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

bohemian like you quilt reveal

 If this quilt were a song it would be

bohemian like you

by the Dandy Warhols.

I will pass on the over used term boho chic much in the way I do the term  shabby chic.

Generally speaking my quilts gather a life

which is not pre-determined.

The seed for this quilt was a simple glimpse of my own stacked quilts.

I fell in love with the blue, white and natural colourway.

I also blame my visit to Libertys 

for totally bringing me back to my arts and crafts 

state of mind.

  Although I am known for hand piecing quilts

I am not averse to a bit of machine action....

but don't worry I made up for it with a

marathon of hand quilting!

  I love how the gingham binding

creates a 3D looking double helix pattern,

discovered by accident when trying out binding fabrics.

This quilt has a real vintage/alpine/Liberty feel to it.

It is all about texture 

and is really not like a quilt as we know them.

The heavy quilting has given the fabrics stability....

which makes it feel like a turkish rug!

Vital stats:

Size~50" x 60" (the perfect size for lounging)

Strip~ widths approx 1.5" 

lengths various

Number of strips 40

Fabrics~ mix of stash fabrics inc my favourite Joel Dewberry herringbone 

also fabrics gifted to me from Deborah simply miss luella

and from my pal Lisa jumble and jelly

thank you girls.

Backing~ vintage terylene type fabric of an indeterminable age.

Binding~ another stash fabric of unknowness.

Quilting~ hand quilted with almost 3 balls of number 8 perle cotton.

Rows approx half an inch apart.

120 rows equals 6000 inches of hand quilting!!!!!

Time taken to hand quilt ~ approx 60 days.

Cause I like you,
Yeah I like you.
And I'm feeling so Bohemian like you,
Yeah I like you,
Yeah I like you,
And I feel wahoo, wahoo, wahoo! 

ps. I love you.

hand quilting to the max

 I have finally crossed the finish line of my hand quilting marathon.

My constant companion,

falling in love with every stitch.

In an effort to reduce wonkiness

I quilted in one direction

turning the quilt after every line.

When the bulk of rolled up quilt became large and an effort to handle

I began sewing two lines at a time

hence the two needles above.

Last night I finished the last strip with three needles (Mary)

Thoughts soon turn to binding don't they?

This is how I 'audition' fabrics.

Generally I find the right binding 

but this quilt with it's crazy backing got me stumped..

Without really thinking I bought the middle fabric

2 metres as well!!!

I don't think its right.

I'm not 100% convinced

but I think I prefer the

choice below.

This quilt is by no means perfect.

It's been another learning project.

The backing is wonky through hand quilting

and the whole quilt has a curved attitude

because I sewed all the strips one way 

and didn't alternate....add to that a gingham binding on the bias...

Oh my dear quilt I do all these things....

cause I like you,
Yeah I like you.
And I'm feeling so Bohemian like you.
Yeah I like you.
Yeah I like you
And I feel wahoo, wahoo, wahoo!*

* Dandy Warhols

the snowday quilt reveal

   I made a pouff~ee quilt!

That's all I was thinking when taking my photographs this morning.

Sunshine, a camera and a pouff~ee quilt

can be a tricky combination

when trying to take pretty pictures.

See my first ever hold up picture below.

(I call this a pouff~ee quilt because the (john lewis) wadding 

is thicker than the usual heirloom I normally use.)

Before you are dazzled by my over indulgent snaps

I should let you know that this quilt 

was hand pieced 

with vintage sheets

and is unbelievably soft...

Okay go!

You may remember the beginnings of this quilt 

back in January...back when we had snow!

Thankfully the weather is a little better today

but only just!!

I actually finished hand quilting this quilt last month,

it was put aside as I couldn't decide on the binding.

I originally considered a yellow stripe...

but couldn't get the idea of

 yellow snow

out of my mind!

So with the up most of laziness

I struck upon an idea

to bind

 by way of rolling the backing and stitching it down to the front.

Its the second time I've used this technique,

and whilst its a little unorthodox,

 binding a epp quilt can be tricky

especially if you have points that you don't want to chop off.

This way you have control of the binding edge.

It's completely hand pieced

using the English paper piecing method.

and measures 50" x 42"

not huge..but a nice throw size.

I'm so glad you stuck around

for the reveal.

An epp quilt evolves over time...

I like the slower pace

one which I shall be following from now on.

My goal for this year is to finish up my wips (works in progress)

and begin a BIG rose star quilt.

I have a plan

I'm looking forward to sharing it with you xx

wordless

sunshine sewing saturday

getting stitchy with it

So I have chosen to use pink, red and green cottons

along with a cream for the background.

Hand quilting for me is on a par with hand piecing.

There are no fixed rules,

which can be confusing,

with so much choice..

I am toying with the idea of quilting 

petal shapes within the white 

like a daisy with a hex centre..

I might make a trial run to see if I like it.

Any guesses to which backing I went with?

macaroon monday

Wish they were macaroons..

however they are my sweet new perle cottons!

You may think ooh now they're Clare colours,

but no

this was an online bundle

colours already selected.

Totally getting this hand quilting lark

but,

 oh 

(think John Travolta singing Summer Nights)

 the possibilities are endless!

Add them to my modest yet growing cotton stash

and I can't help thinking they remind me of something....?

wordless wednesday

shoofly quilt reveal

Amidst the chaos of the dust and the workmen

I have managed somehow to finish my shoofly...

..on time as well.

This quilt was always destined for my friend Karen.

Whose 40th birthday was on Sunday.

Anyone who knows her will know that she is crazy about butterflies,

hence forth I give you

'Madame Butterfly'

The fabrics are a mix of old and new,

with a splash of butterfly.

My first choice of backing and quilting did not go so well.

The decision to unpick was made

and a manic dash into town thankfully produced the new backing

 and some matching bonus binding

all in one package.

(regards TKMaxx and Kirstie Allsopp bedding)

I fell back on some fmq 

as my straight lines were causing me a headache.

Loopy quilting is so much fun..and I only caught the backing in once!

So there we are one very special kingsize quilt,

with an added subliminal message quilted in.

All wrapped up and ready to go!

ps. she loved it.

pps. the workmen have finished, just the decorating to do now!