Rainbow Rack of Spools

Amber's theme for Ringo Pie in April was 'Sewing' and I have just finished her block- a Rainbow Rack of Spools.  Sewing is always a great theme and has brought inspirational blocks from Ringo Pie members!

All freezer paper pieced, the same method that I did at the Fat Quarterly Retreat- and there are more spool patterns and how to do Y seams in the Fat Quarterly Retreat issue- available here!

I love spools, I never tire of them, even with all the Y seams- practice really helps.  I added a few Aurifil spools here too, in amongst the wooden ones!  I am working on a pattern for this and variations with Penny for a mini sewing starter themed set for Sew-Ichigo- more news soon!

Bloggers Quilt Festival 2012

It is that time again, when Amy at Amy's Creative Side hosts and organises the Bloggers Quilt Festival.

 If you haven't been here before, welcome, I am Kerry, I love vintage, scrappy and paper piecing and that leads me nicely to my entry; 'Vintage Notions'.

This mini quilt is pieced in a variety of ways.  The centre sewing box is a combination of foundation paper piecing and freezer paper template pieced.  All the spools are freezer paper pieced.  There are a zillion Y seams- practice, practice, practice  these to get them licked!  I made it to showcase the sewing box block that I designed for the brillian Sew Out Loud quilt a long and as a teaching aid for Fat Quarterly retreat where I am running a couple of sessions on Y seams.  It feels like there is a bit of everything in this quilt...

Machine quilting, hand quilting, rouleau loop, vintage button and  many favourite fabrics, all with a faded, old sewing box feel.  'Vintage Notions' is all about how the old can inspire the new.

I have this rolled up and in my case for the retreat.  You can find the free sewing box pattern here - I am off to see more quilts!

Here comes Summersville

I was lucky enough to get a little stack of Summersville prints in the post from Lu Summers.  I knew before they even arrived what I was going to do with them.

I have been doing a lot of spools blocks recently.  At the Fat Quarterly Retreat I will be teaching a couple of classes focused on making blocks like these and conquering the Y seam.  A selection of spools patterns (and more) will be going in the accompanying FQ retreat special issue too so spools have been on the brain, and my brain as I have mentioned before is an obsessive place.  I think they might even make their way into a Ringo Pie spool block for Amber.

I had seen a pic of Tamkio's on Instagram- http://instagr.am/p/JXabsvvn1o? and it really inspired me.    It was one of those ideas where I had to hold myself back and let less be more.  I used cross hatch quilting to echo the cross hatch fabric.  So easy to do, the walking foot practically does this itself, although it does take ages!

I used Aurifil 50wt colour 2310 thread and Vilene 640 fusible fleece, which is the best stuff for making cushions, I have just ordered more from Julia at Gone to Earth.    My top tip for using this interfacing is to make sure the fabric you are going to attach it too is very well pressed.  I go over all my seams with a damp cloth and a hot iron just to flatten out the lumpy bits before using the damp cloth again to press the fleece to the reverse.   The cream solid is Kona Snow, from Mandy at Simply Solids.

Lucie's designs take me back to childhood doodles and felt tips.  The splodgy print reminds me of experiments with blotting paper and paint brushes and the  line drawings are so appealing.  I was an arty child and spent a huge amount of time scribbling and designing.  Lucie has captured that feeling in these fabrics and the simple fresh colour palette.  The brick colour is my favourite.  

I like to treat the back to a little pattern so these little spools/butterflies/bow ties take the design to the inspiration source.

 I love binding on a cushion, it provides a great frame and the solids finish it off nicely.

And here it is in its new home.  Damian often sits here as do our cats and dog so it is going to get a lotta love.  Here it sits in the brief period before it gets covered in cat hair etc.  Such is our house!

And when you get some Summersville of your own,  Lu has created a Flickr group so you can share and inspire.  Instagram is a fun app if you haven't tried it, free and such a quick and easy way to share pics with a nice little community of new and familiar faces, I am on there as verykerryberry.  Now I am going to start my Bloom quilt!  

Modern Mini

Here is my entry to the Modern Mini competition, 'Vintage Notions'

This mini started with a quilt block that  I have been working on for the Sew Out Loud quilt-a-long run by Julianna and Joanna and a big thankyou goes out to them for letting me preview it now in this mini.  I wanted to show how one 12 inch block could easily be the starting point for a mini quilt.  I know not everyone has time to make every quilt block in a quilt-a long and any of the Sew- a -long quilt blocks or many other quilt blocks would lend themselves to a mini.
My inspiration was a vintage sewing basket .  I have a few of these that I pick up for a few pounds at car boot sales and keep vintage treasures in.  These baskets often make me think about their previous owners: what they sewed, where the scraps and buttons and threads have come from.

  Many of us are only able to sew and quilt because our skills have been taught to us and passed on by mothers, aunties and grandmothers.  You might be lucky enough to have a sewing box or spools and tools that belonged to a relative and they thought of you when it was time to pass them on.  Very little is new in quilting or sewing, we just reinvent, reinterpret what has gone before.  We can pass our skills on over the web as well as in person, I just love that about the internet, the sharing.  So this mini quilt celebrates all those things.  Vintage notions that we use; the buttons and thread, vintage notions: the ideas that inspire us to make something new.

The centre sewing basket block,  will be available to download from Monday 19th March, the spools will be shared with those attending Fat Quarterly Retreat in June-I am running a workshop about freezer paper, Y seams and spools and the quilt will act as a teaching aid/ security blanket to hide behind.  I bought my train ticket yesterday, I can't wait!

  Technical details: 23" wide, 22" tall.

Freezer paper pieced, rotary cut piecing and a bit of free piecing.

Machine quilted and a bit of hand quilting.

There is a rouleau loop at the top of the basket for all you dres makers out there and the odd vintage button here and there.

Mini quilt single binding tutorial here.

And a thankyou to Jennifer for coming up with and organising the Mini Modern comp, I have really enjoyed seeing the blog hop contributions and ideas.