WEEKEND REVIEW

Such A Clever Bunch

Regular readers will know that once a month a group of my gal pals and I meet up in the Surrey Hills for a good old stitch and bitch, this Saturday was the day and where we haven't all been together as a whole for a while, there was a whole lot of bitchin to catch up on.....don't worry there was a lot of stitchin as well.

I don't think I say often enough how inspiring I find these five, amazing ladies I am lucky to call my friends, the things they create and come up with honestly are beautiful. It always amazes me how very different we are, our tastes in fabric and patterns vary quite dramatically at times, yet there are things we are very much united in....a strong dislike for needle turn applique and a great love of cake!

This month once again we were all working on a variety of totally different projects, some of which I have now added to my quilty bucket list and some I will totally pass on but can appreciate the great work that has gone into it. 

First up Val and her Christmas Quilt,

Predominantly Log Cabin based this is a quilt kit Val picked up from Patchwork Cabin in Great Bookham, it was originally put together as a Block of the Month but can now be bought as a pattern or a kit. The pictures don't do it enough justice, it really is something to look at, the corners meet up perfectly and those little houses are just divine!!

Adorned with a variety of seasonal objects such as holly leaves and a giant Christmas trees, applique also forms a big part of this quilt. It looks like a good project if you want to try out a range of new techniques, or perfect them if you already have some experience there.

Next up Caroline and a whole lot of crazy, tiny squares, even tinier than mine so even though I may have rubbed off on her a little bit, she's crazier than me!!

The cause of these tiny squares is a Hoffman Bali Pop and a style of quilting called Bargello, the nature of it being focused on colour placement, very accurate cutting and matching of seams.

Caroline decided this wasn't enough of a challenge, so she is doing it all half size, which means her squares are only 1 inch in size!! I just can not wait to see how this will turn out. 

Kerry Q started out the day making some cushions for her lovely new house, out of this divine Art Gallery fabric we found last year at Festival, a simple quilted square with a concealed zip

And she finished the day on this darling little quilt called Robot Riot which she picked up from Creative Quilting, again last year at Festival if memory serves...

Aren't they so cute?? There are kits available but Kerry has chosen to use up existing fabrics she already has and added in some fat quarters in modern prints/colours to tie it altogether. The quilt itself is very versatile and can be put together in a variety of ways, but fundamentally it is an applique based quilt. 

Carrie was busy working on a quilt for her son, who has now got into Uni and will be going in a few weeks, so now she really has to get a wriggle on!! It is a very simple square design but the modern fabrics and colour way really bring the whole thing to life.

Sue's life has totally been taken over by Foundation Piecing, not that I blame her, it is a totally amazing way to generate beautiful patterns and designs!! This weeks adventures came out of Jen Kingwell's new book Quilt Lovely and is called Wheel of Fortune

Using Road Fifteen by Sweet Water, she's also been making these funky circles, totally can not pick my favourite colour way, I just love them all

I wasn't totally idol either, I cut out all the bits I needed to make a Mariners Compass (maybe my most fav block ever!) and a few border blocks as fillers for the medallion edges to the African quilt, 

Until next time, 

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx

CHUCK NOHARA?!

Please Don't Encourage Me

It's a well known fact that I have a serious condition - Fabricitus, my sister tried to tell me once that this wasn't an actual disease and that I might be a little bit deluded, I nearly fell right off my unicorn!! I mean really? As if Fabricitus isn't an actual thing?? In about 3 weeks it will be time for Festival...can I get a "hell yeah!!" and then we will see who is right, Caity or me!! 

I have desperately been trying to avoid all this Chuck Nohara lark, I really really have, but everywhere I turn it seems to be following me, I think it might be time to face the fact that it has accepted me as its human. At first glance it isn't really anything splendid, it looks fairly old and out dated, there aren't many instructions and the ones that are there are not in English.

Chuck Nohara

BUT don't let that put you off, inside is an Aladdin's cave of deliciousness, hundreds of lovely, quirky blocks crying out to be made in new ways, new sizes and new fabrics. There really is something for everyone crammed in this treasure trove, a variety of blocks for all skill levels and tastes.

It is literally everywhere on my Instagram feed, many of the fab blogs I love to read and follow, my Pinterest everywhere and the gorgeous examples are only making my growing obsession worse!! Look at this beauty over on Thimbleanna, 

And then there is the utterly fabulous version currently being created by Sharon of Lilabelle Lane, if you have never visited her blog you absolutely should, the woman is the very definition of inspirational, and largely responsible for my diseases and addictions!!

There are just so many gorgeous examples calling softly to me, that I am seriously considering making this my Festival focus!! But now I have the task of deciding what to make it in....

