Great Northern Quilt Show 2018 - Dear Jane Quilt, Referendum Quilt

Great Northern Quilt Show 2018 -  Dear Jane Quilt,
Overall Runner Up, Scrap Quilt, Bed Quilt, Judges Choice

A couple of weeks ago I had some of my quilts in the 2018 Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate, UK, and my Dear Jane quilt had success in achieving the Runner's Up Prize, Best Bed Quilt, Scrap Quilt and a Judge's Choice certificate from Jennie Rayment.  The Runner's Up prize was a 'basket of goodies' sponsored by Sylvia Critcher and Maggie Davies - who doesn't love a basket of goodies! 

Great Northern Quilt Show 2018 - 
Referendum Quilt, Best Computer Guided Longarm Quilt

I also entered my Referendum Quilt which was awarded the Computer Guided Longarm rosette. I completed the top as part of a Quilt Along several years ago, but it was a few years until It finally got quilted! I love this quilt and when it isn't at a quilt show it hangs in our staircase.  It is good to have them all home again.

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.

Triangle Quilt Along (TQA) - The Sassy Quilter

Equilateral Triangle - Triangle Quilt Along, Sassy Quilter

With a few days off near Easter I have been in the mood for a different project to my ongoing Nearly Insane quilt. Different colours. Different scale. Different technique. And quick.  Then I saw that the Sassy Quilter has been running a Triangle Quilt Along since mid-February.  I was a bit late to the party, but a determined effort over the past few days has helped me to catch up and join in the Joining Rows - Link Party.

Triangle Quilt Along - Fabric Selection

I spent a bit too much time dithering over the colour scheme.  I felt it needed to all come from my existing fabric stash and I pulled out a lot of fabric to work out what I wanted.  In general, I am not a big fan of grey (too much like school uniform ..), but since I have been blogging I have been surprised how much I like the use of grey in quilts, and I have been quietly picking up various fat quarters.  I also avoid solids (unless it is red ...), as I find for me, that they don't tend to work well in scrappy quilts, and why buy solids when you can have pretty patterns? However, for this project I noticed from the others 'quilting along' that contrasting solids gave the triangles a sharp definition, and really added something to the overall quilt.  I was looking for different - hence the above colour scheme.


EZ Quilting 60 degree  Equilateral Triangle designed by Darlene Zimmerman

I will admit that I spent a bit of money on a ruler.  I have been looking out for a 60 degree Equilateral triangle for a while, and this was the excuse to buy one. 


60 degree triangles cut ready for stitching into a quilt


The triangle ruler made easy work of cutting out the triangles.  The original design suggested by the Sassy Quilter was 12 rows of 17 triangles (204 total), but I have increased mine to 13 rows with 18 triangles (234 total). I managed to get about 12 - 15 triangles from a fat quarter, and used about 17 different fabrics.


Equilateral Triangle Quilt - Triangle Quilt Along at the Sassy Quilter

I have also in-filled the edges with the scraps from my cutting out, so the final size of my quilt top before quilting is 58" x 69".  There was no particular design, just controlled randomness.  Suzi the cat did her best to mix up the layout as best as possible.


Suzi the cat helps with the Triangle Quilt Along

Paula at the Sassy Quilter gave great instructions and photos for each step of the way, with details on how to get your triangle tips perfect.  This didn't always go according to plan on my quilt, but pinning really helped.

Triangle Quilt v. Nearly Insane Quilt

No plans to quilt this just yet, unless I have a wave of inspiration, but it has been fun working with pieces which are nearly the same size as just one of my Nearly Insane blocks.
Joining up with Design Wall Monday