My Secret Garden Cat

The Secret Garden Cats that have been created over in the Group are all gorgeous- in fact, we even have a tiger in the mix! For my own SG Cat, I couldn't decide what fabric to settle on, which is completely typical for me. Instead, I decided to draw and colour my cat as I went along - a kind of adult colouring in book version of applique. They're all the rage right now, aren't they? Why not just play around and let the crayons decide?

 I actually thought I might have a white cat, but somehow ended up with a blue gray-blue cat.

I traced the outline from the pattern and then painted in the shading I wanted. When I was finished, I turned the edges of my plain background fabric, clipping the seams to keep them neat and tight.

And here is my finished feline! She looks a bit odd without a mouth or whiskers, but this is the area that will be covered with a bloom and I will stitch in whiskers later when everything else is in place. 

 I've been spending my evenings in front of the TV making up the bloom heads, so I will show you my progress with those once I get them all down.

How are you getting along with your SG Cat??

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

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Welcome to this wonderful Mystery BOM 

This very special applique Mystery BOM has launched!

Will you join me on this adventure?

The journey started February 1st, 2017

You can join right now

Digital pattern downloads are instant!

The BOM runs for 12 months

The pattern will be emailed to you directly each month

The finished quilt size is 80 x 80 inches

WOW: Paint Brush Fabric Roll Done!

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

A few years ago I realized that I was spending far too much money on paint brushes that I could somehow never locate. Whenever I needed them, they were nowhere to be found. I'm sure I left a few at workshops here and there, but the rest simply vanished without explanation and I wasn't happy at the constant replacement expense. Back then I was buying them after much fussing and deliberation in art stores. I thought that if I put together a 'set' I would have many long years of enjoyment from them and that, this way, it would be worth the investment. Ha!

Since then I've purchased paint brushes everywhere - the supermarket, paper shops, toy stores, newsagents and discount variety shops. I have a whole assortment of them now and most of them work perfectly fine for my uses - which is fabric painting. My latest collection came from Ebay and it's actually better that the expensive art set I had beforehand. But expensive or not, I have had enough of constantly replacing them, so I've finally gone ahead and sewn up my brush roll WIP. This is one of many 'little' projects that I know would be so useful if I actually got around to doing them...but usually I leave it for a few years before I bother. Well, no matter how long it took, I have zipped up several for my different brush sizes and grades and even offered to make my DD a cosmetic brush roll (which was rejected). Yes, it's been a productive WIP day.

Done!

And just in the nick of time too, I'm taking a class this weekend and expect to put them to use with some fabric touch ups. For once, I'll be the student and not the teacher so I am glad to take a back seat and allow myself to play around a bit.

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Easter 2017

Wishing you each 

a thoughtful and peaceful Easter this weekend 

Diamond Hill: Part 4 is Launched

What an April it's been. And now, it's time to launch Part 4 of Diamond Hill. Wow, these Hill quilts are shaping up to be real beauties, I just love seeing the progress each month over in the Group. 

                

For those of you who haven't joined the Group, you can download Part 4 right here and right now by clicking on the bade below, the download will start as a PDF instantly.

How To Make: the 'Tickled Pink' Block

This is my first Tickled Pink block (and it hasn't been ironed yet) 

but as you can already see, this block really shines!

Once you've decided whether to opt for the 16 x 16 inches or 20 x 20 inches block, it's time to make a start on your block. Here's how I made my own Tickled Pink.

'Map out' your block before sewing anything and make sure you understand the pattern arrangement. It's really important to follow the grain indicated on the pattern pieces to prevent buckling and warping as you sew your pieces together too, so pay attention to these pattern details. I think it makes a real different whenever you are piecing stars to pay extra attention to grain lines.

Tickled Pink Is Launched!

Tickled Pink is a one block beauty - you simply decide what size block you want to make and then make it, sixteen times. Voila! Isn't it striking? I love the satisfaction of a perfectly pieced block and a touch of applique for the stems and leaves adds a nice finishing touch too.

I've been meaning to make this quilt for years and right now I'm feeling completely smug that I've managed to cut and bundle the entire quilt up into stages to make it an ongoing 'slow quilt' for those times when I'm in the right mood and place for an 'installment.' This is one of those quilts that's been in my design folio for years and I am over the moon to be finally sharing it with you today.

