Tula Pink Gravity Quilt Top

Towards the end of last year, I decided I really wanted to make a Gravity Quilt (a pattern designed by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts). Just like I did with my version of Aviatrix, I wanted to use prints rather than solids for my version - and I thought it would be the perfect way to use my (ahem) rather extensive stash of Tula Pink fabric. So I slowly started making the diamond blocks, taking rather long breaks in between each of them.

A couple of weeks ago, I started teaching this pattern at Frangipani Fabrics, and it got me really motivated to finish piecing my quilt top. So over the last few weeks, I've made the last ten or so diamond blocks and the background blocks - and today I finished piecing the quilt top together! I did a fair bit of fussy cutting for some of the larger pieces (the hexagons in particular), so I've included a few close ups of the quilt top so you can get a better idea of what the blocks look like individually.

This is a bit of a beast - it measures close to 100" square (I think it's 96" x 97"-ish), so I'm quite surprised by how quickly it came together. And considering it's all diamonds, triangles, hexagons and other shapes with lots of bias edges, I'm very happy with how my points have come out. They aren't perfect (there are a few dodgy bits), but overall I'm thrilled - and once it's quilted I think the little discrepancies in my piecing will virtually vanish ;o)

I came pretty close to making a completely Tula quilt with this one - the only non-Tula fabric are the two lightest background fabrics. It was a fun challenge figuring out which prints to use to achieve the colour wheel effect of this quilt, and I learnt a huge amount about colour while making it. Not all my choices are spot on, but it's still an effective quilt, I think. There is something really enjoyable for me in making a quilt using a single designer's fabrics - especially someone like Tula who varies her colours between collections, so they aren't matchy-matchy.

This quilt was the perfect way to finally use some long hoarded out of print fabrics. Almost all of Tula's collections are represented in this quilt - including Neptune, Nest, The Birds and the Bees, Fox Field, True Colours, Saltwater, Prince Charming, Moonshine, Parisville, Nightshade, Eden and Elizabeth. It makes me so happy being able to use so many favorite fabrics in one quilt top!

I'm pretty excited about quilting this one - and I'm planning on using a wool/poly batting (like I did for my Aviatrix), so that the quilting shows up as much as possible. I'm still debating whether to order some Freefall wideback for the back - or whether to piece a back using some of the larger pieces of Tula fabric I've been keeping aside for quilt backs. I have several other class samples to make before I start quilting this though, so I have a while to decide ;o)

xx Jess

Tula Pink Giveaway - and a Tula Quilt Finish!

I've been starting new projects at a ridiculous rate over the last few weeks - so I currently have six projects in various stages of completion that I'm actively working on. This is a bit ridiculous even for me, so I'm thrilled to say I have something that's actually finished to share today :oD. I'm especially excited that this quilt is finally finished. I started making it almost three years ago, when Tula Pink's Birds and Bees collection first came out. And I have a really awesome giveaway at the end for all of you Tula fans!

The pattern is the Colour Block quilt, designed by Tula Pink for her Saltwater collection. It's a really nice pattern to use larger scale prints, and it is one of those really clever and simple patterns to make. I chose kona solids for the background, in colours that would blend well with the prints. This quilt top has been sitting in my to-finish pile for a few years, wanting to be finished. The size (84" x 96") was what made me hesitate to quilt it - so when I was given a frame earlier this year I decided this would be the first quilt to go on the frame.

And the last as it happens, for a few reasons. When I set my machine up on the frame, I realised I only had about 4" of quilting space at any time, which meant my options for quilting were fairly limited. I decided to go for dense organic straight lines, and I adore the texture. The other negative while I was using the frame was the number of thread breakages I had while quilting. I'm pretty sure I was just expecting too much of my machine on the frame, and expecting it to stitch faster than it's capable of. The other thing that might have played a role is the fact that I used a high thread count flat sheet for the backing fabric. Whatever the reason, I haven't used the frame since!

I used a whole bunch of Aurifil 50wt threads to quilt it - many of them are variegated from Tula Pink's first collection for Aurifil. I love how the thread blends in some areas, but contrasts a lot in others (especially on the darker fabrics.) I'm yet to wash this one, but I'm a bit excited to see how it crinkles once it's washed.

