The Power of Three - A Finished Quilt

There I was, saying I was back into blogging and it takes me over a month to write my next post.  Oh well, I am true to my word in saying I am getting back into blogging, albeit if I am delayed doing so.

My quilt for triplet boys is finished and I call it The Power of Three.  It's a big quilt and will be used as a play mat and as the background for baby photos.  

As it's so big I found it difficult to photograph, so you will have to piece it together in your mind from the photos I've included to get a true feel for the quilt.

My favourite part of the quilt is the rainbow border, which was an unnecessary addition but which I think makes it more fun and frames the whole quilt.  I opted for a black binding so as not to imbalance the rainbow effect and I think it makes the whole quilt dramatic.

The backing is some lovely fabric by Robert Kaufman but I am not certain of its name.  It has astronauts, space shuttles, planets and stars on it and the bright colours and fun images are a happy backing.

More quilting posts coming up soon and this backing fabric will be making another appearance then.

Elephant and Spots: a finished quilt

I've taken a bit of a detour from my recent scrappy quilts to make this elephants and spots quilt for a friend's baby boy, but as I used fabrics which I've had in my stash for about a year I feel good about not making new purchases.

I started off making ten log cabin blocks but then I felt that it was just too similar to a recent quilt so  I then added the Battenberg blocks.  This means that I will be putting those four remaining log cabin blocks into another quilt soon, and there are still a lot of the elephant fabrics left to add to them as well.

For the quilting I kept it simple - tramlines.  They're just so speedy, but look good.  The binding is a red and white houndstooth, which I think goes really well with some of the elephant red and white check ears.  It goes nicely with the red dots on the backing.  I acquired this houndstooth fabric only this week.  A friend of a friend was getting rid of some fabrics (much of it scraps) and I took a lot of it off her hands (I'm good like that!)

Now I cannot wait to give it to my friend.  I meet her little boy on Sunday and I am really excited.  I hope she likes the gift.

Thanks for visiting.

Elephant quilt: A quilt in progress

Last week a friend had a baby boy and I am going to meet him on Sunday, so I need to get a quilt made.  I've had these elephant and dot prints by Birch Fabrics for a while and had been holding on to them for a special project.  These cottons are all organic and they feel fantastic; you can feel the quality immediately.

I'm putting together two different kinds of blocks, log cabin and what I call the  "Battenberg" block.  The log cabin blocks are finished and look cute.  I will work on the Battenberg blocks today and they will be made from all the elephant fabrics.

It's all rather simple, but I think it is going to look lovely.

Thank you for visiting.

Log cabin quilt: A finished quilt

I have worked like a demon to finish a quilt in three days and I am so pleased with the result.  These are not colours I usually work with; I think yellow can be tricky and yet I am in love with the yellows here and their interaction with the pink and green.  I think there is a really vibrant look to this quilt.

Log cabin is a favourite quilt pattern of mine, but I especially like it when you are not too strict about the dark and light effect.  I like to abandon the traditional to make the pattern more modern.  I'm glad that I put the different cats from Hello Petal by Aneela Hoey in the centre of each block.  I think it makes everything join together somehow.

This week I had a trip to Ikea and bought some fabric, Britten Nummer, which I have seen backing other quilts, but I am happy to join that bandwagon; it's modern and distinctive, as well as a really good price.  I think handwritten text on fabric works really well on the back because the cats on the front also have their names handwritten.  (I may have bought a few metres of this, so I have to use it up.)

I've loved working with these fabrics and am pleased with the overall result, but I am also happy to see this quilt go.  It is going on my Etsy store and is available for sale here.  Let's hope someone likes the colours and cats and makes a purchase.

Thank you for visiting.

Stash diving

I may have been sewing for only two years, but in that time I have amassed a fairly substantial fabric stash.  Even though I sew most days the stash keeps growing and growing and I keep needing more boxes and storage solutions.  Admittedly, it's a nice dilemma to have, but at the moment I seem to be developing a different relationship with my stash and I want to reduce it and enjoy working with all the beautiful fabrics I own.

My recent scrap quilt used scraps throughout, and I thought it was successful both as a quilt but also for getting the ball rolling at reducing the stash.  But now I'm looking at fat quarters and wanting to start on them as well.  Today I've started a log cabin quilt using these lovely fabrics.

The two white fabrics have been used in my Cathedral Windows quilt, but everything else is new and has been waiting for its day in the sun.  I've only made two blocks so far, but I love the way they have turned out and I know that it won't be long until they are a complete quilt to show on here.

It's quite a big deal for me to rely on stash for a project, but it is also quite liberating.  These fabrics are all nice on their own, but put them into a quilt and that's when they really get to shine.  I sometimes need to remind myself that I will get to enjoy the fabrics most when they are cut up and then pieced together.  Fabric is great but it's what you do with it that makes it cool.  Stash diving is a revelation.

Finito

This is not one of my favourite quilts, but it is for one of my favourite people, my nephew Romeo, so for that reason I am pleased it is finished and I know he is going to be thrilled when it arrives in the post tomorrow.  He made a request for all the elements in this quilt (elephants, lions, cars, diggers, football, Manchester United, the colour red).  I must love him because I am not a fan of Manchester United and yet there is just so much Manchester United insignia on here.

I struggled to get the quilt photographed as a whole quilt because as I headed outside with the camera it started to drizzle, so I was forced indoors.  Essentially it's two large log cabin blocks which are joined with a Manchester United cushion cover I acquired and cut to pieces.

The binding is scrappy binding and is made from the remnants of the red fabrics.  I don't use red much so I am glad I made good use of it here because I don't want lots of it hanging around and taking up valuable fabric storage space.

You may have noticed the Manchester United badge which I have appliqued on five times.  I would like to say this was always intended and is a design feature, but that would be a lie.  I made a couple of stitching mistakes so I used these to cover them up but I think it adds to the overall quilt in the end and makes the front match the back a little more.

Manchester United haven't had much success recently so there has been less for Romeo to celebrate.  Here's hoping this puts a smile on his face.

It's not me, it's you

Last year my nephew, Romeo, made a request for a quilt.  His sisters had already received a quilt each and he was quite clear that it was now his turn.  He wrote a list of things he wanted in his quilt and I promised I would make it.  The list read: football, elephants, lions, trucks, cars, Manchester United and the colour red.  That's quite a quilt!  And I don't think these things go easily together, but a promise is a promise and I began to source fabrics and put them together as two large log cabin blocks.

So far, so good, but then I lost momentum and did not want to work on this quilt.  I wanted to work with prettier fabrics where colours work well together.  I procrastinated and used the excuse of no Manchester United backing as my excuse for not completing it.  However, it turns out Romeo had not forgotten his quilt and mentioned it a few times to my sister (his mum) and my Grandma to remind me.

Then last week my sister sent me this photo and I was guilt-tripped because poor Romeo is using his sisters' quilts because he does not have his own!

I quickly got my act together, bought a duvet from eBay to cut up for the backing and have now begun the quilting.  I do not love this quilt but I do love Romeo and I know this quilt is probably the most eagerly anticipated so I am determined to finish it as soon as possible so when I next see him he receives it.