The finished quilt size is either 68 x 68 inches, or  84 x 84 inches, depending on whether you want to make 16 x 16 inch blocks or 20 x 20 inch blocks.

Tomorrow I'll be posting how I made my Tickled Pink block, step by step. So be sure to come back and see it for yourself if you're interested in this quilt.

WOW: Tickled Pink

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

Can you believe it's Easter already? This month feels like it really snuck up on me. Today I'm getting the dining room ready and generally tidying up (and putting away all my fabric piles from around the house) so that the weekend and meals to come can flow as smoothly as possible. I'm so pleased to have finished my latest pattern, Tickled Pink, just in time for the Easter weekend.

Be sure to check back tomorrow when I post my step by step guide to making the Tickled Pink block. 

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Tickling for some Slow Quilting

I've been thinking about a Slow Quilting project for ages. Well, yes, I might have hundreds of UFO's on my WIP pile, but that's different. I wanted a specific project all cut up and ready for me to pick up and put down as when the mood and location suited. And I had just the pattern in mind too - a classic pieced block repeated over and over to assemble a gorgeous quilt top. And I was thinking about this project on and off when I saw the perfect fabrics for it:

This range is Marseille by Robyn Pandolph. It's much brighter when viewed on screen, almost neon actually, so opening the package that arrived late last week was a bit of a surprise - but a good one. These tones are gorgeous. I've been using a lot of Robyn Pandolph fabric just lately, I really love the colour combinations, especially in Marseille. Well, the minute I saw it I knew it was the perfect range for my Slow Quilting Quilt which I've named Tickled Pink because I'm hopelessly in love with pink and green colour schemes in all their tonal variations and also because the block itself just looks tickled pink, if you know what I mean!

So I've gone ahead and made a block which is stunning and now I'm all excited to have something to pick up and put down. It's a great project and yes, I really am going to take my time and do it whenever the occasion arises. Today I finished all the cutting for the entire quilt. I really think packaging up the various stages is the best way to take on Slow Quilting. Now I have bundled each block with all it's bits and pieces and I'll just grab each block at a time, until I've completed 16 of them sometime in the future.

I'm so pleased with myself today. I got this project all cut up and bundled and I did it just in time for Easter too. Phew! What a week it's been.

If you're interested in your own Slow Quilting Project, come back tomorrow as I'll be putting my Tickled Pink pattern up for sale. And like always, it will be heavily discounted for 48 hours to allow everyone who's interested in it an opportunity to have it for the price of a cup of coffee. 

WOW: Part 3 Progress

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I have been spending every spare minute working on my pattern designs - I have a huge folio of designs, so whenever I have a chance, I work at getting another one done. But today, I'm all inspired to get my own Secret Garden Part 3 started. I've seen the stunning progress shots over in my BOM Group and now I'm all eager to add my own up there. Yesterday I posted Bunny's block pic with the ginger cat and today I'm deciding between a blue or white cat. Decisions, decisions. 

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Garden: Part 3 (made by Bunny)

This gorgeous block was made by Bunny, one of our Moderators over in my BOM Group

Bunny has completed Part 3 of Secret Garden and has generously allowed me to show it off here on my blog. How cute is this ginger cat peeking through the foliage?! 

This month we find a feline friend in amongst the flowers as well as plenty of lush, veined leaves. So, so beautiful. How is your Secret Garden coming along?

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

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Welcome to this wonderful Mystery BOM 

This very special applique Mystery BOM has launched!

Will you join me on this adventure?

The journey started February 1st, 2017

You can join right now

Digital pattern downloads are instant!

The BOM runs for 12 months

The pattern will be emailed to you directly each month

The finished quilt size is 80 x 80 inches

Hop to it with Egg Hunter Bunny

We still have 2 weeks until Easter - plenty of time to make Egg Hunter Bunny a part of your yearly festivities. And yes, this greedy bunny celebrating his chocolate conquest under a celebration of bunting is still available for free. So hop to it and make your own Easter wall hanging!

Easter Blessings is available to members of my BOM Group for free (it's over in the FILES area). For those of you who don't want to join the Group over on Facebook, you can download it right here, right now, simple click the link below and a PDF download will begin. 

