Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2016: Colourful Pencils

Here is my second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side: Colourful Pencils. Regular readers of this blog have seen it quite recently, for I made it only a few months ago.



It is inspired by an original art print designed by Melbourne-based graphic artist and illustrator Harper and Charlie. I saw this print last year in November and immediately thought that it would make a great patchwork quilt. I contacted them to ask for permission to make a quilt inspired by this design and was very happy when they said yes!



Colourful Pencils is quilted very densely with Aurifil 40wt threads in matching colours:



For the binding I used a lovely stripey fabric:



The quilt measures 31'' x 51''. It now hangs in my son's room - he loves the 3D effect. The pattern for this wall hanging is available in my pattern store on Etsy.



I am entering this quilt in the ROYGBIV Quilts Category (rainbow quilts). Do check out some of the other quilts in the Festival as well - there is so much eye candy and inspiration to be found!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2016: Starimekko

It's that time of year again: the Blogger's Quilt Festival 2016 is on, hosted by Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side. I am entering my quilt Starimekko in the Large Quilt Category (it is 67'' square).



I love making Lone Star quilts, and in July 2015, when I had finished my red and white Lone Star (which was one of my entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival 2015), I decided to make a more modern version. For that version I used the iconic Unikko (Poppy) design by Maija Isola for the famous Finnish company Marimekko in nine different colourways. I had been collecting these fabrics for quite a while - I bought most of them at the Finnish Etsy shop OttaShop.



I used large diamond shapes to showcase the fabrics, and added white 1'' sashing strips. The binding is yet another Unikko print.



For the back I used a large Marimekko print called Hetkiä (Moments), designed by Maija Louekari:



I quilted this modern Lone Star in straight lines through the diamonds, ½” from the seams, continuing in the white spaces outside the star, using a walking foot and white Aurifil 40wt thread. It has a thin cotton batting, so it's perfect for early spring nights here in subtropical Queensland.



After I showed this quilt on my blog and on Instagram, quite a few people asked about the pattern. It took me more than a year to write it down (much longer than it took to make the quilt!), but it is now available in my pattern shop on Etsy.




Don't forget to check out the other quilts in the Festival and stay tuned for my second entry!

New pattern: Lone Star Baby Quilt, made with half-square triangles

If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that I love Lone Star quilts, and that I have made quite a few.  Many people admire them, but I often hear that they wouldn't dream of making one - too hard, with the diamond shapes and inset seams.
As a quilter who thought so myself for many years I can relate to that - however, there is a way to make a Lone Star quilt and avoid all those issues: by using half-square triangles (HSTs).



This Lone Star baby quilt measures 40'' (100 cm) square and it is made up of squares, rectangles and half-square triangles. It is pieced and quilted with white Aurifil 40wt thread. I quilted it 'in the ditch', with the lines continuing in the white bakground fabric.



For the back I used the same aqua fabric that was used in the top, and it shows the quilting really well:





I had a ball taking the quilt out for a photo shoot!



The pattern for this quilt is now available on Etsy. I have just started working with Adobe Illustrator and am quite proud of the diagrams I managed to create!



The pattern is very suitable for beginning quilters. I have included instructions on how to make multiple HSTs at once - quick and easy!

Etsyversary - celebrate with a 20% discount!

Five years ago today I opened my Blue Jacaranda shop on Etsy! (I blogged about it here)
At that time I mainly sold screenprinted fabric postcards (and very cute kids' oilcloth aprons - here are my boys modelling them, they were so little then!). Then the burlap items came up (the burlap coffee sack apron was quite a hit), followed by the screenprinted fabric stretched in a hoop.

Nowadays I mostly sell PDF quilting patterns and pencil rolls - but I also have homewares, handprinted fabric, a few baby quilts, textile art, etc...

To celebrate this Etsyversary, use coupon code HAPPYBDAY at checkout for a 20% discount on any item in the shop.

The more items I sell now, the less I will have to take with me in the upcoming two moves... So you will be doing me a big favour!

Quilting again: half-square triangles

Finally I am quilting again! I've made a top with lots and lots of white and aqua half-square triangles and have almost finished quilting it. I'll show it here when it is completely done, which should be in the next few days.



This might be my last quilt for a while, as we have some busy times ahead of us. My husband has found a new job in Sydney and will start in January. We plan to move in December, when the kids have finished the school year, but unfortunately the lease on our current house ends in November and we have been asked to vacate it at that time. A friendly request to extend the lease with a few weeks was denied, so it looks like we'll have to find a short-term rental place and store our furniture until we move to Sydney. Very inconvenient and quite stressful, but I'm sure we'll manage...