14 July 2015

Basted and Ready to Stitch!

I went to one of my favourite quilt shops with a friend last week; I was supposed to be helping her to chose fabrics for a new project, but I couldn't resist picking up a few pieces for my Auntie Green. The nice thing about going to a real shop as opposed to buying online, is that you can see the true colours of the fabric and they will cut 10cm/4" strips. Lots of variety for not a lot of cash!
I spent ages cutting out pieces and playing around with the layout, I have changed the centre so that is more like the original quilt, I redrew some of the pieces and scaled up others from the Judy Day pattern to fit the oval on Irene's pattern.
I wasn't happy with my first attempt, I thought it was too heavy on the dark blue
I tried making all the flowers pink, but it was still too blue
I am happier now that I swapped out some of the darker blues for a lighter tone
I stitched the basket separately, I really liked the lattice basket of the original, it wasn't difficult to do, as it's just 1/4" bias strips stitched onto pink rectangle. I have used Roxanne's glue instead of pins to keep everything in place. It is a large piece to work on and I wanted to be sure of the colours etc before I start to stitch.

I have gone back to my favourite needle turn for this quilt. I draw around either a freezer paper or plastic template with a Gelly Roll pen. The silver coloured ones work best for me as I can see the line on all fabrics. These pens wash out and as they are a roller ball, drawing around the shape not only gives a line to turn under, but it also creases the fabric so it is easy to get smooth curves. I am off to pick my mum up from the airport, I hope to get some of this sewn down while she is here.

14 comments:

  1. Auntie Green is such a gorgeous quilt! Have fun with those beautiful fabrics; it looks gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely the sort of project where you want to have an idea where you're going before you start. Some can simply grow organically, but others need Planning!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely! So the quilt store will cut 4" strips? Never heard of that before! Nice! And the pen's marks create enough of a crease to enable the smooth seams? Interesting! I'd never noticed such an effect back when I did needle turn. Anyway, everything looks lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous15/7/15 08:21

    This is going to be a beautiful quilt, I've never done needle turn so forgive the probably silly question but are you marking the fabric on the right side of the fabric so you can see your marks when turning and if so surely the crease is the wrong way or perhaps it doesn't matter?

    ukcitycrafter@live.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  5. You did a wonderful job, the basket is beautiful !!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fabulous! Love the way that you've made the basket - and the balance of colours that you've achieved with your fabric choices.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautifully done. Using the different shades of blue really adds depth to the piece.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous15/7/15 14:06

    So pretty, the basket is really nice. This is going to be such a beautiful quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow - the basket is fantastic that way. This is turning out so pretty, Elaine.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow Looking beautiful love the basket. Your needle turn looks terrific !!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looking fabulous! I love the blue and green fabrics, my favourite colours together. Those Gelly Roll pens sound interesting, I hope I can get them here in Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a totally gorgeous block! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful start. Your changes are wonders and I love the colors.

    ReplyDelete