Flocking Chevrons Quilt

It's fitting that I'm posting this on Friday the 13th - this was not my lucky quilt.

When I saw Jennifer's generously free Chasing Chevrons quilt pattern on her blog That girl...that quilt, I knew immediately I wanted to make it.

Photo from Jennifer's blog That girl...that quilt.

Most of those participating in the quilt-along were using different coloured chevrons on a solid back; I wanted to use white chevrons on a colour gradation background.

I'd had the majority of the very classy Alhambra II line sitting on my shelf waiting for a suitable project, so I dusted it off, added more blues and greens and set to work making all my HSTs.

I pressed all the blocks up on my design wall, colours gradating out from the centre spot, and really didn't like it.

I made them gradate across the quilt, then on the diagonal, and really didn't like it.

I had them gradating from a central line and really didn't like it.

(I'm sorry I didn't keep photos of all these outtakes - I know you guys like to see them. Sorry.)

I was starting to feel a little ill by then. I'd taken a lovely design and fantastic fabric and screwed them both up royally. I've wasted all this fabric, I've wasted all this time, don't you KNOW that blue and green should never be seen without something in between?

Step away from the quilt, Kirsty.

There was nothing for it but to get drunk, trash some cars and invest in some quality buttock tattoos.

I felt a lot better after that (although my bottom was a little sore) and realised one of the blue fabrics I'd added (not from the Alaham II line) was actually the wrong kind of blue and messed up my gradations. I also drew inspiration from Jennifer's pattern itself and laid out a new background in the form of one large gradating chevron. I liked it. Phew.

All laid out it was still a little over the top though - my busy background with the chasing chevrons was too much. I decided to face my chevrons all the same way and it made a big difference. I had to move some of the chevrons so they stood alone (otherwise they turn into zig-zags) but then it was done. Voila, Flocking Chevrons.

I wanted this snuggle-on-the-couch-watching-movies lap quilt to be very soft and drapey. I had a nice flannel sheet for the batting and spent hours online looking for a navy patterned flannel for the back.

No dice. Instead I ordered some Lotta Jansdotter Echo in Moira Navy and crossed my fingers it would be one of those nice soft quilting cottons (it is, beautiful fabric).

It wasn't quite wide enough so I pieced together long strips left over from the top to extend each edge.

I wanted to quilt in white on the front (so it wouldn't mess up my chevrons) and navy on the back. I couldn't get the tension right despite testing and many lines had to be unpicked. I gave up and used white cotton for both sides.

Then I realised that my machine was making some loose stitches - more unpicking, cleaned the machine, changed needle. More loose stitches, more unpicking - my machine did not like the flannel.



So I unbasted the whole thing, removed the flannel, re-basted with cotton batting. (On the bright side, I was then able to sort the tension so I could use white on top and navy underneath). I nearly cried with joy when the quilting was finished.

My simple quilting pattern echoed the chevron.

The binding was the only part that didn't cause me heartache. I pieced a scrappy binding, matching the binding colours to the quilt to create an 'invisible edge' kind of effect. For this reason I sewed my binding strips together on the perpendicular, rather than the diagonal. I was going to machine sew the binding but in the end decided to hand sew it down - I was in need of some zen by this stage!

So, it's done. A bit of a drama but I do think it's come up nicely and most importantly, it's very snuggle worthy. Thank you so much Jennifer for the pattern!

I could say the strongest swearword used during the making of this quilt was flocking, but I think we all know this is a lie.

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend everyone. Flock on!

Let's talk about inspiration...

Thank you for your lovely comments about the Modern Chevron Baby Quilt I posted a couple of days ago.

A few of you commented on how I found the idea for the design on a manhole cover and that got me thinking about inspiration and wondering where others found their own.

Obviously there is plenty to be found out there on blogs, flickr and Pinterest. Wallpaper is always a good one for patterns, as are rugs.

Sometimes the raw materials themselves provide the spark.

I bought these scrapbooking woodcuts and lovely wool felt/fabric fat quarter at the Marseille Craft Fair, not knowing what I would do with it. It's been sitting on my sewing table since then, where it will stay until I find some inspiration or it makes me feel so guilty that I put it away.

I also bought these charms and metal beads but I knew straight away that I would make some simple earrings with them. Just need to sit down and do it! (The little Eiffel Towers might become zipper charms.)

My favourite kind of inspiration is when something inspires me to create something else i.e. a bathroom tile layout to make a baby mat or a gay-friendly hotel bar to make a quilt.

I saw this window grill in Lambesc, it looks like a quilt block asking to be made. 

When you get an idea does it usually turn out how you planned? Better or Worse? Or maybe just different?

