Lockdown quilt fest

So, I'm using my time in this Brisbane Lockdown to work on the first quilt I've actually made specifically for myself. I started this quilt back in 2018 when on impulse I went into the Mar Stitches and Craft fair one Saturday or Sunday to purposefully kick-start my sewjo. I found most of these fabrics in a fat quarter stall. It was when fat quarters were on the way out for most quilt shops. I understand why independant quilt shops have discontinued this wasteful and time consuming practise, but there is something fun about playing with lots of different fabric swatches, matching up colours and patterns. And this really kicked my sewjo back into gear back then.  

I used a free quilt pattern that I saw through Pinterest, and sat down and sewed.

Only last year did I pin baste the quilt together with help from my youngest Sister A. I've converted her to the cult of quilting since I started this quilt. Yay me! It was so nice having some help pinning the quilt. She doesn't make quilts of this size, just baby and lap quilts as "new baby" gifts. So she was taken aback by the size of this one. The quilt with borders is roughly 79" x 79", so it's big. But I have the backroom setup with the fabric table on dolleys which makes manuevering things easy. 

Early this year I decided to finish off a quilt that I'd started back in the 90's and when it was done I moved onto this purple beast while the sewjo was still fresh and flowing. Then .. LOCKDOWN. And now my work computer has pushed the sewing machine aside. There was a mad cleaning and re-arranging frenzy Tuesday night as I struggled with having my sewing space invaded. I have somewhat acclimatised to the invader, but I've made sure that I can push the "work stuff" aside in the evenings and get sewing quickly with music or streaming media playing beside me. 

You can see that the edge to edge quilting motif with the horizontal leaks and troughs works really well. A bit of a challenge with the ole domestic sewing machine. Bernina900 does her best though. And she's had a few more clean outs and oil treatments since I've started quilting this last month, than she's ever had before, so she's not complaining too much. I will need to get her a spa day this year though. 

I basically quilt back and forth with the edge of the walking foot as the spacing guide until the bobbin runs out.

The below fabric with the purple and blue pointilism swirls is one of the first quilting fabrics I bought when I visit my first quilting show with my Godmother who introduced me to the dangerous hobby of quilting by taking me to The Patchwork Tree that used to be right by the Motorway on Juliette Street. It's painted black and has townhouses built all around in now, but it used to have a bare dirt backyard where you could park and walk into a fabric wonderland. 

And done. We have a finished quilt.

Quilt is finally finished. Longarm quilted, bound, date and initials embroidered and wrapped for Mother's Day. 

Borders are on!

Borders are now on and ive made the leap to send thia quilt out for longarm quilting. Mad dash down to Cleveland on Anzac Day and maybe ill have a quilted top for Mother's Day.

Two borders, the first inner border echoing the stripes within the quilt. The outer green and blue border and nice 3" wide border with a fabric ive had since 2013. Shopping the stash for a win. 

The quilter said it was a pretty quilt when she saw it so im not alone in thinking its appealing. Yay! Hoping the chosen quilting design with complement the orderly block layout. 

And we're back - still Orange and Blue Stars

Its been an extra long Easter weekend. I planned to have the week before Easter off work so I could do some things like shop during the quiet of the day, to wash and sew fabric that I had bought at The Remnant Warehouse's pre-Easter sale, to get the lawns tidied and garden beds weeded. And then we had lockdown to stop a Covid19 outbreak, and then the rain set in. And rain it has. A lot. And then more. 

So, i tried to focus on what i could do with my time at home when my plans had to change. I was forced to do a little rearrange in my sewing room because of a zoom call Holy Thursday, so i found instead of putting things back as they were I started to find new homes or put these things away where they truly belonged. And then i started to play. And the tidy/creative mood hit. I finished a few incomplete jobs that have been partially cut or partially created for years and that ive just moved around when i needed space back. 

I finished a cutout Christmas stocking that was hanging around for 3 years. I then made the piping that ive been wanting to finish my quilted star cushion squares, and attached it and then lost my mojo for the back of the cushions. So, i have three 20.5" cushion tops waiting for backs to be finally complete. They will look good when done. 

And then I started the Swoon Patterns Bonnie bucket bag I've had cutout for 5 years. Big yay getting this done. I even sewed vinyl for the first time. Love this fabric so i hope it holds up a while, but I have tentative plans to make another sometime, now ive got it done once. 

