CHARM ABOUT YOU

The year of colour site is an interesting tool that assesses the dominant colours used in your instagram photos. You can play with the sliders to adjust the pixels and brightness etc. and it's cool to see which colours it picks out. I have seen a lot of them pop up on other peoples feeds and they are all so different. Mine was a bit of a surprise, I know I've used brown a lot but I did think they'd be more pink and less blue. I guess it doesn't feel completely 'me' but then as I look back on the past year I was surprised by the fact that there hasn't been a whole lot completed...

I am super excited to be guest hosting this challenge with the founder of The Great British Quilter, Sarah Ashford! The photo challenge is on Instagram and we invite you to join in! (exactly what + how is outlined further along in this post...)

Starting 1st September we will post a photo prompt every day throughout the month. Joining in is simple and it's a great way find inspiration, make new friends and for us all to share our passion for patchwork and quilting!

There is also the opportunity to win some amazing prizes when you take part in the challenge and (since I know what they are) trust me, they are AWESOME!

I spent two days at the Festival of Quilts this year and it was fully all about friends for me. It's like a quilty friend reunion and this post is going to be unashamedly about the people I met and the friends I saw... with quilts and cool finds interspersed throughout. If you are looking for a blog post featuring all the beautiful quilts that were on display, this isn't it (sorry). You will certainly find pictures of all the quilts on social media, like here.

Friday

After a fun road trip down with my friends Michelle and Rachel we arrived in Birmingham (a bit later than expected thanks to traffic) on Friday and I went straight to find my friend Nicky. She made this amazing Expanding Universe Quilt with signature blocks from quilters that have contributed to Siblings Together.

My block is a cornerstone in the top right of the quilt but I'm too short to properly point at it. Cue the first of many friend selfies...

Next on my to do was visit my colleagues and friends at the Janome stand and of course to see the awesomeness that is this quilted jacket made by talented Lucy Engels.

I am madly in love with every aspect of this, the colours, the collar and cuffs, the log cabins and the texture of the quilting. It's the only quilted garment I've ever truly wanted to wear!

I also had to visit my friend Charlotte, we have known each other since we were in an online quilting bee ages ago and it's always nice to catch up. We also compared bee tattoos and I admired her beautiful bee dress!

settle down for a good long read because you're going to want to stay for the quilts...

I had a fabulous weekend away mid-March in Oxfordshire at the Sewcial Retreat organised by Purple Stitches. This wasn't my first time, I taught there last year - you can read about that experience here - and was very fortunate to be asked back to teach another class this year. I was thrilled because I know how good it is!

Same as last time I decided not to take my sewing machine and just concentrate on hand sewing projects. I took some epp and cross stitch to do, nice slow sewing! I taught a curved epp class and will post more about that at another date because I do have a new pattern in the works.

The number one priority was something a bit different for me, visible mending. My eldest daughter found there was somehow a rip in a new pair of jogging bottoms, she hadn't even worn them once!! She was upset because she really liked them but I told her it could be fixed. It was a strange shaped rip, though nothing really that unusual in our chaotic house - clothes get put in piles and moved around so it could have been anything that caused it. 

This has been a long time coming but I'm so glad I took the time to create these quilts for her boys. They are simple, based on things they love and I had a lot of fun sewing them.

First is this Pokeball quilt, obviously because the elder boy likes Pokemon! For the central block I used the awesome pattern by Kelli of Seriously I think it needs stitches, from her Pokemon sew-along. I doubled all the measurements so the block finished at 40".

Big, bright, bold blocks make up this Fireworks quilt I designed. It was fun mixing up the warm toned fabrics and the 14" blocks repeat to create an explosion of light against a dark navy background. The quilt is 56" square, I seem to have a thing for square quilts... they do work well for lap quilts.

Festival of Quilts is probably the highlight of the year for quilters in the UK. It's a chance to showcase talent and be inspired by the amazing display of quilts, an opportunity to meet up with friends and of course shop all the wonderful stalls and stands. 

I have to admit I wasn't going to attend this year. I hadn't arranged to go with anyone, I was working Friday-Sunday and I've been so busy that it seemed almost impossible to take time off.  And then there's my anxiety, no small thing but it makes it very easy to convince myself to stay at home. Later on I will explain why I chose to go but I am SO glad that I did. In fact next year I might try and attend every day if I can find a way to wangle it! (Shout if anyone needs me to work a stand!). 

Last year I was in full blogger mode, taking pictures of lots of quilts and my very important reason for going was to meet my quilting guru and friend Clare. Read about that here.

