Hello Luscious Layer Cake "Framed" Quilt Finish

This is my little Dolly cat trying out the finished Layer Cake "Framed" Quilt which I blogged in a tutorial here. Doesn't it look Luscious? Just like the name of the Layer Cake I used, Hello Luscious by Basic Grey. Their latest collection is Little Black Dress, and I've kept a Jelly Roll in that to make something with…. I think this quilt would look so stylish in the black, cream, grey and taupe of a Little Black Dress Layer Cake.

 These quilts go together so easily! I used a funky Hunky Dory pink swirly backing on the quilt and bound it using a machine binding technique. For this, you cut your binding strips 2 3/4 inches wide. make the binding in the usual way, then attach it to the back of the quilt. Later, you bring it over to the top and machine sew it close to the edge. It makes a very neat finish to the quilt and is done in a fraction of the time it takes to hand sew. The binding fabric was a pink Grunge Basic from The Hello Luscious Range.

 I machine quilted with my Janome, using the square blocks as a guide, alternating vertical and horizontal lines. This was done with the darning foot attachment so I could freely move up and down and side to side. I was happy with the effect - plenty of quilting, a nice crinkly texture and cream thread all blended the quilt together well.

Any Layer Cake will work with this pattern, and the quilt itself is a manageable size to machine quilt at home on your regular sewing machine - always rewarding! You could also use your own fabrics of choice, cut into 10 inch squares to start with.

Moda Layer Cakes 

 Here's Dolly again, right in the middle of the quilt of course. This is one of the photos I used to update my blog and Facebook page. I'm also planning a website update soon too! Don't forget, if you make one  of these quilts, I'd love to see it - either shared on Facebook, Pinterest or you could even send me a photo to share for you.
Happy stitching,
Ann.

This quilt is FOR SALE @$165.00 

SOLD

Spring Cleaning - SALE

Spring has sprung in the Antipodes!

The sun's shining in the blue, blue sky, birds are singing, strawberries and cream for breakfast, and there's a new bounce in your step. You want to open the windows, brush out the cobwebs, shake the carpets and get fresh air into everything with a big spring clean… 

and it's time to start fresh projects too, with brighter, lighter fabrics and new ideas. 

The same goes for me in my shop and I'm having a Spring Clean Sale online for the whole first week of September.

It's out with the old and in with the new!

So if you want to freshen up that stash with some new colour,

Bali Batik

 Start a new project for someone new in your life (don't forget it's spring - lots of new babies about)

Bungle Jungle

 or just find one of Moda's new and delicious Layer Cakes or Jelly Rolls and make something fun and springy

Moda New and Future Range precuts

You'll be able to find something fantastic in our Sale!

Lovely Moda fabrics and more

 Hope to see you there,
Ann.

Oh Deer - More MoMo Fabric and a Quilt.

More fabric from my favourite fabric designer for Moda fabrics, MoMo, and a new precuts quilt as well! Usually I have simple quilt made up from one Layer Cake in the shop, just so people can see exactly what size they sew up to. The last one was from Blackbird Designs Garden Party, and so many people wanted to buy it, I finally succumbed. But then of course I had to make a new one. I can't resist MoMo's cute Japanese Kawaii designs, and the new collection is no exception. Oh Deer, has funky colours, deer, birds and flowers, stripes and spots - gorgeous!

                             

You can see, every time a new range arrives I have to make something with it. One of my recent posts was about the little Zakka style cushion I made from It's a Hoot. And the quilts above are from that range, and also Freebird, both using the precut packs, Layer cakes and Jelly Rolls.

There is nothing earth shatteringly new about this quilt and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible - time is scarce for samples when I keep trying to make art quilts as well - and I tied it instead of quilting.

I used a variegated Sashiko thread and a strong Sashiko needle. If you don't know, the knot used for quilt tying is most usually a reef or box knot. 

If you can remember back to Girl Guides it's the first knot you learn - right over left and under, left over right and under. I used some little fabric pads on the back to lessen the strain from the knots on the fabric. These were just left over 1" selvedge strips from the backing fabric cut to 3" lengths then folded and pressed as you can see below. This was an idea I adapted from Denyse Schmidt's newest book, Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration. She has a lovely whole cloth quilt on p.70 which is tied using this method.

You can see the back here and if you look closely, you can just make out the little tags on the back. they feel quite soft and textural. Of course, you can tie your quilt with any thread, but I find cotton or wool best as both stay knotted better and wash to create an interesting texture.

The other thing I really wanted to use was one of my new, stunning stripy bias bindings. I think it makes a really nice finish on the edge of this quilt, don't you? (You can get some yourself from my Etsy Shop.) It's so easy to sew on all in one go. Just place it over the edge, pin and sew.

 You can make a quilt like this from any Moda Layer Cake, or any 42 x 10 inch squares of fabric. Lay the squares out 6 across x 7 down and the finished size will be 57" x 66.5". It's a large throw, and if you double the quantity, you end up with a full queen size quilt…so easy, yet so nice.

Finally, a little traditional Japanese finish with this sweet owly obi. I love the playful design on this so traditional piece of Japanese apparel, don't you?
I can't wait till my Japan trip at the end of September…
Ann.

It's a Hoot Zakka Cushion Finished.

You might remember the tiny It's a Hoot Scrap Quilt I was making? I decided to make it into a cushion in the end. I also wanted to try out my beautiful new Japanese Linen in a little project, so i combined the two and made a Zakka inspired cushion.

The squares were 2 1/2 inches left over from a quilt made with a Jelly Roll and Layer Cake, and just too cute to not use. They were sitting behind my sewing machine for a long while….

