economy block reveal

 Yay a quilt reveal!

This is my economyblock quilt.

There are many others like it,

but this one is mine....

..more details below.

  

 I began making this quilt to join in with the whole economyblock along,

having failed to join in with the trip around the world quilt along.

I thought it would be a good way to eat up my scraps,

so this quilt give or take a few sweet fabrics

is entirely made from old fabrics or remnants.

I really wasn't too fussed on fabric selections,

I just made sure I chose ones with a good tonal balance.

I was loving it so much that I decided to make it Kingsize for our bed.

Throwing the rule book out really opened my mind

and made the whole process such fun.

In my head I could see black quilting,

so that's what I went for.

I hand quilted using a perle 8 cotton,

I was a little worried about how the stitches would look

on the vintage sheet backing,

but when they are 'en masse' they don't seem so harsh,

still horribly uneven, but I'm living with that.

Each block measures 7.5 inches

and there are 90 in total!!

I went with a solid binding in Ron burgundy,

so as not to compete

but also it's what I had.

I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 wadding

which makes quite a light quilt.

and finally...

I've named this quilt Pearl Jam

after my favourite band.

I finally got to see them live this year after twenty years.

I hope this quilt keeps bringing back the memories of 

the best gig ever and to celebrate a wonderful year x

ps. thanks to my fabric donators,

you know who you are xx

done quilting

 I know its hard to believe because I only just told you how I was quilting my economy block quilt,

but I have finished hand quilting already.

My first idea for binding was a solid red..

however I remembered this fabric my Mum gave me.

Its a dark burgundy which I think could actually work,

with the interests of using what I already have 

I shouldn't hesitate should I?

I think red may actually be to brash for this already busy quilt.

Plus I don't have any red

so I could getting binding today

couldn't I??

ps. I have mentioned before, I am now on instagram.

If you don't have the ability to join in

you can still see my feed here

there are lots of progress pics 

go take a look x

the dark side of quilting

Lately I've been tackling the economy block.

I went with my first plan to quilt with black.

Im a little unsure as always

Dont the stitches look like marching ants?

 Phew... Still a long way to go, but I'm enjoying 

courting the darkside x

wordless wednesday

Basting time!

economy 'block' drive

  Randomness

 that's what I love about vintage quilts.

With this economy block quilt top

I tried my best not to be too choosy,

selecting fabrics for their tonal values

rather than colour.

 I must remember that this quilt is made mainly from scraps.

I could spend forever switching blocks around

and still not be happy....

it is what it is.

 I think 2014 is the year to sew from the stash...

don't get me wrong I LOVE fabric

just not keen on wasting funds on new fabrics when it's not necessary....

Thank goodness then

that I bought a stack of Liberty squares 

before my economy drive...

 I am allowing myself a little prettiness to play with this year!

ps. taking pictures in gale force wind is fun
hehe xx

the economy is growing!

I am getting to grips with the economy beast.

After hearing nightmare stories 

I was worried about how this part would work out...if at all.

Fortunately for me inaccuracy is my default when machine sewing.

I say fortunately because I already know 

this wont be perfection

and as my Mum said last year something

about the importance of being average,

on the whole my inaccuracies are spread averagely throughout this quilt.

Therefore with some fudge allowance (mmm fudge)

I am managing to sew pretty much carefree.

(by this I mean the points don't meet perfectly)

My lack of machining perfection is out weighed surely by my enthusiasm?

 ps. Accuracy is the real reason why I prefer English paper piecing.

pps. Please tell me I am not the only one who shouts 'NO!!!' out loud at their machine?

ppps. I used Crazy Mom Quilts measurements,

which makes the block 8.5 inches approx.

pppps. When I clicked the spellchecker

I had spelt inaccuracy wrong twice

oh the irony!

Final thought.
The man is downstairs fitting our new boiler
making all manner of headache inducing smells,
so I've barricaded myself in here
keeping myself busy.

Are you economising?

 So I fell hard for this economy block along.

 The crush was so great it developed into a kingsize.

An 81 block kingsize.

 My scrap stash dictated the colourway.

There are some god awful really unusual combinations here,

as I chose fabrics that contrasted in the main.

I still need to settle on the layout

the layout above although looks good on screen

but in person it was too hectic

so I have sewn another 9 with muted contrasts,

to give the eye a rest from the stripes.

Wish me luck with the block swapping,

I'm not sure why I'm in such a hurry 

I don't have the money for wadding

not with having a new boiler fitted this week... no but at least I am economising.

I am thinking of hand quilting diagonal lines in black...

what do you think?

scrappy economy block

 Hi thank you all for your positiveness regarding my sketch.

I thought I would reward you with some patchwork!

Don't tell anyone

but I seem to have joined in with something!

With my efforts to reduce my scraps being poor to none

I thought this economy block was just the thing 

to lessen the load.

And because you have been ever so nice

an update to the crazy one.

I was thinking how my quilts are all different 

yet go well together..

I guess fabric choice has a lot to do with it.

This is another a little experiment with colour choice

it is what it is

okay with a little tweaking here and there.

100%   s-crappy fabrics

You can find a tutorial and qal links  here
 I used Crazy Mom Quilts measurements
which makes the finished block a little over 8.5 inches.

ps.

I know they are not perfectly square...

but who wants to be square right?!