Thimbleberries Mark 2 WIP

Two weeks gone without posting - apologies: just too much other stuff going on and no time for proper sewing, just a few minutes scratched here and there.  Hence I have no finishes to report, and not a huge amount of progress on anything.

I have done what I often end up doing when stressed, and that is getting out things, doing a bit, and then next time picking up something else...  It makes for a very messy house and general confusion. Next week won't be much better but after that I am hoping for some space, mental and physical!

I did stitch together a few pairs of 'picket fence' units left over from the first Thimbleberries WIP, to make star/flower blocks, using plains from the stash for the middles.  I thought I had a photo of the block on the camera (such old technology in our house) but all I seem to have taken is a joyful jumble of stitch and flip waiting to be pressed.

So, my first resolution must be to let you see at least one finished block of the Mark 2 version next week.  I am finding it slightly scary mixing in the plains, but I haven't enough of any other suitable fabric, and I think it maybe gives the traditional block and fabric a slightly more contemporary spin. We'll see when it's finished... but good, I suppose, to try something a bit different.

I hoped to join the Chandelier Quilt-along on Lee's Bernina blog and got as far as sorting out and cutting some fabrics from the stash.  I really don't need to start another quilt right now with everything else that's going on but I do like the block and I've never done a QAL before, plus I have committed to use only stash.  Enough of trying to justify this - I should 'save my breath to cool my porridge' as my Scottish relatives used to say!

Anyway in my enthusiasm (aka haste) to cut the pieces I managed to cut through a tape measure I had carelessly left too near my cutting board.  Even I can't salvage that one!

Second resolution: to show you at least one finished Chandelier block next post.

Finally, a little bit of peace for hand sewing in the middle of the week and I made progress on my EPP WIP.  I am fairly happy with the way this is going now.  If I make three more 'lozenges' to complete the bottom row, then half 'lozenges' for the sides and top and bottom, that will give me a centre measuring about 36", which I think will be big enough.  This is my take-along project at the moment, and it won't be finished in a hurry, so no resolutions/deadlines for this one.

I hope you are managing to make better progress on your projects than I am.  Have a happy weekend.  Next week is our school half-term, but it is shaping up to be even busier at home than this week.  I will try to stick to my resolutions...

Thimbleberries top finished and a 'new' WIP

I did make progress on the Thimbleberries WIP blogged about last Wednesday (here) and the top is completed, so I can claim this as a finish and link to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

I laid out all the blocks on the design wall last Saturday and decided that I didn't altogether like the book layout, and that what I really wanted was more sashing.

So after trawling through every box of fabric I possess (which took some time) I found the remains of a much loved and much used tan fabric, which was in fact also made by Thimbleberries (I had forgotten till I checked the selvage).

Double split sashing and cornerstones added, and I am very happy with the result.  I like the fact that the dark sashing is broken by the light cornerstones, which themselves are framed by the four coloured squares at the ends of the diagonals.

It's a big quilt so you can't quite see all of the 16 blocks in the photo; each measures 18" and the basic units, the squares and sashing, are all 2" finished.  It will look just right on a big bed.  No borders required so I hope to straight-line quilt next week.


The other WIP I worked on this week relates back to the Album Quilt I made and blogged about here. As usual, I had fabric left over, and about a dozen nine-patches already made and needing a home.  I had been toying with a number of possible settings for some months, and finally decided on an alternate hourglass block (an oldie but a goodie, I hope you'll agree).





I found red and green fabric in the stash, left over from other projects of course, and made the hourglass blocks to fit with the 6" (finished) nine-patches (I had to make a few more).

I trimmed the hourglasses with Marsha McCloskey's Precision Trimmer ruler, which I have had for a long time and not really put to good use before.  It is fantastic, because it has the diagonal lines for lining up the x of the hourglass exactly - no need to guess as you would with a regular bias square.  I actually enjoyed the trimming!










I joined the blocks and stepped back for a look - it reminded me of nothing so much as a field of crosses; and the red and green hourglasses framing the crosses said 'poppies' to me, though one usually thinks of a rather brighter red for a poppy.




