Sunday 15 September 2013

Autumn leaves

The September meeting started very appropriately with show and tell.  Well, Emily didn't actually bring her jelly roll quilt with her, but she sent me this photo, so I thought I'd share it.  I know she has put the borders on now, so maybe it will be finished for the next class.  The warm beige background really compliments the colours of the jelly roll.
 
 
Debbie brought this lovely quilt to show.  She had made it from small squares, and said it was very time-consuming to make - all those seam matches!  never mind, it was worth it, and her colour choices are fabulous.
 
 
 
Hazel had made another scrappy bargello, or trip round the world.  I love the colour gradation.

 
Now onto the business of the day.  Paula and Rosemary had chosen batiks which moved from green to brown, and were perfect for this exercise.  Margaret and June had greens, again perfect.

 
Pauline's eye had been taken by some Fabric Freedom fabrics in bright greens, oranges and turquoises.  (She was lucky to take them away with her at the end of the session as Paula and I had taken a definite shine to them!) 

 
Rachel didn't disappoint with her fabric choices, as she had black and white spots, and then more black and white fabric with camper vans on it.  These fabrics made a real statement!

 
Kate, Emily and Paula were generous enough to make blocks for Linus.  This way they were able to try the technique, without the stress of starting another quilt.  I forgot to take a photo of their blocks, but they made 8 completed blocks between them, and Paula kindly took all the blocks away with her, to join together.

 
Here is Kate cutting one of her blocks.  Gorgeous colour choices.

 
Paula and Rosemary enjoyed getting the technique under their belt, but felt that two blocks were sufficient.  Rosemary made a couple of half square triangles to complete a panel for a cushion.  How clever is that?

 
She liked them with the colours together, but we tried the blocks the other way round for fun.

 
Rachel was  planning to put these blocks in with her granny squares, but thought maybe the fabrics were a little loud.  She felt it needed a calm space on it, to show the busy blocks to their advantage.  One idea was to made a large appliqued heart in the middle on a white background as a foil for the other blocks.  She put her leaf blocks in each corner.  Wonderful 

 
She obviously is a chip off the old block, as Betty used the technique as inspiration for a Christmas table runner, with holly leaves.   This will be an entry in the Piecemakers Christmas competition.
 
 
And here is an example of the houses we will be making in November.  They are free-pieced and great fun.  I used them to add a bit of fun to this quilt I made for my great-niece.  She loves it,
 
 
You could just make a few, like I did, or make a whole town!

Monday 26 August 2013

Turning leaves quilt

September's quilt will be 'Turning Leaves'.  It's a nifty technique which can be used for all kinds of images, and is very easy to do. 
 
 
Here is mine which I made in autumnal shades of green, brown, gold and burgundy.  You could do the same, or have more spring-like shades of greens or go onto a non-natural palette of primary colours or neons!  The important thing is to make sure you have darks and lights, or at least fabrics with a definite contrast (can you see the leaf with the mid-green background just under top left?  That adds a bit of interest.  You'll need several different colours plus some way of appliqueing the leaves onto the background.  You can use Heat and Bond, or I'll show you how to make a faux needleturned result using lightweight Vilene.  Bring whichever you would prefer, but I'll bring some Vilene so everyone can have a go at this method on the day, even if you plan to stick your leaves. 
See you on the 14th September!

Sunday 30 June 2013

Granny squares

This post has been such a long time in coming, but I'm afraid I've had oother things on my mind, so no apologies.  First of all, show and tell.  This is Emily's first completed quilt!  It's a lovely cot quilt which I am sure will be appreciated by its new owner.  Well done there, Emily!

 
And here are some Magic Tiles from last time's class.  All looking so good!


 

 Then is was heads down and sew!  Julie and Rachel were hot off the mark.

 
Sue and Hazel were still cutting while Sian was already machining!

 
Lots of activity from Paula, Rosemary, June and Betty.

 
And it's a finish from Sian!  She had some lovely novelty fabric which she didn't want to cut up, so made this giant block!  Fabulous!

 
Here is an arrangement, waiting to be joined together.

 
One down, next one ready for joining.

