From K - Paper piecing to my heart's content

Sneaking away to the mountains last week was the perfect way to kick off summer. Warm days made for plenty of outdoor time, and cool rainy evenings gave me some quiet time to sew. Shopping my stash before I left home, I came well prepared with some of my favorite prints.

[from left to right - 1: Robert Kaufman (Metro Living), 2: old remnant from my stash, 3+4: Anna Marie Horner (Innocent Crush), 5: Sharon Evans Yenter (Julianna), 6: Michael Miller (Antiquity Old Script)].

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I want to make some custom pillows for my new sewing room. Inspired by the Solstice Star Series by Fresh Lemon Quilts, I thought this small project would be the perfect time to experiment more with foundation piecing/paper piecing.

I spent a fair bit of time planning out my fabric placement and then began cutting out all of my pieces. Having had only limited experience with paper piecing in the past, I found Faith's tutorials to be extremely helpful.

Altogether I am pretty thrilled with how these pillow tops have come together. Later this week I plan to quilt them up, and add backing and a zipper to each.

Overall I would say this was a pretty productive sewing weekend away. Now if only I could make it longer...

From A - On Crinkles

As a relatively new quilter, I distinctly remember the terror I faced when contemplating the notion of throwing that first finished quilt in the washing machine.

While doing the tour of the online quilting community, I kept hearing about the crinking that happens when you wash a quilt. The consensus seemed to be that it was good but I loved the way my quilts looked pre-wash and wasn't sure that I'd agree.

To help other new quilters who aren't sure what to expect, I thought I'd give you a before and after comparison of my A First Lesson in Colour baby quilt.

The crinkling is caused when the batting shrinks during the first wash. I used Quilter's Dream Wool batting and it changed quite a bit after a pass through the machine.

With this particular quilt, the crinkling ended up softening the overall appearance of the bright high contrast colours and geometric construction.

It really changes the texture of the quilt but I'm starting to fall for the crinkly finish.

From A - Finished: A First Lesson in Colour

A long weekend means a finished baby quilt!

Very timely since I'll be seeing the recipient baby later this week.

Blocks are made with a Kona charm pack in the Classic colourway. I had to swap out and add a few colours to round out the colour spectrum but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Simple (semi) straight line quilting sets off the simplicity of the blocks.

This is the first quilt where I've used Quilter's Dream Wool batting. It is so dreamy! In addition to being fire retardant (perfect for baby gifts) it is also very warm, and lofty.

I used a Robert Kaufman Dr. Seuss flannel for the back and since it wasn't wide enough, I picked up a coordinating flannel to get enough width for the backing.

I struggled with whether I wanted to use the black for the binding. Now that I have it together, I think it does a good job of framing the quilt, grounding some of the bright colours and tying the back and front of the quilt together by making the front more Seuss-esque.

A close-up of the label.

The combination of flannel and wool batting make this quilt so soft and snuggly. I will definitely have to make an Amanda sized quilt using both sometime before winter hits.

Stats:

Fabric: Kona Classic Charm Pack, Kona white

Backing: Dr. Seuss flannel, Kona Black, Rocket Scientist Flannel and Max & Whiskers

Binding: Kona Black

Pattern: None, inspired by this
Finished Size: 40" x 44"

Piecing and quilting done by me

Fast, easy and fun = another baby gift done!