So this is  clearly meant to be my Remembrance quilt for 2014, and my aim is to have it finished by November 11th.  I hope you don't think this is too morbid - close up you don't really register the crosses and it just looks like a nice, dark, rather masculine quilt.

But it's not finished.  

I thought it was, but on reflection I want all my crosses to be framed by red poppies, and that includes the blocks on the outer edges of the quilt, so I need to add a border.  The border needs to have red triangles to complete the frame and green strips in between. I suppose these are parallelograms but I worked them out as border strips with 45 degree triangles lopped off.

This was my test piece to see that I had got the measurements right.

And here are my border strips ready to attach.  Tune in next week!

Whirly Windmills finished

Happy to report a small-ish finish this week.  I quilted and bound the Whirly Windmills baby/toddler quilt I showed you here.



It finished at 45" square, so quite a good size for a growing child to enjoy.  Size was determined by how many blocks I could make from two Charm packs - I had not one scrap left over.  In fact the sharp eyed among you may have spotted that one of the blocks (top left in the pic above) has four patches in the corners.  This is because I initially planned to make a different block with this collection, but after making a sample I changed my mind.  So cobbling together the four patches from the pieces I had already cut was the only way I could complete my sixteenth windmill block.

This is a lovely easy pattern for beginner quilters (especially if you decide to skip the cornerstone pinwheels) as the only place your points have to meet is in the middle of the block.  Whilst this is quite an important place, it does help to only have one place per block to really have to get it right!

The sashing happened because the quilt was just too busy with the blocks placed edge to edge.  I guess if I had chosen a calmer background fabric I could have made more blocks with the Charm squares and then would have got a secondary windmill pattern where the blocks butted up to one another.  Oh well, maybe in the next version?

Plus I wanted to use the bonus triangles I made from the stitch and flip corner cut-offs, and sashing cornerstones was one way to do it.  See, I said I used every scrap!

Sashing width was determined by the size of the pinwheels which I trimmed to 3", and I think I bought a metre of fabric for the sashing (I had a bit left over which I added to the backing fabric to get the right width).

The backing is hard to see on the photo but it is white with a light blue swirly design (Basically Hugs by Helen Stubbings for Red Rooster Fabrics) which I feel is in keeping with the idea of windmills whirling in the wind.









The quilting is pretty straightforward; I chose to use the structure of the quilt to define my quilting lines, rather than an allover evenly spaced grid.  So I first quilted in the ditch along the sashing lines, then through the middle of the sashing which bisects the cornerstone pinwheels.  Then I quilted through the diagonal of the large pinwheels in the centres of the blocks.  Finally, I felt I needed to do a little more so that the amount of quilting would be fairly consistent across the quilt: I added quilting lines vertically and horizontally through the blocks.  Although the spacing is irregular it is not random and it gives a great texture on the back as well as the front.

 Binding is a skinny orange stripe, cut 2" doublefold for a nice narrow edge.  Just lifts the slightly chilly blue/white.

Don't you love a rolled quilt?  Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts here for Finish it up Friday.

Thimbleberries WIP resurrected

Long ago, when I first started patchwork and quilting in the early 90's, country colours were all the rage and Thimbleberries one of the biggest and best names.  I still love their warm, rich shades of tan, green, blue, red and gold for cosy winter quilts.

You won't be surprised to learn that I still have fabric and UFO's from those days in my cupboard, so, having recently been working with new and bright fabrics, I felt the need to dig out an old(er) and duller (but in a good way) WIP.




There is a bit of a saga attached to this one which I will try to keep short.  Basically I thought I wanted to use all my Thimbleberries fabrics to make a quilt following one of the designs in the original Nickel Quilts book by Path Speth and Charlene Thode.

(BTW the cover quilt is my all time favourite from the book but I haven't got my act together on that one yet).













The pattern I intended to make is called Arlington Road and I duly set to and did a lot of cutting and a lot of lovely chain piecing BUT.... then I decided I didn't like the design as much as I thought, or at any rate not in the colours I had chosen. So, I shoved it all back in the cupboard where it has been festering for goodness knows how long.











