Something quicker to sew

I usually enjoy sewing my quilt blocks by hand. But now when I look back I notice I have lots Wisps but none of those are finished this year. Sigh.

So something quicker with my sewing machine was what I needed. There was a pattern in Judy Hopkins book Triangle-free Quilts (2002), which have been in my to-do list a long time. Pattern is called Illusions and it's made using only three different blocks.

The first block :

The second block:

And the third block:

And finally all blocks put together:

I run out with my dark blue fabric so I had to downsize my quilt by leaving set of blocks undone. Pictures are changing colours a bit ( no natural lights) but I used white and dark navy blue. I

I didn't get this quilt done before this year's end but at least the top is done. Hopefully  this is going to be my first finished in 2019.

Happy quiltings for 2019!

Riikka

Good Fortune 1 & 2

I made a good start with Bonnie Hunter's quiltville.blogspot.com new mystery Good Fortune. I'm not sure do I have enough those small four patches but there is plenty. And they are cute too.

The second clue came out last day of November. I haven't have time to sew them all, but I made few anyway. I'm not sure if my bluish fabric is going to work. I might have to change it. So maybe I wait till rest of clues are out before I finish these.

In Finland it's dark at this time of year before we get some snow. So there is need for reflectors. And I made some snowflakes.

Riikka

New Quiltville Mystery: Good Fortune

It's again time for Bonnie  Hunter's  Mystery. I did one of her mysteries couple of years ago. That was  quilt called En Provence. And it turned out to be a beautyful quilt.

This year I been doing all my projects by hand and it's slow. Nothing is finished. So I need something quicker to sew. With my En Provence I followed Bonnie's colour choices as much as possible. It was my first mystery quilt ever and I wanted to stay on the safe side and not to take any riskies. This year's   Quiltville Mystery is called Good  Fortune and you can find everything about it in Bonnie Hunter's blog quiltville.blogspot.com . Bonnie's colour palette is including vibrant greens, blues, reds and oranges with bunch of neutrals. I didn't find all those colours in my stash so I changing colours a bit. It's really going to be a mystery because there is no way of knowing will my colours work with Bonnie's design in the end. I just have to keep my fingers cross.

These are colours for my Good Fortune quilt and I'm ready to start with some four patches.

Riikka

Queen's Garden part 6

Finally after three months my part 6 in the Queen's Garden is done. I don't know why it took so long. Ok it was twice as much to sew than previous blocks, but still. Three months... But triangles look nice and I'm happy with them.

I might still add some more embroidery, not sure yet. I even managed take a picture with all my blocks. I really love my colour choices.

Riikka

Japanese Quilt Blocks Part 2

I've done some more japanese blocks from Susan Briscoe's book. I love linen as fabric, but sometimes it' not easy to sew. It strech too easily and cutting straight easier said than done.
These blocks are called Ni mochiai kadotate igeta and are number 23 in Susan's book.
As previously I tried two different settings for blocks.

I'm not sure what to do with my japanese blocks. Maybe a sampler quilt or somekind medallion quilt.

Riikka

Queen's Garden Part 5

The last one of square centre blocks is done. It was a lot easier than the previous one. Even the colour choices were easier this time.

And my embroidery is ok too, not perfect but I'm happy with it.

I used fussy cut paisleys in the leaves on stems because I realised other way  my second block is going to be the odd one. It too have brownish leaves, all other blocks have more dark blue in their leaves.
 I haven't been able the set all blocks together even for photo because we have a new family member. Two months old Welsh Springer Spaniel puppy Esme is my DD's and quite a personality. My cutting for next part of Bom was done when she was sleeping. 

Riikka

Scottie & Westie

Few years ago I made a quilt for my dog loving daughter. We were looking for right pattern from magazines and only block we found back then was this Scottie. But my daughter liked westies more, even Hamish Macbeth had a one. So I included both westies and scotties in this quilt. Colours are not my usual ones, but those are what my daughter loved when she was 8 years old. If I asked now what colour quilt she would like, it would probably be something to do with black.

Here is the Scottie

and the Westie.

I think this was the third quilt I ever made. It's hand quilted and dogs are done using paper-piecing technique.

