Covid Quilt Challenge #3

Since it was a long weekend, we decided it was time to do another quilt challenge. We used a random number generator to end up with the technique of "machine appliqué". My mother was tasked with giving us a theme/concept and she decided on "close-up flower" (inspired by the tulips in her kitchen). She then added an extra element of "at least one piece must be finished as to not be attached to the background on all of it's edges". This gave us quite a challenge of thinking through technique.

I decided to go with the tulip theme and looked online for inspiration. I found one I really liked and ran with it. I liked the symmetry of the design, but also that all the petals weren't identical.

From Wikimedia Commons

Initially I drew a square design, and then decided that I would make it circular instead. I also decided to do it slightly off centre, so I had to make a different pattern for each piece. (Impressively, my homemade pattern came together with one one issue of something not lining up, which was easily solved.)
I made 3 of the petals "stand-alone" and made them with a front, a back and some batting in the middle. At the same time I attached the petals that I was going to be sticking down. I did this by sewing the right sides together with the other petal in the middle, then putting the batting in, folding the edges under, and then top stitching the petal closed with the adjacent petal in the middle. I didn't have the batting or the fusible web run all the way to the middle, because I don't have a walking foot right now, so I didn't want it to get too thick.

Pieces before assembly started

Once I had all the petals attached together, and three of them stitched, I attached the whole thing to a background circle, where I stitched around stamen (which I had just stuck on), as well as the black and yellow parts of the remain 3 petals that hadn't been stitched. Then I stitched the petals themselves down to the background. At the very end, I added the stigma. After that I trimmed it down (which I had to eyeball a bit) and then bound it.

Back with stitching

Overall I am happy with how it came together (although it looked too much like a pansy the whole time I worked on it. In the end, instead of a full circle, I rounded the individual petals and I wonder if they would have been better left in the full circle. I then took it out for a photo shoot — it's just too bad that my red tulips weren't blooming yet.

My friend really flexed her artistic muscles. She choose an alstroemeria as her inspiration.

She made a collage background (with bits of fusible web holding it together). (She was able to use a lot of scraps in this challenge... I was not).

She then made a few petals that she stuck to the background and a few petals that she left sticking out. She finished it with an overcast stitch.

Hers are able to stick out more than mine and really play into her design well. She also did a lovely job of thread painting the petals to bring the beautiful colours in.

So there we are, another challenge complete.

At It Again: Covid Quilt Challenge #2

This past weekend it was time for covid quilt challenge number 2. This time we used a magazine page for inspiration. We drew a random number and went to the magazines we own to find a page that was inspiring. It was a bit of a challenge because we have lots of older magazines with lots of pages that don't even have any pictures on them. We settled on this page:

We picked up on lots of the same elements on the page, but still ended up with unique projects. My friend decided to make her own plaid (and quite expertly). The grey bit at the bottom is even a little pocket :)

She also picked up on the gold rings in the picture and used this lovely blue and gold fabric for the backing. (And check out those mad lining-up skills with the sewing lines and the pattern on the back.)

After a few sketches, I decided to do a modified card trick block. I liked that it mimicked the placement of the hand warmers. The math took me a little bit of fiddling, and I didn't get my pattern matching to work the way I wanted, but I decided it was good enough.

I quilted it in a plaid design. It was a lot of ends to work in for such a small project (this was less than half of them).

Partway through the quilting, I wished I had quilted in grey instead of blue and red because it was feeling too busy. But, in the end, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Again, I decided to go ahead and try a second design, which was a little more of a straight-forward take on thing. I focused more on the quilting in this one. And I wanted to see what an "unfinished" edge would look like - for future reference. I'm happy with the design again, but this one feels much more like a sample of some sort as opposed to a finished product.

This page was called "hand warmers" and in a weird twist, this morning (May 11), we woke up to snow. I took the opportunity to do a small photoshoot.

Fabric Balls

I have been going back through my old photos to find craft projects that I haven't posted about. Probably the thing I make the most are fabric balls. I can't even remember why I started making them, but I do find they are a great gift for young children. They are easy and quick to make, they are cute, and they use small amounts of fabric - so are great for scraps. I especially like to give them as gifts to older siblings when younger siblings are born.

To make them you just need to print off a pattern, cut out the pieces, stitch them together, and stuff them. I like to use the Fabric Beach Balls pattern from Purl Soho (though I always skip the circles over the ends - mostly out of laziness). The pattern comes in 3 sizes, but you can also print it at difference zoom levels to get other sizes. I like the shape of the ball that is created by the 8 sections.

Once I started making those, I was also drawn to fabric balls that were designed to look like animals (I think they came up when I was first googling things). In order to make balls with a face and ears, I  had to switch to a different pattern, so that I had more space for a face, and so that the "middle" would be in the middle of a section (rather than between sections). That's when I found this Free Fabric Balls Tutorial from Stitches and Love. From there I did some designing and came up with a pig, a chicken, and a cow ball that I think are adorable (mostly designed after the finger puppets I made for my quiet book and some other online inspirations).

For each animal, I use french knots for the eyes. For the chicken, I make an orange felt triangular beak and a red ribbon that I fold over and attach between the front and back half of the balls. In these pictures, there are only 2 sections, but sometimes I do 3 sections.

The cow and the pig get pink noses, with stitched nostrils, and ears. I usually make the cow's ears rounder, and place them lower on the face. I put the pig face a little higher up, and make the ears come to a point. I also try to put a fold in the pig's ear when I attach it, though it can be hard when working with such small things).

I have lots of fun making these, and watching them be played with.

I also like playing around with different sizes and types.