A MINI ADVENTURE

When I Met Tula! 

I don't think I ever told you about the time I met Tula Pink - major fan girl moment, I was really impressed with myself that I actually managed to get whole sentences out and they even made some sense!

There's always that worry that if you meet an idol or someone you greatly admire, they may not quite live up to expectations etc, but she really did! Tula was so kind and down to earth, she walked around the room before hand, talking to everyone, having a little sit down looking at the projects people had brought along, giving advice and just generally being lovely.

She then went on to give a brilliant lecture on how she started out in this business, what inspires her, her design process and thought process - the whole thing was wonderfully inspiring and a very insightful look at the fabric designing and manufacturing industry.

A couple of people asked questions about a fabrics 'life cycle', why certain fabrics are only made in seemingly small quantities and never reprinted, the responses I found quite fascinating as I've not got a great deal of experience in the manufacturing side of things. It certainly went a long way to explaining why the resale of some of her earlier lines is down right extortionate in some cases - I will add that this is through private sales and not something she can control.

What is the point of all this you are probably wondering? Not much, I simply adore Tula Pink and wanted to share my love of her fabric and creativity before I go on to show you a mini quilt I made for a Tula Swap. I found it rather difficult to cut into my Tula stash, especially knowing it was going to two other homes and not staying with me, but I got there in the end.

The only real request made from my swap partner was for the purple butterfly from the Eden collection to feature somewhere in the mini quilt, so with that as my starting point I set out a Tula colour wheel to see what jumped out at me. I knew I wanted a mix of prints and solids, but had no design in mind and opted for a more experimental approach of building the quilt as I went.

I had settled on some kind of New York Beauty and Flying Geese combo because I just love them and the endless possibilities there are when using the fabulous book, but that was it I didn't follow a specific pattern so they were both totally unique.

I played around with each section as I had only pinned them in place on my design wall - I often do this if I'm experimenting with a quilt design or playing with my own take on an existing pattern, rather than sewing it up and having to unpick it. When I am happy with a section and I know I won't be changing it then I go ahead and stitch it in place. 

I didn't want two totally identical mini quilts, so for the second I added in some fussy cut pattern matching. It was the first time I had tried it with facial features, it's not perfect if you look very closely but I'm happy with it for a first attempt and I can report that my partner who ended up with this one loved it.

There were so many patterns and varying prints to choose from that it did take a while for me to actually set this one in its final background, where I had used solids for most of the outer rings I wanted a striking print, eventually it was the lovely Deity elephant from Eden in Orchid that won. 

I really enjoy making mini quilts and have been in several mini swaps over the years, there is something quite satisfying about being able to make a quilt from start to finish is a day or a weekend depending on design, even if it is a mini one!

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx

QUILT CLUB CATCH UP!

New York Beauties and Flying Geese

I've not really had the time to blog as much as I wanted to lately, but I've not been idol and now have a que of things just waiting to be shared, having recently been told off by Carrie for not blogging daily, I'm sure she'll be pleased!

I'm going to start with Saturday just gone and my monthly meet up with my favorite quilting gal pals! They never fail to amaze me with their creations and inspire me every month to want to do at least 4 more projects than I actually have time for!

First up Caroline, who we all agreed has totally gone mad, she recently tackled the 365 block a day challenge and has now got herself tangled up in the weekly block challenge of the gorgeous Etoiles Rouge put on by Green Avenue Quilts, featuring 49 variations of the traditional Ohio Star block.

Putting her own slant on it and making all her blocks in varying shades of blue and creams in a mix of great patterns.

Val was busy quilting the main panel of a bag she's been working on, she has been very brave with her color choices lately favoring bright and striking colors with more modern prints than she's usually drawn to.

Kerry has been working very hard on a baby quilt with a modern twist and finally was able to add the finishing touches! I love her choice of fabrics, not something I would initially go to for a baby quilt but so modern and fresh I think I'm a convert to purple, mustard and grey! We originally found the adorable print of hedgehogs and forestry at Sandown (I think?!) and then went on a mission to add to the selection! The pattern very simply strip quilting - jelly rolls are perfect for such a thing, or you can cut your own if you need them wider than 2.5", sew them end to end and a couple of times side to side and presto one fab quilt top in an afternoon! I think I need to pop up a tutorial on this, you won't believe how effective they are!

For the back Kerry stuck with a plain grey whole cloth approach but added some buzzy bees and a few letters from Spell It with Moda by using the applique method.

Carrie was adding the sashing to a special project we were all involved in making, she wanted to make a quilt for her mom it had to be relatively quick and straight forward to put together and ideally layer cake friendly as she had a stack of Blue Barn by Moda that was her inspiration. Enter the Layer Cake Sampler - a series of eye catching blocks that have a multitude of variations, and can be purchased from Material Girl Quilts.

We all made 4 blocks each, choosing which variations we wanted to use in order to help her get the quilt finished on time. She continued her efforts at home and the quilt top is looking lovely.

We started and finished our blocks for this quilt when we went on our first quilt retreat over the Summer, Kerry did a bang up job of finding us an amazing house with huge rooms, large tables for lots of quilting and a plethora of pubs! As well as these blocks, I was also working on my contribution for the UK Travelling Quilt Bee that month, if you haven't already you can read about the start of that journey here.

