Blogger's Quilt Festival - Original Design - Charm Dash

I am entering a second quilt in to the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I am very proud of my Charm Dash quilt - given it is my first ever released Pattern - so I am entering it in to the Original Design category!

 

Those of you who have been around here for a while would know I released my Charm Dash pattern about a month ago, but for those of you who are new here (You'll find some captivating information about me and my work up there in the "Who is Ms Midge" section  ^^^^) - here's the low down!  The Charm Dash came to be after the first Aussie Charm Swap I ran, with Kate Spain fabrics.  I was left wondering how to use my 5" charm squares without wasting ANYTHING?  After tossing and turning one night, I spent the morning drawing up a block, which would go on to be the Charm Dash block and a whole quilt!

 

The block is a bit of a mutant churn dash - except that you are using 5" charm squares and not wasting a single inch of fabric.  

 

It is perfect for showcasing your favourite fabrics - and in my case, the Kate Spain collection of prints was a stunning example of how fabrics from a multitude of collections can mix beautifully.

 

I pieced and quilted the whole quilt using my trusty Aurifil #2024 in a 40wt.  The free motion pattern is what I'd like to call "vines", but you can call it whatever you like!

The backing is a very simple on fabric finish - but oh, what a fabric!

This quilt made me believe that I could actually reallllly be original and come up with some of my own quilty ideas!  Which in turn led me to designing my Pavement Puddles quilt.  So I guess you could say it was the start of a whole new beginning!

A BIG thank you to Amy's Creative Side for always putting on a fabulous quilt show!  You can check out the Festival main page HERE.  Make sure you allocate yourself a few hours to get through all the quilty eye candy!  And you can also nominate your favourite quilts HERE!

QUILT STATS:

Designed & pattern made by Me!

Size: 50" x 62.5"

Fabric: Kate Spain Charm squares & White Homespun

Quilting:  By Me on my Bernina

Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil 40wt in #2024

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Large Quilt - Pavement Puddles

I'm being very brave and throwing my hat quilt in the ring Blogger's Quilt Festival!  If you're new here to my blog - WELCOME!  You'll find some captivating information about me and my work up there in the "Who is Ms Midge" section  ^^^^

I have a lot of quilts, yes, but the quilt I'm putting forward for the Large Quilt category is my 

Pavement Puddles.....

I designed this quilt under a little bit of pressure - from myself mostly - to come up with something original for my first ever magazine submission.  I was thrilled with the end result and loved the way the colours mixed from tone to tone and through the cool colour spectrum.  It reminded me of the puddles on the pavement after a sun shower!  I was also incredibly impressed with my mathematical ability...... As I designed the pattern all by myself!

It was also my first attempt at any type of hexagon!  It may not be a traditional hexie - but nobody has ever called me traditional, so I can live with that.....

The backing is a very simple, yet effective layout.

And all of the puddles have been straight line quilted using varying shades of my favourite Aurifil 40wt threads!

I had an absolute ball photographing Puddles......as you can tell from the above photo!  I had a couple of wonderful "assistants" who just happen to be expert bed jumpers!

I said goodbye to this quilt yesterday!  It was gifted to one of my wonderful BFF's for her 40th birthday, and I'm very happy to report that she sent me photos of it last night, settled in to its new home.  

A BIG thank you to Amy's Creative Side for always putting on a fabulous quilt show!  You can check out the Festival main page HERE.  Make sure you allocate yourself a few hours to get through all the quilty eye candy!  And you can also nominate your favourite quilts HERE!

QUILT STATS:

Designed & pattern made by Me!

Size: 51" x 74.5"

Fabric: Horizon by Kate Spain & Peppered Cotton by Studio E

Quilting:  By Me on my Bernina

Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil 40wt in various colours

The pattern for this quilt is published in Issue One of Make Modern Magazine.

Kate Spain Charm-along Winners!

I'm so sad to see the charm-along ending today!  But I'm so very excited to see all of the UH-mazing projects that were linked up!  You seriously have to go and check out each and every one of them.  The way one set of 5" squares can be turned in to so very many different things is inspiring!  You can find them all on the linky HERE.

