Fabric love #8

Jennifer Paganelli Lucky Girl - Amazingly beautiful!

Gorgeous pink and grey colorway with beautiful floral print

Jade green makes a lovely contrast against the fuchsia, red, yellow and light blue prints

I love the intensity of the turquoise and yellow floral prints and my favourite would be the navy background colour in contrast with the lovely pink/red floral print.

This is my first Jennifer Paganelli fabric bundle and I can understand why her fabrics are loved by quilters and crafters.  These prints and colours have such a wonderful charm and beauty that it feels like a modern chinoiserie romance.

I am looking forward to be playing around with these beauties next year.

Thank you for stopping by!

xx

Flutter your Wings

I started this quilt about 6 months ago and I am glad that it's finally finished to made it into the 'Finish it 2013'.  I think this will be the last quilt for 2013 because exams are looming and after that I take off for a long awaited summer vacation and to visit my parents back home.  Can't believed that the year have gone by so fast and Christmas is just around the corner yikes!!  Keep calm and breath! ... back to the quilt...

It is a simple flying geese quilt that flows in alternate ways.  I love how it makes the quilt look like wings fluttering in the clouds.

When I was started piecing the quilt together, I wasn't sure about the colour palette that I have chosen but I love the strong solid contrast of the blue/grey fabric against the softer palette of the fabric line.  It makes the flying geese 'pop'.  Funny how there are moments of clarity and doubt in the process of quilting.  Do you have these cross-roads when you thought to yourself... 'Is this going to work?  Does the colours go together?'.  One thing I have learned whether in quilting or in life is to always trust your instincts and go with it.  I am so glad I trusted my instincts on this.

I have hand quilted this quilt as I struggled with how I will quilt it using a domestic sewing machine.  To me hand quilting is my comfort and machine quilting is still something I have yet to come to grasp with.  I can only quilt straight lines at the moment, any more than that it is a challenge and one that I am not ready to embark on yet. Furthermore, I love the effects of hand quilting even though it takes a little longer to do.  Mind you my hand quilting is far from perfect but I love the imperfections as it gives the quilt character.

I love how hand quilting gives you that instant 'out of the wash' look to the quilt.  It makes the quilt feel all soft and snuggly.  I have used a solid binding in similar tone as I didn't want it to stand out as such.  I wanted the geometry of the flying geese to be the main focus and the hand quilted lines to accentuate the flowing movement of the flying geese.

I wished I had made it in a bigger size so I could keep it for myself but a baby size is a good way to test a new design.  I can't wait to make a throw size at some stage next year.  Might have to rethink about hand quilting it but who knows... I might be insane enough to just do it lol!

Quit facts:

Size: Approx 48" x 60"

Quilt top fabric: Bluegrey cotton linen, Heather Bailey Nicey Jane collection and Heather Bailey Wallpaper Roses in Ivory

Backing: Forest Friends Yellow Flowers

Binding: Pure Element Parisian Blue Solid

Batting: 100% cotton

Hand quilting: Perle cotton No.8 in Pistachio Green and Topaz Yellow

Thank you for stopping by!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I thought I might join in the fun and submit one of my quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  This is my first time participating and I think it's such a fantastic idea to see creative, beautiful and amazing quilts out there.

Here's my submission for the baby quilt's section.

A baby quilt that I have recently made as a commissioned quilt.

A simple set on point modern baby quilt that is suitable for both gender.

The fabric line is called 'Modern Bliss'.  The colours and prints are bold, bright and playful which is wonderful for those cheeky, playful and adorable growing babies.

I kept with the simplicity of the quilt design by simple diagonal quilting lines.

A simple scalloped navy print binding picking up the scallop print on the fabric

And for the backing I have selected a print that related to the spirit of adventure and journey as they start to learn and form ideas in their ever inquisitive minds.

More information of materials, fabrics and finished quilt size can be found here

Here is the link to the Blogger's Quilt Festival website.  Come join the fun!

Thank you for stopping by!

Pinkylicious Wunderland

This was one of my very first commissioned quilt that I couldn't share until the customer passed it on to her friend.  Got the OK yesterday that I can blog about it till my heart content!  It was a commissioned quilt as a gift to the customer's friend.

Happy to say that the recipient is super happy with the quilt and it is always nice to hear great feedback about their thoughts on it. 

This quilt design was inspired by my very first quilt book called "Material Obsession" - it was the very book that sparked my love for proper quilting.  It has taught me heaps as a beginner quilter on the equipment to purchase, how to cut the fabric and many other essential quilting basics.  I must say my skills has come a long way since I began to be a 'serious' (I think this has to be used loosely as quilting is all about creativity and there is nothing serious about creativity other than letting yourself go, have fun and be creative!) quilter last year.

