Go Teal it on the Mountain #12

Look at what today’s squishy brought me in the mail.

Two lovely blocks from Gun, who can always be relied on for great imagination and wonderful fabrics 🙂

One of them combines teal with scrappiness, a brilliant combination – isn’t it a great block?  I love the fabrics in the other one too, especially the clouds and the basket-weave design.

Very soon, I’ll be able to show all the blocks I’ve received so far on the design wall, but just now it’s full of pink and orange.

Give me a week or so!

 

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Colours of Happiness #14: centre quilting completed

OK, that’s the hand quilting finished, loud cheers.

So we have the big centre starburst quilted with radiating diamonds, looking a bit like shattered fragments of glass. It’s a pleasing contrast between the spiky quilting and the soft, puffy, cuddly feel of the quilt.

In the little border cornerstones, there are tiny simplified lotus blooms, referring back to the Dresden plate flowers in the big outer corner-stones. In the 2 inch border around the centre there’s a simple zigzag, also like the outside of the large cornerstones. Works for me… the quilting doesn’t distract from the colour and layout, but it does hold the layers together nicely.

It looks good on the back too, which is always a bonus.

I’ve enjoyed the slow interlude of hand work, but it’s time to speed things up again. So, what’s next? Trim out the sections to get rid of the extra batting and backing, and then it’ll be time to cut the strips I need for joining all the quilted pieces together. Orange 1¾ inch strips for the back, and pink 1 inch strips for the front.

A nice change of pace from sitting at the dining table, hand quilting.

Go Teal it on the Mountain #11

And another! They’re coming thick and fast now…

This wonderful block is from Cathy, who has never made a quilt block before, but is giving us something totally ravishing! I love this desert mountain/pyramid, with a camel train passing below, under a gorgeous orange harvest moon. It’s all Midnight at the Oasis, isn’t it? I’m so delighted with this block, which brings a fresh and funky vibe to contrast beautifully with all the austere elegance we have so far. A little fun is an important highlight in a quilt like this, so if there’s anyone else out there wondering what to make, do consider something different and fun, or use some unexpected fabrics.

Cathy’s original block was irregularly shaped, as I’d offered to trim it out to the size and layout I needed. There’s actually a bit more cream below the camels, and a bit more on either side in case I want to adjust the positioning later on, when it’s quilted, but I’m giving you the main highlights of the design 🙂 I had to take off the very tip of the mountain in order to keep the camels, but I find them indispensable!

I’m blown away by the ambition, creativity and quality of work from the contributors who haven’t made quilt blocks before. Ladies, you rock!

And we’ll be happy to have you along again for the next quilt – assuming you enjoyed yourselves, of course 🙂

Go Teal it on the Mountain #10

And here’s yesterday’s squishy delight!

Emma has sent me two beautiful Mountain blocks, despite being incredibly busy with her new baby Clark. I think you can see from the fabrics in block 2 that Emma is a new mum and has Christmas on her mind a little… 🙂  These are such gorgeous happy fabrics – I’m especially in love with that dark teal ‘constellations’ print. Emma is a novice quilter but has splashed out bravely to create two lovely and unique mountain blocks for this quilt, and I’m delighted and grateful!

I’m also very grateful for the gift of two fun fat quarters, one a cute Christmas print and the other featuring another of Emma’s interests, knitting. Those sheep are such fun! Thanks for everything, Emma 🙂

I know there are some others in progress on the way, and I’ll be posting about those when they arrive.

These are blocks 17 and 18, so we’re approaching the two-thirds mark.

F²F³: October round-up

October was Moira’s month in F²F³.

Moira’s colour palette combined creams and various shades of brown, with a touch of greyish light blue, based on a décor fabric she’s selected to use in her home. It features beautiful barred feathers combined with delicate pale blue speckled eggs, and the effect is lovely.

This month everyone was a star and got their blocks off in good time.

November is Robin’s month. She’s chosen cerise and a darkish royal blue, with a touch of orange, and white backgrounds if necessary, and she’s also put up a block she’s already made in the Gallery to give everyone a bit of colour inspiration. She’s happy with any shade of those colours, whether it’s vivid or muted, so I’m happy, as I have plenty of bright pink and orange fabrics left over from my current quilting project!

If you want to see the finished blocks, go to the F²F 2018 gallery here, and if you want to check out the colour palettes, go to the Members/ Colours page here. F²F reference and finished block images are now maintained on a separate blog due to their image-heavy nature, and the home page is here, if you want to bookmark it or follow it. The galleries are a useful library of colour and block designs, and the previous session is also stored there.

Pink and orange: tick! Now, time to rummage for a bit of blue…

Bee, Myself and I #32

Only one block quilted this month, I’m afraid.

I have been putting a lot of work in elsewhere, so I’m not going to beat myself up about it 🙂

This is block 25, so there are only 5 left to go. I’ve quilted around each butterfly, both the colourful ones and the gold ones, and the effect is lovely: they’ve puffed up and look a little 3D. You don’t see it very well in the photo. You also can’t see how metallic the gold is, which catches the light prettily.

Bee, Myself and I is a forum for ‘selfish sewing’; any stitchery which is purely for pleasure and not to a deadline or for anyone else. The original concept belongs to Carla of Granny Maud’s Girl. To find out more, you can click through on either her blog link, or using the button a fair way down in the left hand column of this blog.

Till next time.

Go Teal it on the Mountain #9

And here’s one from the UK.

Margaret has made a block featuring her favourite fell peak, Catbells (aka Cat Bells). It’s a 451m/1480ft mini-mountain in Cumbria that gives amazing views over the Lake District, in the north of England. I love how she’s chosen fabrics to represent the mountain’s reflection in Derwent Water, and the upper part in cream looks like swirling clouds.

As you can see, Margaret has embroidered the peak’s name and height in feet, such a lovely detail. Another thing I really like is that this block is also a ‘portrait’ of a real mountain rather than an imaginary one.

This is the 12th block of the 30 required to complete the quilt.