BLOG 320

BLOG 320

As autumn has quietly progressed this week, so has the Corner Log Cabin quilt. I really have my mind well into this project now and I want to see it nearing completion. This is a very special quilt to me as I am using fabrics from a collection that spans some 30 years. Many are left over from my ‘Garden Gate’ series of quilts and you just can’t get fabrics like this anymore. They come from an era when the value (ie the lightness and darkness) of the fabric was used in a popular technique called ’Colourwash’; the busier the fabrics the better the wash. These days, fabrics are sold as collections by the fabric manufacturers.  They are printed in batches from the same range of colours; they have a variety of different sized prints, shades, tints and tones, and they are designed to coordinate. This is great for those setting out on their quilting journey but, in my humble opinion, nothing gives the rich depth of a scrap quilt better than an aging stash!

              Litter bin

 The litter bin tells all and spills the beans about what I have been doing. Each Log Cabin block had to be trimmed to 9 ¼” and I couldn’t do this accurately without a large square ruler; they are brilliant for the job. Once I had squared up one corner, I rotated the block and lined up the ruler with the appropriate marked line. All I needed to do then was to trim the remaining edges. There should be no joining of blocks until they are all the same size.

             Square ruler

              Re-sizing

I placed them beside the machine ready to join together. Unfortunately, I have quilted as many blocks as I can at this stage as I am waiting for more variegated thread to arrive.

               In Progress

               Design wall

And, if you are a regular visitor to this blog, you will know my theory that wadding is magnetic to cats! Here’s the proof and it’s not even a quilt yet.

                Animal magnetism

I also managed to quilt a Linus quilt this week. The technique is called ‘Vanishing 4-patch and it has been hanging about for some time. By tonight, it will be bound in front of the fire and Poldark (… if I can concentrate!)!

                 Linus quilt

                 Detail

And finally, I was asked by my daughter and granddaughters to help with some mermaids for a village scarecrow competition. When I was asked had I got any fabric suitable for hair? …. my stash came into its own again! They drew the faces, I sewed on the hair and shaped the tails and my daughter did the rest. I will show a picture of the completed tableau next week.

                Mermaids