Now... more about this quilt.  The guidelines was - I am mad about pink! and I love bright and bold colours. So I took out all the pink stash and mixed it with some other bright and bold coloured fabrics I had in my stash. I think I have managed to it well as I am still learning about pulling fabric bundles apart and creating a new palette to make it more interesting (I am still struggling with that as the bundles are all so pretty and coordinated lol!).  The pink coordinates made a beautiful backdrop accentuated by the magenta cotton linen solid geometric shape.

I continued the bold and bright theme at the back of the quilt running a strip of magenta solid with a little patchwork detail against a bright tangerine backing fabric.

I have also hand quilted this quilt with simple lines using white and red perle no.8 cotton thread.  I love the texture of hand quilted quilt.  To me it adds another layer of excitement to the quilt and also simple detailing that is often lost with machine quilting.  Don't get me wrong, I love and have seen some really fantastic and amazing machine quilted quilts out there but I think for a domestic quilter like myself, a little bit of detail goes a long way.  Furthermore, it has a meditative feel to the process that allows me to sit and contemplate about life.

Quilt facts:

Finished size: 48" x 62"

Quilt top fabric: Assortments of Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey and Midwest by Amy Butler, Magenta cotton linen blend

Backing: Bijoux Swirly Buds in Tangerine by Heather Bailey

Binding: Magenta cotton linen blend

Batting: 100% cotton

And here is the quilt sitting on the recipient's lazy boy at her home and here is what she had to say to the customer :

"Thank you for such a pinkylicious and beautiful gift.  I love it very much and the colour combination is so cheerful and happy.  I thank God  for bringing you into my life and for being such a lovely sister to me."

Bless!

Madeleine's Quilt

A finished quilt for my god-daughter and also first out of three projects that I hope to finish by end of the year.

I am really happy with this quilt though it took a while to get it together.  The colours of this Full Moon Lagoon palette is so beautiful and bright that no amount of pictures can justify the intensity of the colours even though I might have over 'IG' it on my Instragram feed lol!

Full Moon Lagoon was my choice of fabric as my god-daughter, Madeleine loves the beach and her favourite colour for now is pink.  The little 1" corner sets were pink fabrics that I had in my stash, most were from Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane fabric line, Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt and Midwest by Amy Butler to name a few.

The quilt top did take some time to piece together as the little corner sets took a fair bit of time to cut, piece and trim.  However, once I got into the routine, it all came together quite nicely.

Even though I am happy with the quilt top, I am still undecided on the quilt back.  When I embarked on making this quilt, I was on a strict fabric diet so I had to find what I had on hand to make the backing.  Sometimes I like it because of the scrappiness but other times I wished I could have and should have used a nicer backing fabric.  However, it is kinda nice not to have that 'perfect' fabric and just sew with what I have.  I am also on a 'use it' now fabric mode instead of hording it and keeping it for that special quilt.  Every quilt is a special quilt in my opinion.

I used a solid pistachio coloured cotton linen as binding to keep it simple as not to 'overcrowd' the overall design.  I think it frames the quilt rather nicely too.

I have also quilted it in simple straight lines - a double 1/4" lines on the horizontal and single 1/4" lines on the vertical which I thought will least distract from the gorgeous fabric

Quilt facts:

Finished size: approx 64" x 76"

Fabric: Full Moon Lagoon by Mo Bedell for Andover fabrics, Emma Louise in solid White, Fuchsia cotton linen, Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey, Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt, Midwest by Amy Butler

Quilt backing: Bijoux Swirly Buds in Gold and Tangerine by Heather Bailey, Hoo's in the Forest, Cotton linen in Pistachio, Brown and Fuchsia

Binding: Cotton linen in Pistachio

Batting: 100% cotton

Thank you for stopping by!

Very slow Work In Progress

Now that semester 3 of University has started, quilting progress is going to be considerably slow.  However, there are two projects that I hope I will get it finished by the end of the year.  Hopefully if I can managed my time well, I am able to start cutting into my Anna Maria Honner voile to make myself a summer quilt but let's see how this few months will pan out.

This is a twin size surprise quilt that I am making for my God-daughter.  It is at the quilting stage and I am so in love with the colour vibrancy of this fabric line.  The fabric line is Full Moon Lagoon by Mobedell which is very pretty and so applicable for a young girl that is colour pink crazy at the moment.

 

So stay tune for pictures of the finished quilt in a few weeks time and happy quilting and crafting!

Thank you for stopping by!

Commission, new skill & stepping up

This is a commissioned baby quilt that I have a lot of fun working on.

Firstly it was my very first, but not the last set on point quilt.  I have always loved set on point quilts as it gives a simple block a whole new dimension.  I have avoided it because I didn't want to deal with the math of it but after reading through one of my quilting books, it was not as daunting as it seems to be.  Perhaps it was explained in a much easier way to understand in comparison to others that I have found to be too complicating.

