Skip to main content

Three birds with one stone

I started another quilt today. I have three reasons for making this quilt: back in September we went to the quilt show at Harrogate with some friends. Liz was looking for inspiration for her next project and as we were walking around the fantastic quilts on display she saw this one....


I didn't take a photo of the label, but I'm pretty sure it didn't say the source of the quilt pattern. So I know nothing about this quilt - if anyone reading this knows the maker of the quilt, or the pattern the quilt came from I would be fascinated to hear about it. Liz really fell for it and as there was no information about the source of the pattern, I said I'd have a go at drafting it for her. I promptly forgot, and so did she. Until just after Christmas when she came with us to buy some more fabric for it. We set a date for some sewing for Thursday this week. I pulled out the photos and started making some notes. Then we changed the sewing date to tomorrow....

If this had been a regular 12" block made up of squares and half square triangles I would have been pretty confident to write up the cutting instructions and some brief piecing tips without actually trying it out. But this pattern has octagons.... I haven't played with Octagons before.... so I decided to do a four block Baby quilt of the same pattern, to make sure what I tell Liz tomorrow is accurate. And it just so happens that one of my husband's colleagues has just become a daddy to a little girl. And it just so happens that the Pantone colour of the year is Radiant Orchid which looks great with bright pink. And it just so happens that there's a bit of a challenge for a Radiant Orchid quilt.... three birds with one stone. If you fancy joining in pop over to Anne's blog and have a read.
2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Radiant Orchid

The fabrics I picked are my take on Radiant Orchid and include some Tula Pink, Architextures, Kona, Art Gallery and some totally random fabrics. During the minimal planning stage I had thought of purple, bright pink and chartreuse, but aqua just worked so much better. I've then added Kona Snow which I hope will make the quilt lighter.

My first block was quite good. 

My second, third and fourth blocks were not quite so accurate. I really struggled to keep these blocks square and flat, despite careful trimming and checking the seam allowance. I think it's something to do with all the bias edges... there may be some fairly definite quilting on the finished piece and crossing of fingers that it looks flat and unpuckered.


The plan from here is to sash the blocks and add an appliqued border and then possibly a piano keys border too. And I think I will put a little bit of embroidery in the centre of each block. But that's for another day. 

Comments

Diane-crewe said…
ooh I like it .. just a thought but it may work with foundation piecing xx .. loving the colours x
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne said…
I really like this! I'm sure some quilting will make the blocks behave!
Lin said…
Love your colours. I'm sure it will lay flat once it's sashed. xx

Popular posts from this blog

Hidden Agenda [A Finish]

This is very possibly my favourite ever finish - I know I've said that in the past, but this one is going to be hard to beat. This time last year, I attended a day long lecture/workshop with Tula Pink and it was inspiring. Having not really loved her fabrics in the past (but loved her patterns), I suddenly saw them in a new light, linked with my 2018 new year's resolution to try more fussy cutting). Fast forward 8 months and I confess that my Tula stash has expanded quite a lot. I found some UK shops with older ranges of fabric, splurged on a few destashes and found the odd piece of her fabric already in my stash. The plan was always (and remains) to make a Smitten quilt, but I'm well aware that I have plenty of fabric to make other projects as well! So when I saw the Hidden Agenda quilt pattern by Angela Pingle, this fabric sprung instantly to mind.... and we all know I love a rainbow! And what could be better than rainbowfied Tula? I was ably assisted by my friend Ti

365 Quilt Challenge 2016 [A finish]

I can't believe I've just typed that heading! When I made the block for January 1st 2016 I could not have imagined the journey this quilt would have taken me on. So make yourselves comfortable and grab a cup of tea, because this blog post may get lengthy! I'd seen the 365 Quilt Challenge on Facebook. I think every quilter on Facebook must have been aware of it. Loads of my friends had signed up and it kept popping up as a "Page you might like" thing. In the end, in November 2015, I joined the group, had a poke round. Decided it wasn't for me. One of the things that really put me off were the fabric requirements: you needed x amount of dark dark fabric, x amount of medium dark fabric, x amount of dark medium, medium, light medium, light, background.... I just couldn't get my head round those requirements. I'd looked at the mock ups on the wesbite and couldn't bring myself to pick a colour. I put it to the back of my mind. But I had obvious

All the Little Finishes

 I've had a few recent finishes - mostly smaller pieces and mostly not on my list to finish this year (because I've only just started them!) - lots and lots of pouches! Here's a round up... Three pouches I made for the kids for our holiday - all are the Seamingly Sane Pouch pattern, but I used the pattern add-on to adjust the sizes and customised with some straps and in one case, a pocket. These three pouches are made for our work Yubikeys when we travel to protect them - it's a slightly adjusted Aneela Hooey pattern - the peas are an inside joke! I knew I had pea fabric for a reason! A couple more Seamingly Sane pouches - the smaller one was a birthday present for my Dad, and the floral one was for me to protect my diary when I travel. Seven pouches made entirely from my scraps to hold EPP pieces pre sewing! This is the Peekapouch pattern by Sweet Cinnamon Roses. This is the Not So Little Zippy Pouch by Fabric and Flowers. The pattern is a bit of a challenge, but this

Labels

Show more

Archive

Show more