I had recently purchased New York Beauties and Flying Geese, published by C&T Publishing and written by the wonderfully inspiring Carl Hentsch from 3 Dog Design Co, described by Tula Pink as a book that 'asks the maker to see more than boundaries and categories, to think beyond the usual choices and to make something exceptional' and the author himself as a book that will allow you to 'create quilts that have standard building blocks of pieced arcs, plain arcs and fans that could be mixed and matched in a variety of ways' I was hooked from the very first page!

Although I really wanted to make every block and quilt in this book, I decided to start with Rust, 

I loved the size of the blocks and really thought they would lend themselves well to all the other blocks in the Bee I had to work with. Along with all the inspirational photos of the finished blocks and quilts in the book, there are fab 'drawings' of placements and how each one goes together, which make the whole process so clear and easy to follow.

Another one I love is Sorbet,

At the back of the book is the block index and all the templates you need to make everything in it, one of the reasons that this book is so amazing for me is the unlimited options there are for creating your own blocks as all the arcs etc fit together so you literally can mix and match to your hearts content.

If you are new to foundation/paper piecing don't be put off, there are very helpful and easy to follow instructions at the start of the book to get you on your way!

I chose to make my blocks for this Bee in bright yellows, oranges and reds - here they are sitting proudly at the top of this gorgeous quilt

If you have this book and have been working on some adventures of your own, I'd love to hear about them - get in touch in the usual way!

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx

SWAPS, HOPS AND MINIS

On A Mission

One of my (1000) resolutions this year was to try and be more adventurous and more active in my quilting choices and quilting life. I am so very inspired by so many things and often think I could totally do that, but I get to caught up in the "what if it doesn't work" of it all and let opportunities go by. So in the hope of gaining more confidence and developing my knowledge and skills further I might have gone slightly mad (Kerry Q is currently rolling her eyes in despair of me)and got involved in all of these.......

1. Black and White Mini Swap

This one has been put together by Sharon who can be found as @shoppershaz on Instagram and as the name suggests it is a mini quilt swap with a black and white theme. We have all been issued with a partner and are secretly working on something fab based on their requirements. Above is one of the mosaics I posted to give my partner some ideas of what has caught my eye lately and below are a few ideas I have had design wise, on what I could possibly be making for my swap buddy. 

You can follow my progress and that of all the very talented people involved in my group using #bwqs_blackbeauties or the entire swap project using #blackandwhitequiltswap

2. Color Square Swap

This is my very first swap of this kind, the idea is amazing and I am totally finding as many of these as I can to be involved in!! The process is as follows, a selection of colour options are put to you (usually 3 at a time) you can be involved in 1, 2 or all of the colour options, you need to put forward your fabric choices to be approved before purchasing I am assuming so the swap host can make sure there aren't repeats and that all fabric choices work well together. Once the thumbs up has been given, you need to cut 40 10" squares layer cake style and send them off to the host, in return you get a layer cake sent back to you in the colour or colours you selected to be apart of. Being my first attempt at this kind of swap I only opted for one colour and it was Purple! I chose the fabric below.

This particular swap is being hosted by Briawna of Purple Poppy Quilts although this swap has closed, you can find all the information about it and how to be involved in future there and also by following our progress using #PURPLEsquareswap2, #GREENsquareswap2, or #LOWVOLUMEsquareswap2 and #colorsquareswap

3. Amy Butler Low Volume Mini Swap

I literally squealed when the sign up details for this popped up on my Insta feed, I absolutely LOVE Amy Butler, who doesn't??!! I haven't had a lot of experience with Low Volume so I had to sign up in order to comply with my resolutions!! hee hee hee that's my excuse and I am sticking to it! Again this one is partner based and a secret/surprise so I can't give to much away but it is a mini quilt swap with guidelines of no smaller than 12" squared and no larger than 30" squared. 

There are so many beautiful mini quilts out there that I really struggled to narrow it down, in the end I had to make two inspirational mosaics for my partner to use as a guide, anything off of here will be super fab or an original based on these I truly don't mind. This swap has been put together and hosted by Shanya over at wifemomcreator and Stacie who can be found as @trollbrothersquiltmama on Instagram. You can see how the groups are doing using #amybutlerLVminiswap #teamshanyaABLV 

4. Amaze Me Block Swap 

Using this fantastic book by Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting from Piece And Quilt and their Amaze Me block, we have been tasked with making 15 blocks using white as a background, by the end we will have enough to make a funky modern throw. Below are some examples of the blocks that have been made by the creators.

5. The Minis Blog Tour

I can't say to much about this one just yet but I am so so very flattered and excited to have been chosen to take part in this!! It's all thanks to the ridiculously talented Pat Bravo and 2 of her gorgeous lines for Art Gallery Fabrics 'Dare' and 'Essentials II', the image above is the selection I will be using. Come back on May 13th to find out more.

Well that is just a small sampling of what I am currently getting up to, I am also trying to design 4 original patterns, put together 3 quilts and I've only gone and got myself a small gig as a pattern tester!! (by now Kerry Q has rolled her eyes right out of her head!)

So if anyone has won the Lotto and would like to donate to my cause so I can stop working I'd be super grateful. 

If you are also taking part in any of these swaps I would love to hear from you and see how you are getting on.

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx