For the Love of Patchwork III ~ Work in Progress

Back to basics this week with a simple patchwork quilt. Simple patchwork is my comfort zone and my happy space. There's nothing better than pulling out all the fabrics, taking snippets from this and that fabric collection, and putting them all together. 

The color palette for this quilt developed during the fabric selection (and cutting) process. The original color palette starting point was red, white, and blue, which may well have been a 4th of July theme. However as time went on I allowed the colors to flow and the fabrics to tell the story, introducing both yellow and brown and allowing red to merge into pink.

Many of the fabrics are small scale floral prints and the remainder are stash basics (dots, checks, gingham, stripes). I wanted to mention that I stayed away from using text fabric however I see now that one text fabric did sneak into the mix. I do love my text fabrics!

QUILT STATS

For the Love of Patchwork III

Quilt top measures 50 inches x 60 inches.

150+ different fabrics. 

I  have made 30 16-patch blocks. 

  A total of 480 patches of fabric (20 rows of 24 squares).

(Refer to the Checkerboard Strip Piecing Tutorial for detailed piecing details).

Each finished square measures 2.5" x 2.5".

While this quilt was strip pieced I spent quite some time "randomising"

the blocks by taking strip sets apart, as well as adding individual

patchwork pieces (for example all fussy cut fabrics).

Right now I have a small mountain of fabric to fold and return to stash. I do love working from stash but I must say that my fabric stash is not the tidiest! It certainly does not have that glossy magazine picture look about it. Fabrics are pulled out all the time, they are cut into (and I am not always the most economical about how into cut it), and are refolded often with scraggly bits hanging out, before eventually being returned to stash. It is my kind of "tidy" and I generally know where everything is, which is what counts, right?

Now ready for basting and quilting.

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
For the Love of Patchwork II - A Finished Quilt August 2016
For the Love of Patchwork I ~ A Finished Quilt April 2016
Checkerboard Quilt - Strip Piecing Tutorial


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COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content - this specifically includes all photos - from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

For the Love of Patchwork II - Work in Progress

Snippets of my week in stitches ... a simple patchwork quilt in a pretty and warm color palette; soft pink, yellow, red, and orange, with a flash of blue, grey, and lime green for freshness.

I struggled to find the color palette that I wanted to work with this week, I couldn't seem to make up my mind. Maybe it was the subtle shift in weather - a hopeful hint of Spring - that made me feel so unsettled. Eventually though you just have to make a start and I did by cutting squares of my some of my favorite fabrics.

It didn't take long to gather together a variety of fabrics, all cut into squares. Many squares. I usually like to strip piece my patchwork quilts however by the time I was happy with my color palette I was too far in - too many squares had been cut - to change my method. All fabric squares were individually cut (with rotary cutter) and pieced. All 357 squares ...

Despite the slow start I love how this quilt top has turned out! Note the number of floral prints used, and the lovely Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics. as well as the variety of fabrics with fruits - apples, pears, lemons, cherries, strawberries - some of which there are numerous (various prints in different colorways).

Now ready for basting and quilting.

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
For the Love of Patchwork II - A Finished Quilt August 2016
For the Love of Patchwork I ~ A Finished Quilt April 2016


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COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

A Little Folks Baby Quilt

Last week a quilting and blogging friend welcomed a sweet baby girl into her family. Even though I know that this is one baby girl who will be surrounded by much handmade and quilted goodness, I figured a girl can never have too many quilts. 

My fabric of choice was Little Folks - Voile - by Anna Maria Horner.  This fabric is buttery soft and fly-away light weight, and therefore perfectly suited for little ones as well as being suitable for a warm/hot climate.

This design is a repeat of earlier Little Folks Quilts made in 2010 (see here and here), although this time I decided to omit the binding.  I have previously made quilts without binding using a "bagging out" technique by sandwiching the layers together, stitching around the outside edges, and then turning the quilt inside out through a gap left for this purpose.  (See detailed tutorial here:  A Quilt Without Binding).

I love the looks of these edges!  So sleek and modern, but also colorful when contrasted with the backing fabric.   I have used a 100% cotton batting, which is my standard batting of choice; it is a low loft, natural fiber, batting.

All of the images here are of the hand washed quilt (in a small tub with Soak Wash - a no-rinse gentle cleansing formula), and then tumble dried in a dryer on a normal setting.  I anxiously waited for the quilt to come out of the dryer however could not have been happier with the result:  the fabric stayed true to color (without color run) and a gentle crinkling of the quilt.  

Super light weight  - weighing in at less than 250 grams.

Happy Stitching indeed!  This baby quilt is now making it's way across the country, and ready for sweet baby dreams, baby cuddles, snuggling, even nappy changes ....

Welcome to the world baby Olive!
Rita



COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission.

A Zig Zag Baby Quilt

A friend is having a baby and what better gift that I can make than a baby quilt?

I have thoroughly enjoyed making this baby quilt; sitting down today to finish the piecing as well as quilt and bind it.  It isn't big -  24.5 inches x 28.5 inches - and is made entirely from fabrics salvaged from my scrap bin (except for backing and binding - which are from stash).  Even the batting is a scrap from a larger quilt.  It's truly satisfying to know that saving all those bits and pieces is worthwhile even if it is a messy task to search through the scrap bin!

This baby quilt is very much inspired by a pillow as seen in the book:  Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration by Malka Dubrawsky.  This is a wonderful resource if you're ever in need of  colorful inspiration!

Pictured below is a snippet of the Zig Zag Pillow from Malka's book.  I have adjusted the pattern to make up my own block size and number to make the baby quilt. 

Zig Zag Pillow by Malka Dubrawsky from the book Fresh Quilting

I particularly wanted to try out the zig zag quilting lines seen here and I have used a walking foot rather than free motion stitching to quilt the lines.  I love how it has turned out, and how the quilting lines have made the overall design more obvious.  Quilting a zig zag design is very manageable for a small project, any larger though and I would strongly suggest using free motion stitching to quilt the zig zag lines.

The yet to be born baby is a little boy and although I have used some floral and pink prints I do think this baby quilt is gender neutral.  The quilt backing is a solid fabric in yellow (which really accentuates the quilting lines!), and I have used a blue fabric with white polka dots for binding.

Ready for posting together with wishes of a safe and healthy arrival.

Rita



COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission.

A Sneak Peek

I thought I would give you a peek of what I have been working on this week.

Lots and lots of sewing, of course.

It is already a finished quilt and I am looking forward to showing you more.

Soon.

A Galaxy of Stars

I have finished sewing together the star blocks that I have been working on all week. Those of you who have been following progress on this quilt will already know that this project was inspired by this picture of a quilt on Flickr, and although I have made the blocks according to my own math calculations and blocks size, the finished blocks were pretty much a copy of the original quilt.

To give this quilt an original touch and make it feel like I have added to the design, I have thrown a few extra Half Square Triangles into the strips of sashing that join the blocks together.  It has created another star effect at each intersection, and given the quilt a completely different and unique look.

This quilt is big, measuring 70 inches x 70 inches and proved difficult to capture a decent picture of in its entirety.

I am very happy with how easily the blocks came together, and love the end result.  This really was quite a major piecing project.  It has tested my new Bernina Aurora and I was very impressed with how well this sewing machine was able to handle some of the very bulky seams and intersections. Effortlessly!  So good!

It has been another great week and I am rather sad to say that the school holidays are nearly over.  No more sleeping in, lunch at 3 pm, and late nights.  Sigh...

RELEVANT LINKS:
Wordless Wednesday - Galaxy of Stars Quilt in Progress

A Linen Quilt Top

I have stitched together a very simple quilt top using some of the linen fabric purchased earlier this week. To help make it easier to sew with the linen fabrics, I did incorporate some cotton prints, and made sure that the cut linen pieces were handled carefully, and pieced together sooner rather than later. 

As you can see I have omitted the pink linen that I purchased together with the other linen fabrics. The pink was more of a lilac/pink than a red/pink, and I just wasn't able to make that color work in this quilt, nor did I have the correct pink color fabrics in my stash to match with it.  I will save it for another project. 

I have added a 7 inch wide border in the natural linen to this quilt to make a feature of the linen.  I hope that the quilting process will go according to plan also.

Pretty in Pink

Dusty pinks, faded reds and soft browns have been the colors of choice the last few days, together with the occasional splash of blue and even yellow.

Pretty In Pink --

name taken from a comment on a previous post left by Brandy from Minivan Life

This baby quilt is made from rows of "bricks" measuring 3 inches x 9 inches including the seam allowances. It was pieced in rows, 18 rows in total, with the finished quilt measuring 38.5 inches x 44.5 inches.  Quite a large baby quilt suitable also for the "big bed" when the toddler graduates from their cot.

I have quilted this baby quilt with straight lines, outlining the horizontal seams, and also stitching through the horizontal center of each "brick".  The quilting has added a modern look, and was a breeze really.  Any quilting problems I have now seem to be due to rushing the basting process (which I still don't enjoy!), but I have definitely improved my skills.  I still use pins to baste, because if done well it does give me the best overall finish.

A few blog readers have asked about the pink bicycle fabric that I have used for this quilt.  It is a cotton print by Heather Ross called "Bicycles".  Unfortunately it is quite an old fabric, rare and much sought after.  This fabric is currently available at several Etsy stores, with the price reflecting just how much loved it is!

I am hoping to add the binding today, but have not as yet even chosen the fabric for it. School holidays have started and it is the most glorious Spring day here in Melbourne.  I am definitely going to catch some of these rays today!