There were 81 in total, which made a nice sized cushion top. (Dolly thought so too.)

 Do you ever iron open your patchwork seams? I have been doing it more and more often, specially when there are lots seams. I find it really makes the finished piece smooth and gives a good finish.

Quilting in progress - top.

This was a hand quilted project. I always use a quilter's hoop for hand quilting, it just helps me keep the tension even.     

Quilted back - It would have looked nice as a quilt too.

The top was trimmed back and I used that nice oatmeal linen for the back. 

It was just a simple envelope style back, which I finished with a groovy little row of stitching to fit in with the cushion front.

And here it is, proudly sitting on the couch with some other nice cushions….

And here it is, in its real home amongst the casual stylings of a 15 year old's bedroom. She actually liked this project, what could I do?

I've been sewing with MoMo's new fabrics, Oh Deer, too and just finished another very easy quilt made from a layer cake, but that's a subject for another day.
Do you prefer hand or machine quilting?
Till next time - happy sewing,
Ann.

Hello Luscious Layer Cake Quilt Tutorial

On the design wall: blocks are placed in pairs as they are sewn, to be moved around later for the final layout.

Hello Luscious is the beautiful new collection by BasicGrey for moda Fabrics. There is something about their designs that just really appeals to me. I love their lush floral, slightly off key colour and pattern combinations and their delicious Grunge Basics. I used one of the Grunge blacks as the backing for  the Miscellany Quilt and I try to add a little to nearly everything.

hello luscious Layer Cake: 42 x 10 inch squares across the whole range of fabric!

One of my favourite things to do with a Layer Cake, is make a sort of stack and slash "Blocks in a Box" block quilt. There are lots of ways to do this, but this one is a straight-forward even cut one as opposed to wonky, or uneven ones.

Wonky Boxes

First you open your Layer Cake and look at the wonderful fabric selection contained within :)

Then you pair up squares to get 21 pairs. Mix and match patterns, colours and values. Don't be too predictable.

Next, take one pair of squares and place one exactly on top of the other. Cut a strip 2 1/4 inches wide on two sides. Separate them from the middle wide strip, like in the picture. (I find a rotating cutting mat extremely useful for this.)

Now, position the block pieces so the two cut strips are on top and bottom. Cut 2 more 2 1/4 inch strips on either side. You will now have two 2 1/4" x 10" strips, two 2 1/4" x 5 1/5" strips, with one 5 1/2 inch square in the centre.

 Swap the top and bottom fabrics around in the centre square. These are the fabrics which will compose the first block. You will discover that two 10 inch squares will make 2 blocks in your quilt and that a Layer Cake will make a nice sized throw quilt with 42 blocks.

 Start sewing! Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance and sew the two small rectangles to the sides of the centre square. Press. (I pressed the seams open for these blocks.)

Now, sew the two longer rectangles to the top and bottom of the pieced centre.

 Look at the picture below. You can see how I sewed the top and bottom pieces on, lining them up even on one side of the block. This makes it easier to trim the blocks at the end.

 Finally,  place the blocks exactly on top of each other again and trim the two excess ends from them. Your blocks should measure 9 inches square.

 You can now separate the blocks and see how nice they are, a positive and negative image in fabric, of each other 

I like to put them up on my design wall, in pairs, as I go to see how they look and build up a feeling of how the quilt might look, and where to move things later. You can see it growing in the top photo, as the pairs of blocks are added to the wall.

N.B. See how the blocks are placed so that the long and short seams are next to each other? This makes the quilt very easy to sew together as you're not having to match hundreds of seams. This is also one of the reasons I pressed the seams open.

 When the blocks are completed, move them around to create a pleasing arrangement, spreading lights, darks, colours and patterns across the surface. It's that easy to make a pretty quilt!

I challenge you to have a go at making a Boxes quilt... are you up for it?

Have fun with fabric,

Ann ♥

How to make an Australasian Quilt : Project in Quilters' Companion this March.

I know you're probably sick to death of hearing about the Australasian Quilt by now, but last story I promise ;)

Here it is again, finally, presented as a project for you to make in the March issue of Australian Quilters' Companion magazine.

I'm very happy with the photos (in the article - not my dodgy iPhone one above) and really wish that was my actual garden. The quilt does look nice, and hopefully there aren't any typos that escaped detection in the instructions ....

I don't  know how much I told you about the making of the Bali Sunset quilt? The original quilt was sold so I started the Bali one to have a quilt to work out the pattern instructions on. I've never made a quilt totally out of Bali batiks and I have to say it was a nice experience. I gathered a pile of sunset hued fat quarters and got started.

Bali Sunset fabrics

Then I started cutting and making notes, not necessarily in that order, to fine tune the pattern. I usually work in a plain notebook and just draw freehand any ideas I have. Then I flesh it out with the maths - measurements, quantities etc. 

Australasian working plan diagram.

The first block of Bali Sunset is complete

And here it is hanging in my shop. I like the way it turned out, a bit like a watercolour painting  with the different batik textures and surface designs.

I would really like to make another version using modern designer fabrics and perhaps a solid white for the sashing strips. It will happen one day, but for now I have a few other things in the pipeline.

A Walk in the Woods

Anyway, enough about me.

On the fabric scene....How beautiful is this?

Aneela Hoey's new collection for Moda, A Walk in the Woods. These two fabrics have just come into the shop and are available online, with some more and charm packs and jelly rolls arriving (again) next week. So if you missed out before, you have a second chance. There aren't many opportunities like that in life.

Have a good weekend,

Ann ♥