Sunday Stash & Dash

I'm pleased to say I haven't made any SUBSTANTIAL purchases of fabric in recent weeks.  A few metres here and there of Homespun for quilt backs and this little bundle of yummy.....

I bought this AMH yardage from Jodi at Tickle & Hide (she's having another destash on IG tomorrow!) and will use it for my Modern Medallion backing.  She threw in the other goodies which was just lovely!

I'll class these as stash additions, because hey, doesn't everyone need cookies and chocolate to sew?!?!  The Kate Spain Aussie Charm Swap is in full swing, and the lovely Amy popped these in with hers - they will be most appreciated whilst sorting five billion charm squares!

Speaking of sorting - this is what charm square madness looks like people.  56 piles of fabric goodness.  It's FRIGGING hard work!!!!  But the end result will be UH-mazing!!

And just quickly....... a late night pic off my phone last night, to illustrate how wonderful surprises can be hiding in your stash.  This is the oh-so-divine Koi fabric range, and has been sitting patiently on my shelf awaiting a project.  What better time for inspiration to hit than a Saturday evening??  It was all chopped up, and today I put a whole quilt top together!  I will share it with you all on Wednesday.  All I will say is this - my bestest friends in the world better bloody love me!

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Modern Medallion Quilt Along - Week One

This week has brought the beginning of the Modern Medallion Quilt Along!  And for those of you playing along, I thought I'd give you a quick rundown of how the first step of this pattern went for me, along with a couple of tips/pointers.

First of all - make sure if you are using low volume fabrics in your quilt that you have a TONNE of them!  I was really worried about not having enough, until I did my fabric pull and found 37 fat quarters!  Doh!  I am at the finish line now and can tell you that I have used half to three quarters of each fat quarter!  That's a lot of low volume!

If you are unsure what qualifies as low volume, here's my take - any pale/light background fabric that has a print on it!  So they could be anything from white to pink/blue etc, as long as they are a pale tone.  One trick to help can be taking a photo of your fabrics, then editing it to black and white, and you will be able to pick out the lighter and darker tones.

Now, on to the construction.

 

The pattern calls for lots of Improvisation piecing and wonkiness.  I can tell you now that this has been incredibly difficult for me to embrace!  Drawing up my NYB Contest paper piecing patterns was excruciating, and took lots of patience.  I DID NOT use a compass or anything trace-able - I literally free hand drew them.  As you can obviously see above!  The one thing I could not let go however, was the points.  I am a strong believer in triangle points not being lost!!!

The sewing together of the arcs with triangles was super easy - I would like to think I am a pretty advanced paper piecer, so it did not worry me at all.  But the arcs.  THE ARCS!!!!!!  I am also a pretty experienced curves put-together-er, but this had me absolutely freakin stumped!  Because I had no pattern as such, I just could not get the sizing of the fabric pieces correct, and was incredibly grateful for a two hour lunch date with a friend that day.  I'd already unpicked the black centre piece twice before lunch, but returned home with a calmer exterior and curved the s*it out of it!!

So my biggest tip for this part of the pattern - PATIENCE.  Take is slow.  Have your unpicker close by ;)

This is how my centre medallion looked when finished....

As you can see - the wonkiness was well and truly pulled off!  If I had to do it again, I think I would have used four different fabrics for the centre pieces - but - I still love it!

Pop over to Schnitzel & Boo later on today, where Kristi will share her week of 

Modern-Medallion-ing!

And if you stop by here on Monday, I will have a tutorial for you for the drunken geese border!  Have a fabulous weekend! xxx

I Quilt - Party Over Here!

Truth be told - I'm feeling like a bit of a blog-hosting-hussy of late!  But a blog friend has to do what a blog friend has to do......  And tonight, Ms Gemma from Pretty Bobbins is feeling rather poorly, so the I Quilt party is being held here!  Go throw your quilts in the air and shake em like you just don't care!  Ok, maybe not.....

Lucky for you I managed to stop off at the local park this afternoon, dodged the rain and froze my butt off - but got some lurvely photos of my latest finish.

I found a Vintage Modern charm pack amongst my stash a few weeks ago, and thought it would be perfect for the upcoming "I See Red" Showcase over at Harley Barley on FB.

It is a VERY simple design - all HST's laid out in a simple row, with a couple of red pinwheels thrown in the mix for added interest!  The little peep border is a first for me, and I just love what it brings to the quilt.

I've backed it in a green homespun I had here on my shelf - and I promise it's not all puckered and bunched up!  It had been folded for a week or two, and I didn't think to iron it before heading out!

I really love that a simple 42 piece charm pack can be turned in to something so beautiful.  My Aussie Charm Swap mates and I are pinning ourselves silly at the moment on my Charm Square LOVE Pinterest board.  Pop by and have a look!

This quilt has a finished size of 40" x 46" - perfect for a cot/toddlers quilt or a child's lap quilt.  It will be available to purchase on the 18th of June!

Now - I mentioned last week that I had lost my FMQ-jo.  This little project was the one that lead me to that conclusion.  I was so sad.  I wanted to free motion to heck out of it, but just couldn't get myself together, and instead went with some straight lines through the blocks.  I did manage to do a little swirly pattern around the outer border, which I think is darling and suits this pretty little quilt.  And I used my favourite Aurifil #2024 50wt thread to both piece and quilt.

Since then, I have purchased myself an extension table for my Bernina.  I've set it up and have had it in place whilst piecing a few blocks this past week, but am finding it strange to get used to.  I'm hoping with time, it will become part of my regular setup and will make quilting SOOOO much easier!?  Time will definitely tell - as I have two quilts tops ready to baste and quilt!

So tell me - how do you get your sew-jo or FMQ-jo back when it's gone on hiatus??  And have you changed your quilting set up in order to help?  Did it take a while to get used to?

