Happy new year…although even that’s belated now, owing to the fact that it’s the 6th of January already! Can you believe it? Time doesn’t just fly…it hitches a ride on a super sonic jet and doesn’t get off!
It may seem like I’m complaining…and I am…but time’s relentless pace has its pros too. I have a great feeling about 2015, particularly for me and my quilting journey. I have several things in the pipeline that are really exciting, and I’ll be sharing details about those as soon as I know more myself. For know, let’s deal with a little bit of forgotten house keeping from last year. Over the next few days my posts will be dealing with all the loose ends I forgot didn’t have the time to tackle during the frantic festive period.
First up is my Instagram Mini Quilt Swap quilt I made during the last few months of 2014. Organised by Sandy Greenberg, AKA curly_boy1 and Mr January in the #NGAQB, the swap was a huge success, attracting over 600 swappers. It was the first time Sandy had organised anything like this so it was great to see the Instagram quilting community showing faith in a novice. The swap was totally stress free, most likely due to the large period of time between receiving partner details and the posting dates. This also allowed for a lot of thought on what to make, as well as a lot of mind-changing!
My partner was Meli, who posts as theshortmunchkin. I was told that she’s a US Navy RN, so I used that as my inspiration for her mini. I really wanted to do something with naval flags, but with more of a modern twist. I imagined them all strung out on some string, rows above rows, with bright, vibrant colours replacing the traditional reds, blues and yellows. I drew up some basic paper piecing patterns for a variety of different flags and set about pulling fabrics. I didn’t start out with a rainbow of colour in mind, but the fabrics seems to arrange themselves like that as I was rummaging through the sash, and who am I to argue? Sometimes, in my more subservient moods, what the fabric wants, the fabric gets (unless it’s destined for a vegetable patch block, in which case it’s being starched into submission).
I am so pleased with how the quilt turned out. There are some old favourites in there, including Tula Pink and Carolyn Friedlander, mixed up with some vibrant Kona solids. For the background I used some widescreen crosshatch that I seem to have an abundant supply of due to it’s 108″ width! The quilting was wavy matchstick in an off white thread; simple but very effective. The binding was my new go-to print from John Lewis. It’s like a black scratchy line, not too dissimilar from those featured in the Botanics collection. This was also the first time I used any applique in a quilt. It was only a small circle, but it really finishes off that particular flag nicely.
I’ve been assured that Meli likes the quilt and have seen that she’s hung it up already, so I couldn’t have done that bad a job. I’ve become really addicted to mini swaps recently and have signed up for three more this year! Do go and check out this swap’s hash tag on Instagram. There were so many great makes, and the one I received was particularity fetching…even if I am a little bias!
Here’s to a creative year. Thank you all for following along and taking the time to read my ramblings. I really appreciate all your support and can’t wait to see where the attic takes us this year!
Quilts From The Attic 