What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Christmas Fireworks, that is – my take on Willyne Hammerstein’s Midnight Fireworks quilt in Millefiori Quilts. Which, of course, I’m making with the Inklingo Midnight Fireworks collection.

First up an off-centre fireworks.

Then a centred one.

And finally another off-centre one.

Now I’ve used all the red diamond pairs I had pieced so it’s time to chain piece more of them. I’ve decided to do these blocks in groups of 8 or 10 so this time I’m going to chain piece (by hand) eight pairs of red diamonds for each of 10 blocks.

I had ...

So far I’m still sticking with the Christmas Fireworks and two more blocks are done.

First one with the star pointing straight.

Then an off-centre one.

The back of the straight star after grading of the seams and pressing it. When I was taking the photos, I happened to scroll through my camera roll really quickly and it was fun to see how much movement the block that seems off-centre adds. Now I’m really glad I decided to do the blocks both ways!

I’m also very grateful that I caught on to the effect of the two ...

This block was done in March. Of. 2010. That’s right – 2010. That was when the first block of Stormy Seas was sewn, although I just watermarked it now. And the project is still not finished!

These 25 blocks were finished by 2012, and there it appears to have sat until 2018 when a handful more blocks were finished. Blocks like these ones:

And these:

And these blocks as well:

That was September 2018, well over three years ago. Now there are only ten blocks left to make. Each envelope in this box has all the pieces needed for one ...

My Christmas Fireworks, that is, which is what I decided to call my version of Willyne Hammerstein’s Midnight Fireworks in Millefiori Quilts.

Notice anything? I realized after I had put together a few more of these blocks that I have been adding the black framing pieces two ways – one has the centre star’s central point pointing right up while the other doesn’t.

And while this picture isn’t very good at all – I laid the blocks out on top of the duvet so there were lots of hills and valleys – it shows an example of what the ...

I know, I know – last time I said I was going to blog more often. Ha! Then I vanished for ages – again. However, here I am again and hopefully will get back into a blogging routine.

Remember this clamshell block with sashing?

I finished another of the blocks.

There’s one more of those to make and then I’ll add more of the sashing – assuming I can find that black and white fabric which I had used and know is somewhere – and that will be it for that clamshell project.

BUT — there will be loads more very colourful clamshells ...

 I'm so close to finishing the main body of this quilt.

Pattern = Raindrops are Falling on my Head from Millefiori Quilts 4 by Willyne Hammerstein.

There's just two long seams to hand stitch now, but they will be slow going because there's a lot of places where the points meeting along these seams. 

Once the body of the quilt is done, I can think about the borders.  I want to use more of the feature fabric in the borders, but I'm not sure how I'll do it yet.  

And then I need to think about ...

It’s 9″ by 12″ and I absolutely love how it turned out! It’s destined be a Christmas gift but I’m pretty convinced that I want to make a lap quilt using these fabrics. This was made using the 3″ Inklingo Winding Ways collection. I’m thinking if I do make the lap quilt, I may use the 4.5″ size instead — although maybe not. These little 3″ blocks were pure bliss to piece as every seam involved curved piecing and each block seemed to be done very quickly. So I’m thinking a lap quilt made up ...

Now that I have nine of these little 3″ Winding Ways variation blocks done, I’m tempted to make a lap quilt using these fabrics and blocks of this size. These blocks are destined for a mug rug but the temptation is almost impossible to resist. I may change my mind once I get these all sewn together but somehow I don’t think that will make a difference.

The back of two of the blocks, after the seams were graded and the blocks were pressed.

I’ve been jumping from project to project over the past week and rarely ...

When I saw this variation in the 6″ Deluxe Winding Ways collection, I knew I had to try it. It’s fun to piece with all that lovely curved piecing. I think I’ll make enough of this one for a table topper or wallhanging. The variation is available in all the deluxe Inklingo Winding Ways collections.

The back after pressing and grading the seams.

I’ve made a couple more of the little 3″ blocks with the floral and green fabrics. I think I’m just going to make 12 of them and then turn them into a mug ...

The two boxes were finally full of the completed blocks late last week. When I was counting them to make sure I had enough, I was really surprised at the amount of yellow in the blocks. At least 50 per cent, if not more, of the blocks have yellow in them.

I am joining them by hand. I know it would be much faster by machine, but I’m enjoying sewing them together and can substitute blocks easily if I see that a block is too close to another block with the same fabric. And, truth be told, the disaster ...

