Showing posts with label Michael Miller Cotton Couture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Miller Cotton Couture. Show all posts

Friday, 10 November 2017

Emerald City Quilt PART 2

I started this quilt in a workshop with Katie Pedersen in her beautiful design studio in Seattle. You can read all about it here.

I couldn't be happier with this quilt. I love the colours and the interesting contrast they create.


The improvisational/ wonky piecing and what looks like random colour placement makes it very vibrant. Katie referred to this as 'controlled chaos' and that works so well. I think there is just so much to look at in this quilt.


I opted for straight line grid quilting to create interest and almost a bit of visual tension between the piecing and the quilting. I also used three different colours of beautiful 50wt and 40wt Aurifil thread, I love to play with colours!


I had originally planned to make the quilt one row longer but that looked somehow out of proportion so I scrapped that idea. I instead cut up the excess blocks and created a zig zag with these smaller blocks which also works well for the back I think. The quilt finishes at 55x70"(1,50 x 1,95m) which makes it a nice lap quilt to snuggle up.


I love to mix solids with some graphic print fabrics, I used the 'Squared Elements' print also for the binding.


Oh, that binding! This was the second time I ever hand sewed a binding to a quilt and the first time to a large quilt like this one. I never thought I would do that! It took me three evenings to sew the binding on while sitting on the couch enjoying the process. 


Katie and Marla were so kind to show me how hand stitched binding is done after the workshop. I have honestly been converted to be a hand binding sewist, seriously, it looks so much better!


That quilt will be forever cherished. It holds those happy memories of our trip to Seattle, but it's not only that that. I also associate quilty friends with this quilt and this awesome community I can proudly say I am part of.


Seattle is also called 'The Emerald City'. I didn't need to think long how to name that quilt. In the photo above the quilt is in a beautiful bag I got in Seattle (fabric shopping) with kind of a similar colour scheme. Go figure!

Friday, 31 March 2017

Broken X

I am a month late with the February challenge of the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. But I can blame QuiltCon for that, and that is not a bad thing.

The February Challenge by Emily Herrick was the X- Block. I immediately had a design in my head that I would just not finish all the blocks but have them halved, quartered and three-quartered. Very quickly I had a name as well: Broken X.


I chose Robert Kaufmann Essex Linen and a very bright turquoise solid from Michael Miller Cotton Couture. The colours are just so vibrant and the fabric feels so good, too!

The individual blocks are 4" square (unfinished) and Broken X is 24 x 24" big, or rather small I should say. It's wall hanging in my new sewing corner now and I love how the grey quilt and the grey painted wall harmonise!


I actually combined the February and March Challenge in one quilt. The March challenge was all about quilting with your walking foot by Jacquie Gering.

I opted for an X in the centre of the quilt and then echoed the lines in. The challenge actually was to mimic shashiko stitches but I had difficulties enough with these straight lines.
The pressure foot pressure on my machine cannot be adjusted and that causes me trouble since quite some time. First I thought the puckering and fabric shifting issues I'm having was me and due to improper preparation but believe me it's my machine. Very unfortunate that is, actually.

Anyhow, the quilting did turn out ok, but puckering appeared and the fabric shifted slighly. It could have been a lot better. (Obviously I only took photos of the good looking parts of the quilt... you can see it slightly at the X in the photo below)
I don't think I can do this design with a bigger quilt.


The quilting stitches are 1/2 inch apart and I used beautiful Aurifil wt40 thread in colour #5005. The thread really stands out on the Essex linen and matches the turquoise solid perfectly.


I really enjoyed the challenges and will attempt shahsiko quilting another time.
Can someone just please tell me I NEED that Juki?

Linking this to Finish Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
Modern Patch Monday