I promised a giveaway today, and it's a pretty amazing one! The Fat Quarter Shop have offered a bundle of Tula Pink's latest collection Eden, in the Lotus colourway. I LOVE the colours in this bundle - they're a little different from Tula's usual shades of green and blue.

If you'd like a chance to win this bundle, please just leave me a comment and let me know what you'd make with it (or if you'd just stash it like I would!!) That's it, no hoops! The giveaway is open to everyone, and comments will close next Wednesday 14th October at 8pm AEST.

Please make sure you are NOT A NO REPLY BLOGGER - I have had lots and lots of no reply comments lately, so if I haven't replied to you it means I can't. If you're a no-reply blogger I have no way of contacting you and you will not be eligible to win this bundle :o)

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

xx Jess

Starburst Quilt (Finished and Featured)

I am so excited to finally be able to share this quilt with you - I made it midway through last  year, and it's one of my all-time favorite finishes, so I've been very impatiently waiting for it to be published so I can share it! It appears in Quilters Companion No. 71, which came out yesterday.

Ever since making this quilt, I'd been wanting to make another quilt using the same block design, but using colours that are more 'me'. It's essentially made using the traditional Dutch Rose block (or Carpenters Star), but I've added an extra star in the centre, to give the block a bit more interest.

I don't think it's any great secret that I'm a massive fan of Tula Pink's designs, and this quilt is sort of an ode to Tula - all the print fabrics are from her collections (mostly from a fat eighth bundle of Fox Fields, but with a few pieces from Nightshade, The Birds and the Bees and Neptune thrown in) and I love how they work so beautifully together. It was such a fun quilt to put together, and I'm planning on making another (bigger version) using this pattern - I just need to decide what fabric to use :o)

I quilted it using Aurifil 50 wt in various colours - threads from Tula Pink's Aurifil collection for the coloured fabrics, and soft white (2021) in all the background. I quilted fairly large, loose designs on this quilt, so it is beautifully drapey but still has lots of texture. I wanted to accentuate the sense of the stars exploding outward with straight line quilting within the stars, and then contrast that with the curvy designs in the rest of the background. I really like this combination of quilting, and I'm finding I'm using it more and more on my quilts.

This quilt finishes at 64" square, so it's the perfect size for snuggling under on the couch (and despite it being summer here, there have been many snuggling opportunities in the last few months!)

The back is one of my favorite Tula prints, with some coordinating prints down each side to bring it up to size. I love the back almost as much as the front :o)

I am looking for testers for this pattern if anyone is interested - it will be available in two sizes (lap and queen), so if you'd like to test for me please let me know :o) I'll be teaching this block as a class at Frangipani Fabrics later this year, too.

xx Jess

City Sampler Blocks 7 through 12

I made these a while ago, thankfully so because I'm still just up to date with Sara's City Sampler Sew Along. These are blocks seven through 12 - so I need to get 13 to 15 done this week. If I can stop at three ;o)

xx Jess

A bit more sampling (and a winner!)

I am completely addicted to making these blocks from Tula Pink's City Sampler book. I've made a couple each night for the last few nights and I'm about 1/10th of the way there; these are the first 11 blocks. I've decided to use all prints and forgo the solids in these ones - I'm just trying to use a range of values to emphasize the block design. Having said that, I do have quite a few Tula fabrics which are tone on tone or close to it, so the absence of solids seems to be working okay so far.

The first chapter in the book is fifteen different cross blocks (who else but Tula could design so many different crosses?) I'm generally trying to stick to a single colour for each block - and I have a plan for how I'm going to put them all together which I *think* will look really cool.

I have to say though, it seems a wee bit insane making a 6.5" block with 24 pieces ;o)

Thanks to all of you who entered my SMS Giveaway Day giveaway - what a huge response! And welcome to my new followers, I hope you'll stick around :o)

Mr random chose comment #237

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A happy early Mother's Day to everyone who celebrates it tomorrow! I'm anticipating a sleep-in and a few hours of sewing time :o)

xx Jess

Crossing

I had a bit of child-free time today and got quite a few cross blocks made. I put together the four Schoenrock Cross blocks for my Pillow Talk Swap 10 cushion - feedback on the first on Flickr was positive so I soldiered on with the other three. I really love the secondary pattern created by the green bits. I'm hoping my partner still likes it, because I've got some ideas on how I want to quilt this baby :o) Still playing around with placement, but I think this is my favorite arrangement so far.