Hello there! 

Last weekend I went to Queenstown with my husband.  We had a lovely weekend away.  It was cold, but it was also very calm.  We're used to a bit of wind in Wellington, so it was amazing to see reflections on Lake Hayes every day that we were there. Here's just one of many photos I took of Lake Hayes. 

We also went to Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu.  When we were growing up in Otago and Southland, the road to Glenorchy was not much more than a dirt track, so our families didn ...

Other projects were found as the sewing area was moved. One is these very colourful 9-patch blocks on point. I love the look of these so don’t have any idea why I’ve let the project just sit for so long. However, now that I’ve got it out I’m hoping I finish at least one or two of the blocks every week. The 9-patch blocks are all done. All that’s left to do is add the triangles.

Then the various Silent Garden projects were unearthed, starting with the blue and brown Silent Garden project. I’m ...

This was one of the projects I unearthed during the relocation of my sewing area. The block was made with the Inklingo 3″ clamshells and clamshell sashing collections.

A second block was done, but it has no sashing.

A third block was done as well.

I also found two more sets of clamshells for the fourth and fifth blocks. Once they’re done along with sashing this will turn into a small table topper.

The blocks are all nicely pressed, but the seams aren’t graded – yet. I’ll do that before I start sewing blocks 4 and 5.

I ...

I know, I know. I vanished again. This time I had sort of a good excuse – a computer that was just not cooperating and needed to be replaced, which has now happened.

What have I been doing? Other than making more masks, I’ve been playing with lots of little blocks. These little 4″ blocks have been my focus for a while as I was determined to finish making them. And finally – it has been a very long time since I began this – the piecing of the 276 little blocks is done. Next they need to be sewn into rows ...

 Yes, I'm going on another retreat this weekend.  This time it's for quilting.  I wasn't intending to go, but someone has had to pull out, and her place was up for grabs.  

As I said last week, it's winter here, and wet and cold, so I'd just be quilting at home all weekend anyway.  This way I get to do it with friends and see all the exciting things that they are making.

I'm not even sure what do at retreat yet.  Often I just take hand sewing because I can't be bothered ...

The Great New Zealand Quilt Show opened today in Rotorua, and I can finally show you my entries in the Aotearoa Quilters Lime Challenge.  

First up is "Not Your Grandmother's Garden".  

12" wide x 16" high

At first glance you might think these are hexagons, but they're not! Hence the name, and the fact I'd just bought some new jeans from Not Your Daughter's Jeans. 

I love experimenting with geometric shapes, and I wanted to try the Fiesta Gitana pattern in Millefiori Quilts 4 by Willyne Hammerstein. 

I hand pieced this mini quilt, and then I ...

The Inklingo 12″ Winding Ways collection was released on the weekend and I immediately printed enough for one block. I initially thought I’d make a lap quilt using the large block in a different fabric but, as soon as I got the collection, I decided to do just one of the block for now in the same red and white as the tiny 3″ blocks. This is going to be the centre of the quilt and will be surrounded by lots and lots of the tiny ones.

The back, after pressing and grading the seams. The one long centre ...

I am finding the Inklingo 3″ Deluxe Winding Ways blocks absolutely irresistible.

So much so I had to make a couple with these little floral and soft green fabrics. This is one of the variations in the Deluxe collection – the centre, dividing pieces are just a bit larger. The camera doesn’t seem to like these fabrics as this looks much prettier in person than it does in the photo! There will be a few more made with these fabrics and they’re going to be, I think, turned into a special mug rug for someone. I think that all ...

Typing that heading made me think of Laura Secord Miniatures. A good friend used to get a box of Laura Secord Miniature chocolates for Christmas every year. No one — and I mean no one — got to touch that box. She absolutely loved them but then the Laura Secord store that was close by closed and no more of the miniatures.

My French General miniatures are much less fattening! It all began with Winding Ways, Quilting the Inklingo Way, Linda Franz’ new book. While it uses Winding Ways block, the lessons taught in it are applicable to any block plus lots ...

My hand pieced Raindrops quilt is coming along nicely. I've been experimenting with other fabric combinations because I don't want all of the blocks to be the feature fabric.  

I'm not sure if all of these rosettes will make it into the final quilt, but I need to see all the options before I start joining the blocks.  

The plainer blocks are good because they give our eyes a resting place.  However, I can see that the dark green in the centre rosette might be too dark. 

Last week someone asked me how I calculate how much ...