So today, my last day, I decided to finish the quilt top i last blogged about. The orange and blue star quilt top i started in 2017. 

Last night I laid out the seven rows and found the seventh wasn't joined so changed the layout to be six rows of six blocks, which meant a new block was required. I searched for the notes i had made originally and rediscovered the no-waste flying geese instructions to make another block. During the search, which took a while, i moved and rearranged things to make things tidier. Now I'd like a large blanket box or garden storage bench to store my rolls of vinyl in the fabric room rather than keeping them on top of the fabric boxes where they get squished regularly. So marketplace has some great listings but the boxea wont fit in my nifty Fiat 500, and then there's the rain. Had to cancel on a great option cos of the car and rain. 

So I put things away and got on with completing the quilt top. 

I think I'll put one 2-3" border around the quilt top to frame it, using a blue fabric already in the quilt. Then use a different colour fabric that will balance the quilt top as the outer. I have a few scraps of blue sashing strips left so I may make some scrappy bias binding for the edge but it could be too shallow for binding. 

And I'll see how long it takes to get borders on and then a backing and pinning for quilting. I have one pinned quilt at the moment so i should quilt that first unless I send it out for longarm quilting. My Sis knows and uses someone. This quilt top size is just about beyond my patience and endurance thresholds. 

So, I'm pleased with my sewing progress this break, especially the handbag made, and I'm not sorry I didn't do clothes sewing this break. The weather isnt great for sewing and fitting. And I feel mentally cleared to move onto clothes sewing when the opportunity arises. 

Orange and Blue Stars

In progress shot of the orange and blue stars I've made using the no waste, flying geese method.
I've decided to give this finished quilt to my parents as they both like blue, and the orange works well as they often have an orange tomcat bringing muddy red paw prints onto their bed. Shouldn't show too much, I hope.

Lifeline thrift crafting

Passed by a new to me Lifeline (Carina) and found two vintage 60s sheets ( still with the QA sticker on one) and two Tilda Fabrics cushion kits. Nice find.
I'm thinking a nice loose 60s blouse or fitted wiggle dress for the fabric. I was checking out my Gertie pattern books during the week so it might be fate.

Lone star block

I spent the evening playing around with a Lone Star quilt block tutorial as I'd seen a few excellent examples on Pinterest recently that sparked my quiltspiration, so I went searching for an online tutorial that could get me started in flexing my piecing skills.

It's taken all week to finally decide on the 5 fabrics I would use in the block. I thought it would be an easy pick but instead of the various shades of green I thought I'd be using I've ended up with a candy pink and blue collection. Fortunately all the fabrics were drawn from my existing stash and I didn't purchase any new fabrics. Though there were a few moments when I thought about caving and finding an open fabric store to "get something new" which has sort of confirmed a belief I've been thinking for a  while, that I've turned into the bad kind of hoarder - the kind that is always buying and never using!

So, I'm glad for that reason that I didn't buy anything new and could finally decide on a combination of dark and light and textured fabrics so that I could finally begin.

I have wanted to try this block design for a long while, probably since I first started quilting and noticing quilt patterns. It's a striking pattern that can be remarkably different with various colour and print combinations. Because I've noticed that I haven't been "using" my stash I tried to play with colours that aren't my favourite palette. I bought a lot of pink fabrics years ago for my Aunt M's Rose Quilt and I've still got an awful lot leftover because it's not a colour I enjoy.

It's also a technically challenging block using bias cut strip piecing, and requiring precision piecing with all the seams and triangles to align and match, and then finally because of the Y-seam sewing. I'm completely in the hands of online tutorials too. I've never been one for classes and workshops so the rise of online tutorials on YouTube and through Pinterest for craft is a godsend for me. I enjoy the teach myself as I go experience. Even though, at the same time, I really do wish I had a quilting buddy to work along with for these projects. I'm just never in step with anyone else.

Anyways, I had a successful evening strip sewing then cutting 45 degree angle strips to combine into diamond star points. I'm a pinner so I didn't hesitate to pin my strip seams, but I found it useful to rule and 1/4 inch line on the strips to help guide my seam matching after a few mis-alignments that ended with a destroyed set of strips. Good thing there was extra leftover from the strip sets to cut replacements! It's always better to have more than enough for those just in case moments.