I love how lots of traditional blocks still get lots of love ... maybe reimagined in scrappy or reworked in a modern palette, blocks like Log Cabin, Flying Geese, Bear Paw or Jacob's Ladder. The Old Maid's Puzzle block is a traditional two-colour nine patch quilt block that dates from the late 1800s. It has certainly caught the attention of a few lately, Rachel Rachel from stitchedincolor has made a sweet quilt in Spring colours of pink, green, yellow & brown, and Amanda from prairiequiltco has also made a delightful scrappy version too. I thought I'd attack the stash (again) and ma ..read more

To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it.  It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall. ~ Ann Patchett - b&w pic to check my values - loving the end of summer warm light we are experiencing this long Easter weekend (Here in New Zealand, daylight saving ends the 7th April). "Stars upon stars' is my favourite quilt from Jolene's new book "a year of quilts" and over the past couple of weeks I've been sewing stars to make a quilt following her pattern.  The stars are the feature in this qui ..read more

I'm making lots of stars, fun stars with just enough wonkiness. One star a day, or more if time permits ... and down on the design floor ... Stars Upon Stars WiP: Digging deep in my stash of early fabrics to get that vintage feeling, putting all sorts together, including shirting fabric, old reproduction fabrics, a little Liberty, leftovers from a vintage sheet, and lots of other scraps Machine pieced, 14 more wonky stars to go Pattern from Jolene's book "a year of quilts" and there's a free wonky star pattern on her blog, thanks for sharing, Jolene, @blueelephantstitches ..read more

A catch up with Glenys always generates lots of ideas and gives me a chance to get caught up on some of her creative ventures. This time around I got to see her new 'meadow mist' quilt - all together and all quilted too. It's her version of the 'malted mystery quilt' (see here at meadowmistdesigns for more details) and has kept her very busy for the last couple of months. Enjoy the photos ... Like me, she has also been sewing along with Rachel at @stitchedincolor, making her "Positivities" BOM quilt. Glenys is favouring orange/purple/green with a background in a vari ..read more

'Positivities' is a modern sampler created by Rachel at @stitchedincolor. I participated in another of Rachel’s sew-a-longs a while ago, she has a great eye for colour & design. This one is a yearlong BOM where the edges blur from area to area, and stars, squares & curves reappear throughout the quilt, all floating on a consistent background colour.  - It's not perfect, but I'm happy. I'm using a few different soft greens as my backgrounds too, so difficult to capture in a photo.  Can't wait to watch my quilt grow and the colours spread. Linda ..read more

Another house top variation quilt is underway chez Linda's.  'Dancing Squares' is a new favourite because it too has evolved from the need of using up those scraps. This time around, I went through my scrap baskets (yet again) but changed up the mood of the quilt. Super happy with the combo of teal & pink in these log cabin-style blocks, adding that splash of merlot makes me smile. I'm drawn to florals, so I needed to pair them up with a few ginghams/spots/dots/solids/even a little animal print to add contrast. With these bold colours & prints dancing around my centre teal ..read more

A gingham in gold, some small pieces of 'posy' by Annabel Wrigley, a few solids, lots of leftover strips ... and a quilt was underway! ... I'd been wondering about what to sew with all the leftover strips in my scrap basket, it's overflowing. I started making up a few trial blocks, and now I'm hooked!  Going a bit loosey goosey here, making my own version of a 'house top' block, a favourite block obviously inspired by the Gees Bend quilters and their amazing quilts (see pic below) & a recent quilt from Windham Fabrics. - Gee’s Bend quilt by Amelia Bennett ..read more

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend.  I've managed to get the next stages of my BBQAL medallion quilt top all together.  Here's a few progress pics ... - I even (accidently?) have the brambles! I went a little 'rogue' with my medallion garden... windblown big blooms, a token few formal borders, and then it all gets somewhat overgrown & messy with brambles, wildflowers, a broken fence & a few birds? As I added each new border, I had my fingers crossed that there would be enough fabrics. I have had to substitute as I progressed, but it's all ..read more

Making fabric decisions takes time, but I'm happy to report there's been some progress with my BBQAL. A bit of border planning happened today to get a sense of the finished size of my improv quilt top and if I have enough fabric here that actually works with my colour palette. I'm using all stash so far ... super happy to have finally found somewhere to use the Phillip Jacobs 'summer bouquet' in blue✅  I'm loving mixing up these bright & bold beauties, think 70's - orange - flowers. Enough now? Or maybe I'll add another row. Linda ..read more

It's a long weekend here in NZ and I've been sorting out my next steps with two long-term projects.  The bramble blooms QAL ... is all about wonderful improvisation! Full disclosure here - I have often found improv tricky! I started out with a plan and a colour scheme for my block, but it's now No. Where. Near. my original thoughts. I guess Audrey would say something like "let the quilt take you where it wants to go" - I more inclined to call it "going rogue."  The idea is to use fabrics from our stash, to make a unique one-of-a-kind creation. Audrey's latest prompt w ..read more