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Monday 30 January 2012

Another BOM and another block of the week

This month it was Quilt Dad's turn to design the block for the Blogger's BOM Quilt Along

On its own, maybe not my favorite block
 but I really like it together with all the other blocks.

As this is the fifth week of the year, it was also time for another house block. 
It looks huge in comparison with my four first blocks.
Contrary to my earlier plans, I think I will make more of the smaller blocks instead of a whole lot of the bigger ones.
Wishing you a good start into the new week.
Vreni x

Monday 23 January 2012

A little more progress

All the hour glass blocks are made
 and since some of them turned out a bit wonky I used them to make this little pin cushion. 
I really like the colour combination. 
Now I just have to applique the last few blocks, then I can start assembling the quilt top.

But I have once again become side tracked. I found a basket with scraps from the silk quilt I made a while ago (you can see the quilt here). I didn't think there would be quite enough for another quilt, but maybe a wall hanging.  It turned out I had enough scraps for a decent sized lap quilt (36 by 56 inches). 
 I love the vibrancy of the silks. 

I think I might try to quilt it with an invisible thread although I haven't had much luck with it on my Bernina 820. I will have to "fiddle" with the tension, otherwise a call to the very helpful  Bernina agent is in order.

As today is the first day of Lunar New Year I would like to wish you all a very Happy Year of the Dragon.

Vreni x

Saturday 14 January 2012

Plodding on!

I have finally finished my tessellation blocks. Mind you, I still have to applique some of them to the background, but the piecing is done! It took me quite some time as I usually only sew by hand during our quilt group meetings. Here are my last four blocks:
and here they are all together:

Now I'm in the process of sewing 144 hourglass blocks for the sashing. 
Lots of small blocks
 and lots of cutting  
Not quite finished yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Have a great weekend.
Vreni x


Saturday 7 January 2012

Back to normal

I don't know about you, but I am happy to have the holidays behind me. Not that I didn't enjoy them, far from it, but it's good to be back in a normal rhythm. Just after Christmas Pam Sloan revealed the fourth block of the Blogger's BOM and this week I finally had time to make it. 
I must be out of practice as I made a mistake. Can you see it? Yes, the checked blocks are not facing the same way, but it's either that or the stripes don't go the same way. I know I should take it apart or make a new block but I can't be bothered (at least not at the moment).
I think when the blocks are all together, the mistake is less obvious. 


Jeanneke from Holland is organizing a quilt along which is called "Building houses from scraps". 
Building Houses from Scraps
I've long wanted to make a house quilt and since there's no better time than now, I'm going to join in the fun although I'm going to do it a bit differently. Firstly I'm not going to make a block a day; couldn't handle the stress and couldn't keep up either. So instead I'm going to make a block a week and I'm also not making the houses quite as small as in the pattern.

I've made a start with these four blocks. They are 5 inches (instead of 3 inches) and I paper pieced them. 


I don't know yet exactly how it will all come together, I will see where it takes me. I'm going to call it "Building a Village" and might even add a church and some trees. And since I have tons of Japanese fat quarters in my stash (leftovers from my Japanese era), I'm going to use them and not buy any fabric. So it's not going to be a quilt made from scraps, but it will still have a scrappy feel to it as I will try to use as many of these fabrics as possible.  It's a nice contrast to the colours I've been working with lately.


I hope your first week of the New Year has been good.
Cheers
Vreni x



Sunday 1 January 2012

Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle

Have you seen the challenge Quokka Quilts has organized in conjunction with the Fat Quarter Shop?   After seeing the fabulous bundles other bloggers came up with I just had to give it a try myself. Not as easy as one would think. With the hundreds and hundreds of available fabrics there are literary thousands of combinations possible. Funny enough, the two fabric I started with didn't make in the end.  I decided to only use up to two fabrics from the same fabric line (except for the solids). The combination I came up with very much reflects the colour mood I'm currently in. 



1. Happy Mochi Yum Yum Blueberry India 
2. Happy Mochi Yum Yum Blueberry Fiji
3. Dazzle Sky Blue Flowers
4. Ruby Cotton Aqua Sundae 
5. Folk Heart Red Floral Lattice 
6.  Modernology Rose Mod Vines 
7. Modernology Sachet Impressions 
8. Dazzle Sky Blue Circles
9. Pear Tree Bright Blue Partridge 
10. Taza Yellow Ribbon Damask
11. Taza Yellow Lisa
12. Sorbet Watermelon Tiny Flowers
13. Bella Solids Hay Yardage
14. Bella Solids Ruby Ice Yardage
15. Bella Solids Christmas Red 

Go and take a look and give it a go. It really is a lot of fun!
Vreni x