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.

Reasons to be Cheerful...Part 3

*There's still time to enter the SMS giveaway here*

Welcome to my new followers! I'm so happy you clicked one of the buttons and hope you'll like what you see and stick around.

Perhaps I got out of bed the wrong side this morning but ask my husband, my mum or my newly turned 5 year old son and they'll all tell you I've been in a bit of a funk today. There were reasons but I won't bore you with them!

After having a whinge of mammoth proportions to anyone who would listen, I turned the aircon on and basted my Field Study triangles quilt. The backing arrived last night and I love it! It was silly price Loulouthi voile which I bought in a recent Pink Castle sale and it is super soft, silky and just well lovely and far prettier in real life. Now I just have to decide how to quilt it - straight line echoing I imagine!

Then as if the universe knew I needed cheering up, I found my copy of Hand Quilted with Love by Sarah Fielke lying next to the gate having been thrown over it by the postie. A quick flick through and my eyes widened on seeing this quilt. This was one of two quilts that Sarah was making for a very special person and her daughter, and I contributed blocks! You can read about it and see my blocks here.

My mum also sent me this picture of her presenting the Patchwork Wheel quilt made by the members of the Care Circle, do.Good Stitches to the local representative of  Project Linus UK. It made me smile to see it finally going on its journey to a new home.

Lastly, if that wasn't enough reason to get out of my funk I only have to look at this little one who turned 5 on Tuesday and I smile.

Whinge over.Thank you for listening. Off to look at my new book!

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.

Move Over Fabric Basket...

...there`s a new goodie in town.  It`s the fabric envelope.  Look - the passports are all ready for our trip `home` next month.

I used a couple of my Pernilla`s Journey FQs and this tutorial to make a fabric envelope.  It is super easy and you can run one up quicker than it would take to eat 3 Jacob`s Crackers without drinking water.

Much much quicker. 

I wish I had thought of a fabric envelope when I was sending my scraps in The Scrappy Swap 2011 (my poor partner still hasn`t received her scraps despite them being sent over 3 weeks ago but they were in an envelope - albeit not as pretty). I am assured by the swap mama that the country she lives in is renowned for its slow mail.  But doesn`t every country have slow mail?

Happy with a pleasing result for little effort (yes, I`m a lazy good for nothin` wotzit), I made another using Loulouthi this time.

When I made the second one, I made the flap slightly deeper and it seems to sit better when closed.  If I was to use this as a passport holder, it would certainly need a fastening but that would be easy enough.

I actually popped over to In Color Order to look at the tutorial for this drawstring bag after seeing a gorgeous version here.  That could be the next little project.  Seen any good tutorials recently?

*thank you for all your lovely get well wishes yesterday - they seem to be working as I`m feeling a lot better.  I may even get back to the gym tomorrow before my fitness buddie gives up on me completely!

The Good News or The Bad News?

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

When asked this question, I always plump for the bad news.  Better to get it over and done with.

My Across the Sea quilt (ATSQ) is basted and I`ve started quilting it.  No, no - that`s not the bad news. I went for wavy lines as I thought straight lines might be a little harsh and I don`t have the FMQ foot here as the shop forgot to send it to me with the new machine.  Well this morning I thought the  ATSQ would be my favourite quilt.  I was so happy with it.  However, I`ve given up with it for today.  It`s lying in a dishevelled heap. My wavy lines make it look like some cheap quilt you would find at the local market.  The lines are about 3 inches apart.  Perhaps I need to go denser. 

And the good news?  Well the good news is that I received some goodies in the post. Yes, our postman is back!

First off is this lovely fabric I had ordered and forgotten about.

Loulouthi FQ bundle in the Eleni colourway by Anna Maria Horner.

Prince Charming FQ bundle by Tula Pink in the coral colourway.

But that`s not all. I received my first mug rug and goodies of The Goodie Swap 2011 from lovely Judith in Northern Ireland.

Judith had gone to so much trouble, taking into account favourite colours and incorporating Moroccan inspired shapes in the mug rug, which is so beautifully made.  There`s also a handmade silk brooch with silk from Cambodia and the most amazing camera pin, which Judith asked her daughter to make - knowing I love photography.  I love it - it`s so beautifully made and the detail is incredible!

Oh and what do you think Zaki has his eye on?  Yes, the Gummy Bugs..which Judith sent especially for him and which went down a treat.  Thank you so much Judith!

If a miracle happens, I`ll post a photo of my ATSQ tomorrow and if not I`ll cry.  

Don`t forget to check back tomorrow night for the winner of the Intrepid Thread sponsored giveaway!