This year was very different and I'm going to share what made it great for me. Firstly I ran into Di on the long walk to the festival hall, it was awesome to see someone I love and be able walk and talk together, she even treated me to a coffee before we went in! 

Next I made a decision just to experience the day, only photographing things if I really felt like it, rather than trying to capture everything. I'm so glad I did that. Phone down, eyes up.

Three quilts, three cushions and a table runner are the makes I'm showcasing today, that I've demoed recently on Sewing Quarter. All finished, despite the fact I didn't always photograph them once I was done. I did manage to take pictures of the interesting aspects or features I wanted to share though so that's good!

This Big Plus quilt is deceptive, the pieces are big and the quilt is a single bed size. The pattern comes together really quickly but you have to keep the columns organised so the pluses fit together correctly.

As a quilter, thread is right up next to fabric as a crucial factor in my projects. Many times the colour and choice of thread can make or break a quilt for me. And lets not talk about the early days when I used bad thread in a quilt that literally broke apart after a few washes!

I like to experiment and try different threads and brands, in the same way I use different brands of fabric. Aurifil is the one brand I have stuck to, using the 50 weight thread for my machine / hand piecing and English Paper Piecing, 80 wt for hand appliqué, 12 wt and 28 wt for hand quilting and Brillo for glittery shine. Ok so clearly I am a fan of Aurifil, I haven't had any problems with it breaking (in any weight), so my machines have liked it too. I go between 50 wt and 40/2 wt for quilting, though I have used the 28 wt in my machine too for smaller projects (with 50 wt in the bobbin). The 50 wt is lovely for a subtle look, I use smaller stitches and have also used it for free motion quilting. Generally speaking I do like a thicker thread for quilting though, one that gives more definition so I was excited to be given the new Forty3 or 40/3 wt in #2310 by Aurifil at CHSI. To be clear this is not a sponsored post, just a quilter having fun with new thread!

Currently available on cones and in 50 colours, it is a strong, mercerised cotton thread. Forty3 is marketed as a Longarm thread, the 40 weight 3 ply threads have been designed for “the rigor of today’s high speed machines.” Despite not having a longarm machine, I do use cones of 50 wt thread for piecing and it's totally fine to use the Forty3 in a domestic machine too - you will need a cone stand and a thicker needle, I use a Schmetz 90/14 topstitch needle and again I used 50 weight in the bobbin.

Here is a visual comparison; the cone of Forty3, green spool of 40/2 and orange spool of 50. They are different colours but still you can see the varying thicknesses. 

In 2002 we adopted two German Shorthair pointers. Always underfoot,  Dottie's trick was to step on my foot pedal (until I upgraded my sewing machine with a start/stop button) and innocently walk in the way of photos.  Chase perfected the skill of lying on a quilt if I glanced away - for a minute - while basting. 

Sadly, we recently lost them both to sudden illness after long full lives and have no animals at the moment.   Pets are considered family members to us and Hubby wants a puppy but I am not ready.

Frequently mistaken for "Capitol, a Quilter" or "capital A quilter" , my blog name is easily misunderstood if you don't happen to be familiar with the small town on the coast of California USA where I live, Capitola.   Spanning less than 2 square mile with a population of about 10K, it isn't a big city but is rich in history and a constant source of inspiration. 

Although our house is not one of the big beautiful oceanfront ones you see in the picturesque backdrops when I take my quilts on a photoshoot,  we're still pretty lucky to be able to walk to the beach and enjoy mild weather.

My Scrappy Maximalist style had a kickstart when my friends brought fabric to a surprise Quilt-themed birthday party in my honor.  The assortment received did NOT go together so I used black and white with uniform shapes to bring order and incorporated quote blocks.  It is one of my most sentimental quilts and the beginning of my desire to create original works.

Following patterns from books, I made these wedding quilts out of batiks, traditional and modern stash.  I had the chance to meet Anita Grossman Solomon at Quilt Festival Houston 2014 and see her Old Italian Block quilt in the exhibit.  I subtitled my blog SecondHandScraps because I eagerly accept leftovers from friends who know my reputation for scrappiness.

It didn't seem like an ambitious task when I set out to make each of my nieces, nephews and my own kids a 21st Birthday quilt.   I stayed on track until the final three and thankfully all twelve are finally delivered.  Among the tardy is this Full size quilt that rolled over from quarter to quarter on my FAL list frequently.  I included a jumbo delectable mountain for the backing and two matching shams.