 
I'm endlessly fascinated how value can channge the look of a block.  The one above is a clear 'X' shpae, while others look like squares, or stripes.

 
Pretty pastels.

 
Brights.

 
Three blocks, all with a different look.

 
Lime green always looks so good!

 
Pretty in pink (and green).

 
Another set giving very different effects.

 
Playing, playing, it's the best way to learn.

 
The brown adds such definition to this colour scheme.

 
The blue background is the perfect foil for these colours.

 
And now for the next meeting.  It will be on 6th July and you will need a jelly roll (or yardage to cut 36 two and a half inch strips from).  Try to get one which has lots of similar values, rther than one which has everything from light to dark.  You also need two and a half metres of background fabric.  The whole quilt top (including the border triangles) will be made from that.
 
 
See you on Saturday!

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Granny squares

The next class will be on 18th May and will take those of us old enough to remember the 60s back in time!  Little crocheted multi-coloured squares were all the rage and found themselves made into waistcoats, skirts, hats, bags and lots and lots of sofa throws!   It was a way of using up oddments of wool, and the background was often black, or one colour, in this instance, white.
 
 
We are going to recreate this look in fabric.
 
 
 
Here is one I made earlier (and gave away to baby Leo!)  You will need at least four different fabrics, a fat quarter of each should be enough.  You will get a more interesting quilt if you have more fabrics, and scraps from your 2.5" box will be perfect.  If you have a jelly roll or the remains of one, that's great too.  Your background fabric will need to be fairly plain (either a solid or something which reads as a solid) and 1 metre of that will be enough, unless you plan to make a kingsized quilt!  You can leave border fabric for later. 
See you on the 18th!

Monday 4 February 2013

Magic tile

The class on 9th March will be the stunning Magic Tile.  This design isn't too tricky (if you concentrate on what you're doing!) but produces a unique result.  Lots of people make the design in jewel colours, with black 'grout', but you don't have to.  Pastel colours with cream 'grout' would be good, or use complimentary colours (green fabrics with red or orange 'grout' for eaxample would be lovely).

 
I used analagous colours for my quilt, red, orange and pink, which lie together on the colour wheel.  You could try blue/purple/green, green/blue/yellow or any colours round the colour wheel.  If you're still at a loss on colour choice, Google 'magic tile' and find a colour combination you like.
You will need a fat quarter of fabric for every completed tile you make (my nine tiles took nine FQs, so buy 12 or 16 if you want a bigger quilt), and a metre or metre and a half of the 'grout' colour.  Bring a piece of paper 15" square and a pencil, and the longest ruler you have. 
I'm looking forward to seeing all the different colour choices!




Monday 14 January 2013

Quilters rule!

Blogger has been playing up and not allowing photo upload, so I didn't think I would be able to share the few photos I took on Saturday.  But superior intellect has won the day, and I've managed to sort it out!  This class was machine quilting and 'quilt-as-you-go', although Sian and Martin had got a bit confused and quilted blocks ready to join.  No problems.  Sian is already a proficient machine quilter, and Martin only needed a few tips.  Result!
 
 
Pauline and Emily were busy free machine quilting, and the reason Emily looks so smug is that she took to it like a duck to water.  I can see a quilting business coming up for her in the future.
 
 
Sue had brought her Window Block from the Piecemakers Mystery Quilt, and proved yet again how hard it is to sew a straight line!  Better choice of thread colour helped her with that.  I know loads of ways to fudge!

 
Martin tried to save some time by using invisible thread to sew the backs of the quilt as you go blocks.  What a clever idea!  However, he didn't like the result, so undid it.

 
Julie and Rachel were happy to hand sew the backs.  It's quite relaxing.

 
So relaxing that Paula and Rosemary managed a nice chat!

 
Here are Sian's blocks partially joined.  She didn't have enough fabric with her, but was very pleased with the result so far, as she should be! 

 
Rachel took advantage of the tables to lay out her curves.  They look fabulous and the use of the brown and pink blocks as a border is fabulous.  I'll look forward to seeing it finished.

 
The next class will be on 9th March and will be 'Magic Tile'.  See you then!