This is what I've been up to today. I love paper piecing mini quilts so it didn't take me long to think up a pattern - there is a big gap on my kitchen wall that has been crying out for a little quilt since we moved in.
I'm basing it on similar colours to this one below, a favourite of mine. This one is a 'pineapple log cabin' but the new one is going to be a star within a star and 64 blocks, so it will take a little while. The pineapple quilt took absolutely ages to do but the new blocks have fewer pieces per block so hopefully it won't be quite the labour of love that this one was.
Another log cabin quilt I haven't yet shown on the blog, is this little thing I did a few years ago.
I made it during a particularly difficult time and it was very useful for taking my mind off things. A log cabin pattern, for those who don't know, is a very old pattern and based around a centre square and built up using strips. it's very versatile and often pushed so far that it's no longer recognised as a 'log cabin'. I decided to emphasise the strips and took the idea out into the borders. I liked the quilt but learned not to use a thick batting for mini quilts as the thickness of if made my carefully sewn lines looks all wonky!
I've finished putting together the quilt top I was sewing a few days ago - and I'm chuffed with how it's looking -but I needed some fabric for the backing. I'd heard the only quilting shop in Geneva was out of town, but after quite a bit of searching, I found one just a few minutes from the centre.
Every quilt shop has it's own unique style based on the owner's tastes, and this one, called Jeux d'Aiguilles, is very much in the country style - lots of soft autumnal fabrics and lots of hand quilted traditional style quilts draped around the shop. The furniture and floors are wooden and the owner even has a little gallery area upstairs at the back of the shop overlooking an area where she teaches and again, more quilts are draped from this.
It was very pretty, but there wasn't a huge selection of fabrics to choose from. Still, it's much more than I expected and I found the perfect thing for my backing - a soft, pale brown on an extra large bolt. The prices were, not surprisingly, expensive, but this one was more economic and made me feel slightly less guilty about the little extras that found their way into my shopping bag!
I'm taking a slightly extended break from the drawing as I've been feeling a bit frazzled lately. I have one drawing on the go (posted on my other blog) and a couple of portraits planned, but it seems like a good time to go slow on the blogging and trying to keep up with everyone else's blogs as it's eating into time for things I want to do. I won't take a complete break, as I know I can't do that, but posting may be a bit sporadic for a little while.
7 comments:
Wow. My mom is a quilter. She taught all of her kids, but I certainly wouldn't do it for fun like you and she does. I'm too clumsy... These are beautiful.
This going to be a lovely little wall quilt, Felicity!! I really like the colours you picked out, too. Very nice together.
I haven't done paper piecing or any other quilting for long time. I got tired of hauling out my supplies and machine every time I wanted to do anything.
Do you ever find that your fingers need a change of technique? You are turning to stitching, while I am taking more time off away from stitching quite so much, simply because my fingers feel the need. Of course gardening at this time of year provides lots of manual distraction too.
The quilt store seems a good find. It's great to have a new source of goodies.
Thanks Elizabeth. I'm sure anyone can learn to quilt - you may surprise yourself if you try!
Thanks Bonny! Yes, hauling all the stuff out did put me off, and my little room is a complete mess this morning - somehow it just takes over everything!
Olga, that's an interesting question. It might be true. I love knitting too but I only ever made two things worth wearing. It wasn't the end product but simply the process I loved. I tend to think of myself as a 'one trick pony' but maybe my cycle of change (between techniques) is just very long!
Just LOVE that pineapple - not sure I'd have the patience to do one on such a small scale but it's a joy to behold
That's exactly what I'm feeling at the moment about blogging. Must be that summer is almost here? The pineapple piece is amazing and skillful and the colours are gorgeous. You seem to be taking up quilting, just as I'm beginning to leave off in favour of painting and doing the housework!
I've never even dabbled with quilting (one of the few arts/crafts I haven't tried) but I love wandering into the neighborhood quilt supply store and admiring all the beautiful colors and patterns of fabric. It was fun going there to buy already cut squares to use for backgrounds in still life set ups.
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