Class kaleidoscope quilts - update

While away at a quilting retreat this weekend I was lucky enough to view two kaleidoscope quilt tops just completed by Cheryl.
Aren't they stunning?

 

This fabric is called Tuki Tuki from the NZ Nutex Kiwiana range.  In fact I have had a dress made out of it.

  To view the original fabric - check out my post 20th August 2012 - Kaleidoscope class - Cherry Pie.

 

So much spin......

Japanese Meshwork cushion

I am making a series of cushions for our lounge and will be experimenting with Japanese Meshwork techniques.  In the latest Japanese Meshwork book there is an example of using the "stack and whack" idea with meshwork. Yes this can be scary stuff given the time and cost it takes just to weave one meshwork block.

Im pleased with the final outcome.  Now to plan cushion number two.
Happy meshing.

Joining pieces of batting

After a while we collect remnants of batting from all our quilts.  I join larger pieces together and use them in other quilts.  But what about the smaller pieces?  For years I joined pieces of batting using  herringbone stitch by hand which is slow and tedious.  If I tried using my zigzag stitch on my machine I would often create waves from stretching the batting.  Recently I purchased a quilters ditch foot for my Janome (S foot).  This foot has a center guide where you can butt both pieces of fabric against it thus making this task very simple with the result of a flat join.  RULE - make sure your edges of each piece of batting you are stitching together are cut straight.

I increase my zigzag width to 6.5mm and stitch length to 2.  Do a test piece to make sure your stitches are not to far apart (causing batting to stretch) or to close (causing batting to pucker).

I don't recommend using lots of little pieces of batting for large bed quilts - however great for those smaller projects (i.e. wall hangings).

Batting butted each side of the foot guide.

 

 



Small pieces of batting zigzagged together using the ditch foot.  There is no loft in the joins - they lay flat.

Notice the right side of this piece of joined batting.  It wavers as it was not cut straight before the join.  It wont lay flat and may cause issues when you commence quilting.

Do make sure you are joining similar weight and loft pieces of batting .

 happy quilting

Baby Quilt

I love this Michael Miller fabric and so does my daughter who asked me to make a baby quilt for her girlfriend who is having a boy in July.  So check this out.

Sometimes is fun to do a small project after larger ones. Next I will make a couple of couple of simple neonatal quilts - our local club will be donating a pile of 17" x 21" quilts to the neonatal unit at our local Hospital.
What about these robots?  Robotek by mint blossom for Northcott. Might have to include these.

Happy quilting

Stash Buster

Is your fabric stash to full?   Here's an idea:

My husband's younger sister will be turning 49 this month and her husband 50 so they are holding a combined "99" year birthday party.  This quilt is our gift to them.  99 blocks for each year totally made from my stash including the backing.   This is an example of using batiks and other quilting fabrics successfully together.  My rule was to ensure that the 5" (cut) center of each block was darker that its surrounding 2" (cut) border.

Happy quilting