Double sided quilt --- Monsterz number 2.

I have a soft spot for children's illustration print. My favourite is Sarah's from Sarah Jane Studio but I also love this Monsterz collection from Cloud 9.

It's an old collection, but it's beautiful! Previously I used this collection and made a quilt with the intention of leaving out the pink fabrics to make it a gender neutral quilt. But this time I slice up the picks and made it double sided.

Much of the April weather in Melbourne is rain and grey sky. I tried to snap some shots on one of the few sunny days we have and much was unsuccessful, especially the colour in this quilt is really soft with some low volume. But we really needed the rain; it’s so nice to see the grass in my backyard turned into green, but more so for the Australian farmers who have been suffered from drought.

So I tried my luck indoor, with a nice ray of sun from my window. This time it’s better and best of all you don’t have to worry about the wind.

  

On one side I cut up my lovely fabrics into 5 inch tumblers and had a blast playing with the layout. I took the next shot upside down by accident but it's also interesting.

The inspiration on the other side of this quilt came from Elizabeth's (of Oh, Fransson!) charm square baby quilt pattern. It's a very simple but effective way to showcase those cute monsters print. This is a free pattern downloadable from Elizabeth. It's a great pattern to whip up as a last minute baby gift using charm pack, layer cake or any fabric that you just don't want to cut it down to small bits!

Now it's all rolled up and ready to find a nice home!

Thank you for stopping by!

Erica.

Pile of Sheep Quilt.

When I began my quilting journey 4 years ago I was amazed by Kellie Wulfsohn's (from Don't look now!) applique skill and her densely quilted background to make the applique stand out. So I wanted to gave it a try, but I didn't even realise that I do not have the correct sewing foot nor skill set to complete it. So the quilt top sat in my cupboard for the past years until now.

The pattern of the sheep came from the book Quilts, Bibs, Blankies...Oh My! by Kim Schaefer. It was patterned for growth chart but it works equally well on a quilt. I use Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 fusible web for the sheep, flower and butterflies to hold the shape in place. It's light and very easy to use. It also stops the fabrics from fraying while I was playing around positioning the objects onto the quilt. 

To be able to finish this quilt is a little triumph for me to become a more confident quilter. Taking Angela Walter's Craftsy lesson on free motion quilting negative spaces really help me achieve the skill to complete this quilt. It's not so scary anymore! Rather it's quite fun actually.

Thank you for stopping by. 

Cheers, Erica 

Do you remember...

Do you remember the very first quilt that you made? I started quilting about four year ago when my son was nearly one year old. I have no previous sewing or quilting experience and I pretty much learn as I go ever since. My sister did a beginner lesson in quilting and she pass some of her knowledge to me. The first quilt I made somehow I choose to do applique (from this book) and instead of making a baby sized quilt I made a large quilt top. I never finish it until now.

Part of me is really embarrassed to show you this quilt top, as I can pick up so many mistakes in it, but part of me also believe that it is important to look back and see how much we have grown in terms of our quilting skills, color selection, and, perhaps in the process, finding our own design and styles.

Anyway, back to trying to finish this quilt, this is what I have designed to quilt on this quilt top. The sashing around the applique squares I took the design from here and recreated it into a tulip flower cross, with 4 small hearts in the middle.

For the outer border I really want to try free motion quilting some swirls so I purchased Angela Walters' Craftsy Class "Machine Quilting Negative Space" to help me get started. The class was excellent as she takes you through the process step-by-step visually, and I did watch certain parts again as I got stuck around the corners but it didn't take long for me to get it right.

As you can see for the bottom half of the border I use swirls combine with leaf design (from Angela's class) and the top half I quilt straight line with little circle. I think the two designs blend well together and quilting swirls isn't so scary anymore. Thanks to Angela Walters!

Thank you for stopping by!

Cheers, Erica

Tribute Star Quilt.

I first came across this pattern from a post in my guild, the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild. I felt in love with it instantly and it has been on my mind since. It is a free pattern designed by Becca Bryan of Bryan House Quilt, using Denyse Schmidt's fabric line Florence. I love the simplicity of it and yet it produce a stunning result.

