WIP Wednesday - More is More

Yesterday I posted a picture of a pile of blocks which were the start of a quilt for Alison's Soy Amado/a project.   Because of shocking inattention to other duties, I can actually link up to WIP Wednesday with this:

My camera and the dull weather are not doing justice to the sheer in-your-face riot of pink which is this quilt top.  I have used up every single bit of pink fabric in my stash (except for a novelty print with cupcakes on it), and I love it.

Do you have a name for your quilt in your head while you are working on it?  In my mind this quilt is already called the "More is More" quilt.    In that spirit I'm considering the options for binding it - fluorescent orange and acid lime green were my first thoughts, but there is also the beloved Riley Blake stripe.  This is left over from binding my first ever full size quilt and it would be hard to use it since I don't think it is available any more, but with the recipient in mind I think I might have to go for it really!

With a bit of colourful hand quilting, maybe, and possibly an applique heart in the middle (what do you think?) I hope it would make someone feel loved.

In the pink

For someone who doesn't think of themselves as a "pink" person, I seem to have accumulated a fair number of pink fabrics.  I'm using them to make good on a promise to make a quilt for Alison's Soy Amado/Amada project .   You can read more about it in her original post - the situation of these children is quite heartbreaking and will make you feel very privileged.

Given the colour I think we can safely say that this is a Soy Amada (for a girl) quilt! Have to say, I'm quite liking the pink madness.

Walk Don't Walk: Bloggers Quilt Festival

Hello and welcome if you are visiting from the amazing Bloggers Quilt Festival.  Thank you to Amy for all that work in organising the fun.

This is my entry for the Mini Quilt category, hope some of you won't mind if you've seen it before.

Walk, Don't Walk

This quilt was born when I had some leftovers from another quilt and the red and acqua fabrics just really seemed to sing when they were next to each other. I had to make something with them!  It's called Walk, Don't Walk, because it reminds me of people on a crossing - and the name also references the positive/negative aspects of the quilt.

This was my first attempt at flying geese blocks and serious matchstick quilting.  I used a red Aurifil and a Gutterman acqua sew-all for the quilting which changes colour at the seam between red and acqua sections.  I'm particularly proud of the binding, which also changes colour at the seam.

It's just a little thing but this quilt is my favourite of anything I have made.  Sometimes a quilt doesn't match up to the grand schemes in your head but this one worked out just the way I wanted it to!

I'm entering two quilts this year - you can see the other, which is entered in the applique category, here.

Walk, Don't Walk
Mini Quilt Category
17x20 inches
Klona in crimson
Moda Bell solids in Carribbean
Aurifil 28
Gutterman Sew-all
Warm and Natural batting
Ikea Nummer backing

Leaves: Bloggers Quilt Festival

At last Leaves is finished! I am entering it in the applique category in the Bloggers Quilt Festival -welcome if you are visiting:-)

Leaves is made from Oakshott cottons from the Ruby Reds range, and black linen for maximum crinkle and contrast with the Oakshott (I didn't prewash the fabrics so it was quite a relief when it survived a wash!).  It's often difficult to photograph shot cotton and capture the richness of the colours, but this is how they glowed in the late afternoon light.

The leaves are all different.  They were foundation pieced in halves, joined together and appliqued to panels of linen, then machine quilted - some more closely than others.  These Oakshotts are all shot with red so that was the obvious choice for a quilting thread which would go with all the colours.   I used a lovely shiny 28 weight Aurifil cotton for extra definition.

Once I joined all the panels together I backed the quilt with Ikea nummer fabric - I love the white against the black - and hand quilted the linen background with large kantha-style stitches in Guttermann top-stitching thread. I tried using perle first, but didn't like the effect as it looked too heavy.  The top-stitching thread was just right for the kind of contrast I wanted with the machine quilting on the leaves.

The rows are approximately an inch apart and although I marked out lines with taylor's chalk I was quite relaxed about following them so the stitching isn't dead straight, or at completely regular intervals.

The half-inch binding is made of pieces of the Oakshott, varying in width between approximately 2.5 and 5 inches.   I think the binding is my favourite bit!

Thank you to anyone who has endured my wittering about this quilt since <cough>November 2012. It took a long time to work out how to realise the idea in my head.  I wanted it to have a very organic feel to it and an unapologetically handmade look and now that it's finished I'm really happy with it.  (I'd love to make another one using black velvet.)

Thank you to Amy for hosting the Festival!  You can find Leaves in the Applique Quilts section.

Quilt stats:

Entered in the Applique category, Bloggers Quilt Festival
Size: 55 x 60 inches
Fabrics: Oakshott Ruby Reds, black linen, Ikea Nummer
Threads: Aurifil 28 cotton in red, Guttermann black top-stitching thread
Batting: Warm and Natural
Techniques - applique, machine and hand-quilting

Slow Blog Linky!

Sorry, to any Slow bloggers looking for the linky yesterday - somewhat appropriately I'm running a day late this month.

What have you been up to?  Crafting, a bit of real life?  Maybe you're like me and have been finishing a quilt for the Bloggers Quilt Festival - for me this month has passed by in a blur of gardening and hand-stitching. I'm entering Leaves in the Festival.  It began as an idea in winter 2012 - how slow is that?:-)

If you'd like to share, link up a post below, and visit and encourage other Slow Bloggers!

Close up

Linking up with Monday Maker today to share progress with my Leaves quilt, which came out of the wash safely and with lots of crinklyness.  Look at the colour catchers! Thank goodness they work. (Also note the new home-made Ikea fabric ironing board cover - the old one was a bit skanky:-)

I think I might pluck up courage and enter Leaves in the applique category in the Bloggers Quilt Festival, but I still have to find a location for some arty photographs, because although we went for a walk in the woods yesterday (in between torrential rain and hail) and it couldn't have been in a more scenic setting I Forgot to Take It With Me.

Here's a glimpse.

Despite forgetting the quilt, we did come across this Small White butterfly, enjoying some stitchwort.

 Isn't it amazing?!

Linking up with Monday Maker

Have I mentioned before how much I like Oakshott? ;-)

Leaves is now bound and in the wash with five colour catchers.  I didn't prewash the black linen because I want maximum crinkle, but now I am in a panic. Wish me luck.