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!