Fiona

17 Dec 2013

One project down, two to start!

My projects keep multiplying but my free time seems to be halving. Gah!

So this skirt is finally done! It basically took a year from receiving it. The facets pattern is great, but there are a lot of shapes to sew around and cut out. My next Alabama project will be to attempt airbrushing and making another tank dress. I definitely need more of those!

I got the go-ahead on this design, so now I’m busy working out fabric requirements and cost. At the moment, purchasing materials for this quilt will have to wait until next year, but she wants to go scrappy, so this will be fun!

As far as the Winding Ways baby quilt, I’m planning to buy fabric for that soon, though I’m considering ordering from overseas if I decide to go down the designer fabrics. They are more than twice the price in Australia, and shipping doesn’t really justify the jump!

By: Fiona Category: Alabama Chanin, EQ7, Inklingo, Quilting

3 Dec 2013

2 Comments

Planning Winding Ways

So I decided to add an extra row in each direction to bring the quilt up to 63″ x 63″ in size. This makes it a nice throw and allows the quilt to be useful beyond the crib. I am really enjoying the look of this design and I think I’ll buy fabric as close to this as possible, so that will be four fabrics each in purples and creams.
I didn’t have the cheat sheet with me, so I made up a temp version.

Based on my calculations, a yard of each color will cover the requirements nicely.

By: Fiona Category: EQ7, Inklingo, Quilting

30 Nov 2013

1 Comment

Winding Ways

I have decided! This is the next baby quilt I’ll be making. Isn’t it adorable!? I’ll be going shopping for fabrics tomorrow. I looked at all the sales in the US, but once you add shipping, the costs just blow way out. So, off to Spotlight I go.

Also, I finished cutting the last panel of the Alabama Chanin skirt! Next step will be sewing it together into an actual skirt! Woohoo!

By: Fiona Category: EQ7, Inklingo, Quilting

25 Nov 2013

1 Comment

Storm At Sea considerations

So here is yet ANOTHER quilt that is in the design process. I know the following things: Storm at sea and the colors red and black. I’m assuming a few other things like that it should be queen size to suit my sister’s bed and that grey will be acceptable. However, a two-tone quilt could work, too. Let’s see…

It’s very dramatic. I prefer a scrappy quilt myself, but I do like the simple and bold quilts, too. This design uses the 9″ Storm At Sea Inkling collection.

By: Fiona Category: EQ7, Inklingo, Quilting

27 Oct 2013

2 Comments

Hunters Star Baby Quilt Completed!

It is done, washed and dried! I love the crinkliness of it, too! Makes it seem much fluffier cuddly.The backing looks better after the quilting as well. All in all, I’m very pleased with how it came out.

By: Fiona Category: Inklingo, Quilting

26 Oct 2013

0 Comments

Would a Double Wedding Ring quilt be weird for a baby quilt?

The Hunters Star baby quilt is washed and drying on the rack. I’ll take some photos of it tomorrow. In the meantime, my thoughts have turned to the next baby quilt for another friend. After browsing quilts on Pinterest and the internet, I decided to grab the EQ7 file that Linda has thoughtfully provided. The above quilt measures 50″x50″ using the Inklingo collection and including the border. If the quilt were to end with the outer rings, I suppose it would measure 30″x30″.

By: Fiona Category: EQ7, Inklingo, Quilting

22 Sep 2013

0 Comments

More EQ7 and Inklingo

Fat Quarter Shop had this pattern in their latest email and it inspired me to create the above. It uses a 4.5″ HST from the 12″ Hunters Star collection and 4.5″ sashing. The border consists of equilateral triangles and 60 degree diamonds, but I’m not sure of their measurement at this time. It can easily be made without the border though.

Edit: Looking at the Storm at Sea 12″ collection, it seems like the border could easily be made using a 4″ border!

By: Fiona Category: EQ7, Inklingo, Quilting

26 May 2013

4 Comments

12 Patches Complete

So the patches are done and now I’m at this stage. I really can’t decide on how I want to put the blocks together and it’s really frustrating. What do you guys think? Are any of these combos working? Any other suggested layouts?

By: Fiona Category: Inklingo, Quilting

6 May 2013

2 Comments

Hunter’s Star Baby Quilt Planning

I used to subscribe to Australian Patchwork and Quilting and buy any other quilting magazines and books that caught my eye and had patterns I loved. I stopped after a few years and accumulating several binders of “favourites.”

When I decided to make another baby quilt, I pulled out the binders and sifted through them, looking for ideas that would make a charming and fast baby quilt. And hopefully, Inklingo-able. Imagine my delight when I saw this hunters star pattern, not long after Linda released her collections!

Okay, so small and fast, I decided, so I must get the largest hunters star collection. Once I knew which size patch (6″ making a 12″ block), I grabbed the EQ file from Linda’s blog (so handy!) and started drawing the quilt. This was my original design idea.

These were the fabrics I selected after a trip to spotlight without a copy of this idea.

Turns out, they don’t quite match the original idea. I took this photo as color reference to test in EQ7. I considered making each ofthe blocks out of four colors but ultimately decided to keep it bold and simple. I have these two similar plans to lay out when the blocks are finished.

I think I’ll end up going with the second idea but I won’t know for sure until I have the blocks in front of me.

By: Fiona Category: Inklingo, Quilting

3 May 2013

2 Comments

The Cost of Unfinished Projects, or Why I Love Inklingo

I originally posted the below in a rant to the Inklingo group. I wanted to defend the pricing of the collections to people who seemed upset that they weren’t free. The internet has made it easy to get a lot of things for free, but when it comes to small businesses, especially those that are providing a wonderful niche service like quilting tools, I think it’s extra important that we recognize their value and pay for their work.

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Occasionally I see rumblings over the cost of Linda’s collections and it surprises me. The way I see it, this method of getting shapes out of fabric that are accurate and fun to piece is worth way more than the price tag in convenience and a FINISHED quilt.

I found Inklingo during a search for a better method of getting shapes that couldn’t be rotary cut (one day soon, I will have that double wedding ring quilt I dreamed of from the beginning). I was at the point of making my own rubber stamps (egads) when I stumbled onto Inklingo.

Now, when I start planning a new quilt, I start with Inklingo and EQ7. I easily spend $100 for the fabric and notions and another $75 for batting and backing. Then, of course, there is the time spent piecing, basting and quilting. Imagine if I only half-pieced a quilt and after hours of tracing and cutting, just got tired of the whole thing. Into the UFO pile it goes and along with it, $100 and time lost.

The best part is that, unlike paper-piecing, when I’m done, I still have the collection, pristine and ready for more projects. Also, there is a lot of thoughtful work going into these collections. Marks that make matching so easy and combo sheets that optimize fabric use and rotary cutting. Maybe it’s that the download of a digital file feels like you’re buying something that isn’t worth actual money, but that is so wrong.

Every month now, I budget for more Inklingo. That apple core quilt I finished recently would never have existed without it!

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The featured image shows my completed apple core quilt covering my partner, who likes to make photos more interesting through a variety of facial expressions.