English paper pieced Dresden block: I’ve been wanting to make new pillow covers for a while, to replace the ones that I made about 5 years ago, which have been very well-used and worn.
I figured I would take the opportunity of having more time at home to do some hand sewing - English paper piecing. I decided on Dresden blocks, using a pull of Carolyn Friedlander fabrics. I used free Dresden templates from Occasional Piece Quilts - I have used her templates before, for a bag I made several years ago. They work perfectly with 2.5″ x 5″ pieces of fabric - which is half a charm square (a great project if you have some charm squares around!) I just printed one sheet of templates, traced shapes onto thicker cardstock for piecing, and cut them out by hand.
I finished off the first patchwork section the other day, which I’ll appliqué to a solid colour background. I think I’ll leave the centre open, like a ring or wreath. I’ll start on a second one, so I have a pair of pillows. I may hand quilt these as well, or at least add some hand stitching around somewhere!
HST quilt: I finished up this simple quilt made of half-square triangles last week. I’d pieced the quilt top last month, it is all made from scraps from my Dusk to Dawn quilt (that was in Love Patchwork and Quilting last January). I’m really pleased with how it turned out!
Quilty details:
- * 32 inches square
- * Made with Kona Cotton and Carolyn Friedlander “Carkai” scraps - all from my Dusk to Dawn quilt
- * Each individual block is 3.5″ square
- * Straight line quilted at 1/2″ spacing
- * Binding attached by machine and hand stitched around the back.
Linking up with Finish it up Friday.
Kona / Carkai scrap quilt: I have been meaning to do something with the scraps from my “Dusk to Dawn” quilt. They have been in a little bag of triangle scraps, just waiting to become half-square triangle units, trimmed up and put together.
So last weekend, that’s just what I did! I kept the design relatively simple and oriented all of the triangles in the same direction, and made a value gradient from one end to the other, mixing in a few coral scraps in there as well. Then, since I had more coral, I made a gradient just in that colour along the end.
I happened to find a metre-long cut of a Carkai print on sale at a local quilt shop, so it was the perfect matching backing for this one. Little Ollie helped along the way, basting quilts is about one of his favourite things. (He tried to take a little nap on the backing fabric when I was trying to tape it down!)
Now I’ve just got to get the binding on, and I’ll have a modern baby / throw quilt ready to go!
Farmer’s Wife Quilt: A few weeks ago now, I took a workshop with Johanna Masko, which was hosted by the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild - “Secrets of the Farmer’s Wife.” This was a technique class, using the book The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird.
Johanna showed us how to quickly figure out the quilt math for each of the blocks, so we don’t need to use any templates. She also gave us a ton of tips on working small with precision - something that I was really interested in! For example: we used measurements to 7/8 of an inch, which is something I don’t ordinarily do. I’d usually use 1 inch and then trim the block later - but with her methods, there was no trimming needed!
It was great to take a class that helped me up my precision and craftsmanship level, and I’d definitely recommend a class with Johanna to anyone! Thanks to our guild for hosting.
Finished Quilt Top: This week I finished the top for the quilt for my brother. It’s 80″ square, and reaches floor to ceiling! (It’s hanging on my KVARTAL rail).
I used a bunch of different fabrics for this one, including Kona cotton, various Cotton and Steel (@cottonandsteelfabrics) prints, some Parson Gray prints, Carolyn Friedlander, and others. My brother had liked some of the things that I’d made before with mixes of print fabrics together, so I thought this random assortment would be fun and more visually interesting, especially close up when it’s finished and he’s using it on the couch.
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’m now on to making the back, and hopefully I can finish that up and start quilting it this weekend.
Linking up with Finish it up Friday.