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

MINI QUILT SWAP

Getting Back Into The Swing

All the way back in July I signed up to be apart of the The Easy Swap UK, that Nina over on BossyOz was hosting. The rules were fairly simple make whichever of the following you feel most comfortable with: Mini Quilt - 300 to 500 square inches, any shape

Zippered Pouch - any design but one zip must be at least 12"long or Tote Bag - to fit at least an A4 note book and to have at least one pocket. We had to fill in a questionnaire about colours, fabrics and designs we liked or were inspired by and things we would like avoided and then given a partner to make for.

The details of my partner at this stage I can't reveal because although I have received my wonderful mini quilt, I'm not yet sure my partner has hers. However I can tell you the guidelines I was given to work from: colours aqua, teal, low volume and purple, quilt blocks traditional (in modern fabrics), modern and/or paper pieced (foundation paper), to make them happy, please avoid sludgy colours, browns etc, batiks, civil war repros. Again all things I love and could absolutely pull off, in the form of a mini quilt.

This was my fabric selection for the mini, mostly bold Kono Solids as they best lent themselves to the Don't Call Me Betsy design I had chosen to make and casually threw in some modern funky prints just to mix it up a bit. 

I have to say I didn't get off to a great start with this one, the first part which just so happens to be the middle section had me at a total loss when trying to get the last bit in!! 

I when slightly off track and had to make some small adjustments to the pattern, but when it was all put together thankfully it couldn't be seen and made no difference to the overall design. After that it was plain sailing all the way, I know I am totally biased because paper piecing is just my most favourite thing, but having now tested out several of Elizabeth's patterns I honestly can not recommend them enough. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, overall the designs come together quickly, there is so much scope to experiment with fabrics and the results are breathtaking.

There were a lot of different little sections that needed to come together, so like with many blocks the most time consuming aspect was cutting up all the squares and triangles, thankfully though with paper piecing accuracy of cutting is not essential!! 

Originally the design had an orange and yellow star burst effect exploding from the middle, however as I was not using either of those colours I amended the fabric and colour placement to make it slightly more modern....well in my opinion anyway.

As a large block all the sections came together rather quickly and thankfully near enough all my points and seems matched up beautifully, if you're a regular reader you will know that I often struggle with matching up my points but that steady progress is being made. With the top all complete and measuring 24" squared, all that was left to do was back it, quilt it and bind it.

I absolutely loved making this mini quilt, the block has fast become one of my favourites and I will definitely be making it again, I have become a little bit obsessed (don't roll your eyes) with Medallion Quilts and this block might just become the centre of something I am planning. 

As I said at the start of this post my mini arrived today from the person who was given me and what a fabulous job she did!! My most favourite colours Mint, Coral and Grey in my most favourite designer fabrics Tula Pink. 

If you have been part of a this mini swap or another I would love to hear from you and see what you made and/or received.

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx

P.S In case you were curious everything is going wonderfully with my Special (squeal)

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR

Christmas Bee Round Up

WIP Wednesday was super productive not only did I manage to complete two Bee blocks, but I also got some work done on a secret project for a special little monkey! Smug smile and own back pats coming up!!

First up is the completed Triple Star block that I made for Gemma, she had very specific color choices and color placements as these blocks are intended for a particular place in her house. Although some of the pieces are really small the block itself comes together really nicely and the finished product looks really good.

Next up is my absolute favorite.....Cordelia's Garden, this time in a modern Christmas theme!! 

Kona snow was the requested background color, I got mine from the fabulous Plush Addict, if you haven't checked them out you really should, they have a fantastic range of just about everything and their service is really fast. Most of the work for this block is in making the half triangle squares, after that it is just a case of sewing all the squares together.

I just love this block so much, I know I say it a lot but I really really do, no matter what the colors or patterns of the fabric are it just looks great!

I also had a new challenge this month in the form of Ziggy Stardust, Kona white and a jewel color of my choice were the requirements for this one.

Again with this block there are a number of little pieces that make the start of it quite fiddley but they do result in such a cute little star that is the focal point for this block.

I am really happy with this little star, it is my first attempt at this block and I managed to match the points and the seams up rather well. After putting the star together the rest of block comes together in minutes as all the other pieces are larger and just various sized rectangles. 

I loved making all these blocks, I mean come on who doesn't like twinkling stars?!

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx

NEW YORK BEAUTIES

Triangles, Points and Piecing

It's no secret I spend hours and hours of my life on Pinterest, I mean who needs to iron and dust? Honestly?! It was on one of these 'research' afternoons that I stumbled across a picture of an amazing quilt, it really was just so beautiful I had to investigate further!! Enter Karen K. Stone!! 

The image I found was in fact the cover of Karen's wonderful book Karen K. Stone Quilts, which can be found at many great book stores and quilting suppliers, so can her program for EQ7 as it happens!! The title of the quilt is Cinco de Mayo and I am sure you will agree its just beautiful!!

So with no further ado I decided to drive myself even more crazy with these tiny little pieces of fabric and fiddly little paper sections and embark on a New York Beautie of my own!!! I still have a veeeeeeeery loooooong way to go and so far the design I have chosen is quite simple BUT I am really happy with it so far!

I have a real thing for batiks, so I decided to indulge myself here a little and only use them for this quilt.

The next step is of course to cut out all the tiny pieces of fabric, as this is a foundation pieced quilt they don't have to be very accurate and they can mostly be cut from scraps which is fab because not much fabric is needed. Each section is sewn separately and then sewn together in sections, making a stack of squares!!

The individual squares can then be placed in a multitude of ways to create really eye catching designs, I have been playing around with a few but haven't settled on anything just yet, I am still toying with the idea of adding in some other colors.....

It was very daunting making a start on this quilt but I have to say once I got going I found it really difficult to stop!! I am thoroughly enjoying it and now that I feel more confident I am looking forward to branching out a little and trying some more adventurous sections and borders.

Happy Quilting

Kerry xx