The Carousel Quilt - Part 3

A Finished Quilt

It's a celebration! Seven months in the making and it is done. My Carousel Quilt may have sat idle for some of that time but it was never far from my mind or even from my sight. This quilt has taught me many things, including how to hand piece, but more importantly, that it is a process, and that it doesn't matter how you get there in the end, as long as you are happy with the outcome. And I am!

While I set out to hand piece this quilt top I ended up finishing the piecing of the quilt top by machine. All of the arcs and large circles were hand pieced. Once the circles were complete the project sat untouched for several weeks until one evening I decided that I was done looking at it, and I pieced the circles and background fabric together by machine. Lots of curve sewing, all without pins.

Click on any image for a larger view.

I then decided that to keep this project moving along this quilt needed some extra special quilting and I sent the quilt top off to the long arm quilter - Karen Terrens from Quilts on Bastings (Karen is also my sister). I told Karen to "go for it" but she also knows that I like my quilts densely quilted. To say I am thrilled with how she worked her magic would be an understatement!

For the back of the quilt I have chosen a single pink floral fabric from the Strawberry Biscuit collection by Elea Lutz, and for the binding I have used an irregular stripe fabric from the Simpatico collection by Michelle Engel-Bencsko for Cloud9 Fabrics. It is an older fabric that I pulled from my stash, and the muted tone and color of the stripe worked perfectly with both the backing fabric and the quilt top.

QUILT STATS

Carousel Quilt

A Pattern by Sandra Boyle.

The finished quilt measures 53 inches x 53 inches

(the pattern includes additional borders which I have omitted).

Hand pieced and machine pieced.

In excess of 550 patchwork pieces.

Background fabric is a floral print  from the 30's Collection

by Atsuko Matsuyama for Yuwa Fabrics.
This quilt is not for sale.

Carousel Quilt Pattern  by Sandra Boyle
and additional (optional but very useful!) acrylic templates
available from:

GJ's Discount Fabrics

http://www.gjsdiscountfabrics.com.au/

Phone orders (03) 9482 5528

Since completing this quilt I have been eagerly plotting and planning my next hand piecing project or even another English Paper Piecing project. Last week I thought I had found it ... and I started it. However it wasn't long before I figured out that I could just as easily machine piece it. And so it goes. Hopefully I will have a new quilt top to show you next week.

As always, thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Carousel Quilt - Work in Progress - Part 1
Carousel Quilt - Work in Progress - Part 2
Professional Long Arm Quilter of Choice: Karen Terrens from Quilts on Bastings
Sewing Curves without Pins ~ Tutorial
More RPQ Slow Sewing Quilts:
The Daisy Chain Quilt
The Wagon Wheel Quilt 

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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.

Carousel Quilt - Work in Progress Part 2

How quickly time flies! It has been more than four months since my last Carousel Quilt update (see blog post here), and during that time the hand pieced circle blocks were never far from my sight. For four months these blocks moved from my sewing machine table back to my cutting table, as was required to make room for the other quilts I have worked on during that time. And with each move the task of sewing these circle blocks together became more and more daunting!

Then one evening last week I decided that the time had finally come to make a start by cutting the background fabric pieces. This only took a half hour or so, and I thought it wise to push on while things were going well. I hand stitched just one seam by hand before it crossed my mind that I could just as easily piece the remainder of the quilt top together by machine.

Three hours later and some time spent working out the best way to go about sewing the background fabric around the already complete circle blocks, the quilt top was done! I was pretty pleased with myself for ticking this task of my to-do list. As usual no pins were used when sewing these curves. 

QUILT STATS

Carousel Quilt

A Pattern by Sandra Boyle.

Quilt top as pictured measures 53 inches x 53 inches.

Hand pieced and machine pieced.

In excess of 550 patchwork pieces.
Background fabric is a floral print  from the 30's Collection
by Atsuko Matsuyama for Yuwa Fabrics.

The quilt pattern includes instructions for adding several borders however I am at this stage undecided if I want to add borders to my quilt top. Right now I am pleased to have a quilt top that I know will progress to become a finished quilt, rather than the 16 circle blocks that sat idle for too long. 

I am also completely at ease with the fact that I spent a very significant amount of time hand piecing the circle blocks only to then finish the quilt top by machine in a matter of hours. I loved hand piecing the arcs, but piecing the remainder of the quilt by hand was just not going to happen. Whatever it takes, right?

I love a good scrap buster quilt and many of the fabric wedges used in the arcs were pulled from my scrap bin, and represent fond fabric memories; memories of a time, place, and another quilt. This quilt is going to be a keeper!

