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

label day

This can only mean one thing right?

At long last I have a finished 2013 quilt to share...

oh but not yet!

Come back Wednesday,

hopefully I won't leave you wordless xx
Click here for the snowday quilt progress.

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....?

a quick quilting quandary

Can I make a confession?

I really feel like I don't know what I'm doing

most of the time!

And when it comes to quilting

I'm lost.

I read my quilting books and all your blogs for inspiration,

I just wish it came naturally to me.

With my wadding purchased from John Lewis

(80% cotton 20% polyester)

I've reached that dilemma.

I was thinking about using the pink for the backing

and the stripe for the binding...

But maybe the other way round?

Or not at all?

I'm definitely going with some hand quilting,

possibly a blender on the hexagons

and some more colourful stitching on the stars...

decisions decisions!

friday february finish

 Well that's January over,

 and with it, the piecing of my snowday quilt.

The fact that I only used two fabrics meant that I could cut out 

all the pieces at once and just bash it out

with not a lot of thought...which is a good way to kick start the year.

I'm really excited at how quickly these large templates sewed together.

Though I did have to concede to using our local newsletter

when I ran out of paper.

Whats more it's free and it's recycling,

bet they didn't expect their advert ending up here.

I'm just waiting for some sun to show you the finished top

ala stained window style.
I still have to make up the quilt,
but as I have no batting or binding that can wait.

So what next?

I have an idea for my batik/charcoal/white project...

something quite different?

I am without a epp project which is a dangerous thing!

 I am very close to starting a rose star quilt,

thought it was about time seeing how I opened the 'can o worms'

last year for everyone!

 rose star block party.

colour running

I think I like making collages almost as much as I love making quilts.

I really enjoy racing round the house like an excited puppy

gathering all my quilty ideas,

like 'getting it down on paper'.

I am so into coral right now (not orange)

It began last year with the purchase of the coral rowan fabric seen in my mini quilt.

It is such an intense hue, it really sings to me.

 Especially when coupled with a turquoise snowday quilt.

For now I'm thinking pink vintage sheet for the backing, 

with a plain coral binding!!!!

Definitely hand quilted, 

possibly in red and white.

                     * fat face

ps.

All my photographs have been photoshopped

there is just no sun to be had.

pps.

If you still haven't given collages a go 

try out picmonkey

it really is easy and it's free!!

                                    * paper piecing tutorial here

Today I'm linking to Rachel @ Stitched in Color
who is currently rocking similarish combinations.

snow go go slow

 Moving on from yesterdays silliness.

The snow has all but gone...

unless you count my snowday quilt,

which is slowly growing.
The basic technique for this pattern
can be found here in my fussy cutting tutorial

 My templates for paper piecing have increased in size of late.

I have realised the devil that sits on my shoulder

causing me pain

has a name.

He is called EPP.

(English paper piecing)

As a epp addict,

 the larger my templates, the less fiddly it is

and the best thing is

 I have a quilt in no time.

So remembering my word balance

I am taking things slow...having high hopes and feeling crafty at least twice a day!

There has been a lot of talk lately about how a quilt is born.

How do you choose?

Firstly you need to decide on your style

If you are going to the effort of making a quilt 

you have to love it now but also in the future.

Green may be flavour of the month right now,

but will you like it next year?

I like orange 

I have made quilts which include orange

I have orange fabric..

yet orange decor is not my style.

Flashes of orange yes,

but in general teal will win out every time.

I also like to use objects with great colour schemes,

see my french window mini post

which shows my colour/pattern inspiration.

If you are still in doubt make a scrap quilt or a hexagon quilt

with no colour restraints,

they seem to fit into any homestyle.

Deciding on the pattern for me evolves mainly in my head

epp projects follow on from each other really.

My next machine project started with a challenge

batik fabrics.

 A number of hours spent perusing my quilt books

and searching online,

a purchase of some charcoal kona cotton 

gives me high hopes

that I will create a thing of beauty

and not something new age hippie

(which is highly probable given the materials!)

ps.

There's nothing wrong with hippie
 I am all hippie.

snowday sewday

How could I not share today.

After a day of quilters block yesterday

I set about starting my new epp project.

This is a two fabric project,

just some vintage sheeting and some white cotton..

I'm finding it hard to steer away from calling it snowflake!