Bloggers Quilt Festival - More is More

I am entering a second quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - it's a finish of earlier this year so apologies to those who have already read about it ad nauseam before.    I'm putting this one in the Large Quilts category, where it is in the company of some amazing quilts.



It was made for a child living in a children's home in Mexico City, which I learned about on Alison's blog Little Island Quilting - you can read more about her "Soy Amado/a ("I am loved") project here.  This explains the embroidered message bottom right, which was done in variegated thread using a tight wide zig-zag on my sewing machine.

I thought about making something unisex, but then I decided that I would go all-out girly for someone who should have one of her own.  I didn't think I was a "pink" person but I must have been in denial as somehow a fair amount of it seemed to have crept into my stash.  I used all of it in this quilt, it was quite liberating!

The quilting is simple - straight lines a quarter inch from the seams in the squares, and stars in the white sashing.

The over-the-top pinkness and bright chartreuse green binding are why this quilt ended up being called More is More.

If the truth be told I was quite sorry to see it go off to its new home, but I hope it makes someone happy!

Thank you for visiting!

You can see my other entry in the Festival here.

Square Peg

I'm linking up this post to the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  Thank you to Amy for hosting such a fantastic event - it's so interesting seeing the diversity of quilts!

If you are visiting from the festival welcome to my blog - please have a poke around:-)   This is my entry to the Small Quilt Category:  

Square Peg

I started this quilt as a prototype for another idea, but it took on a life of its own.

The central pattern is made using a background of low-volume prints along with a handful of Oakshott shot cottons in pale neutrals. The appliqued circles and blue square are all Oakshott.  The square is in the only cool colour, but I chose some purples to suggest the influence of the square peg on the circles around it!

The borders are yarn-dyed essex linen and the binding is made from scraps of the same shot cottons in varying widths, with one tiny piece of blue along the bottom to represent the square.

I had finished and quilted the central panel before I decided to add the borders, which meant sewing on the batting and essex linen, and then carefully lining up the matchstitch quilting.  Way to make life difficult:-)

I love the texture of this lichen-covered wall just round the corner from my house.

My eldest daughter helped me fix the quilt to the wall using the sophisticated method of rolled up wodges of duck tape, and until it blew off we took pictures of it while trying to ignore the fact that someone was apparently in the process of being arrested further along the road.  It's all excitement here.

I'm so pleased with the way this one turned out and hope you like it too.  Thank you for visiting!

Quilt details:

Size: 25 inches x 25 inches

Materials: Yarn-dyed essex linen, and Oakshott shot cottons

Quilting: Matchstick in white Gutermann 50 weight

Binding: half-inch single, in essex linen and Oakshott scraps

Slow Blog Linky

Leaving you with a picture of a work in progress because I'm just off taking a blogging break.  Back soon.

While I'm off being a Slow Blogger, this month's Linky Party is being hosted by the lovely Collette.  Hope to see you there on the 15th:-)

Freehand NY Beauty

Still fidgeting with the New York beauty. I used a patterned print to bind it all the way round, which is new for me.  I did try a neutral binding but it looked peelly-wally.  I'm not too sure about this one either.  I thought it picked up the colours, but maybe red would be better.  Can I be bothered?  

I will try to take a better picture once I'm sure it's finished, one way or the other.  Of course this is what minis are for.

 He's also lying on a WIP, but he's 17, I don't mind.