SPILL!

Please link your quilty process below and visit three other linkers - it's always nice to share the love!

P.S.  Anyone notice anything different around here?? ;)

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Sunday Stash - Incidentals.....

Some additions to the stash, I think, can just be written off as "incidentals".  Or "accidentals".  Here's a couple I think you will understand.....

I didn't plan on gaining this UH-mazing bundle of Nightshade....but hey.  I just happened to be chatting to my lurvely friend Jane - aka Quilt Jane - on FB one night, discussing her super fabulous Nested Churn Dash block.  Which lead to a discussion on Tula Pink........which lead to me saying I had been been trying to get my hands on some Nightshade.......and next thing I know - I've bought myself some!  Soooooo lucky to have such wonderful quilty friends!

And ummmmmm, this really was an accidental purchase!  I went to the sewing shop to get myself a better FMQ foot - and knowing it was the last day of the Bernina sale, I sort of started looking in all sorts of directions once I got in there.  And then sort of asked whether they had any of the extension tables.  And then bought one.

I am looking forward to many many hours of joy bonding with this perspex beauty.  And hoping it will help me gain my confidence back so I can free motion bigger quilts again!

Whilst I have your attention - Just a little reminder that the Modern Medallion Quilt Along has officially kicked off today!  Stay tuned for lots of updates on my progress, and next week will be my stop on the blog hop!  Go and check out Crystal's post today!

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Radiating Sparklers - A Tutorial

Many months ago, I promised you all a tutorial for a little block I like to call "Radiating Sparkler".  Well, today is the day!

I first came across this block whilst doing the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery Block of The Month.  And instantly fell in love with it!

When it came to thinking about which block I would like my QCA Bee #5 to make for me back in March, I kept coming back to this block.  After an extensive search on the interwebs, with no results, I ended up emailing Kate Spain, who is the fabulous designer of this block, and asked her permission to share her tutorial with my Bee.  Kate very graciously replied and gave me the thumbs up!

I got cracking and made up my "radiating colour" version of the block to see if it would actually work!  And it did!  So here is my twist on Kate Spain's "Sparklers" block design.  I hope you like it!

Let's go!

 

The first task is finding five fabrics in the same colour, but different shades.  You want a good progression from light to dark/bright.  You don't need much fabric for each block, a fat eighth is plenty big.  You also need a background fabric, for my blocks, I am using white.

Then it's time to cut:

Now let's get sewing!  Use a scant 1/4" seam.

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the fabric L squares and Fabric F squares.  

With right sides facing, layer a fabric L square on the left end of a fabric I rectangle.

Stitch on the drawn line and trim 1/3" away from the seam.  (This is how you will trim the other blocks that ask for same instructions).

Press to one side.  Then take your fabric F square and place on the other end of the rectangle, sewing along the marked line.

Trim and press.  This gives you your first two blocks.  They should measure 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".  Put to one side.

Draw a diagonal line on your H fabric squares and right sides facing, lay on to a Fabric K square and Fabric D square.

Stitch 1/4" on either side of the marked line to make four HST's.

Cut down the middle on the marked line and press.  These blocks should measure 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".

Assemble your F/I/L block and your D/H block as shown on the left.  Then take your K/H blocks and attach to your M square as shown on the right.

Assemble those three blocks together as shown above.  Put to one side.

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong sides of the fabric C squares.

Place them on top of the right sides of your fabric E rectangles, with the line facing as shown above.  Stitch on the drawn line.

Draw a diagonal line on your fabric G squares, then place on top of your fabric A rectangles as shown above.  Stitch on the drawn line.

Trim and press as show above.  These should measure 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

Trim and press as above.  These should measure 3 1/2" x 4 1/2".

Draw a diagonal line on your fabric J squares.  Place on top of your G/A blocks as shown above and stitch on the line.

Trim and press as shown above.

Assemble the last two blocks together as shown above.  These should measure 3 1/2" x 6 1/2".

Take all of your finished blocks and assemble them as shown above, adding in your fabric B squares.  I sew my the top three, middle three and bottom three together, and then sew the three rows together.

And you're finished!  The finished block should measure 12 1/2" square!

And when you receive all your bee blocks, and throw in a few mini sparklers - you get this!  I will have a little old tutorial for the mini sparklers in a couple of days for you!

So - what do you think?  Will you be making some radiating sparklers for yourself??  If you do, then be sure to show me!  Use the hashtag #radiatingsparkler on IG and FB!

Have a wonderful weekend! xx

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T.G.I.F.F. Party Over Here!

I'm playing Hostess with the Mostess today!  So welcome!  I have a bright and sparkly reveal that has been months in the making.....

You see, back in February, I found a block I loved and wanted to use for my month as Queen in my quilting bee.  I had to be resourceful and literally go straight to the source.....

And then re-write the tutorial to suit my block with a twist....

I like to call it the "Radiating Sparkler"!  I actually received 14 of these gorgeous blocks and made two myself.  So what happened to the four blocks not used in this quilt top?  Well, they have been joined together and will be made in to a big and bright cushion.  A very big THANK YOU to my lovely QCA Bee #5 friends!

I ummed and ahhed whether to put sashing in between the blocks, but reallllly liked the point on point vision!  To make it up to lap size, I added some borders and little mini sparklers as corner stones.  I absolutely ADORE how it's turned out and can't wait (well, I will wait) to get it backed, basted and quilted!

And tomorrow?  Well, tomorrow I will pop the tutorial up here on the blog for all of you!  So you can go forth and make your own Radiating Sparklers!  Remember to pop back in and check it out.

Now it's your turn to show your finish or finishes for the week.  Be sure to include a TGIFF button or link back to the party so everyone else can find it too!  And of course - pop in to some of the other party animals and share the comment love!

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