But for now - feast your eyes on the seven fabulous winners, who were all chosen by Random.org (because I basically could not choose a favourite - it would be like asking me who my favourite child was!?!?).  Here we go.....

1. Gina Coetzer

A $50 Voucher OR a Kate Spain Solstice Jelly Roll from fabricgarden.com.au

2.  Sandie Beach

Mystery Bundle from Gnomeangel.com

3.  Jayne Maddern


$20 Voucher to spend at Patternsonly.com

4.  Jenny Doyle

FQ bundle of Daisies 'n such from katequilts.com

5.  Handmade By Susie

12 FQ Solids bundle from kelliottmagic.com

6.  Chrissy Deacon

MerlyLou Designs Spring Cushion Pattern & Woollen Felt Kit

AND....... Drum Roll..........

A little pressie from Kate Spain herself!

7. Tina Fledderus

I want to do a HUGE shout out to all the wonderful charm swappers who not only took part in the charm swap (both here and the US, cos I know we had some Americans joining us!) but also jumped in and used their charms!  It has been so lovely knowing that the swap was the catalyst for creativity, and for some - a reason to start sewing again!  I have loved each and every part of it!

Another HUGE shout out to all the fabulous Aussie sponsors - please go and check out their businesses!

And also a big shout out to Kate Spain!  Kate (and Pete) has answered many an email from me, and has always been fabulous in her replies and sharing of information!  You are very generous, and I appreciate the time you have taken to be involved!  Mwah!

Ok - where to from here?  Tomorrow...........

Be sure to be around technology mid morning...... Sign ups for the next Aussie Charm Swap will open!

See you then!

Kate Spain Charm Along Linky Party!

All of this Kate Spain charm fun had to come to an end eventually, and I'm afraid now is the time!  I have thoroughly enjoyed the charm swap and the creating with all those beautiful fabrics, and am pleased to show you ONE of my finished projects!  The other one will be unveiled later this week.  But for now, I give you Kate Spain Hexed....

This lovely little wall hanging consists of 66 charms from the swap and a couple of half hexies from my stash of other KS lovelies.  I had already finished off a quilt top using the other 46 charms, and wondered what to make with these.  I then found the half hexie templates I bought over a year ago hiding in my drawer, and thought I'd give them a go.

 

And for my first ever attempt at any type of hexie, I must say, I really love them.  Even though my templates are really made for 2.5" strips or longer lengths of fabric, they just fit on the charm squares, and only just cut off the edges of the hexies at the bottom.  But this actually worked fine!  I love the preciseness of the points where they join.

 

I quilted it using a beautiful creamy gold Aurifil #2000.  I started off in the centre and worked my way outwards in a "bloom" pattern.  It adds some pretty superb texture!  Around the borders I added some pebbles in a zig zag motion and then outlined them with some straight lines.  I love the effect it has given.

 

The backing is the last of an Ikea print I bought a couple of years ago.

This will be hanging somewhere in my house - I'm not sure where yet!  But I love that I'm going to have a reminder of my first ever charm swap!

Now - it's your turn!  I have rounded up these amazing Australian sponsors, with fabulous prizes for some lucky charm-alongers!  All you have to do is link up your project at the bottom of this post before 5pm WEDNESDAY THE 6TH OF AUGUST, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TIME, and the winners will be chosen and announced Wednesday night here on the blog.

A $50 Voucher OR a Kate Spain Solstice Jelly Roll from fabricgarden.com.au

Mystery Bundle from Gnomeangel.com

$20 Voucher to spend at Patternsonly.com

FQ bundle of Daisies 'n such from katequilts.com

12 FQ Solids bundle from kelliottmagic.com

MerlyLou Designs Spring Cushion Pattern & Woollen Felt Kit

AND....... Drum Roll..........

A very special prize for one of the Aussie Charm Swappers - from Kate Spain herself!  Horizon charm pack, Kate Spain Journal and Playing Cards!

An InLinkz Link-up

W.I.P. Wednesday - KS

Amongst a million other projects I've managed to start, I have two very special WIP's that are almost at basting stage.  My Kate Spain charms are actual works in progress!