Do you guys get that Great Moment of Regret/Doubt that I do? It always strikes after I've cut all my fabric and before I sew it all together.  So essentially just when I need motivation the most. Way to go, muse.

It's Friday, woo hoo! Here's a cute little video from a series on one of the French kids' channels. It's stop-motion animation and just so clever. It inspires kids' creativity and helps them to eat healthier so wins all 'round! (If video below doesn't work hopefully this link to it will.)

MIAM ! 02 par Gulli

And a shout-out to the lovely Adina at Gluten Free Travelette for nominating me for a Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you!

Have a great weekend, tout le monde!

Old Yeller

Yep, I dang done finished that darn cushion. Seemed to take forever.

I'd been thinking about making this for a while, ever since I saw this picture in Maison Créative. The wall art is made from yellow cardboard; I liked the hexagons and also wanted to mimic how the shadows changed the yellow by using different fabrics.

It finally took the deadline for Rachel's Celebrate Color Colour (see, doesn't that look better) competition to get me off my backside and do it.

There is piping and the quilting is fairly heavy - hexagon spirals made with my walking foot (still not brave enough to try free motion).

The back has an envelope style closure with an extra row of triangles. Nice and simple.

Would've been simpler if I hadn't done this:

Bottom panel sewn on back to front.

I don't know how I end up making silly mistakes like this. Thoughts must've wandered.

(Source: People magazine)

Umm. What?

Oh, right. So, I really like this cushion because it gives a nice bright pop of yellow to my couch and goes so well with my other handmade covers.

Why you little...

Nothing a nice glass of rosé can't fix.

I'm just finishing off this little project...

...and then I get to pull my Go! Baby out of its box. Yay! Hope you're all having a great week!

A Process Post: Innocent Crush

Another overdue finish; I hand-bound this quilt on the weekend (the quilt top was completed in Nov '10). A long time for a baby quilt that's only 100cm x 90cm (40'' x 35'').

When Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush came out I planned to buy a half yard of all the non-purple fabrics (I don't like purple) and leave it at that. However when I saw what Ashley of Film in the Fridge had done with the line and knowing that one has to grow as a quilter, darling, I decided to buy the FQ set.

Backed with one of Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels

When it arrived I freaked out a bit. How was I going to make all these amazing fabrics play nicely together? I didn't want to just copy Ashley's design, but then again I didn't want a quilt that looked like an explosion in a crayon factory.

Ooh look: a quilt in a tree

As always after a while an idea came and I started to cut and sew. The pinwheels didn't last long.

Then came a design closer to the final layout.

With a few adjustments the quilt top ended up like this- the idea being that patchwork rectangles were formed along the diagonal.

It was still kind of an explosion, only in a good way. But it needed something else. More cowbell.

I asked myself What Would Rita Do? You know, Rita from Red Pepper Quilts, the doyenne of modern quilting. Is is often the case, whenever I ask WWRD the answer invariably comes back: add more white.

Right. White. Then I got it in my head to try some appliqué. A simple shape repeated in white to tie the whole thing together.

I auditioned stars.

Bow ties, or reflected hearts, however you choose to look at it.

This one was a winner for a while until I realised it looked like an armada of little swimmers looking for an ovum (I was just pregnant at that stage...). I couldn't have put a baby on that with a clear conscience.

So I figured I'd ask WWAMHD? Anna Maria Horner actually sorta spoke to me because I found the answer in her fabric design.

See the flower surrounded by dots in both the blue and mauve fabrics above? That became my applique motif.

I decided I would zig-zag my shapes to the quilt top before I made the quilt sandwich.

The lady at my local quilt shop put me onto this stuff.

Thanks stunt peg, what would I do without you?

I have no idea what it's called as the whole conversation was in French and there is no writing on the product's paper backing. But it is a very light and flexible iron-on glue in a lattice pattern.

I ironed it on the quilt top seams directly behind where I wanted to machine sew my appliqué shapes. After it cooled, I peeled off the paper backing and the lattice held my seams down neatly. Then I could twist and turn and appliqué the quilt top with gay abandon, not having to worry about the seams getting all caught up.



Nice and neat. Just try not to iron over it again as you apply it to your seams as it goes gooey.

Only a few more decisions remained. How to quilt it? I wanted to make the rectangles more obvious.

So I quilted in a grid pattern highlighting the rectangles. I used white thread on top so it couldn't be seen on my Kona White appliqué, and a cream colour on the back to blend into the flannel.

I also tossed up appliquéing on another flower motif but in the end decided it might have been overkill.

Lastly, I needed to decide whether I would bind in white to match the applique, go with a single Innocent Crush fabric or to do a scrappy binding. The later won and I think I like it most, it adheres to the explosion theme.

That was the Potpourri palette, I still have the Petal palette to use.

Rita's telling me to use more white.