 Yes, it's currently completely free. 

No signups, email lists, hurdles or other scams, simply download and enjoy.

After Easter 2017, it will no longer be available for free, so if you love it, get it!

WOW: 5790 .. and growing

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

My BOM Quilt Group is an online quilting community that's just over a year old -and today we have 5,790 members. What an achievement! The stats show that the majority of downloads still happen right here on my blog so I wanted to share this wonderful information with those of you who read my blog but haven't joined the Group yet. I know many of you won't cross over and join us because the Group is on Facebook - and I completely respect that. It's why I make my patterns available right here on the blog as well as in the Group - so no one need miss out. But I wanted to say hello because I know you're reading this and are downloading my patterns but are not connected with the daily ongoing chat and friendship happening over in the Group itself. You're still an important part of our 'community' and I'm always interested to know (and see!) what pattern of mine you're making and how you're getting on. So please keep in touch via comments or emails. Some of you do take the time to email me your pics and I love that, so thank you.

I never thought that my quilting would have so much of the good stuff focused online, so that aspect of connecting with others has been a pleasant surprise! I hope that one day the technology will catch up with our requirement and I'll be able to host all the features of a Facebook Group on a private website, but until that happens (and I am always looking), Facebook will have to do.

Most thanks of course belong to our Moderators. Our Group is private and moderated - it keeps out the Facebook riff raff that post nonsense and allows us to focus on all the good stuff. Many thanks to you: Anne Marieke, Glenda, Bunny, Pat and Eleanor (and not forgetting Jane who will always be a part of our Moderating team in spirit for everything she did before she moved on) for all the friendship, resilience, love and devotion you volunteer in sharing your time, knowledge and blocking / deleting know-how with us.

As for me, I'm currently drafting up another pattern. It looks like 2017 is my year to release all those patterns that have been gathering dust in my folio for the last 10 and get them out into the world. More on that later..

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Easter Blessings: My Applique Top

This is my top so far. I'm deciding between these two print fabrics for the border instead of eggs. Or I might add some newspaper eggs on top of the print if I feel like it at that stage.
I really love both these two prints and presently can't decide.

I knew straight away that I wanted this newspaper print for the background

and here's my basket and trim fabric

with all my flower heads created, cool and set aside, I created my basket in the same way

Then I positioned my stems and leaves in accordance with the pattern

I used my light box beneath my applique top 

whilst it was still on the applique matt and not yet ironed down

This allows me to see any overlap

Ii don't want 'ridges' showing through my applique front

And if there's too much fabric layering, it can appear obviously from the front after ironing

If you look closely, you can see I have cut away the excess basket handle length 

behind the bunny ears as they were showing through

and the background fabric over the overlapped basket back to cut down on bulk

And my block front.

Voila! What do you think?!

Easter Blessings: Using Release Paper

It's time to put my Easter Blessings applique top together and for this, I'm using Vliesofix fusible webbing. To create my motifs from all the cut out applique shapes, I used a 'release' matt which is the brown semi transparent sheet you can see on top of my constructed pattern sheet throughout these images. At this stage of creating the motifs, I already have all my fabric pieces numbered, cut out and backed with the webbing. Then, just before creating each motif, I peel off the webbing and place each shape onto its position corresponding with the pattern.

I start with the centre, layering from the background up

in between placing each piece into position, I quickly and gently apply heat from my iron

it's important not to over iron and / or overheat the applique during these stages

Next up I iron the side furls down because the following piece will overlap it

This is because you put the background pieces down first

and work 'forwards' in this way until you add the last 'topper most' piece

Having the pattern beneath my release matt allows me to keep to the pattern 

and make sure my shapes are accurate

like so

and again on the other side

Once all down, allow to cool completely.

I'm not adding the tulip stamen and seeds on this sheet, 

I will do that on my actual quilt background to save me double handling

Once cool, gently peel the motif off the release matt

It's important not to force this step or to peel when warm or you might warp the fabric

It should be completely cool and come away easily when you roll the release matt between your fingers

It's been a while since I used Vliesofix instead of turn edge applique and I forgot how messy it gets!

I like the look of raw edge on this mini quilt so I'm very happy with the result

Be sure to come back tomorrow when I show you my quilt background and applique top..