Study from Home

2020 was not without its quilting study initiatives, so the posts that follow are a brief summary of ventures, not necessarily involving a quilt outcome; more for interest:

My Book Choice: Stitched in Color

In one of my Google “research” moments, I found a wonderfully coloured Bears Paw quilt and tracked it back to the book, “A Quilters Field Guide to Color” by Rachel Hauser.  The quilt’s owner had participated in a colour study exercise from Rachel’s book and followed along with her blog quilt-along too for even more tips and tricks.  Working effectively with colour has always been one of my weak spots “needing work”, so I quickly ordered a copy from Book Depository and in between other projects, started my own Bear’s Paw learning adventure.  I’ve wanted to do this block for ages but couldn’t decide on what colour the quilt should be. Now it will be all multi-coloured and happy!  And who would pass up the opportunity to learn more about colour on this journey.  Not me!

Of course, the book led to Rachel’s blog and her very generous tutorials, quilt-alongs and pattern offerings.  I’ve since decided to go back to the start of her blog to find out more.  In the meantime, I’ve also been hooked on Rachel’s Kingfisher EPP (English Paper Piecing) and have been cutting hexagon shapes from my scrap box.  I’m hoping at some stage to add to all this learning by putting together a colour wheel using a Carpenters Wheel block to hang in my Garden Shed.  Well, it’s a nice plan for 2021 perhaps…

My Tutorial Choice: Tula Pink’s EPP Series

To complement all this study, especially if you are into EPP, I found Tula Pink’s excellent series (made for the Fat Quarter Shop).  Tula shows in great detail how to best achieve very professional results (don’t lick the thread!) and look after your well-being at the same time.  Her three tutorials (the first goes for over 39 minutes) cover so much that I’ve watched them a number of times to make sure I didn’t miss out on anything.  I should add here, that I’m not a huge EPP fan, although I did enjoy putting together my hexi quilt all those years ago.  That said, I am open to small projects that use scraps like Rachel’s Kingfisher, so all I need to do now is to actually start stitching all those little 1” hexagons I’ve been busy cutting and hoarding…  

Loving Quiltmania (& My To Do List)

In the interests of economy and space, I’ve been busy downsizing lately and decided that Quiltmania was going to be my only subscription magazine.  Well, that and its sister publication, Simply Moderne.  Not an edition goes by without my adding at least one more project to my To Do List.  The magazines are great quality, offer a balance of news, articles and advertising, and contain more than enough projects to interest and challenge quilters of all levels of expertise. 

I’ve written about my To Do List before, but it’s essentially a list of the great unfinished kept in my UFO box and a note or two about progress (or otherwise).  I also record where the project is located if it’s not in the UFO box, so that I can find it if I suddenly have a rush of blood to the head and want to finish that something NOW.  I also add a list of those patterns I’m inspired to do or ideas that have inspired me to make a quilt.  Bearing in mind that I achieve about one finished quilt a year and have been quilting for over 35 years, that list is long; rather too long.  Now, I make this To Do List every year, as close to the start of the year as I can.  It helps me to organise myself.  (I have mentioned OCD tendencies before.)  In 2020, I couldn’t help myself and added a further few (too many) pages to my wish list by noting those projects from Quiltmania & Simply Moderne that tempted me.  I’ve been introduced to such luminaries as Sujata Shah, Brigitte Heitland, Kaffe Fassett and Rachel Hauser.  Of course, I’d need to live to 200 to finish them all and that’s not going to happen.  But it’s my happy place!  How inspiring and thank you so much Quiltmania.

Butterflies & Birds

Butterfly Garden: 2018  (Started: 2016)

A certain amount of dithering went on with this quilt.  Firstly, what to do for a first grand-daughter?  Then finding myself selecting a heap of charm squares in “just the right pinks” and finally, wavering between, not one, but three patterns.  Well, I was struck by the ever-so-cute quilt in Quiltmania (see info below) but found a fantastic tutorial by the ever-so-productive and ever-so-scrappy red pepper quilts.  From this RPQ tute, I was directed to Mrs Schmenkman Quilts and proceeded to cut merrily from all three directions.  This explains why some of the blocks are a little off.  Not to worry, it all went well once I had my nose firmly planted on the grindstone.  As one must when a 4^th birthday is close at hand…

Proof of a Start - taken 17 Mar 2016

2016 turned out to be not such a happy year for us as a family, so it wasn’t until the end (September) of 2017 that I finally pieced up all the blocks and added a border.  Once again, I just took sooo long to decide on a suitable border arrangement; finally settling on setting the blocks on simple white sashing to make the butterflies dance and a light green and yellow floral border - so fresh and citrusy.  At this same time, I also resolved to add something meaningful on the quilt and found the perfect solution in another Quiltmania Issue (details below).  Even if it meant more embroidery!

(Photos to follow when I find them - having cleaned up, they're momentarily "lost")

Found my photos at last however they are sadly in need of editing as the
colours are washed out (in the strong sunshine) or too dark (in the shade).
Hmmm! Who said life wasn't meant to be easy.... but they'll do for now!

However, before embroidering anything, I needed to baste the quilt.  I initially chose a natural shade but very quickly unpicked all my work when the whites in the quilt took on a yellow cast.  Hmmm!  Not clever.  My one day job turned into two and I re-basted on a white cotton batting.  Much better. 

Machine quilting also seemed to take forever, as it does on a small domestic but finally it was ready for me to add birth sampler details and of course, that lovely sentiment from another Quiltmania project in Issue #100:  “Having someplace to go is Home, Having someone to love is Family, Having Both is a Blessing”. 

