Sunday, August 28, 2011

Blissful finish....

I haven't posted anything quilty for ages so it's absolute bliss to have something actually finished and photographed on a beautiful 'almost end of winter' (or is that pre-Spring?) day. Mind you, the quilt photograph had to fight for space on the clothes line given this glorious weather! This quilt is for my sister in law who has recently experienced a rather nasty work place accident. I won't go into details but we had coffee yesterday and she is saying that she's 50/50...but she's also trying to be extremely positive and wishing for good health for the future. Her accident and recovery is at the opposite end of the bliss spectrum so I'm directing some positive vibes her way so her quilt will feature some of Bonnie and Camille's Bliss range. I've used 4 charm packs of 5" squares which I've had in the cupboard for ages and yielded 168 squares, in a 14 x 12 block formation. This fabric is so delightful it didn't call for any fancy piecing...just join the squares. I love it. It's simple. It works. The colours and prints are divine and the soft fabric has been a pleasure to work with. The top lay on the floor for a couple of days because I loved the look of it. I couldn't stop staring at it, marvelling at its beauty and asking everyone who walked past to agree with me that it was 'just perfectly gorgeous'...(for the record...they did...or is that household coercion?). For the back I chose solid stone colour and joined it with some left-over Bliss strips that I had from a 'yet to be revealed' jelly roll project. The quilt is stippled which is something I had got out of the habit of doing but for this size quilt, it was perfect. There were a few little hiccup sections but for the most part, the stippling process was smooth and I kept wondering why I hadn't stippled for an age. The quilt is finished with plain red binding and I think this frames the quilt perfectly, contrasting with the back and not fighting with the front.Normally I would lament giving a quilt that I love like this one away...but I know it's going to a good home and to someone who will love it like I do!
Now for the stats:
Quilt measures: 62" x 54"
Fabric: Bonnie and Camille Bliss for Moda, Spotlight solids (homespun) in stone and red
Quilting: stippled by Theresa (me!)
Gifted: to MG

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Procrastination pays off....

Back in early July I did everything to avoid starting a rather tough uni assignment and ended up making Red Pepper's pieced border quilt top out of my scrap strips. The assignment ended getting done but the top lay in the cupboard until the other night when I after I'd finished basting another quilt I'm working on, I had the right sized piece of batting left over for this quilt. So I basted this one too and because this one is smaller than the other one, I ended up quilting this one first. I love this little quilt. I love how the bright pinks and lime greens pop against the chilled seafoam background. I've also chosen plain and simple Kona coal for the binding as everything else I tried didn't work against the scrappy border. The Kona coal frames the whole quilt beautifully. The back is a lot of fun and features the red hippos from Ikea. The size was just right at 45" wide, so it's all one piece.Quilt stats:
Pattern - Red Pepper Pieced Scrap Border Quilt Tutorial
Size - 45" square
Fabric - scraps, Kona Seafoam, Kona Coal, Ikea Hippos in red
Quilted - straight line by me!