Sunday 30 May 2021

Version Three - Black (Fireworks)

I pieced this top in 2015, and quilted it late 2017.  It won the Excellence in Machine Quilting Award at Vic Showcase 2018.

The quilting is random, and I wanted it to look like fireworks exploding between the stars.

I quilted the border with random triangles coming in from the edge, shading from the light blue in the middle of each side to the dark blue at the corners.

Most of the stitching for the straight lines and the circles I have gone over twice to make it really stand out on the black background.

To work out the placement of the quilting, I marked the quilt with chalk.

I then put a letter for each colour in the shape to plan out the colour placement.

I chose a plain black back to show up the quilting.













Friday 14 May 2021

Black and White Log Cabin

Another quilt by Karen this month.  You can see her Harlequin Stars quilt here.

Karen decided to be adventurous and chose a black thread which showed the quilting on the white areas.  I quilted it with a freehand leaf design.

Tuesday 11 May 2021

Modern Stellar

This is a quilt I pieced in 2018, and quilted in 2019.  The design is called Stellar, and is by my friends Kathy and Lori at Highway 10 Designs.  You can get the pattern here.  

I fell in love with this design and wanted to make it in plain bold colours.  Whilst it may look complicated, it was very easy to make.

I quilted it with a geometrical design with lots of straight lines.

The back I pieced with some left over fabrics and a couple of extra pieced triangles that I had made by mistake.


Thursday 6 May 2021

Mini Red Stars

Last year I asked my brother what colours he would like if I made him a new quilt (he has several of course).  He said red, white, and black.  And then he also asked for white quilting on the black fabric which was a rather specific request.

This was the result.

As you can see I did do white quilting on the black fabric with a big freehand bubble like design.  I did the same design on the patterned fabrics in a red thread which is more subtle.  I also pebbled the background of the little stars.

This is the top before quilting.  The black areas looks boring without the white quilting.

I am not sure who the designer is.  I was in Brisbane in 2019 with a friend and went to a small local quilt show.  This quilt was hanging and I took a photo.  I thought I would recreate it, and just assumed they were four inch blocks.  After making around 250 of the mini stars and starting to piece the blocks into rows I realised it was going to be ridiculously large.  So I chopped off four rows on each side.  This simplified the design, but I still think it looks good.

My brother loved his new quilt and I think his foster cat does too.



Sunday 2 May 2021

Harlequin Stars

This gorgeous quilt was made by Karen.  The pattern is Harlequin Stars by Emma Jean Jansen.  I have this pattern myself, and it is on my (very long) to do one day list.

I love the fabrics that Karen chose, and the way she has incorporated the striped fabrics.

Karen chose to have my freehand allover feather plume pattern.  I love how it gives texture and you can see the feathers in the white around the stars.  But at the same time it doesn't overpower the piecing.


The back was a vibrant green, and you can see the quilting with the white thread.