Category: My Projects
#LoveIsLove
July 25, 2016
General Info
| Start Date | 9 July 2016 |
|---|---|
| Finish Date | 28 July 2016 |
| Status | Finished |
| Size | 24″ square |
| Pattern | My own design |
| What it’s for | Canberra MQG challenge “Love is Love” |
| Batting | Random cotton my from stash |
Quilt Top Notes/Techniques
Cut 3.5″ strips of solids. Used pre-bought, single fold 1″ bias for heart. Had some issues getting bias to curve. Ended up using a bit of heat from my iron (no steam) and then pinned a whole bunch to keep in place. I made a test block to see the best way of stitching it down – a 3.5 length straight stitch worked better than the typical blind hem stitch I’d use on turned edge machine applique.
Quilting Notes/Techniques
Used freezer paper to make “LOVE” block letters 6″ tall. Used the one inch grid on my cutting mat to draw out the letters. Pressed on to surface of quilt. Had to re-press a few times.
Used a 3.0 straight stitch to straight line quilt using the open toe Accufeed foot. First did 1/2″ spaced lines, then filled in 1/4″, stopping at the letters. I buried the threads, but some I left too short to knot. When pulling off the freezer paper, some of the stitches did pull a little bit.
Progress Pictures
Sydney NYE Tablerunner
July 25, 2016
General Info
| Start Date | 28 May 2016 |
|---|---|
| Finish Date | 3 September 2016 |
| Status | Finished |
| Size | |
| Pattern | Urban Runner – modified layout |
| What it’s for | My table & practicing the Quick Curve Ruler |
| Batting | Random cotton from my stash. |
Quilt Top Notes/Techniques
I bought a Quick Curve Ruler ages ago because I was interested in the Metro Rings (double wedding ring) pattern. But I needed some help figuring out how to use it. Enter Sylvia (aka CreativeChicky) and her QCR class at Addicted to Fabric in Canberra.
We used the free included Urban Runner pattern, but basically the class was to figure out a little about how to use the ruler itself. It did take a little practice.
I ended up using my regular, non-Accufeed, quarter inch foot on my sewing machine. I find the Accufeed doesn’t do well on curves due to the bulkiness of the feet.
After making and trimming the blocks, I attempted to match points when putting them together, but this went by the wayside pretty quickly. I think the issue is that my 1/4″ seam/pressing was still not great, meaning that the width of the inner strip varied. This mean that even when trimming 1/4″ away from the corner on the bottom, the top varied in size.
After Sylvia’s suggestion, I made a little Sydney Harbour Bridge by adding strips to the side of a solid grey curve.
Quilting Notes/Techniques
Quilting in smoke invisible thread with a firework burst pattern. It takes a bit of time and uses quite a bit of thread. Have to re-fill my bobbin regularly.
Progress Pictures
Lightsaber Legacy – Star Wars Quilt
July 25, 2016
General Info
| Start Date | 28 March 2015 |
|---|---|
| Finish Date | |
| Status | Quilting in progress |
| Size | ~85″ x 75″ |
| Pattern | My own design |
| What it’s for | Gift for my husband |
| Batting | Warm and natural 100% cotton |
Quilt Top Notes/Techniques
Got a 21 fat quarter set of Start Wars The Force Awakens fabric.
I used the Quilt in a Day HST trimmer to make 6″ finished HSTs. Fortunately the fat quarters were a true 21″ wide (I didn’t pre-wash). I used my signature block technique to add in the solids for the lightsabers – I just used 2.5″ strips.
I used left over strips from the fat quarters to make the cornerstones and blocks in the borders.
I should really write a proper pattern for this quilt.
Quilting Notes/Techniques
Attempted to quilt on my friend’s Tin Lizzie longarm, but it kept skipping stitches. Not sure what the issue was. This is the first time I’ve used this batting.
Progress Pictures
Master Yoda says “When making HSTs, trim you must.”
2015 Year In Review – Challenges and Lost Sewjo
January 21, 2016
It’s still January, so I think my year in review is still on time. Indulge me. 
Challenges
Nearly all the quilts I made this year were as a result of challenges or specific requirements. It helped to have a place to start and not be starting from scratch. The deadlines were also essential!
Forest in the Fog was a result of a special request from my lovely mother-in-law who wanted a green and grey quilt 36″ square. I had previously made a block for the Canberra Modern Quilt Guild colour of the year challenge way back in 2013, so I expanded on the idea. I really loved doing the feather quilting and fills on this quilt. It’s probably the most exemplary quilting I’ve done to date.
