Moroccan and Maple Leaf Quilts
It's back to work around here and, before I shower you with talk of the new makes, I want to share these quilts I made earlier this month. These featured as part of a 'trip around the world' theme on Sewing Quarter.
This design has a Moroccan tile influence, the colours and patterns give a rich jewel vibe too. The pops of pink add another dimension and create an interesting pattern themselves. It's a simple block I created using Creative Grids rulers. An important step in my quilt making process is to lay out all the blocks before piecing them together. With this quilt I rotated and moved the blocks around to create different looks. In the end I chose to have the corner blocks turned, it made interesting waves in the background.
The focal prints are Avalon by Joel Dewberry and I really like the mix of floral and geometrics, striking but also gentle.
The quilting emphasises the diamond pattern - straight line and cross hatch quilting with Aurifil thread. It's such a satisfying quilting pattern! Seeing those lines cross and meet. I always use my hera marker for this type of quilting, you can see my tips for cross hatch quilting here.
And, always a favourite for me, a Maple Leaf quilt. This one has such pretty colours, ranging from light pink to brown. Made with batiks, not my usual style, but the effect is super pretty! I don't pre-wash fabric but I always warn people to wash batiks (and vintage fabrics) carefully because they are notorious for colour bleed. I should have heeded my own advice because as I pressed the blocks I used some steam/spray of water and my ironing board now has red marks on it as a reminder!
I'm also obsessed with the border print, a great wood print by Lecien. It gives the quilt such a homely, rustic feel.
It's back to school next week, we are making the most of the days we have before the regular routine returns. Today we went to visit my Dad, had lunch and went picking blackberries. We actually did that a couple of weeks ago but now there were more ripe ones! We've come home armed with bags of berries, along with fresh veg from his garden. It really does taste so different from regular supermarket produce. I wish I had green fingers (or an inclination to want to garden!) because it would be lovely for us to grow our own. But then I've got even more reason to visit haven't I?! And I think I'll stick to sewing! Tonight I finished binding another quilt and so there will be more finishes to share with you soon.
magic of Malta
We travelled all the way to Malta and one of our waiters was from Liverpool!
Our family hasn't been abroad together since Lois was born so this holiday was a big deal. We went with my mum, step dad, sister and her family, it was a big group holiday. It worked so well, we all did our own thing, came together for certain activities and had built in babysitters for an evening out! The following post is my diary of our trip and so feel free to skip it if you aren't into that. I will say though that Malta's history and culture has completely inspired me and hopefully this glimpse will interest you...
The holiday started with a stay in Mellieħa on the main island of Malta. It was super hot when we arrived and so we decided to head to Malta's National Aquarium, which was fun with the kids. The exhibits were good, some nice interactive bits and actually some really funny elements throughout (worth reading the information screens). Then we were happy to spend time in the pool and the sea! It was glorious, here's the view:
The next day we headed to where we spent most of our visit, and took the ferry to the island of Gozo.
We stayed in Xaghra - a beautiful, fairly quiet part of the island - in a farmhouse next to the Ta' Kola Windmill!
This is the Nativity of Our Lady Church which stands in the town square, where most of the restaurants are. We ate at a couple of them and on our last night there was a rehearsal for the upcoming Festa (feast), we got to see all the local children dancing and acting out scenes. It was sweet to see and a shame we couldn't be there for the actual event.
Keen to explore we took a bus (or three!) to the town of Żebbuġ, where we were early for the celebrations (again!). It was the day of The Assumption of Our Lady Festa but we missed the morning part and decided it would be too late and difficult to get back if we stayed for the evening. Still it was amazing just to walk around, the landscape is so different to the UK.
sweet baby makes
I have a couple of cute baby projects to share that I made for Sewing Quarter in celebration of Natasha's baby shower recently.