 Black stripes are shadows from clotheslines so I took an other picture without sunshine, but colours in the first picture are more true.

Riikka

Queen's Garden Block 4

Finally I finished my block 4 in the Queen's garden. The zigzag flower was really giving me some gray hairs, because I couldn't figure out how to do it in the beginning. After I started to hand applique it, it was a lot easier than I thought.

While I was so scared of this block I lost few months in this Bom and I'm way behind. Part 8 is coming out soon... But I'm proud of my self, I finished this block and continued on block 5 instead of giving up. Which had happened before ...

Riikka

Summer sewing

I've been really lazy with my quilting and blogging past few months. It was busy time at work  and in the spring I just wanted to outside as much as possible. Winters can be long and tiresome in Finland.

As a side project I'm been doing some blocks from Susan Briscoe's book Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks (2010). I made four of this block using reproduction cotton prints and natural colour linen. Block is called Chigai igeta (number 25 in Susan's book) and it is 9" square when in quilt. I really enjoy doing my quilts by hand so these are all handpieced. It will probably be some years before I even got all my blocks done. Here is pictures of two different setting for blocks.

Riikka

Queen's Garden block 3

After difficulties with the second block the third one was easy and it took only a week to finish. More time for other projects.

I took a picture with all three blocks and I'm happy how it looks.

I'm allready thinking about how to do sashing and borders, maybe I use black fabric for background in those. But first there is a long wait for next blocks.


Riikka

Queen's Garden part two

The second block in the Queen's Garden quilt gave me some problems.
First few leaves and then the flowers. I tried to fix them, but still not happy.

But with the first block the second doesn't look so bad.

It is challenging when I'm using only four fabric and don't want to repeat myself. But so far so good.

Riikka

Queen's Garden Block 2 Finished?

Flowers in the second block were slightly bigger than in the first block. So I couldn't make similar flowers.

I made one but didn't like that

So I made second but didn't like that either

I'm not sure do I like this one anymore than previous ones.

So at the moment I wondering how much I should rip or shall I just add some fabrics on the flowers. There is two leaves wich are not staying, but I really hate remaking so in the meanwhile I'm doing my Oak Leaf Quilt block 10

This is easy, I'm only using two fabrics so no more colour problems;)

Riikka

Queen's Garden Block 2

I made a start with the second block of Queen's Garden. First the stems

and then the leaves while watching the Olympic Games.

It's funny how much light can make fabrics look different. I probably should start using my camera instead of phone. Maybe next time.
I have problems choosing right fabrics for the flowers So this time it can take longer to finish this block. I still have some options: use some other fabrics from my stash or chance flowers. Haven't decided yet.

Riikka

First block in Queen's Garden

Esther Aliu published her free bom Queen's Garden at 15.1.2018, four days I just looked it: to do or not to do. I haven’t even finished last year’s Bom Diamond Hill. But I could resist only four days.

Lucky me, I had some suitable fabrics in my stash, bought from different collection and makers. Floral prints are from Robert Kaufman, black print from Fabric Traditions and neutral, golden dragonflies from Northcott.

And I started right away, printed instructions and pattern. Golden dragonflies for background, black print for circle and crowns.

Flowers were more difficult but fussy cutting was my solution. It gave me wider variety with colours. I’m surprised how well the block turned out.

Everything is hand appliqued without fusible, starch or glue.

Riikka

Some progress in my Oak Leaf Quilt

I have done some progress in my Oak Leaf Quilt. I've total 8 blocks from 12 made. Borders are going to take more time, I haven't even drawn the templates yet.

I draw the sketch exactly as the original quilt in the book called American Quilts & Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Corners in the quilt seem a little bit odd so I probably re-design them.
But I'm in no hurry, hand-applique is taking some time and I have four more blocks to sew.

Riikka

Happy New Year!

I only made one finished quilt last year. It was Bonnie's Mystery quilt En Provence. I made it little bit smaller version of the original and cut bright yellow squares into triangles. Yellow was just too much for my eyes.

This was my first mystery ever and probably the last. It was too difficult to find fabrics and I'm not too happy with my choices.

But in the end it turned out nice. I specially like the borders.

In backing I was able to use some fabrics I have had for years. More space in my cupboard for new ones...

Riikka