Fabric Review on UKQU

I have the pleasure of making with this gorgeous fabric this week .....

To find out more head over to my post on UKQU where I have reviewed the wonderful Rainbow Etchings, the new collection by Stuart Hillard for Craft Cotton Co.

It's in the shops now!!

TGIFF :: Rainbow Star Mini Quilt

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday!!

Hello and welcome if you have popped over for the TGIFF linky party.  This is my first time hosting such a thing so be gentle!

Hello and welcome if you are a regular reader!!  Don't know what TGIFF is?  I have added a button to my side bar and if you click on it you will be taken through to the explanation.

Today I have a recent finish to share with you that I am so excited about ....

In February 2016 I took part in a Rainbow Mini Quilt swap, read more about that here, and it was the first time I really did not want to send my quilt to my partner!  From the day I sent it I wanted to make myself one.  When I got EQ7 in January I decided to design the quilt for practice and then make it ... .for MYSELF!

The squares were cut at 1 1/2" - I have to say I really like that size to work with ....

I love my little portable design wall - it makes me able to visualise how the finished quilt will look ....

When putting the stars together I really liked how these three looked as a block, and especially on point ....

And then onto the quilting part.  Usually this takes a lot of thought and more often than not I end up loading a quilt on the frame without really knowing what I am going to do.  Not this one - I knew exactly because I had done it before ....

I love it as much today as I did the one I made 15 months ago ....

It's a finish that adds another tick to my 2017 FAL Q2 list - hooray!

And because I knew a deadline would help me to get it finished I entered it into the Miniature/Doll quilt category at Quilts UK, Malvern in May.  I was delighted to come 2nd in this category!!!!

Quilt Stats

Finished dimensions:  15" x 15"

Fabric:  patterned prints from stash and Kona White

Wadding:  Warm and White

Threads:  Magnifico in white

Quilting:  handguided longarm quilting incorporating feathers and matchstick quilting along with straight line rulerwork on a Handi Quilter Avante

It's little but it sure packs a lot of texture in!!

I would love to see some of your recent finishes, so if you do have something you would like to share please do link up below.  Getting a finish is great but celebrating that finish with others is wonderful.  Thank you if you do link up and please try to get over to see some of the other peoples' finishes - we all love visitors and comments don't we?

A FAL Q1 Finish :: Rainbow Mini No 2

Ever since I made and sent this quilt off last year I have wanted to make another for me.  I used the design as a learning lesson in EQ7 - it's much easier to design a quilt you have already made!

Then, just because the Kona White happened to be on my cutting table for another project I thought I may aswell cut some squares .... and whilst I was at it why don't I cut the coloured squares too?  And also why don't I make two Rainbow Minis at the same time?!!!  These squares are cut at 1 1/2".

It always amazes me how much smaller the blocks get when they are sewn together.  Yep, still working on two minis at the same time here!

At this stage I was considering what colour to make the star in the bottom left hand corner ....

and by this stage I had decided not to put one in at all because my idea for quilting it had changed!  Even though I can now do more formal design with EQ7 it's not going to stop my normal method of making things up and changing things as I go.

Choosing the rainbow coloured threads ....

The final choice were all Glide threads and the colours were: cardinal, mars, mango, turf, light turquoise, cobalt, amethyst and white (not pictured).

Initial straight line quilting from the coloured stars in coloured thread.  I was going to add feathers like I did on my original but in the end I forced myself to just go for straight lines having never quilted a quilt with just straight lines.  It did take a lot of will power but I managed it!

 I love the texture that the straight lines give the quilt but in a way I wish I had put some curves on it aswell.  Oh well I can do that on Rainbow Mini No 3 when that's finished!

It finishes at 21" square and I used Warm and Natural White wadding and Kona White for the background and backing.

A gratuitous shot at an angle - which I love!!

It has been interesting remaking a quilt, although it is slightly different in design.  I certainly don't love this one as much as my original but it has been a good learning curve and I am sure I will find a good home for it somewhere!

