A DRUNKEN TILES QUILT

I’m so excited to finally share this quilt with you today.  It’s been complete for some time now and I’ve been itching to let it see the bright lights of the blogsphere.  You may remember from this post that this quilt was originally named ‘A-quilt-that-reminds-me-of-the-beach-until-I-think-of-a-better-name’.  Well, it’s now called ‘Drunken Tiles’, and can be found in the latest issue of Fat Quarterly Magazine which is published today!

I was honoured back in November when I was sent a bundle of Sphere by Zen Chic for Moda from Lynne at Lily’s Quilts, tasked with designing and  making something for the upcoming precuts issue of Fat Quarterly.  Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have seen some colourful scribblings and a few WIP shots as I worked on this quilt earlier in the year.  I didn’t want to tempt fate and mention who it was for just in case it wasn’t good enough and I didn’t make the cut!  When I found out I had I was over joyed.  I’ve loved every minute of my quilting journey but never would have imagined, way back when I started, that a quilt I’d designed would be featured in so prominent a publication.  Things like that just don’t happen to this guy!

This quilt make full use of the fat eighths I was sent.  I was aiming for a quick and simple design that could be made up in a range of sizes and fabrics, appealing to beginners and more experience quilters alike.  I used a stack and cut approach to make the blocks, pairing the prints with coordinating Kona solids, speedily delivered by The Village Haberdashery.  I used a widescreen crosshatch print by Carolyn Friendlander for the backing, which I’ve since panic stashed, and finished the quilt off with a great bike path print by Alison Glass.  The quilting reflects the fabric collection’s circular name and is a meandering stipple with loops.

I love the fresh, zesty colours of the Sphere collection and you can see why I was quick to associate it with sun, sand and all things summer.  I feel warm just looking at it!  The fabric dictated the location of the photo shoot, the first that’s taken place away from my house.  I took advantage of a rare day of sun in Wales during March to snap the shots.

Be sure to check out the issue for all the other great quilts that are featured!

 

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STASHING #14

A little late with Sunday Stash this week, but I have good reason.  My friend recently returned from a trip to NYC and yesterday was our catch-up day, and as well as tales of snow and skyscrapers, she returned with this little lot for me!

Clockwise from left:

Comma – Asterisk in black, Michael Miller – Faux Bois in white, Joel Dewberry ‘Bungalow’ – Hive in maize, P & B Bear Essentials, Comma – Swinging Chalk in slate, Bonnie Christine ‘Reminisce’ – Meadow in gold, a lovely grey print with no details, Carolyn Friendlander – Widescreen crosshatch in grey.

I am in love with this selection.  When I knew she was going to NYC I told her about The City Quilter and how she had to visit.  I asked her to keep an eye out for any Comma prints, a line which I missed the first time around, as well as graphic grey prints.  She did not disappoint!  I love the wood grain and you can never, ever, have too much crosshatch.

I’m tardily linking up with Alisa at A Stitch In Between for Sunday Stash, before going to find some space to put all this…

A-QUILT-THAT-REMINDS-ME-OF-THE-BEACH-UNTIL-I-THINK-OF-A-BETTER-NAME-QUILT WIP

Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have noticed I’ve been messing around with a bundle of Sphere by Zen Chic for Moda recently.  I can’t really say too much but this is a special project for me and for that reason I haven’t shared much of its progress here.  I’m waiting for it to be finished before I finally reveal all…not like that cheeky!

As I’ve made this quilt I’ve grown to love the fabric collection even more. I loved the comma collection, also by Zen Chic, and Sphere has some great, bold prints as well as more subtle stash blenders.  The colours are so fresh, and although I usually shy away from yellows  I had great fun matching the collection to solids using my new Kona colour card.  I even took the opportunity for a little night sewing in the attic whilst the man was away.  It was strangely satisfying to look up and see the moon rather than the sun.

As this quilt has a an imminent deadline I’ve made great progress in a short space of time.  In fact, this is probably the quickest I’ve made a quilt.  After a marathon quilting session yesterday and this morning, all that remains to be done is squaring up and binding.  My binding fabric arrived this morning after some super quick delivery time from The Village Haberdashery, and is already cut and sewn together.  Talk amongst yourselves whilst I go and press it…well, you want that reveal don’t you?