Saturday 14 December 2013

Little Quilt

This weekend I made a Little Quilt - 20" by 24" for a newborn extended family member.



Josh was born on Friday but he wasn't due until well into next year. 


So he is in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) in Wellington.



As soon as I knew he had arrived I knew exactly which fabric I needed for him - but there was just one fat quarter left but that worked when I found the matching spots in my stash.
I wonder if he will end up being a keen bike rider!


This is the back of the quilt - more bikes!

I straight line quilted with my walking foot using the width of it as a guide to 
sew down both sides of the diagonal seams. And used a plain turquoise as the binding.

Monday 9 December 2013

1930s Star

Having finished my 100 Modern Quilt Blocks and decided that I really need them left as 
they are so I can teach from each set of ten next year, I returned to my English Paper Piecing.

And that was quite hard as I would have loved to gone off and chosen a sashing fabric
for my blocks and made them up into a quilt right away, but no.

I have been making these stars for months now and have quite a pile made - ready 
to make into a single bed quilt or maybe just a generous cot quilt. 


These are all made from my collection of 1930s Reproduction fabrics.



I must say English Paper Piecing has had a huge make-over as I am now 
using a Sewline Glue Pen to stick the seam allowance to the card. This is so 
much quicker than the old way of tacking - I love it. The seam allowance is 
easy to lift up when your star is all together.


You can see the seam allowance glue down here. I can take the white hexagon card 
out now as that piece is all surrounded, but I leave the other shape in until it 
too is surrounded.


Then the stars get joined together with white diamonds. One thing that have learnt 
is to sew with a strong thread - I have been using regular Polyester thread 
as it is stronger than cotton. The constant rubbing against the edge of the card 
as you whip stitch the pieces together can be touch on your thread. 
So I also use shorter than usual lengths.


And more and more.  A fine needle helps to just pick up as tiny sliver of seam 
allowance as you whip stitch.

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