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Thursday, November 30, 2017

HST Pouch


As a lot of quilters probably experiences, there are a lot of scraps in the cutting process that can be used for something if you save them. This is a pouch that proves that statement.

The HST panels were pieced and quilted a year or so ago. The HSTs were leftovers from making a tablerunner some time ago. In addition to the panels, I used chambray for the borders.


This is the other side of the pouch. I used a tutorial from Fabric Mutt to make it, modifying the design and measurements a little bit.


My berry bush in a winter state is a perfect stand for taking pictures in natural light. We just have a few hours of good light during the day, now. The lining adds to the cool color template of the scenery, remember it is freezing, but without snow!

Keep on quilting!

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Pattern Testing for She's Sew Fancy



This fall I was able to test this Chimney Top Mountain quilt block for She's Sew Fancy. It is a block of 12"x18" that is perfect for a mini quilt or pillow. It is a beginner/intermediate level quilt block that requires basic foundation paper piecing skills.

As you can see, I chose to make a mini out of the pattern. I am very fond of blue and green in combination, so I made the main mountains in these colors. The mountains in the distance became silver grey.

The quilting blends in with the background. The limited color palette creates a modern quilt. A variegated golden thread together with a corn silk colors gives life to the sky. Big stitch hand quilting in variegated green adds the final touch to the mini.


The color of the sky was inspired by the tropical storm Ophelia that hit the British isles earlier this fall. Dust blown from the forest fires in Portugal and Spain in October caused the sky to turn orange. It was also possible to smell the smoke from the fires as far away as in Sweden. An amazing phenomenon, indeed!


Back to the quilt (literally speaking!). The quilting shows off very well on the back. Straight line quilting mimics the structure of the mountains. The bobbin thread is a steel grey color.

The mini quilt now hangs on the wall of my youngest son's apartment.

Keep on quilting!

Sunday, November 19, 2017

This Year's Last Charity Quilt


The quilt top for this charity quilt was completed earlier this month, but I didn't get the urge to quilt it before now It is a simple patchwork quilt made of 4.5" unfinished squares.


I did straight line quilting with my walking foot. The backing is an old duvet cover. The binding is a purple solid.

This is the last charity quilt I will be making in 2017. My goal for this year was 6 charity quilts, and I managed to reach the goal. All together I have made 20 quilts for the children's ward at my local hospital during the time I have been quilting. It gives me a great feeling that I have been able to give comfort to children in their time of illness and distress.

December will be dedicated to sewing and quilting for family and friends.

Keep on quilting!

Saturday, November 18, 2017

2017 Aurifil November Block


The November block is designed by Heather Givans of Crimson Tate, and is called Tall Trees. The trees are built of thirty tiny flying geese in different shades of green.

It is tricky to make the small flying geese with a finished size of 1" x 1/2". In the process of putting them together to form trees they turned out a little bit wonky, but that's OK.

Keep on quilting!

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

2017 Aurifil October Block


The October block is designed by Helen Stubbings and is a really beautiful block. The original is made in green tones, but I chose to do my block in another color scheme.

Everything in this block is hand stitched, both the embroidery in a variegated grey floss and the english paper pieced frame in colorful batiks. I love the background fabric for this piece, it gives another dimension to the block!

I had a great time making this block, it is so nice to do some slow stitching, it is really calming you down and relieving stress.

Keep on stitching!

Monday, November 13, 2017

Two by Four Charity Quilt



Film in the Fridge has a great tutorial on the 'Two by Four' quilt block that I used to make my latest charity quilt. Strip piecing makes it fast and easy to whip up a block. I used solid blue as the background color, and a print in different colors.


I made most of the blocks in a sew-along at my local quilt guild, and assembled the blocks into a quilt top at home.

There are 224 blue blocks in this quilt, and thereby 224 colored blocks, 448 all together. But with the ingenious piecing method the quilt top comes together super fast.


The blue quilt will be perfect for a young/adolescent boy in the children's ward at the hospital. There are kids up to 18 years in the ward, and it is great to have a big quilt in moderate colors that could fit both boys and girls.


This concludes my 19th charity quilt to the hospital and the fifth finished so far this year. I know I will manage to reach my goal of 6 by the end of the year.

Keep on quilting!

Friday, November 10, 2017

Testing Mod Journey

This fall I got the opportunity to test a new pattern for Sew Kind of Wonderful, the beautiful Mod Journey.


I chose to make my test version as a baby quilt in bright florals on a blue/grey background. The pattern uses the QCR Mini Ruler. I enjoy curved piecing, and the blocks came together pretty fast.


This is how the top looked after piecing. Lots of negative space. This demands creative quilting!


Earlier on I have mostly done straight line quilting, but also some simple free motion quilting. This time I felt I had to jump in with both feet and really challenge myself. Since the quilt is only 40" square, I felt I didn't bite over too much.


I am going to an "advanced" FMQ class this coming weekend, and I needed some real practice. The above picture shows the quilting in detail. I marked the main the center ring of the quilted flowers with a water soluble pen, but the rest of the quilting was done completely free handed. I used a steel grey quilting thread that blends in perfectly with the background.

The quilting is kind of wonky in places, but as a first attempt in "serious" FMQ I am very pleased with the result!


I had to take a 'stained glass' picture of the quilt in the late afternoon sun. For the backing I used Britten Nummer from Ikea. The quilting shows off very well on the backing fabric.




This quilt was a great experience both in piecing and quilting! I am so happy that I got the chance to test out a new pattern, and that I dared to challenge myself with extended FMQ.

I am ready for my quilting class now!

Keep on quilting!