Thank Kaffe Fassett for That!

I've finished my Kaffe Fassett quilt at long last. Looking back I actually started this quilt in January so it's safe to say it has taken me a bit longer than I'd anticipated. In my defence it's the biggest quilt I've made and I tried free motion quilting for the first time. See two very good excuses right there!

As the fabrics were so fussy I decided that I wanted to keep the blocks as simple as possible. Squares only. The finished squares measure 3.5 inches, I cut the fabric into 4'' strips at first and went from there. Sewing the various fabric strips together, then cutting down the blocks to size (across several strips) really saves time and I think gives squarer squares (ha!).

 

The fabrics on the quilt top are all Kaffe Fassett. I really could not resist these fabrics, I just love the bright colours and floral designs. I started out with all pinks and reds but did add a bit of green in as well to give the eye somewhere to rest! I think I only used about 10 green blocks across the whole quilt, but it just breaks it up a little.

 

It also meant that the quilt back really did have to be lime green (that's what I'm telling myself anyway). I went for an extra wide fabric by Moda. It was a godsend because even though the finished quilt is 50'' x 60'' I didn't have to piece the back. That always strikes me as a chore too far!

 

 

Baggy basting aside (not a euphemism!) I'm really happy with the quilt back. I'm defo a fan of free motion quilting and will be trying it again on another quilt. I don't know if I'm controlled enough to do anything very complicated but I think I'd be happy to try 'stippling' next time. I used the patchwork blocks on the quilt front as a guide to positioning the flowers. Each of the flowers is centrally located within a square block.

 

 

I'm loving the light grey colour of the binding fabric. It adds a subtle border to the quilt and somehow manages to tie in the slightly random colourway of the top/back. I've never seen a fabric quite this shade before but it's really lovely, I imagine I'll be using it again as a binding fabric.

 

 

These photos were taken in front of our house, safe to say the neighbours thought we'd lost the plot completely at this point! So nice to get photos in good light and weather though.

 

 

Now it's the tricky business of deciding what to work on next, whilst snuggling under my new quilt. The hardship!

 

 

 I'm linking up to Finish it up Friday. If you've popped over I'd love to hear from you. Are you a fan of the bright colours? What shall I make next?!

 

 

 





Feeling a Bit Green Patchwork Quilt

My lovely Patchwork Quilt is starting to come together. The original fabrics I bought were all reds and pinks, but as I was starting to put them together I became a bit concerned that there just wasn't anything to make the colours really zing. Here are the fabrics sewn into strips, do you see what I mean?

I decided to add one extra fabric in a vastly contrasting colour - lime green - to make the quilt top pop. I settled on another Kaffe Fassett fabric called Paperweight. I'll definitely be using it sparingly as it's a touch garish! I do love the glass paperweight effect though.

 

So far I've made 5 blocks consisting of 25 three and a half inch squares. Each of the blocks has a maximum of one green square, some have none. Here are four of the finished blocks laid out  - what do you think to the green fabric addition?

 

 

I am trying to be extra careful sewing these blocks together, keeping the seems as straight as possible, because it really shows if they are offline. Although the blocks come together quickly, I've still got a large pile of strips to sew together into blocks. I want the final quilt to be large enough for my double bed (too big!).

 

Hope you all like it.