I entered this quilt in the Modern Quilt Show Australia and the Canberra Quilters Exhibition. No placements in either, but I’m glad it was on display.
Fuck the Patriarchy was made for inclusion in a Social Fabric Exhibition, organised by Bee & Lotus Textiles. Unfortunately, we were not chosen by Craft ACT to exhibit. This is my most political quilt and I hope one day it will go on show.
I wanted to juxtapose the aggressive message with the extremely feminine fabric and traditional style. I definitely succeeded in my vision.
I’ll Be Clammed was made for the OMG Quilts project. Co-creator Helen Godden presented the idea to the CMQG and I just had to make some quilts. I ended up with OMG #14.
Broken Star was a result of the Canberra Modern Quilt Guild’s modern monochrome challenge for the 2015 Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair.
My first concept had the pieced lone star blades take up more room in the 24″ square required size, but in the end, it worked out perfectly to quilt in a lone star.
The filler quilting on this one was really fun, and turned out fantastic.
The Badass Quilters Society sponsored the Game of Quilts Challenge. I decided to make quilts in both colourways.
Spoiler Alert – A Game of Thrones Memory Quilt was made to honour all our favourite (and not so favourite) characters who have met their makers on the TV series (I’ve blurred the names in the pic above to avoid spoilers, but if you’re caught up on season 5, click the link to see the quilt).
A Song of Ice and Fire was made to the represent the series name of the books. The three snowflakes represent the prophesied three heads of the dragon to save Westeros.
A Song of Ice and Fire ended up in the middle of the pack in voting. Spoiler Alert was towards the end, but I still love the idea behind it.
I actually did the piecing for Mesozoic Mates in 2014, but I finally finished quilting it in 2015. The quilt is for the daughter of some geeky friends. I really wish we’d start seeing more unisex panels/quilts for kids. Girls like dinosaurs too!
I quilted feathers in the border. Dinosaurs had feathers damn it!
Lost Sewjo
Despite a very inspiring trip to QuiltCon in February and the Australasian Quilt Convention in April, the last half of the year, I lost pretty much all desire to sew.
I made a few small things, but other than that, my sewing machine sat dormant. All I wanted to do was read shitty books and listen to good music.
Hope for 2016
This year I started with mucking out my sewing room. I purged a bunch of books and patterns. I also trashed some old UFOs (mostly poor attempts at sewing clothes) that were in plastic bags that were literally disintegrating.
I have signed up for the Project 48 Quilt and am hoping to get started soon.
I also bought a bundle of Star Wars fabric off Massdrop. My husband has requested a couch quilt. And I have an idea for a pattern! And I want to sew! So there is hope.
What are your quilty plans for 2016? How have you gotten over losing your sewjo? Let me know in the comments.
Game of Quilts Voting Now Open!
September 17, 2015
Go vote for your favourite Game of Quilts entry over at the Badass Quilters Society now to 19 September 2015!
I would appreciate your vote for my two quilts (one in each colourway).
Spoiler Alert! A Game of Thrones Memorial Quilt
(I’ve blurred the names here, but if you click on the original post, there are MAJOR spoilers for the Game of Thrones TV show through Season 5)
Mesozoic Mates
August 29, 2015
General Info
| Start Date | Dec 14, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Finish Date | 31 August, 2015 |
| Status | Quilting |
| Size | 45″ x 65″ |
| Pattern | Kit from Logan’s Patchwork |
| What it’s for | Gift for friend’s baby daughter due in February 2015. |
| Batting | 2 layers Sew Easy cotton batting |
Quilt Top Notes/Techniques
Easy to put together instructions and fabrics. Had plenty of fabric left over from the piano key border to make a strip to go through the backing fabric to get it just the right width.
Made a coordinating Stegosaurus taggie softie from First Day of Mae as gift for big sister.
Quilting Notes/Techniques
Straight line and free motion quilting with YLI invisible thread, Gutterman 50wt cotton and Aurifil.
I remember now why I don’t buy Sew Easy cotton batting – it sheds lots of fuzzies from the edge during quilting.
Progress Pictures
Stegosaurus taggie softie made for big sister.
Feather border – because dinosaurs had feathers!
Spoiler Alert! A Game of Thrones Memorial Quilt
August 17, 2015
This is my second entry in the Game of Quilts Challenge. This time using the “Mother of Dragons” colourway.
I decided I wanted to make a memory quilt for some of the fantastic characters who have met their makers on the Game of Thrones TV show.
Fair warning – there are MAJOR spoilers below for the end of season 5.
A Song of Ice and Fire
August 4, 2015
The Bad Ass Quilters Society is hosting a Game of Thrones quilt challenge. We Aussies were fortunate enough to get a local supply via Professional Quilting Services.
