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A quilt design inspired by the latest Inklingo shape collection. It is my take on Willyne Hammerstein's Night And Day Quilt (from the Millefiori Quilts 5 book) Continue reading →

Can you believe that Willyne Hammerstein has produced enough Millefiori Quilts to fill 5 different books now?

Yes, volume 5 of Millefiori Quilts has just been released by QuiltMania and I'm lucky enough to have my own copy here in front of me.

I've already bookmarked some favourites and I'm tossing up ...

This, the beginning of the Capriccioso quilt from Millefiori Quilts 3 that I now think of as the Candy Cane quilt, was one of the projects I looked at and was ambivalent about. Until, that is, I mentioned it to a friend and showed her this picture. She persuaded me that I didn’t want to toss this one.

Particularly since all the little stars for it are done and nestled in this box.

And all the pieces for what I think of as the bow-tie unit are all ready to sew.

So I decided to sew one of the ...

My Ruby Star quilt is finished! 

I used the Raindrops are Falling on My Head pattern by Willyne Hammerstein from Millefiori Quilts 4. 

I've called it Ruby Star because the fabrics are all from Ruby Star Society.  I had a lot of fun fussy cutting ice creams, rainbows and birds.

I chose to hand piece my quilt, but there are English Paper Piecing papers available. 

Last year I used the same Raindrops pattern to make my Bollywood quilt. 

I had a bundle of Ruby Star Society fabrics that I wanted to fussy cut, so I decided to make the ...

I'll be teaching Raindrops are Falling on my Head (2 day class):

Dancing Cheek to Cheek as a one day class:

Finish your Millefiori Quilt workshop (one day class):

This class is for all the people who have started a Millefiori Quilt,  but need help forming a plan to finish it.

and finally, Social media for quilters and quilt guilds.  

So, I'm going to be a busy lady because ...

My Ruby Star quilt is coming along nicely.  I like hand piecing because it's very portable.  I keep a few of the joining star pieces in a little bag and I take them with me when I know I'm going to be sitting still for an hour or so.  

This pattern is Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by Willyne Hammerstein from Millefiori Quilts 4.  I almost wish some raindrops were falling on my head right now - it's been so hot in Wellington and Auckland this summer.  

Here's one of my favourite blocks in this quilt ...

I know I should have blogged last week but I have an excuse – I got my booster shot and it packed a bit of a punch! I’m glad it did as that means my immune system was busily making antibodies to help fight COVID but still – I wasn’t expecting to feel like I’d been hit by a bus!

However, two more Christmas Fireworks blocks are done, both the off kilter or not centred stars. First this one, which I think may be one of my favourites – so far, that is.

And then this one:

Today I’ll ...

I actually thought that by the middle of January I’d be finished making these blocks? Ha! Not a hope. It took me most of the week to make two blocks.

This one with the star straight up and down.

And this one, also with the straight star. Now I have 16 of the 35 blocks done. If I continue at this rate of two blocks a week, it will be at least another 10 weeks, if not more, before the blocks are done which puts this into mid-February at the earliest. I think. If I don’t get distracted ...

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 ...

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'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 ...

Everyone loves a good fireworks display, so I've decided to call my Ballet with Kaffe quilt, "Fireworks".

Fireworks by Wendy Welsh

I'm so pleased that this quilt is finished.  I love it, but it did take me a few years from start to finish. There were times when I thought I might never finish it. In the end I drew a line on my pattern and decided to stop piecing at that line.

I started this quilt in June 2017, and I finished it in February 2021.  That's almost four years!!!

The Cotton + Steel floral fabric on ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Yet another project has been brought out to be worked on again. About three and a half years ago, I started the Capriccioso quilt from Millefiori Quilts 3. When I began it I was using this grey stripe.

When I opened the first Capriccioso project box, I immediately decided I wanted to switch that grey stripe for something else. To me the stripe felt too strong.

So I decided to try this grey print and put together this small piece of the top. The it sat for about a month. After that I looked at it again and decided to ...

There’s another project box that got opened. Upon opening it, I found this – everything for Christmas Fireworks (Midnight Fireworks from Millefiori Quilts 1) with all the centre stars done.

Beneath the stars? All the pieces to finish each of the 35 blocks.

The stars began with this fabric. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it as I knew it was perfect for some fussy cutting/printing. I’ve used it in this Christmas Fireworks project and plan to use it in another project that’s not yet started.

When I began this way back in ...

My quilt is finished and I've called it "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", after a favourite song by Tears for Fears. Click here for a trip down memory lane - or to hear something new.

The colours and stars in this quilt remind me of flags; the Union Jack from the UK, the Star-Spangled banner from the USA, and our own New Zealand Ensign. 

The USA and NZ both held elections last year, and the UK left the European Union, so "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" seems appropriate at this time.   

I machine quilted this quilt with both ...