I had a lovely surprise a few months ago when the mail man delivered a parcel of 36 fat quarters, a beautiful gift from a dear friend. The fabric is ‘Flour Garden’ by Linzee Kull McCray for Moda Fabrics. I wanted to make something special. I worked out there was enough fabric to make 2 queen size quilts if I added a cream background fabric. One for me and one for my special friend. We will have matching quilts. Clark Street Quilts had designed the quilt ‘Canopy’ using these fabrics…..this worked perfectly with the fabric quantities I had.
After lots of cutting and sewing I have 72 twelve inch squares, 36 for each quilt. I am now in the process of quilting the first quilt……the second quilt is still to have its 12 inch squares pieced together. I think that will be kept for a rainy day in the future.
The quilting is the fun part. I enjoy seeing the design being transformed into a soft, textured quilt.
Our guest room needed some wall art. To match the Japanese inspired bed linen I searched my stash for Japanese fabrics in white and indigo. The circles are machine appliquéd onto contrasting 4 inch squares. Highlights were embroidered using cream sashiko thread. The machine quilting is very simple, in the ditch around the squares and outlining the circles. I also quilted over the fabric design in the border using a cream thread. The quilt was then framed. Really pleased with the end result.
I have been doing a few online mystery quilt projects during this time of self isolation. This one was designed by Rachelle Denneny as a fund raiser for Backpacks 4 kids SA Inc. It was a great way to use up lots of my bright Kaffe Fassett scraps. The design called for brights with a contrasting background. I chose this layout as it provided lots of opportunities for custom quilting designs.
I have finished the Alpha Block quilt, designed by Helen Godden. I really enjoyed experimenting and working with the Inktense pencils. Even though my background fabric was a light cream the colours worked beautifully, creating crisp clean tones which were easy to blend and allowed for fine detail work . I managed to finish the quilt in time for my Grandson’s 3rd birthday, it now hangs above his bed. I used a dark batik print for the sashing which blends nicely with the black quilting outlines.
It has been a busy time in the sewing room this month. I am on to my 3rd online mystery quilt and having some fun experimenting with Inktense Pencils.
I finally got my Gymea lilies back from the framers and it looks great hanging in the entrance way to our house. The black frame really enhances the design.
Reece Scannell Gymea Lily panel
I finished quilting the Batik mystery quilt. It was quilted all over with curved lines using quilting rulers to build up the design. The whole quilt was quilted using the small handiquilter universal ruler. The online mystery quilts have been fun to do, used up some of my fabrics, taught me different techniques and kept me in contact with other quilters from all over the world.
Batik – Casa Felix Mystery Quilt
I also finished an online mystery quilt which was designed by Lessa Siegele with the South Australian Guild. It was a great opportunity to search the fabrics from my stash. The finished quilt has been donated to the Tumut CWA. They will use it as a raffle prize in their upcoming fundraiser. Hopefully it will help them raise much needed funds for their building project.
The next mystery quilt is using all my Kaffe Fassett scraps….looking forward to discovering the finished quilt design in a few weeks. The pattern is a Rachelle Denneny Design .. Mysolation Mystery Quilt.
I have also been experimenting with Inktense Pencils. Helen Godden Designs has released an alphabet quick called Alphblocks. I drew the design onto cream cotton then coloured with the pencils. The colour was activated with fabric medium, very similar to painting with water colours. Each block is 8 inches square. After drying it is then quilted with black cotton to highlight the pattern. When completed it will be a wall hanging, assembled as quilt-as-you-go. The detailed quilting is an excellent way to practice fine free motion quilting.
Lyn Keogh Quilts 