I have kept the 'star' in its original size but altered the border as this is going to be a baby quilt. The final quilt is approx. 40 by 41 inches, using Sarah Jane's fabric that I have kept for something special. 

As for quilting the quilt, I follow and extend the outline of the star with straight line quilting. The lines looks like arrows pointing towards the star, drawing the eyes to the focus of this quilt. 

If you have a chance, do check out Becca Bryan's quilting on this quilt. Her free form quilting is simply brilliant and creating a flow of line movement that really adds dimension to the solid background.

Thank you for stopping by!

New Year Resolutions and Goals?

I had a well rested holiday break in Adelaide over the Christmas and New Year period. I had a great time there and I get to spend some quality time with my son. I did pack a small sewing project to travel with me but unfortunately I didn't do one bit of sewing. Having say that this trip has given me some inspirations and gives me that little push to get back into quilting. It also give me some time to think about what I want to achieve with quilting this year.

This is a boutique winery in Barossa Valley. I love the interior and its decor. It reminds me of a cozy German cottage where the ground floor is for wine tasting and upstairs they sells pottery made by the local artist.

This is a beautiful installation in the Elder Park next to Adelaide CBD. It inspired me to try using fabrics with text and create a paper boat like quilt pattern.

Outside the Adelaide Zoo there is a small installation of circles in different sizes, color and widths. It's so simple but I really like the arrangement and the colors. I think it would be great as an applique quilt of curves lines and bright colors against a solid white background!?

I also visited the Art Gallery of South Australia, to see if they have any aboriginal paintings on display. Australian aboriginal paintings is one of my favorite. I love their use of color and the simplicity of the dots and lines or strokes to tell a story, an areal map or things that is important to them and their surroundings. I was disappointed to see that they display so few but the ones on display is absolutely wonderful to see!

So what is your goal for your quilting/sewing adventure this year? I have been quilting for about 4 years now and although I know we all have some unfinished projects hanging around I felt I had too many (so far I have counted 6!!). My goals this year is to try and finish some of my unfinished projects while trying to designing my own quilts. Oh and of course, try not to buy too much fabric --- that is if I can help it!

Thank you for stopping by!

Cheers, Erica.

Potholders

Happy New Year readers!!

Last month I really wanted to post another entry but end of year is just crazy busy and I never get around to do it. I was rushing to organise everyone's Christmas presents and other bits and pieces sorted as I am flying off to Adelaide on the 18th of December --- a holiday that I really needed, but pressure was building as I had much to do. Oh well, but these are what I had made.

Potholder!!

It is so much fun making hotpot holder! Not only it's a good way to destash your fabric but it's even better to use up the left over batting, which I will talk about later. For this round hotpot holder it's entirely made by leftover jelly rolls, even for the binding and the loop. I had enough left to make a hexagon one as well, which was inspired by the quilt that I have made with this jelly roll back in 2012 (as shown below).

My favourite are these Spring Pinwheel Potholder using this free tutorial from Schlosser Design. It is such a clever design and really easy to make. I love the 3 dimensional pinwheel and the use of curve quilting line on the back to give it a sense of movement. It was hard to part with them but to see the joy on the receiver's face was even more satisfying!

I think there is potential to make the 3D pinwheel into a cute baby quilt.

Now let's talk about the batting for potholders. Although it's a good way to use up the leftover batting I prefer to add at least one layer of Insul-Bright with 2 layers of normal batting. Insul-Bright is a type of batting which consist of hollow, polyester fibers that on the shinier side it reflects the radiating hot or cold energy back to it source.

Depending on how you will use your potholder, you might be able to get away with using only 3-4 layers of normal batting but if you are making a mitton or using it to pick up dishes straight from the oven I would strongly suggest 2 layers of Insul-Bright to reflect the heat properly. Insul-Bright is a great product that gives your potholder a proper functionality and making it a fantastic hand made gift.