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Moroccan and Maple Leaf Quilts
It's back to work around here and, before I shower you with talk of the new makes, I want to share these quilts I made earlier this month. These featured as part of a 'trip around the world' theme on Sewing Quarter.
This design has a Moroccan tile influence, the colours and patterns give a rich jewel vibe too. The pops of pink add another dimension and create an interesting pattern themselves. It's a simple block I created using Creative Grids rulers. An important step in my quilt making process is to lay out all the blocks before piecing them together. With this quilt I rotated and moved the blocks around to create different looks. In the end I chose to have the corner blocks turned, it made interesting waves in the background.
The focal prints are Avalon by Joel Dewberry and I really like the mix of floral and geometrics, striking but also gentle.
The quilting emphasises the diamond pattern - straight line and cross hatch quilting with Aurifil thread. It's such a satisfying quilting pattern! Seeing those lines cross and meet. I always use my hera marker for this type of quilting, you can see my tips for cross hatch quilting here.
And, always a favourite for me, a Maple Leaf quilt. This one has such pretty colours, ranging from light pink to brown. Made with batiks, not my usual style, but the effect is super pretty! I don't pre-wash fabric but I always warn people to wash batiks (and vintage fabrics) carefully because they are notorious for colour bleed. I should have heeded my own advice because as I pressed the blocks I used some steam/spray of water and my ironing board now has red marks on it as a reminder!
I'm also obsessed with the border print, a great wood print by Lecien. It gives the quilt such a homely, rustic feel.
It's back to school next week, we are making the most of the days we have before the regular routine returns. Today we went to visit my Dad, had lunch and went picking blackberries. We actually did that a couple of weeks ago but now there were more ripe ones! We've come home armed with bags of berries, along with fresh veg from his garden. It really does taste so different from regular supermarket produce. I wish I had green fingers (or an inclination to want to garden!) because it would be lovely for us to grow our own. But then I've got even more reason to visit haven't I?! And I think I'll stick to sewing! Tonight I finished binding another quilt and so there will be more finishes to share with you soon.
catch up - Cardiff, mini hoops and stitchings
I took part in the Very Berry mini-hoop swap organised by the wonderful Ali of Very Berry Handmade. I haven't done a swap for a really long time and was lured by seeing all the lovely hoops people have made in the previous swaps.
It was such a delight to open up my package and see the incredible hoop that Danielle @rubysewoh made for me:
Such pretty stitches and in the most gorgeous colours! She was inspired by the amazing Western Australia Sunsets and I am going to be getting a chain so I can wear this piece of art!
My secret partner was Teresa @shirleyrainbow_tb, a very creative lady who does fabulous crochet. I decided to try to create a fragment of a granny blanket with my stitches, and used fabrics and colours I thought she would like:
I really enjoyed making it and was pleased with how the stitches had such a nice texture, which I think captures the idea of crochet at least.
If you love swaps I definitely recommend following Ali @veryberryhandmade and joining in next time! Thanks for hosting such a great swap Ali!
The kids are on their Easter holidays so we spent the best part of last week in Cardiff, visiting my sister and her family. We had SO much fun. Of course I noticed quilty inspiration everywhere...
I have to start printing these kind of pictures out and actually create some patterns!!
It was absolutely glorious weather while we were there, we went to lots of parks and playgrounds:
The main reason for our visit was for my kids to meet their new cousin, my niece baby Ada. This was literally the first time they saw her:
She is such a cutie! Also hard to believe how big all of my kids are now. My eldest girl has managed to lose 3 of her front baby teeth at once 😂
Mark took the older two to watch football with my brother in law while my sister and I took the littles out for a shopping trip. It was a real treat!
Followed by more treats the next day as we went to my brother in laws family's house. His brother's family had come to stay so there was an epic easter egg hunt and lots of laughter, good food and chat.
It was such a lovely break. Of course I did take sewing with me, some was for work (that you will be seeing soon!) and I made more progress on my Mischief Quilt blocks:
In other news I got some new glasses. I'm loving them! They are from Ace & Tate - a recommendation from the lovely Hannah at work. They arrived quickly and are so comfortable. Not quite as big as my last pair of glasses but still nice and big. The colour is amazing too.
Finally I am super excited to be going to The Stitch Gathering organised by myBearpaw, in Edinburgh this October!! I can't wait to meet up with lovely friends and spend the day sewing. If you want a ticket, hurry because places are limited, to book click here.
What have you been up to lately?
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