What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Christmas is coming, so the decorations and lights are appearing in shops, homes, and blogs! Even this blog which features virtual quilts rather than real ones.

My reason for sharing virtual quilts is that I designs way too many quilts, just for fun, and real quilts over the Christmas period are very rarely required Down Under so the only excuse I have for to design them is to share them here, though I am going to print out a whole heap of them to create a real banner to hang across our bedroom window,. The plan is to laminate the ...

I started this project fie to see how far I could go with one star block. It is not the simplest star block out there, but is is far less complex than many, including may I have designed.

The second design has the quilting lines which are simply outlines of the block design, and which disregard the placement of the fabrics, and even the missing pieces.

Love it!

Both these designs use blocks from the Electric Quilt library, and the quilting motifs are modifications of one of the applique blocks.

A challenge for you … copy these designs, then add your choice of fabrics.

Interesting!

I like the second design.

Notice that the quilting lines in the second and third designs show the how the blocks fit together in the first.

 Machine quilting and finishing some projects has carried me through the past couple weeks!  That is all good for sure!!  Last week, I finished my youngest grandson's "big bed" quilt -- major goal reached!! 

 I made this quilt during the #littlemisssawtoothquiltqal led by Melanie at @southerncharmquilts via Instagram.  I used a layer cake I had stashed with 1 1/2 yards of background fabric for the blocks.  I moved through this project pretty quickly, starting the blocks last September and finishing the quilting this week -- not even a year!?!

So this week, I've been working on a small charity ...

One block design, the one in the centre, modified many times.

The quilting design is the same as the pieced block, simply following the unused seam lines.

These blocks were first drawn with pencils on butcher’s paper, then transferred to Electric Quilt 5 … and I still like them.

Australia has some weird and wonderful native flowers, with lots of colour.

So pretty!

Pretty too!

I had almost forgotten I could use pieced block designs as quilting lines … should try it more often.

This second design reminds me that straight lines can be mixed with curved lines … not because I used it in this design, but because I used a part of an applique design as quilting lines on a pieced block.

I haven’t got a favourite of the three designs above … and I might take a break from sorting and naming blocks in my Electric Quilt library to add a few applique shapes to pieced block design to use as quilting!

Interesting, and I like the colours. All the blocks are variations of just one block, and the quilting lines are also based on that one block.

More blocks, more interesting.

First quilts of 2020!  Bridget wanted her wedding dress made into two identical quilts for her daughters. Her dress had a very full skirt and a train, so there was plenty of fabric. 

Bridget 1

Bridget 2

Bridget Center

The block is a variation of Jane’s Star, and Like Jane’s, this one uses the seam lines of the base block as the quilting design, even when the seams are not there.

My favourite is the second one.

I wonder how many ways the Vera’s Star block can be coloured?

And if Vera’s Star can be coloured so many different ways, how many ways can your favourite block can be coloured to create a centre feature, straight lines, diagonal lines, corners, small feature blocks?

The easy part is finding the quilting design … just follow the seam lines, though I would quilt a line just outside the seam lines so that the quilting stitches can be seen, not hidden in the ditch, and the coloured pieces stand up above the background fabric.

One block quilts do not ...

Every month during our Quilted Joy Clubhouse live meetings, we spend a few minutes looking at how I might quilt a quilt top. These quilt tops are not my own. Instead they came from unquilted tops shared in the Quilted Joy Clubhouse Facebook Group. (Click here to join in the fun over in the group!)

For the September 2019 livestreamed meeting, I was excited to design a quilting plan for a panel quilt shared by Gail. Watch the video below that begins at our How Would You Quilt it segment. You can also click here to watch the meeting from ...

One block, one quilting design exactly following the lines of the block, but contrast fabric is not used in some of the pieces so those pieces disappear.

In a real quilt the cutting and piecing can be reduced by not cutting on all the seamlines.

Are you ready for the first challenge of the year?

I am working on it so it will be published over the weekend.

Love it, but I can see some changes I will make shortly … and save for a Christmas in the future!

Love this one too!

And another one to love … this makes three out of three. I can see that I could play with some of the blocks in this one to see what would have if I changed them, turned them around … now all I need is lots of play time!

I like it!

Love this one!

The quilting design is the piecing lines of the basic block, though you have to look carefully to see all the lines in the pieced blocks. That is because sometimes I leave out some pieces of the block I am working with. It is harder to work out in designs like this one where the blocks are set on point!