Anna Maria Horner Liberty Fabric Feather No #4



Liberty Fabrics - Anna Maria Horner Feather

These Anna MariaHorner feathers are so addictive.  I thought I would make a little mug rug feather from some Liberty Tana Lawn scraps. The reality is I don't have Liberty Tana Lawn scraps and who does at £22.50 / metre?  The fabrics are so lovely that instead of cutting a set of them up, I thought I would showcase just one, and for this project I used Poppy and Daisy from the Liberty Art Fabrics collection.  The background is a French General solid.



Machine Quilting - Angela Walters Diamond Pattern

Also, I felt like I would be wimping out by just meandering the background again, so decided to try something new.  I am not short of books of machine quilting and this time I reached for Angela Walter's 'Shape by Shape' Free-Motion Quilting book.  I found a great diamond pattern - great because it is made up of straight lines, so I could stitch it without having to lower the feed dogs.  I also liked it as it has an art deco style which fits nicely with the historical Liberty print. I had to mark the fabric with a water erasable pen, but it was worth it to get the lovely all over pattern.

Detail - Machine Quilting Diamond Pattern

I haven't used Liberty fabrics for quite a while and had forgotten how lovely and crisp the finish is.  Putting the binding on this one was a dream.  I also added some corner pockets on the back so that it could be hung as a mini quilt on the wall.  It won't be on my wall, as this one a is gift.

Liberty Mini Wall Hanging - corner pockets

See more feathers here, here and here
Linking up with Confessions



Anna Maria Horner Scrap Fabric Neutral Feather No #3

Anna Maria Horner Neutral Scrap Fabric Feather

Here comes another Anna Maria Horner feather.  This one is made up from the scraps from my equilateral triangle quilt which I made last April with the Sassy Quilter  and is being modelled by Suzi the cat below.


Equilateral Triangle Quilt with Suzi the cat



The background fabric is  French General for MODA (#13529) which is a lovely natural linen colour.  I outlined the feather with stich in the ditch, outlined the shape again and then filled in the background with a free motion meander. 

Free Motion Meander quilting bachground

Not only is the feather made up from fabric scraps, but I also used some scraps of wadding for the middle.  Having made a few of these, I can tell you that they are quite addictive.  I just love how they come out so differently.

Anna Maria Horner Scrap Fabric Feather No #2

Anna Maria Horner Feather

A few weeks ago I mentioned that after making my scrappy Half Square Triangle quilt I had created a new set of scraps to use up.  They were mainly 1.5" strips from reducing 5" squares to 3.5" squares, so were quite thin and some of them quite short, but plenty big enough for another Anna Maria Horner scrap feather. 


Box of fabric scraps

I was working towards a particular colour scheme, so was able to pull out all the co-ordinating colours to foundation piece the feather.


Foundation Piecing Scraps

For the quilting I stitched in the ditch and then did a 1/4 inch outline around the feather shape.  Then I kept on going.  Because these are only small quilts / mug rugs they are a good place to experiment with new quilting patterns.  The trimmings from the HST's for this feather were only a drop in the ocean from my box of scraps, so I can see more of these in pipeline.


Scrappy Anna Maria Horner Feather Mug Rug

 Linking up with Connie at Freemotion

Nearly Insane Quilt - Update #4 March 2015



Removing English Paper Piecing templates

I expect some of you may be wondering what progress I am making with the Nearly Insane quilt.  As you can see here, I have had a go at removing the papers.  The tiny bits hidden under the seams have required the patience and precision of removing a splinter from a finger, but gradually progress is being made.  Suzi the cat knows it is going to be a long job, but is joining me for the long haul.


Suzi the cat offers moral support with the paper removal

Another dilemma that I have been dealing with is the border.  The original design has a zig zag border.  I don't think it is the most attractive edging, but in the spirit of keeping to the original I intend to put a zig zag border around my Nearly Insane quilt.  When I saw the Dear Jane exhibition in France, I noticed how the quilts without the original full scalloped border didn't look quite 'finished', and that has stuck with me.  Maybe I will do something different on my next Nearly Insane quilt ...

Nearly Insane Quilt - Solid Red Zig Zag Border

You may have noticed in some of my early 'reveals' that I showed the developing red zig zag border.  I had done almost one and half sides by the time the rest of the quilt was together, but when laid against it, it just looked TOO bold.


Nearly Insane Quilt - Red with White Zig Zag Border

So I started again, using some of my red with white fabrics for the zig zag.  Again, I had done nearly a side and it just looked wrong.  It looked TOO big.


Nearly Insane Quilt - Small Red with White Zig Zag Border

So having stitched over two sides of the border I then decided to actually read the instructions in the book and make the zig zag the smaller size that was suggested ....

We live. We learn.

I think is eligible for Slow Stitching Sunday ...

 

Miniature Block of the Month March 2015 - The Quilt Room

March Block - Quilt Room 2015 Miniature Quilt BOM

February was a short month this year.  Already March and another block has been released as part of The Quilt Room, Dorking FREE Miniature Block of the Month.  I will admit that I struggle with foundation piecing as I am easily confused by working on the reverse, flipping, reversing the colours etc. etc, but I do love the look of it.

Quilt Room 2015 Miniature Quilt BOM

They haven't stated how many there will be, but I assume it will continue up until the end of the year so that we have twelve blocks altogether.  So, in just three short months I have accumulated these delightful little blocks, which seems to be filling the void of the Nearly Insane blocks which I completed several months ago.