This is my first blogged finish of the Quarter from my FAL list which feels great!

I will be linking up to Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Finish It Up Friday

The finish for Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts this week is also a finish from my 2016FAL.  It was started in June as a QAL over at Modern Quilters Ireland and was the first QAL I have taken part in.  The progress posts can be found here, here and here.

It was at this stage for many weeks months because I didn't really like the grey background fabric I had used and I didn't really know what to do with it ..... is it bad to admit that?!!

I then thought that I would enter it into a Quilt Show as a cot quilt so the parameters of size were set to maximum 36" on either side, which meant the border was easy to add.

Then I got it into my head that I wanted to match the thread with the colours ...... why did I do that?!  At the end I do not think it was worth all the colour changes for this quilt and wish I had just gone for the grey all over (although it is nice to have some more colours in my stash!).

Time was running out by now and I just had to come up with a plan ....... nothing came so I thought that I had better load it onto my frame and just get started!

Straight lines in the coloured sections first.  I did actually try feathers aswell but I really didn't like them so I unpicked (after doing two sections just to make sure I didn't like it!)

My favourite quilting motif was used in the background, paisley AKA swirly pearls.  I love this and I can now do it quite quickly which is a bonus. 

I thought I may do something different in the middle of the quilt but, after the unpicking of the feathers, I decided to just stick with more straight lines.  My ruler work has certainly improved and I quite enjoyed the dexterity of using the rulers and for them feeling more comfortable for me.

I love this stage when it's all trimmed and ready to bind.

I am not sure what the backing is - it was picked up at a show earlier in the year.

And the final result hanging at the West Country Quilt Show.  Do I like it?  No not really!!  I like the pattern and really like other people's interpretation from the QAL but I have to say this isn't a favourite of mine.  But it is done and it's a tick off my list.  I also learnt that I do not like marbled fabric and so will never be tempted to buy any again!

Whilst I am not enamoured with this quilt I am still very much in love with Should I Stay or Should I Go?  I decided, at the last minute, to enter it into the same show and was delighted when I arrived at the show on Sunday morning to see it had a rosette by it - Best Piecing.

I have enjoyed entering quilts into shows this year and have quite a few in my head for next year! x

A week of finishes - Day 1 :: My Favourite Colour

Earlier this year, Popular Patchwork announced a fun challenge for a mini quilt entitled My Favourite Colour, which were going to be on show at their stall at the Festival of Quilts in August.  I ummmed and aaahhhed about what was my favourite colour and then, as is my wont, I was very close to the deadline and I just had to make something ... anything ... any colour!! 

My solution was to make a rainbow mini because truly at different times all the colours are my favourites.  It started with some graduated colour strips ....

and then a bit of handstitching ....

Surely it needed a rainbow?  I had recently just used my Quick Curve Ruler for the first time and thought why not give it a go ....

  and it actually worked OK ....

But to use it ....

or not?

As you can see I decided not!  It needed to be the width of the piece and looked a little funny the size it was.  Being really new to curves I didn't have time to practise how to get it like I wanted.  I decided on straight line stitching first ....

but then decided to fill the top portion with gorgeous little swirly pearls (don't quote me on that - I've no idea what this quilting motif is really called!) ....

and just because I like this shot ....

Ta da!  I was going to have a rainbow effect on the binding so that each colour lined up under the columns of colour however, time was against me  Instead I brightened it up with a rainbow of prairie points.  This was a new technique for me but was really simple to do and I would definitely do it again.

This finished at 15" x 10.5".  The white is Kona cotton and the colours are all scraps.  I quilted it with Superior Magnifico in White.

I will look forward to getting this back and hanging it up in my studio ... which reminds me I better find out when it is coming back to me!

This is also a finish on my 2016 Finish Along Quarter 3 list - the first one I have linked up (Number 22 on the list)  .... I'd better get busy this last week!!