Pretty Birds All in a Row

"Pretty Birds All in a Row" is designed by Monica Poole of Moonshine Designs and was a kit in my friend's stash.  I had it up for sale for a while but it didn't sell, so I decided to make it up.

The fabrics and colours are beautiful and I enjoyed machine blanket stitching the applique sections.

The kit even contained backing (which is unusual).

The was enough fabric in the kit to make the cushion in the pattern.

I had some cut buttons in my stash which suited the fabrics well.

Olive and Nell

Around the time Jo, Thimbles and Needles, released the pattern for "Nine Patch Chain", she released the pattern for "Olive and Nell".  I've had a fat quarter bundle of Thimble Blossoms' "Summertime" sitting in the sewing room for a while and thought this pattern the fabric very well.  Also a good opportunity to use up some of my Moda Bella Solid "Ruby Ice".

I chose Clamshells for the quilting design - it's always lovely and Karen (Quilting on the Coast) does a beautiful job.

The backing is a beautiful red floral from the same range.

Nine Patch Chain

"Nine Patch Chain" is a design from Thimbles and Needles - Jo writes wonderful patterns.  I love a pattern with pressing instructions.

I had a lot of Bonnie and Camille and Thimble Blossoms blue fabrics in my stash and scrap box that I thought would look nice with silver Kona Solid and white for this quilt.  Turns out I shouldn't have used the silver - it was for another quilt that I'd already cut out but fortunately I could buy some more from Patchworks Plus.

I asked Karen (Quilting on the Coast) to use Modern Loops for this quilt - it always looks great.

The backing is a lovely low volume designed by Thimble Blossoms for her "Shoreline" range.

More Catch Up

We had lots of huge storms in March - so much thunder and lightning.  One Saturday afternoon we lost power for a few hours so I lit some candles and cut out Thimble Blossoms' new "Picnic" quilt, mostly from my Thimble Blossoms scrap bags.

I have some Bella Solid 200 on order and will cut out the background when it arrives.

Around 6 years so when making a quilt, I'd make an extra block in Bonnie and Camille fabric and when there was a stack of blocks I'd sew them together into a sampler quilt.  I came across a bag with some blocks, HST offcuts etc and thought it was time to make another sampler so started making blocks based on the quilts I've recently finished and my current sewing.

Making the blocks fit does my head in.

Had to add a border or two.

The backing is a fabric I bought on fantastic sale from Bella's Patchwork and I'll use a scrappy Bonnie and Camille binding.

In late March there was lots of chain piecing to make Four Patches and Flying Geese for "Master Plan", a Miss Rosie's Quilt Co design.  These were cut out in February.  I've put them away for a while.

Definitely entered my Flying Geese phase.  In May last year I cut out Cotton Way's "Wish Upon a Star" quilt in Navy Bonnie and Camille, Thimble Blossoms and Tasha Noel fabrics with Moda Bella Solid 200 for the background.  I've been sewing the block components over the last couple of weeks and they're slowly coming together.  It's school holidays here and there hasn't been a lot of time for sewing.

Seven more of these large blocks to assemble.

Easter Sunday was a lot of fun - the little ones had a great time hunting for eggs and Vinnie decorated cupcakes.

Catch Up

Lots of sewing to catch up on:

Thimbles and Needles released two new great patterns and I immediately had to make both - fortunately I had what I needed in my stash.

The first pattern is "Nine Patch Chain" and I decided to make this in a limited colour palette of blue, green, grey, aqua Thimble Blossoms and Tasha Noel fabrics with Silver Kona Solid for the accent.  Should not have used this as it was background for another quilt I had cut out (I had forgotten about it) but fortunately I could buy some more from Patchworks Plus.

Lots of nine patches sewn earlier this year.

I added some Thimble Blossoms and Tasha Noel low volumes for the sashing strips to use up these fabrics and also add some variety to the quilt top.  I ended up using on Bella Solid 200 for the outer pieces.

The backing is from Thimble Blossoms' "Nantucket Summer" and the Silver Kona Solid will be the binding.

Jo's second new pattern is called "Olive and Nell" - another nine patch block quilt.  I had a new fat quarter bundle of Thimble Blossoms' "Summertime" and had been looking for a pattern to encourage me to use it.  Instead of a white background I used the rest of my Moda Bella Solid Ruby Ice fabric.

Some test blocks.

Large nine patches

Small nine patches

Corners and setting triangles

Quilt Top

Backing and binding are also from the "Summertime" range.

Last December there was also a bit of dressmaking.  As soon as I saw Style Arc's "Yvette" design I loved it and wanted to make it using stripes as in the pattern.  Bella Patchwork Fabrics was having a sale and I picked up the "Summertime" stripe to make the first dress.

I called in to Spotlight to have a look at the linen fabrics - I wanted pink and was very happy to find a pink linen with white stripes to make the sleeved version.  I couldn't make it as per the pattern because of my big arms but am very pleased with how it turned out.