This past week I have had a little more time and seem to have been a little more focused, so dug it out and chose another pattern from the same book which would use all my hundreds of four-patches and large half square triangles:  the result is Buffalo Ridge, which is a sort of modified Jacob's Ladder, I think.






Anyway I liked the setting with sashing and the maths worked, so happy to report I now have sixteen large (18") blocks, each made up of four smaller blocks and sashing strips, ready for setting together.




The only problem is that I have some of the other components of the original design left over... but I think I may have found another quilt design which will use these up, so watch this space!


Do you find that somehow one quilt always leads to another, or is that just me???







Linking to Lee at Freshly Pieced - I love her Modern Solids Challenge quilt - for WIP Wednesday.

Secret Garden Scrappy not-quite Bargello

Quick post today to link up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  You may recall I bought some FQs of Nel Whatmore's Secret Garden when I was at NEC in August (part of this post).

I just fell for the colours, the richness and depth of the coral, orange and purple, and decided I wanted to keep the pieces fairly large.  So eventually, after much deliberation and fondling of fabric I settled on the Scrappy Bargello pattern from Bonnie Hunter's long list of great free patterns at Quiltville.com.  It's a bit like Scrappy Trips, but not absolutely the same.  Equally fun though.

I have made several of Bonnie's patterns before as I love her scrappy approach and quick cutting and piecing methods.  A few years ago I made a Scrappy Bargello with 2 1/2" strips and it is still on my bed and one of my all-time favourite quilts.

So I decided it was time for another and that it would suit this fabric collection with added Fair Trade plains and a couple of Oakshott stripes from stash.  I cut the strips 3" for a change and now have a top measuring 60" square.  I think, though, that I'd like to add a couple of borders, and I am just waiting for the fabric to arrive, so it's still a WIP.

Have to confess to a major boo-boo however, which will be only too obvious from this last picture.... I must have been looking at too many Scrappy Trips on the web, and doing the pattern from memory, because I have set the blocks as for a Scrappy Trip Around the World, NOT for a Bargello!!!!   Oops...

Still, I like the fabric, I like the randomness, nobody's perfect....Will just have to re-title it when the borders are on and no-one will ever know...

Time to catch up, and a tutorial

Such a busy few days.  Sorry to have neglected the blog.  Here is a whistlestop tour of what has been going on (in reverse order):

I did a demo on Saturday at our Regional Quilt Day.  Showed how to make easy HST's with my two favourite methods: Easy Triangles on a Roll for bulk production and Bloc_loc rulers to square up larger/scrap HST's.  Pinned up these leftover 2" HST's in the traditional 18th century Dutch Chintz quilt layout to show how much fun you can have when you have already made a stack of the little darlings.  Met lots of lovely ladies and listened to two great talks, one on feedsack quilts and one on art quilts.  Good day.

I made some bunting to use up the last of my furnishing fabric samples and thought you might like a tutorial.  I've put this at the end of the post so you can skip it if you are all bunting-ed out, now the summer is over!

I finished piecing a small top, the blocks for which I made  back in June.  I quite often get stuck on a quilt and/or distracted and start something else.  This time it was because I wasn't quite sure about the light blue Flurry sashing, but I didn't want to use white/cream.  Anyway I put it away and when I got it out again I decided it would do.  Too late to change my mind now...



So it is pieced together and ready for layering and quilting.  Based on a free Moda Bakeshop pattern from quite a while ago, Whirly Wheels Baby Quilt, here.

I used two Charm packs, Bloomin' Fresh by Deb Strain for Moda, rather than a Jelly Roll, and adapted the pattern to what I had available, so made 16 blocks rather than 20.

I like to challenge myself with Charm packs and see if I can use every scrap.

This time I made bonus HST's from the stitch'n'flip corners, so my top has pinwheels in the sashing cornerstones (16 blocks yielded 16 pinwheels so none for the top and bottom sashing of the quilt - too bad).

And not even a tiny square left over: success!