 

This, my friends, is my first ever foray in to hexies!  I dared to hashtag them #cheating on IG last week, but was told I certainly am not cheating!  Yay for me.  Anyways, this little quilt top came about when I was left with about half of my charms from this next project......

Which is super top secret - hence the very small sneak peek!  I HAD a love/hate relationship with this quilt top - loving it because of all the KS and hating it because it is the project that caused "Bernina-Tantrum-gate".  But yesterday I had a little brainwave, which ended with me adding some borders and falling in love all over again.  I will hopefully have this project finished and ready to show you all - ALONG WITH A PATTERN!!! - in the next week or two!  Stay tuned.....

P.S. - Tomorrow on the blog - A table basting tutorial!

I'm linking up with Little White Dove - You can too!

Kate Spain Charm Along - Progress Report!

Wow!  There have been some very busy bees this past week!  Here are some fabulous progress photos from some of the members of the Aussie Charm Swap.......  I'm sure there are some others of you out there who are participating in the Charm-along as well, and I can't wait to see what you're all making with your Kate Spain charms!  There's less than two weeks left until it's time to link up your projects and be in the running for all the AMAZING prizes from the sponsors!  Now - two weeks is a long time in my world - so if you've been under a rock and haven't heard about the Kate Spain Charm-along, then you need to READ THIS and get started STAT!!!!  Make sure you also go and check out all the fab sponsors and see why I chose to work with wonderful Australian peeps!

On to the pretty pictures.......

Clockwise from top left:  Bridie has started with something simple (!?!?!?), little old hexies!  Molli is throwing a plethora of ideas around as he battles it out with his head on which one to go with!  Susanne's crosses mixed with the low vol prints are just divine!  And that other project there - well, that's mine!  I pulled out some templates for half hexies I bought last year and gave them a crack!  I finished a little quilt top today.....

Clockwise from top left:  Jill has been tumbling.  Emma has her quilt top well and truly on its way.  Sandie will now be known as the HST Queen.  And Chrissy is making bags!

Amy has well and truly got her entry sorted, with this gorgeous Honey Honey quilt!  Love!

And Alyce has made this gorgeous table runner from some of her favourite KS prints.  

As of this afternoon, I now have TWO quilt tops made from my Charm Swap package.  TWO!  I am hoping to have them basted and ready to quilt for a sit and sew day on Saturday (my first ever time at a sit and sew day!?!).  Wish me luck! 

If you're participating in the Charm-Along, be sure to let me know, and send me some photos of your progress!

Kate Spain Charm-Along - How U Doin???

It's been a whole week since the Kate Spain Charm-Along was launched!  Can you even believe?  I can.....it's been a week of pain in terms of not being able to get all the sewing I wanted to get done because of Ms Bernina's hissy fit.  I picked her up Thursday afternoon, got a few hours sewing done and then BAMM, she laid down again started snapping threads again!

Moving right along.....

My fellow charm-along'ers are doing a fabulous job with their charm squares!  So I thought I best whet your appetites.....

Jo from Riddle & Whimsy has well and truly put the foot down and FINISHED her quilt!  What???  How divine is it?

Keera from Live Love Sew has also been busy, with her quilt top complete.  I love all the white against the prints!  Keera has a tutorial coming for this very design.  Nice!

Jenny Doyle is one of the Aussie Charm Swappers, and I am loving her use of the Drunkard's Path blocks.

Luisa is another swapper and is doing a superb job with these twister blocks!  Imagine all the cutting!

And Tina - yep, my swappers are on fire - has made a few items, including this beautiful cushion cover.

And last but certainly not least - Quilt Jane has done it again!  I have a serious quilt crush on everything Jane does, and this one is no exception!  Swoon!

I'm so utterly impressed with everyone's enthusiasm!  If this is the first you've heard of the Charm-along, then you best go READ THIS POST for full details!  There are SEVEN amazing prizes up for grabs from wonderful Australian sponsors AND Kate herself!  Go!

So - are your charming along with us?  How are you going?  Tell me!
xxx