The quilts must be made completely with the fabric provided (including binding) and can only be 18 inches square.
I bought both colourways and have finished my first quilt – A Song of Ice and Fire – using the Blood, Stone, Steel and Fire colourway.
My inspiration was of course the name of George RR Martin’s book saga. The three snowflakes represent the prophesied three heads of the dragon.
My friend Jennifer was kind enough to loan me her “glitteriser” to add some sparkle with hot fix crystals.
I used Sew Fresh Quilts flanged quilt binding tutorial. I will need some more practice with this technique, but I’m happy with the overall effect.
I’ll be sending my quilt to the USA for display at AQS Chattanooga in September 2015. There will also be online voting.
Now I have to figure out what do with the other fabric pack.
Broken Star
July 7, 2015
General Info
| Start Date | 7 July, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Finish Date | 22 July, 2015 |
| Status | Completed |
| Size | 24 1/2″ square |
| Pattern | My Own Design |
| What it’s for | Canberra Modern Quilt Guild Modern Takes on Traditional Challenge for the Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair 2015 |
| Batting | Two layers bleached cotton. |
Quilt Top Notes/Techniques
The Canberra Modern Quilt Guild sponsored a challenge for our display at the Canberra Craft and Quilt Fair in August 2015. The theme was a monochrome (black, white and gray) “Modern Traditional” mini quilt 24″ square. I used QuiltSmart’s Little Lone Star fusible interfacing to make scrappy gradient lone star blades.
Quilting Notes/Techniques
I drew a full star out using the Clover water erasable pen. I used two layers of bleached cotton batting. The basket weave fill is based on Margaret Solomon Gunn’s grid based fills article in Machine Quilting Unlimited July 2015.
White/black Gutterman 50 wt cotton thread and dove gray Rasant cotton poly thread for basket weave fill.
Progress Pictures
Interfacing used to make the star blade.
Finished star blade.
Broken Star block.
Broken Star Quilt Top
Straight line quilting done on star.
Basket weave fill in star.
White background filler quilting.
Quilting done before blocking.
Fuck the Patriarchy
June 5, 2015
General Info
| Start Date | Jan 14, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Finish Date | Jun 5, 2015 |
| Status | Finished |
| Size | Approx 63″ x 25″ |
| Pattern | My own design. Paper-pieced letters from Quilt Talk by Sam Hunter. |
| What it’s for | Originally made for a social commentary fabric exhibition organised by Bee & Lotus Textiles. Exhibition date/location TBA. |
| Batting | 2 layers bleached cotton batting |
For a long time, I’ve thought about feminism in quilting today (as one does). Although a traditionally feminine domestic craft like quilting would likely to seem to be un-feminist, or even anti-feminist, to many outsiders, I have come to the conclusion it is actually a seriously feminist statement. In today’s day and age, women are expected to “have it all” and be everything to everyone else, but what they don’t get is any time to themselves. While quilting produces a product that may be given to someone out of love or caring, the process of quilting itself actually allows women to take time for themselves. Crafts have been shown to be extremely therapeutic, and when a woman decides that she is going to do one of these crafts it’s saying “My wants, needs and what I like to do are important too”.
As part of this dialogue I’ve been having with myself, I was inspired by the popular subversive cross stitch patterns, which use traditional counted cross stitch for extremely nontraditional sayings or text. I thought about making a super feminine traditional style wall hanging, with a modern feminist statement.
Towards the end of last year, there was much more attention in the media of women being killed or harmed by their partners. After hearing about several high profile incidents in both the USA and Australia, I found out that quilter and pattern maker Pam Bono had been killed by her husband in a murder/suicide. He even killed her beloved bulldog. At this point, I was outraged. The only thing I could think was “FUCK THE PATRIARCHY”.
This quilt is the synthesis of my anger over the fact that one woman a week in Australia and three women a DAY in the USA are killed by their partners or former partners. All proceeds from the potential sale of this quilt at the exhibition will be donated to a local women’s shelter.
Quilt Top Notes/Techniques
Foundation paper pieced letters.
Quilting Notes/Techniques
I wanted to use very traditional quilting to emphasize the traditional style of the quilt. I stippled the white background and stitched in the ditch of the letters with invisible thread. I marked out a pumpkin seed design for the inner border and marked a 1/2″ on point grid for the outer border.
I had originally planned to put the lace on the seam between the inner and outer border, pointing out. But as I finished my quilting, I decided to incorporate it into the binding instead. I free motion quilted over the edges of the lace on the sides and bottom to stop it from drooping.
Progress Pictures