This adorable hooded baby towel is based on one I had as a child, that my kids all used too! It's a combination of soft plush fleece fabric and towelling. Neither of which is easy to hand embroider but I used the brilliant Stitch-n-Tear with DMC perle cotton #5 and it worked really nicely!
festival of quilts 2018
Festival of Quilts is probably the highlight of the year for quilters in the UK. It's a chance to showcase talent and be inspired by the amazing display of quilts, an opportunity to meet up with friends and of course shop all the wonderful stalls and stands.
I have to admit I wasn't going to attend this year. I hadn't arranged to go with anyone, I was working Friday-Sunday and I've been so busy that it seemed almost impossible to take time off. And then there's my anxiety, no small thing but it makes it very easy to convince myself to stay at home. Later on I will explain why I chose to go but I am SO glad that I did. In fact next year I might try and attend every day if I can find a way to wangle it! (Shout if anyone needs me to work a stand!).
Last year I was in full blogger mode, taking pictures of lots of quilts and my very important reason for going was to meet my quilting guru and friend Clare. Read about that here.
This year was very different and I'm going to share what made it great for me. Firstly I ran into Di on the long walk to the festival hall, it was awesome to see someone I love and be able walk and talk together, she even treated me to a coffee before we went in!
Next I made a decision just to experience the day, only photographing things if I really felt like it, rather than trying to capture everything. I'm so glad I did that. Phone down, eyes up.
Christmas in July
I realise that some people are very prepared for the festive season and there are beautiful homes that are seasonally decorated throughout the year. As much as I admire that preparedness and seasonal living, it isn't something I've done much of. We have banners for certain celebrations, I made pretty spring bunting (free tutorial here) and, of course, we have Christmas decorations. Part of the reason I haven't taken the plunge into changing up the quilts and cushions we use depending on the season is because we don't have a lot of storage space! Despite that though I think it is lovely to be able to celebrate at different times of the year and to have things around the house that represent those special days or changes in season. Today I'm sharing some makes I created for 'Christmas in July' on Sewing Quarter. What I really like about these projects is that they could all be used throughout the year (with maybe a tweak or two!).
I made the Snow Crystals quilt pattern by Pam and Nicky Lintott. It's 72" square and is made up of a lot of HSTs. It's one of those quilts that the more you look, the more different sections stand out and the play of colour value results in a cool 3D appearance.
The pattern it creates is really striking and I like how the corner sections really frame the quilt well. It almost looks like staggered cubes and blocks.
Blue and white is such a classic combination (a close second to red and white in quilts I think?) and, while it has an icy snowflake look, it certainly doesn't scream Christmas! It would go perfectly with blue and silver decorations when it's that time of year though.
Next is a Bargello Christmas tree skirt, designed by Sally Stevens. I managed to get a picture of the back as I was making it but not the finished item - then I got a brilliant shot of Vicki wearing it so there's that below too! I wanted to show the back because that swirl looks so good. It could easily become a table cover if you covered the hole in the middle with an appliquéd circle of fabric. And if it were made with various shades of red, you could create a lovely ombre swirl and then again it could be used year round.
It now occurs to me that I sound lazy not wanting to change up the home decor (that might have something to do with it!) but for those of us with already full houses it makes sense not to have to pack everything away!
The final Christmas make I'm sharing uses a favourite, traditional Dresden Plate cushion. This pattern is by Kristyne Czepuryk and cleverly uses extra wadding to give the Dresden centre and outer sections more dimension.
The fabric is the Joyeux collection by Makower and I like that they've used bright pink and lime in a Christmas range, just look how fun these reindeers are with different coloured noses!
If I were to make this as a 'permanent but could be festive' cushion I would make it with neutral colours that had touches of metallics (like Modern Background Luster by Zen Chic). That way it could live happily looking chic throughout the year and then more Christmassy when surrounded by glittery tinsel!
While one day I might have more space to get creative with makes for every occasion, for now I will make do with bunting, flowers, candles and sewn projects that suddenly look festive in combination with those smaller decorative touches!
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