Author Archives: mlwilkie

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About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

Umbrella Stripes {a finish}

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Photo by Love Patchwork & Quilting (Issue 54)

Umbrella Stripes quilt was inspired by a beach umbrella image from Design Seeds via @thebungalow22. The design is a simple stripe design but I loved the variations in widths and color of the original design.

 

That design is now a quilt available as a pattern in issue 54 Love Patchwork and Quilting (available today via digital media here in the US). The color palette for the design was changed for the actual quilt. This versions played with a much warmer palette of pinks/corals and the cooler colors of the pale green and grey.

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Photo by Love Patchwork & Quilting (Issue 54)

I had a lot of fun making this and it came together quiet quickly. I can’t wait to get my copy of the issue so I can see the other great quilts that are in the issue.

Details

Name: Umbrella Stripes
Design: Design by myself
Fabric: Kona Cotton (Salmon, Petal, Pearl Pink, Honey dew, Shadow)
Backing: Ludovika, Edholm Uilenius for IKEA
Binding: High Meadow, Meriweather, Amy Gibson
Dimensions:  60 x 60″
Quilted: Straight Stitched Lines (at 2″ and 1″ apart).

San Francisco Bustle {a finish}

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I am so happy to share this quilt, finally. San Francisco Bustle is this months MQG Quilt of the Month and the pattern is available to all members here.

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Last May (2016), I posted a spark for the Quilt Design a Day Facebook group of a Cable car stop in San Francisco.
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From this image, I designed this minimal abstract quilt design. The blues are from the cable car, the orange from the cones, the yellow from the road markings and the grey from the footpath corner. I will say the top grey box was a mistake and was out of my sketch pad but when saving it, it showed up. I loved the balance it provided and left it in.

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I used all Kona Cottons for the quilt, and love this palette (White, Tangerine, Papaya,  Sage, Storm, Ash). I am sure I will use it again in future.
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The piecing went quickly and I had the quilt top finished in about 3-4 hours. Then I got stuck. I had no clue how to quilt it. Thanks to friends encouragement, I got past the block. The quilting is a variety of straight line designs, done on my domestic sewing machine. You can really see the quilting in this picture in the direct sunlight.

SF_Bustle_QuiltingThe binding, which I am in love with, is block matched with the shapes that are along the edge. I thought about doing faced binding for the first time but really wanted the straightness and sharp corners of traditional binding.

Details

Name: San Francisco Bustle
Design: Design by myself
Fabric: Kona Cotton (White, Tangerine, Papaya,  Sage, Storm, Ash)
Backing: Heather Givans, Literary, Pages in New and scraps
Binding: Kona Cotton (White, Sage, Storm and Ash)
Dimensions:  68 x 75″
Quilted: Variety widths and directions straight lines, domestic sewing machine with Aurifil

 

 

Quilted Postcards {Tutorial}

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In my previous post, I shared my current experiment with quilted postcards. I make a finished 4 x 6″ standard sized postcard. Here is the list of materials and the instructions which start after you have a finished 4 1/2 x 6 1/2″ postcard front.

Materials

  • One (1) 4 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ pieced front
  • One (1) 4 1/2 ” x 6 1/2″ backing fabric
  • One (1) 4 x 6″ Fusible Fleece (like Pellon 987F) or
    Two (2) 4 x 6″ SF101 Pellon ShapeFlex
  • Thread for piecing/quilting
  • One (1) Adhesive Postcard back (purchased from Amazon.com)

Instructions

The postcards cannot be too thick otherwise you will not be able to use normal postcard postage so I use fusible fleece that is like a quilt sandwich or two pieces of Shape Flex interfacing (one on each side fused to the back and the top).

I have two ways of making my postcards. The first is not that different from a normal quilt, and can be seen in this image below. Take the postcard pieced top and baste to the fusible fleece, and then baste with a glue stick the bottom fabric to the fusible fleece. Quilt as desired, trim. Zig-zag or overlock the edge of the post card to finish.

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The second method, I chose since I was using bias tape and wanted to encapsulate the bias tape edges within the edge of the postcard. Here are the step by step instructions for this finish.

  1. Fuse the fusible fleece to the top of the pieced postcard top.fullsizeoutput_23fb
  2. Quilt the top with the fleece as desired and add the bias tape to the front.fullsizeoutput_23f9
  3. Place the top and back right sides together (RST). Stitch a 1/4″ seam around the postcard edge, leaving a two inch opening along one edge.fullsizeoutput_23f7
  4. Cut the corners inside the seam line, removing the bulk in corners. fullsizeoutput_23fc
  5. Turn the postcard inside out, using a chop stick or pencil end to push the corners out.
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  6. Press the postcard edges, to position the seams folds correctly. Top stitch the edge of the postcard. fullsizeoutput_23fe
  7.  To finish the postcard, take one of the adhesive postcard backs and place it on the back side of the fabric.
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The other size you can consider is a 5 x 7″ postcard and you will need to purchase the appropriate adhesive backs.

Let me know if you have any questions. If you make any postcards I would love to see them on Instagram – just tag me @ml_wilkie or use #quiltypostcards.