Small Birds Wallhanging

Tags

bird, fabric, panel, quilt, quilting, wallhanging

(c) 2015 by hs

My mother found herself this panel fabric with matching red, white, and green prints on a fabric market. She meant to make something out of it but never did. Eventually, she gave it to me with the hint that she would like to replace the three pictures above their sofa with a quilt.

(c) 2015 by hs

Her birthday is in October, so I had plenty of time to plan and sew. I used to like panel fabrics formerly, but with increased sewing skills (harrumph) I don’t anymore. I find it rather dull to have a single print playing the chief part instead of a design I pieced or appliquéd myself. The only challenge lies in finding a co-starring pattern as sashing between the panel pieces.

(c) 2015 by hs

The hardest part, though, was to get along with the fabric at hand without having a pattern or any data on fabric requirements. In the end, I can boast that I did extremely well. I used up my mom’s fabric almost to the last inch, no need to add anything from my stash which might not quite match this particular line.

I machine quilted it with continuous twirls and bound it with the red print I cut off from between the four panels. Hope you like it, mom.

(c) 2015 by hs

Lincoln’s Logs

Tags

1800s, back, binding, civil war, lincoln logs, log cabin, pattern, quilt, quilting, reproduction fabric, top

(c) 2015 by hs

Fanfare, please! My first (in a long row of quilts to-be) reproduction quilt is finished. The pattern by Carol Hopkins is called Lincoln’s Logs, named after the children’s toy that was popular some decades ago. Lincoln Logs were miniature logs with which you could build small buildings, like Uncle Tom’s cabin, or Abraham Lincoln’s cabin. Obviously, these toy logs inspired Carol to name this very simple log cabin pattern after them.

(c) 2015 by hs

I made this first reproduction quilt with fabrics from my stash. Only scraps are needed, and scraps were all I had. Only recently I bought a small variety of repro fabrics, but that was only after I began this quilt.

(c) 2015 by hs

I’m only just beginning to understand what exactly makes a fabric a reproduction fabric. It has to do with colour, and with design. I guess I will have to find out more about that soon.

I know that not all the fabrics I used here are repro fabrics. And with some I’m not sure. But I do know that two of them are old (used) fabrics. One was a man’s shirt once, and the other a duvet cover (the blue/white striped). That’s the reason why I have lots of this last one and hence used it for the back as well.

(c) 2015 by hs

I hand quilted Lincoln’s Logs with white thread. Four-petalled flowers in the centre of each log cabin block and some single petals and a circle on the sides and bottom. The dark logs are not quilted, as well as the striped sashing strips. The outer border has a meandering twine with leaves in the same shape as the petals.

As super simple hangers for small quilts, I always sew two fabric squares folded into triangles to the corners, together with the binding.

(c) 2015 by hs

My new flat is on the top floor. The few straight walls are covered with my furniture. So I have almost no space for hanging pictures or quilts. But this mini quilt perfectly fits on any door, and that’s where it hangs now: my bedroom door.

(c) 2015 by hs

Grand finale of Confetti Forest

Tags

background, binding, confetti forest, quilt, quilting, triangle

(c) 2015 by hs

I am very happy to present you with my finished Confetti Forest quilt. I long wanted to do a quilt with triangles only, and here it is now.

Unlike the placemats I finished earlier, I hand quilted this piece. I echo quilted the seams on the triangles’ long sides, so there was no need for marking which I always prefer.

(c) 2015 by hs

This is a shot of the back, on which I had to wait for the fabric four long weeks. It is a 104 inches wide tan paisley that I like very much indeed.

(c) 2015 by hs

As a binding, I would have preferred to use the same fabric I used for the placemats but unfortunately I ran out of this one. I bought a similar one, though not quite what I wanted but in the end I like it all the same.

(c) 2015 by hs

I was visiting my parents when finishing the quilt. And as you always forget at least one item when sewing out, I made no exception this time—and forgot to bring a piece of white lace which I always add as my label. However, there was no white lace to be found in my mom’s considerable sewing supplies, so I ordered her to quickly crochet one. (Really, I think it was her own fault. Not having a teeny tiny snippet of white lace but having at once white yarn and a crochet hook at hand …) And so she worked on that while I joined the binding strips and sewed it on the quilt. She was just ready in time when I finished the forth side and needed it.

(c) 2015 by hs

Confetti Forest perfectly fits in any autumn garden now—the colours matching splendidly, don’t you think?

(c) 2015 by hs

(c) 2015 by hs

Getting along

Tags

britain, british, button, charm, embroidery, pin cushion, quilt, quilting, sewing, turquoise

“Getting along” seems pretty fitting for my life these days. I am getting along with my new project to which I hinted in my last post. I am getting along with my “new” life, introducing my new old surname as inconspicuously as possible. My life changed a lot these past years, and I am still struggling with the “new”.

I got along well, however, with my British themed quilt. I finished it yesterday and am now proudly displaying it here and in the sitting room of my new flat.