Secondly, I wanted to step up and add to my quilting repertoire.  I was going to make a set on point quilt at some stage and so happened a commissioned baby quilt came along.  I thought it would make an excellent pattern choice for a simple, modern and cute baby quilt.

So I begun my journey with this quilt.  I started the design process by having a chat with my friend on what she was after, to whom this quilt was for and etc.  Then I proceeded to select a few gender neutral fabric bundles and came up with three different designs for selection.

Mary, my friend selected the fabric bundle Modern Bliss by Andie Hanna for Robert Kaufman which I have blogged about here.  I was most delighted when she selected this simple half-squared-triangle (HST) set on point quilt design.  It was my chance to have some fun and get my head around it.

The quilting stages went on pretty smoothly though I had to figure out to how I was going to do the sides with two half of a triangle instead of one, cutting on grain and orientating the side half triangles the right way.  My seam ripper were put to some good use during that stage.  However, I was not discouraged by it, instead I was in a 'fix it and figure it out' mood.

I have machine quilted this quilt in simple diagonal lines to further elaborate the set on point quality.  I wanted to keep the quilting simple and clean with minimal fuss to keep with the theme I have started out on.

I have also kept the binding simple by using Happy Go Lucky Navy on White Jump.  The diagonal stripes further adds to the design of the the quilt and the print also picks up the scallop design of the fabric.  I love these little 'accidental' details that is picked up along the process.

I have also hand stitched a label as I don't have any printed ones at the moment.  I do like the handmade feel it gives out and most importantly the last words 'Snuggle lots!'.  Don't you think this phrase is so appropriate for all quilts out there?  The more you snuggle, the better it gets!

The quilt has been handed over to Mary and she was really happy with it.  I am really happy too with the outcome and it is one of my favourite quilt to date.  It's simple, cute and modern.

Quilting facts:
Baby quilt measuring approx 38" x 42"
Quilt top fabircs: F8 Modern Bliss bundle by Andie Hanna for Robert Kaufman, Emma Louise in White & Bella Solids in Feather
Quilt backing fabric: Woodland in Pine by Sarah Watson for Art Gallery Fabrics
Binding: Happy Go Lucky Navy on White Jump by Bonnie & Camille for Moda Fabrics
Batting: 100% cotton

Thank you for stopping by!
xx

Fabric Love #7

Modern Bliss by Andie Hanna

This line was picked by the a client for a commissioned baby quilt.  Personally it would not be my first choice of fabric line to choose.  However, as I worked on the quilt, the more it grows on me and I love it!  It's fresh, modern (as the name suggest) and delightful!  Perhaps the attractiveness of the colours has something to do with the arrival of Spring where the fresh and vibrant colours are starting to make an appearance after a long winter season.  I am so looking forward to warmer weather now.

I will be finishing up this quilt this coming weekend as school term 3 starts next week Boo!  The school break has been blissful as I spent my evenings after work and weekends working on quilts that I have on my 'Quilts to make list'.  I am just glad that there are no deadlines on this list but one of leisure and enjoyment.

These F8 bundle was purchased from:
Westwood acres

Thank you for stopping by and Happy quilting!

Freedom!

Freedom at last!  I am going to be quilting till my heart's content for the next 3 weeks!  You cannot imagine how excited I am to be cutting up fabrics, looking at beautiful prints and colours and to hear the sound of the sewing machine.  Second semester of school is over and the last two weeks was... lets just say I would not want to re-live it again.  Though, I have a funny feeling those moments will be part of my life for the next 2 years until I finish this degree.  Oh well, I will cross that bridge when I get there.

In the meantime, I have cut into these lovely Full Moon Lagoon by Mo Bedelle to make a twin size snowball quilt for my god-daughter.  I am in love with this fabric line.  The colours are so refreshing and beautifully coordinated.  It makes me feel so happy and cheerful having to focus my eyes on these lovely prints

I have also cut these little mini 1.5" x 1.5" squares of pink shade fabrics I have on hand (pink is also my god-daughter's favourite colour).  I hope these will hopefully go together with the main fabric and white solid fabric that I will be using.

I hope the quilt will turn out the way I have envisioned it in my head.  I will try to post my progress on the blog as often as I can but for now... it's pretty trimmings and happy quilting to you all.

Thank you for stopping by xx

Star Quilt Progress

 Progress on these EPPs has been slow.  I realized I only work on them as an in between study break to calm the fast approaching exam nerves down.  However, slow it may be, I am happy to be seeing it grow from the last time I blog about this long term quilt project here and here.  I am eager to start on a new quilt that I have in mind as soon as my exams are over for the tri-semester.  So many projects to do, so little time isn't it?  Can't believe is the month of August already... the last stretch of the winter season (Yipee!).  So looking forward to warmer weather but in the meantime...

Happy quilting and thank you for stopping by.