A popular choice seems to be making it out of scraps, I really like this idea firstly because I have an abundance of scraps most of which are from quilts or blocks I have made. Secondly because each block will then be a small reminder of everything I have done, each block would mean something different to me depending on which fabric it was made from and therefore become a sort of memory quilt. And finally because I am not very good at be spontaneous and uncoordinated in my fabric choices and as such this would be a huge challenge!! It is also something that I can keep as an ongoing project to dip in and out of, making a few blocks as I finish projects to use up my scraps. Of course I never can resist the buying of new fabric, and I have a serious issue with AMH, Tula Pink and Art Gallery Fabrics so maybe I should take the opportunity to start a whole new collection just for this?? I think I have totally just sold it to myself ha ha ha Kerry Q will be shaking her head and rolling her eyes right about now.

It's really not my fault, sometimes things literally leap off of shelves right into my arms, like this in John Lewis when I was totally minding my own business and absolutely not at all looking for any fabric....

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx

P.S If you are currently working on your own version of Chuck, I would love to see it and hear what's been inspiring you, we can start our very own Quilters Anonymous 

MOTHER TRUCKER!!

And A Few Cars...

A while ago I set out to make a quilt for a very special little monkey, he loves bright colors, cars, bikes, trucks and more than anything diggers!! I began in my usual way with researching and came across this darling pattern 

PEAK HOUR

They are available allover the place but I bought mine from the lovely Isabel over at Creative Quilting I loved the idea of the rows of different vehicles and signs, but what it really needed was one almighty digger!!  So I set myself the challenge of creating just that! I started with a small A5 size picture that had to be scaled up to almost single bed size.....eeeeeekkk!!!

Once the overall design was complete, each section then had to be individually drawn onto Bondaweb and ironed on to the fabric choices, as is standard for general machine applique. In true blonde style I did have to start over twice.... the first time I put the chair "in" over the door frame and then the window "in" over the chair!! I amaze even myself at times!

I wanted to make it as realistic as possible, I mean go hard or go home right?!? So I spent quite a long time trying to get some shading into the teeth on the big scoop and the wheel arches, although not totally perfect I think it does make a difference. Life got in the way a bit and unfortunately this project had to be put on hold a while which meant I didn't quite make the deadline I had set myself.

A couple of birthdays, high teas, spa days, thunder storms, very long work days, a few fights with my sewing machine and a lot of fabric buying later rows of cars and trucks started to appear.

And eventually after a lot more late nights, fabric cutting, fights with the sewing machine and some words of wisdom from my lovely quilt group this emerged and found its way onto an African bound plane!! 

I wish I could be there to see my little monkeys reaction to it, hopefully he will love snuggling up in it as much as I loved making it for him and I will get some photos of that darling little face.

I have about 13 new projects that I want to start, 4 new projects that I have started and a good 25 more that I have seen that I totally need in my life, don't roll your eyes at me I know you totally have the same list going!! At the same time as I am typing this post I have another window open on my browser auditioning fabrics for Jen Kingwell's My Small World, which is available in Quiltmania's Spring 2015 special.

You know you want it......

Happy Quilting 

Kerry xx

SLOW PROGRESS.....

Borders and Fillers

It's been an aaaagggee since I have had some spare minutes to sit down and update you on the various projects I have been working on. Life just really got in the way over the last few weeks, I have had some big life changes and upheavals which have really knocked my sideways - Oh and Festival of Quilts squueeeellll- but I am feeling much happier and getting back on track, so here we go.......

You may recall I have been working on something special for my wonderful Daddy who turned 50 at the beginning of August, unfortunately I am still working on it, hence this posts title!!

As this isn't a set pattern I am following but rather finding inspiration here and there, then putting together my own design I was finding gaps and spaces between some of the sections already quilted, that I really needed to fill. So I headed back to a previous quilt I had started as part of a class and took on the mighty chevron border!!

It looks very technical but in reality it is very straight forward and is extremely effective when finished.

The first step is to cut a pile of strips 5 1/4in in length in a variety of fabrics. I tried to get in as many of the fabrics I had been using throughout the quilt top for continuity's sake and also chose to cut mine in widths ranging from 1in - 2in to create a more visual border. You can of course use just one or two fabrics and stick to the same width.

(picture 1)

The fabric strips simply get placed on top of each other, one at a time, and stitched along the longest edge, alternating sides with each strip. With the exception of the first pair which is attached along the shorter edge (picture 1) The more you add, the longer it gets!!

So that was a few borders taken care off, now for some fillers...

At last months quilt group meet up, Carrie was cutting and stitching copious amounts of Pin Wheels, which looked ever so lovely and she assured me were very easy to make......lies!!! After a few of them took a dive out of my quilt studio window I found a method that worked for me and here it is in pictures.

And here are both these bits partially in action.....

Happy Quilting 
Kerry xx