Sunday 31 March 2019

Low volume plus quilt WIP

I'm linking back up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and sharing my progress on my low volume plus block WIP. My goal for this month was to finish at least 20 blocks and I managed to make it just in time.


I'm really enjoying this project, though I still feel a bit uncertain about some of the more darkly coloured background fabrics. My plan is to wait until I've made all of the blocks and see if any prints are still bothering me before I rip them out.


I'm aiming for a 5 x 7 layout so I still need another 15 blocks. Perhaps that will be my goal for April!

Kat

Friday 8 March 2019

March One Monthly Goal

I'm linking up with Elm Steet Quilts One Monthly Goal and sharing my goal for March. This month I hope to make some serious progress on my low volume plus quilt WIP - I'm aiming for at least 20 blocks by the end of the month


One of my quilting goals for 2019 is to be braver with colour so I'm using a bit of colour in my low volume background (I usually stick to neutrals). I'm still not completely comfortable with some of these prints (especially the bigger motifs), but I am planning on making all of the blocks and seeing how to all look together at the end. Hopefully it will be as pretty as this:


I've been building up my collection of colourful low volumes for a while so I am quite excited to be finally using them. The next step involves an epic cutting session.


Kat

Wednesday 6 March 2019

Quilting in the grid

This year my quilting goals involve trying lots of new things. I dedicated 2018 to finishing off lots of WIPs, so this year I'm allowing myself to experiment with new things, such as FMQ designs and sewing with solids.


At the start of the year I signed up for an annual subscription to bluprint because I quite like learning through online classes. The first class I watched was Christina Camelli's grid quilting class. It was awesome and inspired me to try some new FMQ designs.


At first I wasn't sure what to do with the quilted practice panels, but I had a light-bulb moment while looking at furnishings in IKEA and thought I'd turn then into decorative pillows.



The third panel was a bit too small for a pillow so I used it to make a banner to hold my sewing pins. The diamond grid was perfect for creating the shape at the bottom of the banner.


I'm linking up with Q1 of the 2019 Finish-along, as making something with these panels was one of my proposed finishes for this quarter. I look forward to trying some more designs next time I feel inspired to practice my FMQ.

Kat

Wild Goose Chase quilt

I've got another recently quilt finish that I've realised I forgot to share here: my Wild Goose Chase quilt.


I started this quilt almost three years ago, when Keera of Live Love Sew put a call out for pattern testers for her new quilt pattern. I used a F8 bundle of Kate Spain’s Paradiso collection to make some test blocks.

I ended up making about half the blocks I needed for the quilt but ran out of time to make the rest before heading on a long overseas holiday. Instead, I used a few of the blocks to make a baby quilt.

The rest of the blocks have sat in my WIP pile since then, and the project has been regularly featured on my finish-along lists. I am so glad I actually got it done this time.


I was extremely fortunate to be the lucky winner of some long-arm quilting during a quilt along last year and sent the finished top off to Jane of Sew Inn to work her magic. It’s the first quilt that I’ve had professionally quilted and I have to say that I am in love with how smooth and consistent the stitching is. It certainly puts my FMQ to shame.


I think it looks especially pretty on the guest bed. The cushions are another recent finish, but I'll share more about them in the next post.


I'll be linking this one up with the quarter 1 finish-along when the linky opens, as this quilt was on my list of finishes for this quarter.

Kat