Lots of posts from me today... like waiting for a bus, none will come for ages and then 3 will turn up at once!
I've mentioned my online crafty group in the past, it is so good to have like minded people to bounce ideas off. In January it was suggested we do a Quilt-a-long. I got excited! I've always thought that one day I may make a quilt for the girls... but never really pursued the idea.
Apart from scrappy patchwork bags I've never done formal patchwork blocks either.
You know, I don't really "get" quilts - I'm a duvet girl and growning up in a warm climate, there wasn't much need for extra blankets and quilts to snuggle under come winter time. So although I was excited to be starting a new long term project (1 block per month) I wasn't quite sure we really did need a quilt in the house.
The first quilt block was shared and the very much needed instructions, in the form of a photo tutorial. Do you know I found it so HARD!!! I'm not that good with numbers or geometry.. this quilt block business near fried my brain for a bit there! But those are the joys of learning new things that are challenging. My goodness I got the bug! I loved it! I couldn't wait for block 2 to be published...
And then begged for blocks 3, 4 and 5!!
Now I realise how tricky quilt making can be. I didn't want to go and buy any fancy charm pack or jelly roll (all these are new terms to me), I just wanted to use up some of my stash.
Which proved to be more difficult than I imagined because in the first place I was feeling very precious about cutting into full half metres of fabric for just a few 3"squares and secondly I didn't have enough stuff that matched or contrasted well.
I became consumed with scouring the charity shops for fabrics, good quality sheets or pillowcases that would make up a good quilt block. I really got fairly worked up by it all!
Last weekend was the very much anticipated bi-annual fabric market that tours the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxenboug. I spent nearly 3 heady hours looking at fabrics and standing in ques, and I came away with a wonderful assortment of bargain fabrics which actually cost me a small fortune!
Now I'm looking at my existing quilt blocks and looking at my beautiful new fabric and wondering if they'll match up, or if I should just begin again and use the blocks I've already made for something else....
While I was at the market, I noticed a lady standing over the fabric, desperately trying to find a complimentary fabric for her neatly hand sewn, patchwork cloth. Looking at the piece, I could tell she only needed one or two blocks of a particular shade of red to go in her colour scheme. I thought, Yes! I know how you feel! I bet she's also been worrying over her quilt and wondering if she'll ever find just the right shade of red to finish it off.
Well here they are, blocks 1 - 5. I didn't like block 3 so I made it again... I'm not loving block 4, or 5, or 2 for that matter.... Let me know what you think. Should I begin again, or keep them as they are and chalk it all down to experience?
I've mentioned my online crafty group in the past, it is so good to have like minded people to bounce ideas off. In January it was suggested we do a Quilt-a-long. I got excited! I've always thought that one day I may make a quilt for the girls... but never really pursued the idea.
Apart from scrappy patchwork bags I've never done formal patchwork blocks either.
You know, I don't really "get" quilts - I'm a duvet girl and growning up in a warm climate, there wasn't much need for extra blankets and quilts to snuggle under come winter time. So although I was excited to be starting a new long term project (1 block per month) I wasn't quite sure we really did need a quilt in the house.
The first quilt block was shared and the very much needed instructions, in the form of a photo tutorial. Do you know I found it so HARD!!! I'm not that good with numbers or geometry.. this quilt block business near fried my brain for a bit there! But those are the joys of learning new things that are challenging. My goodness I got the bug! I loved it! I couldn't wait for block 2 to be published...
And then begged for blocks 3, 4 and 5!!
Now I realise how tricky quilt making can be. I didn't want to go and buy any fancy charm pack or jelly roll (all these are new terms to me), I just wanted to use up some of my stash.
Which proved to be more difficult than I imagined because in the first place I was feeling very precious about cutting into full half metres of fabric for just a few 3"squares and secondly I didn't have enough stuff that matched or contrasted well.
I became consumed with scouring the charity shops for fabrics, good quality sheets or pillowcases that would make up a good quilt block. I really got fairly worked up by it all!
Last weekend was the very much anticipated bi-annual fabric market that tours the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxenboug. I spent nearly 3 heady hours looking at fabrics and standing in ques, and I came away with a wonderful assortment of bargain fabrics which actually cost me a small fortune!
Now I'm looking at my existing quilt blocks and looking at my beautiful new fabric and wondering if they'll match up, or if I should just begin again and use the blocks I've already made for something else....
While I was at the market, I noticed a lady standing over the fabric, desperately trying to find a complimentary fabric for her neatly hand sewn, patchwork cloth. Looking at the piece, I could tell she only needed one or two blocks of a particular shade of red to go in her colour scheme. I thought, Yes! I know how you feel! I bet she's also been worrying over her quilt and wondering if she'll ever find just the right shade of red to finish it off.
Well here they are, blocks 1 - 5. I didn't like block 3 so I made it again... I'm not loving block 4, or 5, or 2 for that matter.... Let me know what you think. Should I begin again, or keep them as they are and chalk it all down to experience?
 |
| Block 1 |
 |
| Block 2 |
 |
| Block 3.1 |
 |
| Block 3.2 |
 |
| Block 4 |
 |
| Block 5 |
So there you have it...all the blocks I've made so far. The finished block is supposed to be 3 across and 4 down the length, but I'm going to make it 4 x 5 blocks and that will bring it up to single duvet size.
Well that is is for now folks. I thought I could do 3 posts today, but I don't think I can sit here any longer without doing some permanent dammage to my back side! 'Til next time!
xxx
As I was scrolling through the blocks I was agreeing with your thoughts about them but when I got to the picture of them all laid up, I totally changed my mind. They look great together to me, much more complimentary than they look on their own.
ReplyDeletethank you Lesley! It's good to know I'm on the right track!
ReplyDelete