With 2 1/2" wide sashing and 8" blocks (finished measurements) the quilt measures 45" square, so I have added a strip of leftover Flurry dots to the backing.  Hope to show it to you finished later this week.

I did promise in my last post to put up a picture of the Feathered Star with borders.  I did put them on last week when I said I had, but just haven't had a chance to get on the computer till now.  Apologies.
The fabric I used for the inner border was the same as for the points of the stars, from the Floral Trails range, and for the outer border was an old Thimbleberries Paintbox.  Still in two minds, but I was determined to use from stash.

Digging out that old Thimbleberries print reminded me of another UFO which uses lots of Lynette Jensen's fabrics, so I have been doing a bit of piecing on this project too.  But that will have to wait for next time...

Now for the bunting tutorial, for anyone who has bravely stuck it out to the end of this post!

I love bunting, I think it adds a jolly, vintage flavour to any proceeding and I am so glad it has come back into fashion these last few years.  There are lots of ways to make bunting and you may have your own favourite method, but I would like to share my method which makes a strong, durable bunting which is ideal for outdoor functions, especially if you have an unreliable climate as we do in the UK.

This method arose from the fact that I wanted to make my bunting out of furnishing fabric samples; you know, the books of samples for posh curtains and upholstery which you can sometimes pick up for next to nothing from interior design shops when they are updating their ranges.  The size of the samples varies but there is often quite a lot of fabric in the books, and it is usually of very good quality but too thick for most quilting purposes.

So I decided that the method I used could not involve seams and turning right sides out.  This led me to Bondaweb (other brands of fusible web will work equally well) which does add to the cost, but the extra stiffness which the glue gives to the fabric makes the bunting hang well and prevents creases.

Ok, ready to start?  You will need:

• Fabric.  How much depends on how much bunting you want to make.  With me, it's usually how much fabric do I want to use up!  Furnishing weight is good, remnants of curtain material, dressmaking remnants - this is one time you can use heavier fabrics as you will not have to worry about seam allowances.
• Tape.  I use a cream cotton herringbone tape which is 1 1/2" wide.  Remember the width is important as the tape will be doubled over the top of the pennants and then stitched down.  If you are making smaller pennants you may be able to manage with narrower tape but it should be durable if the bunting is to hang outside.  How much depends on how much bunting you want to make and whether you are making it to fit a specific place - I usually make mine in 4 metre lengths: this will swag between two six foot wide fence panels as in the picture at the top of this tutorial.  I can fit 23 pennants on this length of tape.
• Bondaweb or other fusible web.  How much depends on size of your pennants ie how many you can fit on the web and how many you need.  I suggest you start with 2 metres and see how you go.

First you will need to make a template for the size of bunting 'flag' or pennant you want.  I based mine on a sheet of A4 paper which I folded down the middle.  I then drew a line from the top corner down to the midpoint on the bottom edge and cut along that line.  This gives a good size pennant for outdoor use.  

If you are using remnants you may need to adjust the size to fit the fabric you have available so as to maximise the number of pennants you can get out of what you have available.  So long as all are the same it doesn't matter exactly what size/proportion your personal pennants are.  Mine measure 6 1/2" across the top and 9 1/2" from the top edge to the tip, but it really doesn't matter.

Using your template, draw out pennant shapes on the paper side of the Bondaweb.  Offset them to get as many as you can.  Cut the shapes out on the drawn lines.

Following the instructions for your brand of fusible, iron the pennant shapes to the reverse of the fabric you are using.  Remember that the pennant will be double sided, so if you want the same fabric front and back you will need to leave a space for the second stage of the fusing process ie you need two pieces of fabric for each piece of Bondaweb.  When the fabric/fusible has cooled, cut out with a rotary cutter and ruler.

The next stage is to remove the backing paper, and here I'd like to share a tip I picked up somewhere along the road:  to help you start peeling off the paper, score a line with a pin through the paper (but don't go so deep you damage the fabric!) and that will give you a place to start.  You will have more difficulty if you try to pick apart at the edge of the piece and the bias edges will lose their crispness.