In a moment of perfect timing, my copy of Tula Pink's City Sampler book arrived (finally!) just as I finished putting these together. I've been not so patiently waiting for it to turn up, so I got stuck in straight away and made my first couple of blocks.

Block 1

Block 2

These little guys are totally addictive - they are 6.5" blocks so some pretty teeny piecing, but it is loads of fun picking fabric for each block. I think I'll make a few more tonight :o)

xx Jess

Temptation

There are a couple of QALs that have caught my eye in the last couple of weeks - both of which are slow paced (which means I can hopefully do them as well as work on my FAL list), and a bit of a challenge.

Firstly is the Steam Punk QAL, being organised by Amy and Jeannette. Steam Punk is an amazing pattern designed by Jen Kingwell of Amitie Textiles - and it is just stunning. My pattern arrived today - and I've ordered templates as well from Sunset Seams. I have absolutely no idea what fabric I'll use for it, and I have a feeling I will do a block here and there when I have time. There is a really great Flickr group set up for this pattern if you're interested in joining, lots of helpful hints and some seriously beautiful blocks popping up.

The other one I'm super excited about is the Tula Pink 'City Sampler' Sew Along being hosted by Sara of Sew Sweetness. I pre-ordered the book a while ago, and I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I spent a bit of time yesterday picking through my *cough* sizeable Tula stash - I'm thinking something along the lines of the cover quilt (rainbow goodness). I'll probably add in a few others as needed, I'm a bit short on purples and oranges. I do have a few spare FQs of Nest fabrics (I've double up in a few cases) so there might be a Tula giveaway in the near future ;o)

And I bit the bullet and pieced my Retro Flowers together last night. Thanks so much for all your feedback, and ideas on how to balance the values and colours. There were some really interesting tips on techniques for looking at value distribution - I might collate them all into a post if anyone is interested? I ended up going with layout 3, with a few swap-arounds.

I think I could have played around with the layout for weeks and never really been completely happy with it. It's interesting how different it looks taken in decent light - the darker ones no longer look too dark relative to the others. I think it's reasonably balanced, and I'm fairly happy with it. I'm hoping to get the borders on, and the back pieced over the next few nights and get moving with the quilting. We've just started school holidays for a couple of weeks, so I won't be getting a whole lot of sewing time - but I'm busting to get this baby done :o)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

xx Jess

Birds and Bees Quilt Top

After a few nights (and days) of feverish sewing, my Birds and Bees Colour Block quilt top is done! Getting the seams to match was less terrifying than I had expected - although there was a bit of easing involved and there are some pretty dodgy bits, but they kind of dissolve into the riot of colour :o).

It is giant - 96" x 85" (ish, I haven't actually measured, but that's what the pattern said ;o) ). And heavy - I'm getting more nervous about the quilting the more I think about it.

While trying to work out how to photograph this, I discovered we have a row of conveniently placed hooks above one of our outside doors. Jackpot!! So I managed to get a shot of the back as well :o)

So half-way there with one out of seven of my FAL list... we'll see how that goes from here ;o)
xx Jess

Some FAL action!!

Finally! I'm so excited to be working on my Colour Blocks quilt again (free pattern by Tula Pink). I started this quilt around Christmas time last year, and I've been working on it in dribs and drabs. It's the perfect quilt to do that with, since it's broken down into bite-sized sections. I've been cutting each colour as I go, so I'm not getting confused with where I'm at when I leave it for a few weeks at a time ;o) I only have a few more of the sections to piece, and then start putting the other side together as well. So. Excited.

This is the entire right hand side of the quilt - it measures 24" x about 96" (not the best photo sorry - I nearly killed myself climbing on our old rickety outdoor table taking this one.) I'm really excited about how this is coming together - I love how the different purples play together, and pick up some of the colours in the fabrics. It's not all purple by the way - there is another smaller purple section on the other side of the quilt, but the rest of it is mainly blues and neutrals, with a few pops of pink.

I must say I'm getting a wee bit nervous about the prospect of actually quilting it. And basting it. It's going to finish up at around 85" x 96" which is HUGE compared to anything I've done so far...

Hoping to get a bit more done over the weekend :o)

xx Jess