Monday, January 31, 2011

Baskets are tops

I'm very happy with this version .... once all quilted up, it will be a lovely summer quilt. DH wanted me to hang this up in our dining room right away even though it is not finished. Soon it will come down and be marked up for hand quilting. Oh yes, I am thrilled with this one! :o)The size is 96" square. Once all quilted up, washed and dried ... it will not be hanging on the floor any more.

My pattern source: EQ6
My inspiration: all those other basket quilts that have been shown on the web. I believe the original designers are from Blackbird Designs.

Have a great day!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Questions about my quilts

Lately, I have been receiving questions about some of my quilt patterns and have been unable to respond because of no-reply addresses to your comments. So, here goes ...

My hearts top was designed using EQ 7. Finished top size is: 39-1/2" x 55". You can use any heart applique that will fit into a finished 6" x 6" square.

The heart blocks are 6-1/2" x 6-1/2" (seam allowance included) and you will need to add the triangles around so that you can place them on-point. I'm not sure what the finished block size would be as that pattern has been deleted from my computer.

The sashing and corner blocks are 2" finished. The borders could be either 2-1/2" or 3" finished, but they can be made any size. If you are good at math, you will be able to pull this quilt together. Now, my Just Blessings is a bit more complicated.

Below, is the original pattern by Robyn Falloon. If you live in Canada or the U.S.A., her patterns can be purchased here. I fell in love and bought Robyn's pattern and quite enjoyed the initial process. Her petal ring and the circles are true to her pattern. I messed up the placement of the petal ring ...... and her stars and leaves in the centre just would not go properly. So, instead of a 6 sided star, my star has 8 points. My big ooopsie gave me a whole different look. I will leave you to decide which one you prefer.
I have stalled on this project and writing this post is making me want to work on it again. The border will be different as well. I made a few of the border petals and placed them on my quilt. It just was not working for me. It is so amazing how ideas for one pattern changes when a few substitutions are made.
So, instead of calling my quilt The Blessings, it became Just Blessings.
I hope this post has cleared up some of your questions.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

UFO quilting

Besides working on my baskets, I am also machine quilting an old UFO that has been hanging around for a while. Nothing fancy, just a simple meander. While looking for my variegated blue quilting thread, I came across a polybag that had binding already made up. Can we say "bonus"? There is probably enough binding made for this quilt. I'm thrilled ... this binding will suit my quilt perfectly. Luckily, I had the hindsight to include the fabric leftover right inside the polybag if more binding is needed. Now, I'm wondering why it was made up in the first place and for what quilt? Usually, any binding or fabric for binding is placed in the bin along with the project.

I have only just started my meander quilting and already have encountered some puckers on the back (see the arrows). Not to worry, I have a plan for those and it does not include unpicking. A label will go on one of them and any others will have a patch of some kind. I hope to have a few more puckers as it will be more interesting than just one label and one patch.

You all know how much I love to recycle grocery items and here is a good example of how I use those cookie trays. Perfect for my pins and they are good for carting around to my different working stations.

Those trays fit perfectly inside one of the drawers in this small cabinet that sits right beside my sewing machine.

Have a great day!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Down to one border

Thanks ever so much for all your comments about which version you liked the best. They made me look at my border decisions again and again. Blue was chosen for the side setting triangles and that helped to set the blocks apart from whatever the border turned out to be.

Here, the 9-patch blocks were lined up ... but I just found that they were still a bit too busy for me.

BTW ... these are not the true colours of my blocks but I just couldn't get a good photo so my photos were enhanced and they came out a tad too bright. So, I tried large rectangular scrappy blocks. Nope, too large. Ignore the section on the right where there are no blue triangles (those blocks have not been sewn together yet).

They got cut down a bit and the size is perfect. This is just the start of my layout and some of these fabrics may disappear. I think I'm happy with this but am not totally 100% yet decided. We'll see ....

Have a great day!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bordering Decisions

Thank you for all you lovely comments .... my basket quilt has certainly sparked a bit of interest.

A number of you have asked about the pattern. It was designed using EQ6 software program. I was inspired to make my version after seeing all the gorgeous basket quilts out in blogland and I just had to have one too.

While I'm in the process of sewing the basket blocks together, the time has come to think about borders. After playing around in EQ6, here are a few versions that I could go with.

#1 - 9-patch blocks in the outer borders #2 baskets and vines
#3 just a plain border

#4 scrappy blocks

Oh dear, decisions, decisions ... problem is, I love them all!!!! Yikes!
Have a great day!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Baskets galore ....

With the dawn of a new year comes a new project on my design wall. It is not a new project as this has been ongoing since the spring (you saw a peek of my baskets this summer). Lots and lots of basket blocks were made and stored away in a tin until they were ready for a viewing.
Here is the start of placing blocks on the design wall ..... .... with more being placed on the design wall .....

9-patch blocks needed to be made up with an extra set being done at the same time (that will be for another project at some point). It doesn't hurt to have a few extra 9-patch blocks hanging around.


This will be my final layout. Not bad, eh?

This looks like a quick job, but there were many months of work involved here. Usually, my routine would be to make a few blocks and place them on the design wall and then a few more and so on. Months and months go by with the same project on my wall. This time was different and I think I like this better. Instant gratification.

My design is to have 9-patch blocks on the outer borders .... will have to re-think that as it just might be too much, too busy.
Have a great day!