Lots Of Pockets

Another look back at the projects not featured on the blog yet - this was a first birthday present for my niece:

I rarely buy panels, but this one had bright colours, cute animals and lovely florals - everything I love, so I thought it would be great for one on my baby nieces. As they both had been supplied with baby quilts already, I decided to make a panel of pockets that can go on the side of the baby cot, rails at the the top of the stairs of on the wall somewhere.

I was sensible enough to buy a blender fabric from the same collection at once, so that was used for the sashing, and three baby fabrics from another collection went to the inside of the pockets, backing and binding. I used the quilt-as you-go method to put it all together, with the only difference that the pockets and pocket "lining" had to be quilted separately before stitched together at the edges. The pockets are slightly wider than the lining to allow for two little tucks that create the volume inside.

The quilting was very simple, just parallel lines in various directions, but it did take quite a lot of time. Putting the blocks together was easy, although handling the thing became more difficult when the rows were put together, because it's heavier and more unbending than a normal quilt with all the layers going on.

The corner triangles and loops at the back hold the poles, so that the whole thing keeps shape even if stuff is stuffed into the pockets, and the ribbons are there to tie it to the rail.

On the whole, it was quite a different project to what I usually do, requiring a lot of technical decisions rather than artistic ones, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Linking up to :
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina-Marie

Tips and Tutorials Tuesday - 3D Aloe Plant Appliqué

Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl used to run a special linkup called Tips and Tutorials Tuesday, which is still a great collection of useful resources on her blog, so if I'm going to publish a tutorial, why not do it on a Tuesday?

 

My Funky Succulents quilt is, essentially, a reimagined Succulents Sampler just to show a different possible layout for the 3D appliqué. I made it before teaching a workshop on this technique, but in it I decided to replace the snake plant with the aloe for a change. So, the aloe was not covered in the workshop and to make up for that I shot step-by-step images of the process; it's about time to get them out.

So here we go. Make your own cute little succulent in a pot, it can be wall art on its own or a part of something bigger, and I hope it will give you ideas for more fun stuff. Best thing is - it's really really easy.

Funky Succulents

I finished this piece some time ago with the then-upcoming 3D workshop in mind, now the workshop is finished (and a great day all in all!) it's about time to publish it.

It is really a variation of the Succulents Sampler, with most of the plants the same, but just a different idea for layout, giving each little character more space to shine (and a brighter pot).

The Cactus:

The Echeveria:

The Aloe:

And the Fern:

As the aim here was not to use a different technique for each, the aloe is made in the same way as the echeveria and, because it was not covered in my workshop, I will be posting a tutorial on it shortly, watch this space.

I wrote about the background and quilting of it earlier here.

I really love how bright and funny they turned out, but to appreciate the 3D nature of them you really need to see them in person, it's hard to judge in the photos. Let's try to look at them from different angles:

Hope that adds a little bit of brightness to your day, especially if it's winter where you are.

Linking up to:
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina-Marie

Can I get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Enchanted

Catching up after a very long break, a few quick posts about the few little quilts I have managed to make in this period.

This is a variation on the poppies workshop sample at a larger scale - the flowers are made with tulle (netting), which is pre-gathered and partially stitched to the background. The background fabric is not quite as great as the one in the small sample, but it still works. I used a variety of colours for the poppies to add more interest, and added some 3D petals to make it more lively.

I really love poppies, but once in my life I saw a whole real poppy field, and it was an unforgettable fairytale experience. Luckily, some photos survive. My elder daughter is about three there, so it was some eight years ago.

Linking up to
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina Marie
 Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Star of the Sea

This post is well overdue, and the emotion has already subsided, but let's say we all gathered here to celebrate the winning of a pretty little award almost two weeks ago!

This is the happy winner:

Actually, this is the happy winner:

And together:

And now the full story. Each year, the participants of the Irish Patchwork Society AGM are invited to take part in in a challenge, where they usually are asked to bring a mini quilt on a particular theme. I took part last year, and the year before. The winner (determined by popular vote) receives the James Lawlor perpetual trophy - a clever and beautiful thing, which is a miniature statue of a quilting lady (bronze, I think) working away on a miniature quilt made by the previous year's winner, this one was made by Linda Cowley:

This year's theme was "Star" and I decided to make a star fish as I was working on my 3D samples and had just made another, little star fish. This one, though is THE star, very bright and unmissable attention-grabber...

... relaxing in the gently lapping waves of a warm sea...

Linking up to:
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina-Marie
Freemotion Mavericks at Lizzy Leonard Vintage Sewing
Finished or not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
Show off Saturday at Sew Can She

Sentimental Sampler

This is another workshop sampler for 3D appliqué techniques in quilts. It's 9'' by 12'' and it's supposed to be a classic still-life come alive.

If you read my blog before, you might recognise the rose, which is basically the same as in the Dancing in the Wind quilt, only a more dramatic colour. this time I used two different shades of red - a darker one for the outside of the petals and a lighter one for the inside which is seen in the curled bits.

The rose has leaves made with a single layer of fabric:

Then there is the green apple - yummy!

And the pink flowers (I think they look like apple blossoms, but they don't really have any branch to keep them in the vase)

You can have a look at my other 3D samplers here and here, they feature all the same techniques assembled into little scenes.

Linking up to Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina Marie

Seafloor Sampler

Following the Succulent Sampler, which received very nice feedback, I'll continue posting my 3D samplers.

This one also uses several different techniques for creating 3D elements to show a little underwater scene. To be honest, I don't quite like how the layout turned out, and I might still change it somewhat, but as a technique demonstration, I think it works fine.

It started with a quilted background 12'' square - quilted, logically, with pebbles - in a sandy kind of colour, with a couple of raw edge appliqué pebbles thrown in.

As seafloor generally is, this bit is densely populated. The star of the show is the star fish:

Then there's the seashell in lovely yellow Stonehenge fabric:

A coral (I think it's what's called a "brain coral"):

A couple of different kinds of seaweed:

And - I bet you didn't notice it in the first picture - a little jelly fish:

Well, maybe you still can't see it, but that's often the case with jelly fish. This particular one is made with white organza and netting - very see-through altogether.

I really love playing with these samples, trying out different shapes and variants.

Linking up to Let's Bee Social at Sew fresh Quilts

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Dancing in the Wind

Sorry to those who already saw this quilt (very recently), but it is my favourite project of the year and so I just have to enter it into Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side.

It's very simple piecing with some blocks featuring a bit of hand embroidery and 3D appliqué - my latest craze.

Here are all the little ballerinas who are dancing in the wind:

The triangles are made of blender fabrics with subtle floral/botanical prints and quilted with wonky triangle spirals, which creates a nice texture. And it's all as bright as it can be - just the way I love it.

I recently encountered a quote by J.W. Goethe, which goes: "...savage nations, uneducated people and children have a great predilection for vivid colours". I'm still wondering which of these categories I belong to...

Thanks for visiting and do check out all the quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - some fabulous stuff there!