As always, thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Carousel Quilt - Work in Progress - Part 1
Carousel Quilt - The Finished Quilt - Part 3
Sewing Curves without Pins ~ Tutorial
More RPQ Slow Sewing Quilts:
The Daisy Chain Quilt
The Wagon Wheel Quilt 

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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.

Rectangle Checkerboard Quilt 2

Work in Progress

Back to basics. Simple patchwork, easy sewing, and busting both scraps and stash. I love working with fabrics from my stash and this week I have spent a considerable amount of time digging deep into my fabric stash in search of the "favorites". I have many fabric favorites and I have no problem jumbling all of these different prints and colors together. It's bright and colorful, but most of all pulling together a quilt like this makes me ridiculously happy. 

As with all of my Checkerboard Quilts I have contrasted a light, or low volume, fabric alongside a darker, more saturated in color, fabric. This quilt was strip pieced using the Checkerboard Quilt and Strip Piecing Tutorial, piecing a total of thirty-six 16-patch blocks. Most fabrics are repeated no more than 3 times and I did time some time to randomize the units; adding in the many individually fussy cut fabrics as well as taking strip sets apart to mix with others.

QUILT STATS

Rectangle Checkerboard Quilt #2
A selection of almost 180+ different quilting cottons make up this quilt.

This quilt was strip pieced - see Checkerboard Strip Piecing Tutorial.

I made 36 16-patch blocks :: a total of 576 patches of fabric.

* Cut strips 2 3/4" inches x 11 inches and

cut sewn strips sets at 3 1/2" intervals *

(makes more sense if read in conjunction with the tutorial)

Each 16-patch block measures 9.5 inches x 12.5 inches.

Each finished rectangle measures 2.25 inches x 3 inches.

Quilt top measures 54.5 inches x 72.5 inches.

I love how this came together; a modern I Spy Quilt of sorts with various fabrics featuring items that may draw attention (like birds, cats, chickens, deer and ducks, as well as fruits, faces, and the many flowers. Strawberries in various colors and sizes feature often!

Ready for basting and quilting.

More soon,

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS

The Finished Rectangle Checkerboard Quilt 2

Rectangle Checkerboard Quilt #1 - May 2016

Checkerboard Quilt and Strip Piecing Tutorial

More RPQ Tutorials

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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.

Flowering Snowball Quilt 2

A Finished Quilt (and lots of photos!)

Today - this last day of November - I am sharing with you the finished Flowering Snowball 2 quilt. November has been exceptionally good to me. I have spent the last few weeks travelling with my husband; a trip to the United States that involved the running of a marathon (my husband!), endlessly wandering the streets of New York City and of course yarn and fabric shopping at fabulous stores like Purl Soho, The Brooklyn General Store and Knitty City. It was a wonderful trip but as always there is no place quite like home and although it has taken a week or so for the jet lag to wear off, I have basted, quilted, and attached the binding to this quilt in between fighting off sleep and the temptation to nap at random times of the day.

I have loved making this quilt! From choosing fabrics - especially working with low volume fabrics - to piecing the small Flowering Snowball blocks, even though I initially feared that I would not be able to neatly and consistently sew these tightly curved blocks. And truly, once you have made a handful of these blocks you soon find your sewing rhythm and with confidence sew all 80 of the required blocks! 

The quilt was finished with my usual backing fabric and binding treatment: backing fabric is Newsprint from the Story collection by Carrie Bloomston and binding fabric is a narrow black/white stripe by Timeless Treasures (available at Fabric Bubb at the moment). Quilted with straight - edge to edge - horizontal and vertical lines spaced 1 inch apart using Aurifil 40wt thread.

QUILT STATS

Flowering Snowball Quilt 2

The finished quilt measures 48 inches x 60 inches.

A total of 80 Flowering Snowball Blocks.

(10 rows of 8 blocks).

Each finished block measures 6 inches x 6 inches.

720 patchwork pieces.

That tiny black center square measures 1/2" x 1/2".

6" Acrylic Flowering Snowball Templates from Sunset Seams (Etsy).

Cotton batting ~

Warm & White batting from The Warm Company;

a low loft batting perfect for use with low volume and bright white fabrics.

See Work in Progress blog post here: 

http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2016/11/flowering-snowball-quilt-2-work-in-progress.html

Flowering Snowball 2 Quilt
Click on any image for a larger view.

This quilt was sold prior to publishing this blog post.

If you are interested in purchasing one of my quilts
 - even one that I am still working on -
please don't hesitate to contact me by email.

Thank you for stopping by!

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:

Flowering Snowball Quilt 2 - Work in Progress

6" Flowering Snowball Block Acrylic Templates 

Flowering Snowball Quilt - September 2016 - 9" blocks

Sewing Curves the no-pins way - a Tutorial

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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.