Aboriginal ???



The Aboriginal Quilt, 70 x 84 inches.
Quilted by Maggi Honeyman.

Looks like this one was about two years in the making. Started with a block made for fun and now has ended with the last binding stitches. You can read about the process here.

 

Love that fabric in the left corner. I think it's a Thimbleberries.
Also used toile, repros, text and part of a Halloween line!

The back. Not terribly exciting, but the fabric complements the front
(despite my photography skills) and was on sale.

I'm not sure what to call it. In my head it's The Aboriginal Quilt because I tried to use Aboriginal fabric in every block, but that name doesn't match the look. Suggestions welcome.

Aprons and pot holders

I turned my attention from quilts to aprons for a couple weekends, making gifts for friends.

This is for a friend who likes her cocktails. I had this great cocktail fabric in my stash and also found in there the perfect fabrics for the lining and the ties. I used this tutorial, which is very well written and allows for customizing the size of your apron.

I used the same pattern for this apron, which is backed in the same print as on the front. To go with this apron, I also made pot holders using this tutorial.

They all turned out great, and I should probably make a set for myself, but other projects are calling first.

Is it big enough?

Or should I add a border?

It's 56 x 76 inches (142 x 193 cm). I have only small scraps left. In fact, some of the rectangles were pieced together from scraps to get enough for the rows. So I could go out and buy something for the border. Nothing suitable in the stash. Or leave it as is. I don't think I'd like the look of a border, but I'm not sure about the current size even though it's just a dorm quilt. Opinions?

Blogging the process

The top was done during my blogging break.


Pandora, 63 x 63.

I have pictures of the process so I thought I should share them. I was inspired by Victoria's post. Planned to make a couple blocks from scraps for fun, but then I got carried away rummaging through the scrap box for the next block.

Arranged triangles until I liked the look of the block. Didn't sew the corner triangles on because I wasn't sure about them. Thought I'd make a few blocks or so before deciding.

After making a few blocks and liking how they fit together without the triangles, I made more.

And more.

Until I got to the point where it was either make more or eliminate some blocks to get the right number for a top. If I'd added the triangles at the beginning, I might have ended up with a different setting.

I opted for eliminating a few of the early blocks as they were a bit poofed up in the middle. I ended up trimming my sewn units a bit before putting them together, and this helped with the poofiness, but didn't always work well for point matching. This won't be a show quilt so I can live with it despite my usual tendencies toward anal retentiveness. I'm learning to let go.  

Then I tried pastel setting triangles, but didn't like that too much. I thought white would be too stark, but in the end that was the best choice.

For the border I didn't want to just slap a single fabric on four sides. Plus everything for the top came from the scrap bin except for some of the white, and I wanted to continue that if possible. And the more I took out of the scrap bin, the more likely I'd be to get the lid back on.

I'd been playing around with the leftover triangles and really liked this arrangement. Thought I'd make a table runner or something. It's these little tangents that contribute to my UFO collection. But I needed these traingles for the border so no table runner. I also had to cannibalize the leftover blocks to get enough triangles for the border so those went to good use and not into the orphan block box. The scrap bin can be closed now. ... Barely.

Pointless Lone Star

Pointless Lone Star, 86 x 86, pattern by Sarah Fielke
from Quilters Newsletter August/September 2011.

Another finish from the last few months was the quilt for the couple whose favorite colors are purple (him) and pink (her). Again quilted brilliantly by Maggi Honeyman. This was a fairly easy pattern because there are no set in seams, some strip piecing and only four very large blocks.



Back of Pointless Lone Star.

Here my husband models the back of the quilt, made up of the prints that didn't make the cut for the front. They helped shape the direction of the colors for the front, but didn't work in the blocks themselves.