quilt top and it's fun to have ticked another off the bucket list.

The First Cut is the Deepest

I admit I was feeling a little overwhelmed this morning. You know how you start something and wonder whether you have bitten off more than you can chew?

You see 2 days ago I started something new...well I'd been so good the last few months...finishing up a few UFOs.  I'd been itching to cut in to my Field Study FQs for some weeks but couldn't decide what to do. I wanted the quilt to be dense with the patterns and little or no solids.  I had almost made my mind up to do a simple square patchwork quilt but an equilateral triangle quilt had been floating near the top of my bucket list for a while and I couldn't get the idea out of my head.

I took my 24 FQs of Field Study and cut it in to 6" strips so that I could get the max out of each piece. After quite a while working out exactly which was the 60° angle on my ruler, I cut...and cut...and really got my equilateral triangle vibe on until I had this 4 1/2" high pile of triangles. I followed Adrianne's excellent tutorial for cutting equilateral triangles here.

So this morning I followed Adrianne's advice and started trimming them - this really helps to avoid bulk when sewing them together...and I can pretend I have a Sizzix Big Shot (other fabric cutters are available).

...and made a slight dent in the pile until I had these pretties. As you can see, I have quite a few more to do.

So I couldn't resist making up a few strips to see whether they would look as I envisioned them together...

...and much to my relief they do! I used Adrianne's second tutorial here. They sew together really easily and while I didn't pin, I did follow her tip to find the straight grain before doing so as the strips don't then warp.

I'm feeling much less overwhelmed now.  I know I can sew them together and I love how they look. I'm excited about this quilt!

Any Suggestions?

After the euphoria of finishing a quilt so early in the new year, my mind turned to starting something new.  Perhaps using these...

...my 24 FQs of Anna Maria Horner's Field Study.  I bought one of the colourways in the sale from Pink Castle (I think) just before Christmas and my mum bought me another colourway for Christmas. I love AMH's designs and saturated colours and these fabrics make me very very happy.

Perhaps you can help with what to do with them and what solid would work well with them...if I was indeed to use a solid.  I like the idea of just letting the fabric sing, so perhaps simple squares or strips, clamshells or a plus quilt or a swoon...I have had the pattern for ages but done nothing with it? If I do use a solid, it won't be white. So what do you think?

Since returning to Morocco, I have been working on my bee blocks and I still have a few to do.

This month,  Nicole in the Sew Euro Bee An bee asked for 2 X and Plus blocks using grey and black fabrics with an accent colour - red in one...

...and orange in the other

In the mystery round robin bee, Stitch Tease, Hadley asked for a 10"x 60" strip of rectangles and squares in aqua, green, teal, orange and grey with some white for the eye to rest on.  I can only show you a pixelated version as these quilts won't be revealed until April. That's 6 strips down, just 2 to go!

Now the next bee block is very embarrasing.  The EEEEP EPP Bee, an English paper piecing bee, is a very relaxed bee (perhaps too relaxed) with a 2 month trunaround for blocks and back in September Helen requested 2 HST blocks which turned out to be cursed as far as I was concerned.  First, Helen's templates and Kona snow got lost in the post and having no Kona snow I ordered some. Then I was half way through the block and spilled coffe over it. Then there was Christmas and so finally I got to make the first block again (no coffee this time) and it's too big and I'm running out of Kona snow! Gah.

Thank you to Helen who has been so incredibly patient. So next up is trying this block again and trying to get it the right size!