Having removed the papers you now have a pennant which has glue web on the back: you need to lay this, right sides uppermost, glue down, on the wrong side of another piece of fabric.  I used the same fabric for both sides where I could but ended up using some odd leftovers. Press according to maunfacturer's instructions to stick the web to the fabric, then when it is cool, cut out using the edges of the top pennant as the guide.

You will eventually have a stack of double-sided pennants like this.  You could stitch them to the tape at this point, but for extra durability I would recommend that you stitch a tiny zigzag along yje two sloping edges (not the top edge as it will be under the tape) to ensure that with use and weather the layers of fabric and Bondaweb do not come apart.  You can chain piece this part if you like - you won't be surprised to know that I do!

Once that task is done, you are nearly there.  Now you can stitch the pennants to the tape.  I like to use quite a wide tape because my pennants are quite big; if you are have made daintier pennant, perhaps for indoor use, then you could use a narrower tape or maybe ribbon.  The wide tape is relatively expensive but it is durable and my bunting gets a lot of use!

Fold the tape in half, turning the raw end in, and stitch close to the edge for about 4": this will make your hanging loop (we will come back to that).  Then, tuck the top edge of the first pennant under the fold of the tape, making sure that the tape is equally distributed so that when you stitch close to the edge you catch the back as well as the front.

Continue adding pennants, butting the tips of each so they just touch under the tape (you can space them further apart of you wish but don't overlap as it makes it too bulky).

When you have come to within 4" to the end of the tape, stitch the two sides of the tape together as you did at the beginning, remembering to turn in the raw end.

Then stitch another line all the way along the string of bunting for strength - you can even add a third line if you are using a wide tape.  This is also a good time to check that you have not missed any places on the back.

Final task is to make the loops at either end: just fold the ends back on themselves by about and inch and a half and stitch down.  You can then thread a piece of string through the loop and tie the string to the fence post or whatever structure you are decorating.  

Completed stack of bunting, ready to be used at the next village fete or outdoor party next year - hooray!

Friday finish - at last!

After an age of not really finishing anything, a FINISH for Finish it up Friday!



And even better, it's a finish of an old UFO.  The blue and yellow pinwheels are bonus HST's from a quilt I made with signature blocks for our vicar, Barbara, when she was leaving our village to take up a post in another parish  - now about 10 years ago!

This is an old photo of the quilt we gave her; it is similar in design to the little purple quilt here but with bigger, (6"), blocks.

Members of the parish wrote messages and signed their names across the calico 'stripe' in the centre of the block using blue permanent ink Pigma pens.  I stabilised the white section with freezer paper on the reverse so that the fabric wouldn't shift when written on.

Blue and yellow together aren't really my colours, and it took me a while to decide what to do with the leftover HST's.  I am pleased with the alternating pinwheels: nice and fresh against the white calico.


The piecing isn't perfect so don't look too closely.  I wanted to avoid the bulk in the centre of the pinwheel,  inevitable even with careful pressing, so I quilted parallel lines 1/4" either side of the seam line.  I felt it needed more, so added a line of stitching in the ditch in between; this gives a pleasing plaid effect on the reverse.













Backing pieced from stash, not quite big enough so it was eked out with more white calico.  Plain navy binding encloses all the scrappiness.

The quilt measures 45" x 60".

















Feels so good to have made something from 'nothing' and to have emptied another plastic bag which had been lurking at the back of the cupboard.  This quilt will be donated to our local Project Linus, and I hope it will give pleasure to someone somewhere.

Also managed to trim my Feathered Star blocks on Wednesday and have got the top together.  This one will take me a while to complete as I plan to handquilt.

The top measures 59" square at this stage - I've just decided that it needs borders, so it's not really finished at all!

The fabric is Floral Trails by Barbara Brackman and Terry Clothier Thompson for Moda and the selvedge says 1999!

Since drafting this post I have added my borders but it's too dark now for a photo.  I will post a picture with borders tomorrow, I hope.

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts - Amanda Jean has also finished a UFO today for charity - and it wasn't even one of her own!