Crazy custom QUILTING

Ok..... SO everyone I'm sure that has ever looked into or tried free hand quilting has heard of Angela Walters.  She is everywhere and she is amazing.

 

Ive read (well flicked through) her books, and blog www.quiltingismytherapy.com, and then I heard about "Craftsy" (google it, its awesome, has everything from cake decorating to quilting)... so I watched a free lecture that she gave at quilt con.

 

So with Angela Walters in my head, I headed down to quilt this next quilt. 

And I had SOOO much fun doing it.

 

 

The lighting in these photos is defiantly not the best

 

 

Ok, SO the pebbling actually took a very long time!! But as the quilt went on I did get faster.

 

And after I quilted around the turtles in the centre blocks and took it off the quilter, all those millions of lil circles now make me think of turtle eggs!!!

Hence this quilt has become known as "turtles"

 



Playing on the long arm

So a few weeks ago, my amazing mother got a long arm quilter!!

needless to say I was straight out there to have a play!!

 

The first quilt I pinned on was one that I had pieced awhile back "purple passion" made with fabric by Joel Dewberry.

 

 

I just did an all over pantograph, which surprisingly only took me one and half hours once it was all pinned on!!

 

Its far from perfect, but far from bad for my first attempt I think!!

and yes I did notice that there's some threads on the back that I didn't dust off before taking the photo, but its dark outside now so I cant take another!!

 

 

No I just got to get the binding on, but no promises on when that will be done!!

Pretty in pink

So over the short year or so that I have been making quilts I have seen a lot with hand stitched panels included in them, and I just love the effect of so many of these.  So one afternoon while my boys were napping I jumped on the wonderful You Tube and learnt how to do back stitch, by the way it is one of the most simplest things to do ever. So grabbing my wash off fabric marker and some plain fabric I was back on the internet again, this time to google images to find a nice line drawing that I could trace with the use of my computer screen as a light box.  

Once I had completed the first panel I had the bug, much to husbands amusement I sat there at night watching tv and stitching away.  After I had completed several blocks, I still had no idea what I was going to do with these rather pretty blocks, so away they went into my draw of "the un-finished" to await inspiration.   

And sure enough several weeks later when looking through the draw and thus over these lovely stitched blocks, I thought of a Great Aunt, who in many ways is a Nana to me.  Now when you think of this Aunt, you think pretty pinks, floral lounge suites and embroidered table cloths.  And so I started to grow my collection of pretty floral fabrics, and over the winter while I like so many other mums out there spent days snuggled up on the couch watching toy story on repeat with sick toddlers continued to stitch.  And before long this quilt was really coming along.  

Now normal I get more excited about the more modern fabrics, but these pretty vintage floral's, and the soft blue have really done something to me.  And mixed with another quilt Im working on at the moment, I gotta say I am really getting inspired by these more vintage prints.  I think that's the real beauty of making quilts for others, by thinking of what fabric best suits that individual and there tastes and preferences it pushes you out of your normal zone and creates a hole other passion for fabric. 

Finished off with another very pretty floral boarder fabric and my first attempt at mitered corners I think it is just beautiful, and almost just wanna keep it for myself . 

A passion for fabric

Just over a year ago while my husband was working late and I was knee deep in my two toddlers mess, I decided to treat myself and finally buy myself a sewing machine.

Then while i was waiting for my new machine to arrive I went and brought this amazing kit set called Birds of a feather from my local quilt shop and voila, an obsession with fabrics and all the different effects they can have when  arranged into a quilt was born.

After a few pairs of jammies for my boys and a hoodie or two the next project was created from a jelly roll I found on trade me that I thought would suit the colors in our room. I browsed around online for some ideas on on how to put it together and this is what I came up with. I think its rather effective and soo simple to put together. This was also one of my first attempts at quilting myself, and so the passion for quilting begun. Stick around to see more of my insane obsession with fabrics and quilts.