Using Tsukineko inks to fabric paint daisies

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #32

A couple years ago Nellie and I took a surface design course with Elaine Quehl and one of the supplies we learned to use was Tsukineko Inks. These inks are so amazing to work with and one of the coolest things about them is how you can dilute them with aloe vera gel to make different shades of the same colour.

I used these inks to paint these daisies on white cotton fabric soon after taking Elaine's class, but then it ended up in my UFO pile.

I decided to make a wall hanging out of it and set to work picking borders.

Border option 1

Border option 2

Border option 3

I settled on this fabric combination of a purple batik outer border and a fuchsia inner border.

Once the borders were on, I mounted it on my Gammill and got to work quilting it.

A matching fuchsia binding and a hanging sleeve on the back finished the wall hanging off quite nicely!! Now that I've finished this piece off, I can't wait to do some more fabric painting with my Tsukineko Inks!!

Project #32 in my 52 week UFO Challenge is complete! What will I finish off next???

Drunkards Path table runner

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #31

When I blogged for QUILTsocial last August I made this drunkards path table runner using my Accuquilt Drunkard's Path 7" Die and my Studio cutter.  I LOVE my Accuquilt Studio Cutter and use it all the time! I especially love using it for cutting curved piecing blocks as I would NEVER cut blocks like this using templates.

Pugsley, our Jack Russell Terrier

Close-up of the gentle waves machine quilting

One "problem" with using my Accuquilt Studio Cutter is that it is WAY to easy to cut too many pieces! As a result, I often cut more than I need and then I end up stashing them away for another project. Well, this one was no exception and as a result, four drunkard's path blocks were in my UFO pile. 

Since I've been sewing with the Northcott ColorWorks Concepts fabrics so much lately, I just knew that the flying geese stripe would look amazing with my blocks!! I sashed the blocks in the royal blue fabric and then used the flying geese in the outside border.

I machine quilted the table runner using straight lines from end to end and I really like how it turned out! I love using up leftover blocks to make other projects!!

I am half way through the year and Project #31 of my 52 Week UFO Challenge is done!! I think I'm going to have no problem at all getting all of my 52 UFOs done. Hopefully you have been able to finish up some of your UFOs too!

Quilting with Selvages

I started saving my selvages just a few months ago after I noticed more and more projects being made by other people using their selvages.

If you aren't sure what the selvage is, it's the edge of your quilting fabric. There are two selvages on each fabric, one of which has the fabric information (designer, colours used, fabric # and manufacturer) printed along it.

These strips can be quite colourful and have one edge which is finished, so lots of quilters have started using these strips to make all sorts of projects.

Since I had a little stash accumulated, when I was offered the opportunity to review a copy of "Modern Selvage Quilting" by Riel Nason, I jumped at it!!

This book has lots of projects to try and has very clear, easy to follow instructions!! Since I didn't have a lot of selvages collected, I decided to make the "Selvage Latticework Accent Pillow" on page 51. It was a fast and easy project that turned out just great!!

Now that I've read the book, I'm going to trim my selvages a little wider than I have been and I'm going to make sure that I save them ALL. I think this would be a fun class to teach at my local quilt shop too, so I'm going to ask them to order in the book!! 

If you are looking for something fun and a little different, why don't you try quilting with selvages??

July New Beginnings Block now available

New Beginnings Block of the Month

Happy Canada Day!! The July block for our New Beginnings Block of the Month program is now available on Craftsy!! This block is the ninth block for our quilt - check out Craftsy to see all of the rest - two of which are FREE bonus blocks!!

July Block - New Beginnings Block of the Month

For this block, my accent fabric is this awesome orange batik - I just love it!!

The teal batik that I used for the centre is so amazing!

Here it is - my finished July block!

July Block of the Month

Make sure that you download the General Directions on Craftsy so you can get started and be sure to upload you finished blocks so that we can enter your name into our draw for a free Northcott Quilt Kit. The more blocks you enter, the better your chances to WIN!!

General Instructions for New Beginnings BOM

Using the Mod Squad fabric panel to make a modern baby quilt

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #30

Nellie and I used Northcott's Mod Squad panel from the ColorWorks Concepts line to make our Modern Vibe quilt pattern. It is a super fun, fast and easy quilt to make for someone youg (or young at heart)!

Since they usually give us extra fabric to work with, I had a second panel left over and just HAD to do something with it.

Instead of just quilting and binding it, I wanted to make it a bit bigger, so I cut rectangles and squares from the chevron fabric and sewed them together in a row with some of the white triangle print.

I then added a white strip to the right hand side and sewed this to the panel. Another white outside border finished it off and set off the colours in the panel SO nicely!!

I used my overlapping box quilting design to quilt the entire top and put a funky orange fabric on the back of the quilt.

Yellow binding looked good from the front AND the back!!

This was a fun and super quick project to make using a panel! Project #30 in my 52 Week UFO Challenge is done and this quilt is now for sale in my Etsy store.