Tag Archives: Tartan Kiwi

Butterflies in my stomach

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I have butterflies in my stomach….I am loving where the “Kaleidoscope of Butterflies” quilt has gone. Is it not totally satisfying when something in your head actually turns out how you image!!

Well, the quilt top is complete.

Kaleidoscope of Butterflies
Kaliedoscope_Butterflies_Top

Can I just say, I got to use some of my favorite lines in here too, which makes me so happy. For the butterflies there is a little of:

  • Safari Moon (Frances Newcombe),
  • Alchemy (Amy Butler),
  • Tsuru (Rashida Coleman)
  • Tiled Flowers (Kaffe Fassett),
  • Comma (Zen Chic),
  • Briar Rose (Heather Ross),
  • Notting Hill (Joel Dewberry)

For the scrappy low-volume background I have included:

  • Architextures, Botanics (Carolyn Friedlander)
  • Sun Print Text, Sun Print Corsage Clover Sunshine, (Alison Glass),
  • Les Amis (Patty Sloniger),
  • Mormor (Lotta Jansdotter),
  • Bluebird Park (Kate and Birdie),
  • Bark and Birch (Eloise Renouf)

The patterns for the butterflies are by Juliet @ Tartan Kiwi. Her patterns are so easy to follow, they are definitely a favorite of mine. You can find the two patterns on Craftsy, here are the links:

I think each of the butterflies deserve a close up.

Large 10″ Butterfly
10in_Butterfly

Medium 8″ Butterfly8in_Butterfly

Small 5″ Butterflies5in_butterflies

 

The scrappy low-volume background was, definitely, what was in my head but I started to have doubts in the process of laying it out. I love that I posted on IG and instantaneously got feedback…love this community…and I kept moving along.

Background_Planning_creams  Background_Planning_teal

The other question I was going back and forward with was if the cream/pink background (left) was to subtle (wishy-washy). I played around with adding a low-volume teal in the mix (right)….as you can see that is what I stayed with. I think it adds a depth and balance to the top.

Now onto basting, quilting and binding.

Don’t forget to go over and vote for the Bloggers quilt festival. There are some fantastic entries. Here were my two entries; A Fine Day and Hothouse Orchids.

I will be catching up on replying to comments today, I promise!! I am linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

Wow, so many WiPs

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On Sunday, I had a stark realization that I might have a “quilting attention deficit disorder”. I was asked to do a member spotlight at our MQG. I was pulling out stuff to show and realized I had a large number of WiP’s. I made a decision that my WiPs are an important part of my process and embraced them. I think, I like small and different projects so that I can learn new techniques or fine-tune a skill, hence the # of WiP’s. My WiP’s include my first attempt at making a modern block, paper piecing, EPP, first QAL, my first quilt design, first strip improv blocks, and first mod mosaic blocks.

How many WiP’s do you have on the go? Are they all different? Why are they WiPs (I get bored too quick or distracted)?

Here are the WiP’s I shared.

  1. Orange and Grey Quilt: These blocks were my first blocks I ever sewed up. I have not done anything with them since last November – this is supposed to be a King Sized quilt….I have 50 or so blocks to go. Most of the fabrics are from Spoonflower.com, Designer: Holli Zollinger.
    OrangeGreyBlocks
  2. Hexagon Quilt (EPP): I have been hand sewing this quilt since May, I have about 7 rows + corners to go for a lap sized quilt.
    HexagonEPPQuilt
  3. Tula Pink QAL: I am so far behind in this QAL. I have done the first 9 blocks….I am thinking of making only a lap quilt with these. The fabric is Summer House used in these blocks.
    TulaCitySampler_9Blocks
  4. NZ bird Quilt (Paper piecing): A lap quilt using Juliet@ Tartankiwi’s paper piecing patterns, 3 down, 6 to go.
    New Zealand Bird Blocks
  5. Medallion Quilt: I am using this paper piecing block from I Patch Quilt pattern as the center block for a medallion quilt.
    BloomingHot_PaperPieced
  6. This Way, That Way Quilt: My first quilt design, 4 blocks done, 20 more to go for a Twin sized quilt that needs to be finished for Christmas.
    ThisWayThatWay_Blocks4
  7. Neapolitan Quilt: Another possible Christmas gift. I really wanted to do coated candy from “Sunday Mornings” Book but wanted to make it my own so I came up with this design. I made up the first block this weekend. This could be a nice quick project.
    NeapolitanBlockGrey
  8. Through the Shattered Looking-glass:  A new design I had come up with, that had been in my head for some time. It uses a technique from oh! Fransson – Mod Mosaics which I tried out in the improv block class I had a couple of weekends ago.
    ImprovBlock

So, you may be wondering how the member spotlight went…after all, I mostly had WiP’s and a few design/design ideas to show (some I have not shared here yet).  I think, I got a great response from my guild based on the feedback. I really enjoyed sharing and talking about the learning curve and process I have taken over the last year since I started. I would definitely do it again 🙂

Linking up with Lee over @ Freshly Pieced for WiP Wednesday.
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

For the EPP Hexagon Quilt:

splish splash stash

Yellow-eyed Penguin – paper piecing

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Juliet @ Tartan Kiwi (her blog is here) has done another amazing job and created a new paper piecing pattern for the little Yellow-eyed Penguin.

The yellow-eyed penguin is one of New Zealand’s native birds, considered endangered and one of the world’s rarest penguins. I think he is very cute, I love the yellow eyes and the plumage coloring.Yellow_Penguin_Eye_to_Eye
(Photo/Image from http://mesh.biology.washington.edu/penguinProject/yelloweyed)

Here is how my 10×10″ block turned out. The pattern is 12×12″ and I used the 84% when printing. All the fabric I used were scraps taken from my scrap bin, except for the background where I used a fat quarter of “Hands on Deck, aqua”  by Maritime Modern for Riley Blake with solid scraps.

YellowEyedPenguin_FullBlock

The penguin was a delight to make up. Juliet’s pattern is not for a beginner and definitely offered a challenge, especially the A block – the head.YellowEyedPenguin_CloseUp

The head has several small pieces around the eye. You might be able to see it here in the close-up. Around the eye are 6 yellow pieces….this was the second attempt. I love the personality of this penguin’ s face.YellowEyedPenguin_Eye

She has a giveaway for her kea pattern if you want to go out check out her blog. Don’t forget to check out Juliet’s pattern page on Craftsy.

I plan making most of Juliet’s NZ native birds, here are some of the posts so far:

  • Kiwi
  • Kea
  • Yellow-eyed Penguin
  • Pukeko (underway)
  • Fantail (coming soon)

I am linking up with Kristy @ Quiet Play for her Paper-Piecing party.

Paper Piecing Party