Sadly, I seem to be in quilt limbo again.  Blame Spring and an urge to clean up that dreadful, disorganised mess my photographs have become over the years.  Weeks later and I’m only starting to surface from a bit of a high-tech (well, for me at least) frenzy.  So, everything’s nearly sorted.  And I'm hoping my photos of this quilt will appear soon.  To lift the spirits though, Mrs Maggie is warbling each morning, the Plovers are busy protecting chicks on the bowling green and all our Jacarandas are about to bloom into a perfect purple haze. 

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 150 x 168cm
Block Sizes: TBC  (but using 5” charm squares for a set of wings)
Cut in: Feb/Mar 2016
Pieced & Basted: by Jun 2018
Quilted: Machine Jul 2018
Quilt Type: Fresh & Modern
Quilt Finished: 25th July 2018
Exhibited: No
Collection: Gifted #018
Pattern Name: Mimi’s Butterflies p53
Pattern Source: Quiltmania #52 2006
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash and maybe a few little extras…
Fabric Design: Pinks and anything fresh
Fabric Style: Brights
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: White Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants
Embroidered Quotation: Quiltmania #100 2014 p54

Memory Lane

Memory Lane: 2017  (Started: 2015)

Hanging over my stairwell

For quite a few years now I’ve been besotted with the notion of finishing things and naturally, using up scraps.  Boxes of ‘old fashioned’ fabrics seem to multiply in my Garden Shed, almost before my eyes and to be honest, I was getting a little tired of it!  Especially when there are so many beautiful and colourful fabrics of offer – and on such a regular basis.  I’m tired of resisting…as you can understand!

Imagine my delight when in mid-2015, a fantastic and colourful scrap quilt by Jen Kingwell graced the cover of Quiltmania (of which I'm also a big fan).  Yahooie!  I’m Triangle Crazy too…  It was a perfect opportunity to get over my fug, warm up the machine and use up lots AND lots of scraps. 

After much chopping of left-overs, I decided to head off to rummage through a couple of patchwork shops for some kind of background to suit the scraps, which could at best be described as an exotic mix.  I finally settled on white with a pale green spot.  My Mum had saved some dress fabric scraps too, from a dress I’d made and long since discarded.  Perhaps it might now be even be considered vintage apparel.  Happily, there was enough to wiggle out some sashing strips.

I started piecing the quilt in October and had it basted by December (2015).  Not bad going.  I knew the delay was going to be in the quilting, but that’s another story. 

Appliques made by my Grannie in the 70's
(possibly from a Woman's Weekly pattern)

When the time came to make a signature block for the back, I used up a couple of appliques made by my Grandmother for an apron she was making.  I had a wonderful time going back down memory lane remembering my stay in her tiny but none-the-less jam-packed sewing room and her awful machine that used to try its best to regularly shock me (until I got wise and wore sandals).  Ahhh, memories!  That’s essentially how I chose my quilt’s name and why it’s dedicated to her.

There’s a lot of detail I don’t have access to right now, so at least I can share a photo or two (finally taken in 2017 after I'd finished it).  

Game for Colour

Spice Market: 2013

You can understand why I was smitten....

The moment I saw Colour Game in Quiltmania (2009 #72), I knew I had to have a go - one day.  Aside from the colours, I saw a fantastic opportunity to use those lovely fabrics I had coloured in 2002 at the dyeing workshop with Gail Simpson in Mittagong.  Great, FINALLY using up fabrics from the stash and especially those not so easy to incorporate - hand dyes.  I also had a small selection of stripes left over from my Delhi Days and they seemed just a perfect fit too.  I think I’d planned to do something else with them but as they say, strike whilst the iron is hot!

At last, in April 2013, I made a start (that's only a mere 4 years later!).  It was certainly challenging, although fun, to scour my fabric boxes for just the right prints to match my Indian stripes and colour wheel hand dyes.  I must add that this quilt was designed by Roberta Horton, who along with Mary Mashuta must be two of my all time favourite quilt (& clothing - sorry wearable art) designers. 

The pattern was just so easy to cut and I used my “design wall” to place them ready for sewing up.  The design wall helped so much because after a while you get a little “same block” crazy and pieces can end up upside down or mirror imaged.  It also helped me with positioning each individual row of colour – this is where most of your time goes.  The fabric I used for my patterned yellow row happens to be from a vintage piece given to me by my mother.  I suspect it may have once been tagged for a dress for one of us.  It was fairly sheer, so I had to back it as well.

Now for some reason, I decided to keep notes on what I was doing with this quilt but only after I’d found myself well and truly into the process.  Never done it before but it was interesting that I’d spent:

• 2 days finishing the piecing after starting in May,
• then a day to baste it, and
• finally to quilt it, 17 hours (roughly calculated) by machine, using 15 bobbins & 2 reels of Signature Cotton Threads (variegated).

To all this, it is necessary to add time to cut, sew and stitch bindings – a couple of days at least, and then an hour or two to embroider on my label.  How long I spent (at the start) contemplating the pattern deciding on fabrics, cutting and arranging them on my piece of beige flannelette (Kaffe specified, of course), I’ll never know.  And this will most probably be the first and last time I take such detailed construction notes.  There is more to life – unless you are a professional of course and charging to make a living.

I can't help but think this would make up beautifully in a collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics too.  I want to be clear here, that I am not a total Kaffe tragic!  Well, maybe not on Tuesdays…  ; )

Finally, here is my version, which I must say I am very happy with:

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 141 x 168cm
Block Sizes: 22cm
Cut in: Apr 2013
Pieced & Basted: Nov 2013
Quilted: Machine Dec 2013
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: December 2013
Exhibited: Never
Collection: Home# 057
Pattern Name: Colour Game
Pattern Source: Quiltmania #72, 2009 p65
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes & Hand Dyed
Fabric Style: Brights
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants

(Photos & measurements eventually.  I have to clean up my sewing room first!)

And a little close up to admire the machine quilting