Sunshine quilt

Sunshine quilt

Monday 23 June 2014

Summer cherries quilt

As an antidote to the wild colours of the shadow pinwheel I'm calming down with the ordered demands of this cherry applique quilt. I showed you the first square earlier on - and now I am starting to put it together as a quilt.


Progress is slow - although I have enough cherries completed for the next row - but I'm really enjoying the soothing blanket stitching which is all in black. I have to work out a cunning plan to stop the little tail ends of black thread from the start knots on the applique showing through the white fabric - but I am pretty sure I can do that.

Incidentally we are having some hot weather in the UK at the moment which is unusual to say the least. We are all using the quilts which live on various beds to sleep under and they are proving just the right level of cover. They are all made from cotton with cotton wadding and are the perfect breathable layer. Here is someone demonstrating just how comfortable they are!!


Tuesday 17 June 2014

Shadow pinwheel - the top is complete


Well I've finished piecing the top and I am really pleased with it. So glad I didn't resort to a kit. I'm pleased with the colour choice and how the brights work together. But the sharp eyed among you will see I got one of the patches the wrong way round.Damn! However the good news is that I unpicked it with very little trouble and it is now correct. Just waiting for further quilting supplies. 6 yards of green Kaffe shirt stripes for the backing and a yard of purple and cerise dots for the binding from America. Then some Quilters Dream thin wadding and a can of 505 basting spray and I'm away. I waited to see if I liked the top before splashing out on expensive backing but the general consensus is that it is worth it!!

Thursday 12 June 2014

Quilt inspiration

While I am ploughing on sewing together all the patches for my pinwheel quilt I thought I would just take a brief interlude to show you where my colour inspiration comes from.




This is a corner of my garden which is a bit of a vision in purple, blue, pink and green. This is the main theme of my pinwheel quilt and I can see why these are always the colours I fall back on. I love the easy way they go together and I recognise the way that the enormous variety of greens tone down what might be a rather lurid pink from the lupin on the left hand side. Another lesson for quilting from this picture might be the way the light brown of the fence seems to show off the foreground colours - and I would not have thought of introducing a beige fabric with the glowing greens and purples - must make mental note of this!


This picture also shows some good toning purples. I love the way the white stripy grass highlights the vivid irises and aquilegias in the foreground - a reminder of how white or very light colours can be used to enhance other colours. And then the final picture below - which proves that even nature gets it wrong sometimes - well I suppose it was my fault really planting a red and a pink so close together - each lovely in their own right but not so close together. More quilty stuff soon - nearly finished the pinwheel quilt top.

Thursday 5 June 2014

A big scrappy quilt in progress


Not a wonderful photo cause it is from my phone - but this is pretty much the final layout for my shadow pinwheel. As you can see it covers all the free space on the bedroom floor, so I need to pick it up now and start sewing it together. Organising the squares has been great fun - like doing a massive jigsaw- but I'm pretty much happy with it now. I've made just a few adjustments since this picture. More to follow as I sew it together!