 

(c) 2014 by hs

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(c) 2014 by hs

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(c) 2014 by hs

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(c) 2014 by hs

I can even show you another finished little project: a pincushion I made for my sister’s birthday on Tuesday. I planned to buy some stuff to further embellish it, like buttons or a charm but I wasn’t able to get to the store through opening hours because I am working six days a week these last summer weeks.

(c) 2014 by hs

And here, as hinted, is a small detail of my running big project. It came to a halt last week, though, for the lack of one colour. I wasn’t quite content with the suggested one, so I left it out and ordered two alternative colours but they haven’t arrived yet.

(c) 2014 by hs

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Farmer’s wife: Quilting

Tags

binding, farmer's wife, farmer’s wife quilt, hand quilting, quilt, quilting, sashing, turquoise

The quilting on my Farmer’s Wife quilt is done. It was done in no time—or so it seemed to me. As I imagined beforehand, I enjoyed re-visiting each square so much.

© 2014 by hs

So another big projects draws to a close. I quilted the outer border in just two days. Now I am only waiting for my fingers to rejuvenate so that I might finish the quilt with a binding. Or rather, with no binding at all.

© 2014 by hs

I had planned to bind the quilt by folding the backing fabric to the front, but it turned out that there is a small distance at one edge of the quilt where the backing fabric is too short. Now I am thinking about finishing the quilt with no binding. The alternative would be to buy binding fabric. Hard decision …

© 2014 by hs

I also thought about labeling each of the 110 squares by embroidering their names on the sashing strips. I would have liked this a lot. But I didn’t come to a satisfactory solution as to how to do it, floss, and colour, without losing the present look and feel. Besides, I think I should have done any embroidery before making the quilt sandwich, so I put the idea aside. So it seems the finishing date is only a few days away.

Farmer’s wife: Storm Signal

Tags

farmer's wife, farmer’s wife quilt, quilt, quilt block, quilting, storm signal, storm signal block

I am amazed how well this block turned out. I don’t know why I was so afraid that this particular block wouldn’t. It was not the easiest block so far, but it was by no means the hardest. Maybe it was because I wanted this block to be particularly exact.

Storm Signal

© 2012 by Heike Scharmann

When browsing for other quilters’ examples, I realised that this block looks best when using very clear colours in the centre. I came across one example where the outer parts were very dark, and I liked this one too, but then decided to use the darkest shade in the centre in order to gain as much contrast as possible.

This block will be one of the “losers” when turning it on point in the end (when assembling the quilt top). It looks best when looked at as shown in the picture above. I had some losers so far, but rather minor ones: Windmill, Waste Not, and Tall Pine Tree. For other blocks, it doesn’t really matter which way you look at them. And of course there were several gainers so far, which only work when turning them on point: Tulip, Temperance Tree, and Strawberry Basket.

New York Beauty

Tags

block, curved seams, new york beauty, quilt, quilting, sewing

© 2012 by hs

I just did the first New York Beauty block in my life. I think it is a great pattern, and I have yet to see an ugly one (choice of fabrics excepted).

I admit that I am a little afraid of sewing curves. But seeing so many beautiful quilts with this pattern, I thought, if they can do it why not I?

Okay, it was certainly harder than sewing only straight lines, but then it was much easier than I thought. Maybe years of sewing straight lines somehow prepares you for sewing curves … I don’t know. I am satisfied with the result and now I am tempted to sew some more New York Beauty blocks since I don’t know what to do with this one little block.

Layer, baste, and quilt

Tags

America the Beautiful, baste, basting, quilt sandwich, quilt top, quilting

This is always the final instruction, the last step of each quilt pattern in McCalls Quilting Magazine. “Layer, baste, and quilt.” Like “Ready, steady, go!“ or some spell that—if pronounced correctly—will magically turn your quilt top into a quilt sandwich, a flock of small silver needles busily coming up and down through the fabric layers, threads buzzing so fast that you can hardly make them out. Wouldn’t that be nice!

I always found it a little strange that the task of quilting your quilt is described only in one step, a short paragraph. Of course, there is no need for step-by-step photos for this process. But considering how much work still lies ahead and how long it will take, I always thought quilting your quilt would need a little more than this.

I am often inspired by seeing what other people did. I get my best ideas by looking at other people’s works. So I would appreciate more detailed photos of the quilt patterns in McCalls. If I can have a close look I am quick to decide if I like it or not. And if not, what would work better (with my taste). In rough, this is one possible way to make decisions on how to quilt, where and what, and how much.

© 2011 by Heike Scharmann

Layer, baste, and quilt apparently is not a spell. In fact, it means that I must leave my sewing space, move the dinner table and chairs to make room for—this time—America the Beautiful, 73 to 95 inches. This always means some havoc, and I need to make sure either that I have time enough to do all the basting at once, or that we do not need the dining room for some time.

Furthermore, it appears that this work does not agree with my knees anymore. I always felt a little sore at my knees and my fingertips after crawling for two hours on our tiled floor and pulling up the needle so many times, or recently pulling up and closing so many safety pins. But now my knees have reached an age where they demand at least a cushion.

I promise you now that I will post some detail photos of my quilting as soon as I am done.

© 2011 by Heike Scharmann

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