What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Very pretty!

Lovely! Both designs are favourites.

Simple layout, not so simple applique!

I wanted to add some quilting ideas, but found very little in my block library which would be useful in these designs. My usual quilting focuses on outlining the applique design pieces, about 1/8th of an inch outside the pieces, and then filling in the background spaces with similar designs with simple fillers, such as cross hatch, straight lines, either set straight or on the diagonal, or stippling to fill in the spaces.

Interesting design, but probably a bit long for the average single bed.

I like the second design, and it is a bit shorter.

I love the iron lace on older houses, and would love some applique lace quilts on the beds, but I already have too many quilts.

Love the second design!

The blank spaces in all my designs with quilting motifs would be filled with simple background fillers, with my first preference being straight lines or cross hatching, either vertical/or diagonal, and would use a thread matching the background for the fillers, contrast for the motifs. The applique pieces would also be outlined just outside the pieces.

I love this mixture of pieced background filling in spaces around applique blocks.

I love the second design!

I love the first design today.

Second design is interesting, though the colours could do with a change.

I was playing with some flower designs when I thought that they looked a bit like a butterfly, so gave them a few tweaks and added a couple of stamens.

Mmm … I have a collection of butterfly applique designs … I wonder how many of them would work if I added a stem and some greenery!

I love every design in this project file, so picking a favorite is usually out of the question.

I have almost decided that the second designs was my favourite of these two, but I may change my mind before you see this post.

I originally called the series of blocks in this project file Tangled Ribbons after I rejected Knotted Ribbons. Still not happy, but love the block designs.

I don’t have a favourite today, but I should make a note for myself to remind me that not all beds are queen size which need a square quilt.

A block I was trying to work with, didn’t want to work, and so it got filed away, for another day. When that day came I discarded what was there when I found some bits which eventually became the diagonal border block used in the design above. From there it grew into a rather useful collection of blocks.

I love both of these designs, and like most of the block collections I use I will add more quilt designs, and sometimes new block variations, each time I open the project file.

Early in the year I set myself a ...

I was playing with a flower with 3 droopy petals, and tried adding more petals without spaces in between, and thought they looked a bit like a very pretty umbrella.

Floral umbrellas may not be waterproof, but they make pretty quilt designs, and without getting my hands dirty in the mud.

Monday today, washing day, so hopefully no rain!

Love the first design for today.

Second design is interesting too.

The petal designs were inspired by String of Beads when I started playing with the shapes of the beads.

Love the design above.

Love the second design too!

Love varying the placement of colours in any quilt blocks, but the results in Log Cabin style pieced hexagons is very effective.

I also always like adding plain blocks amongst pieced blocks, and adding some applique or quilting motifs is a bonus.

Love the design above!

In the design above I like the centre patches! Unusual effect.

I like the colour placement in the centre hexagon.

More Log Cabin designs mid week, next week.

Applique designs using just a simple leaf shape as beads are the simplest form of applique I have found. I first saw String of Beads hand appliqued with seams turned under, but then fusible web came on the market and I found I could cut four layers at a time with scissors so it was quick, then iron them onto fabric and machine stitch. Quick and easy!

I like both of these designs, and have many others which I also like.

I haven’t opened this project file for quite some time, and had forgotten just how effective some applique designs could be if treated as a cut out using the outline of the design only.

The hardest part would be choosing the background fabric, and then the contrast for the shapes.

I love the second design.

Very interesting.

This project emerged after I set pieced block designs into the sashing of a quilt, and decided that I would try to draw up some blocks especially to use as sashing, as well as using any or every pieced block design!

The curves are doable by machine, but the points would be easier to do by hand.

I love the shape created by the sashing around the blocks, perfect for framing quilted motifs. Which leads me to think I need to follow up that thought!

I started this project file a few weeks ago, and called it Windblown Wendy, but changed these variations to Spinning Susie, and when I opened it up this morning I realized I had named the two sets after my two sisters, though the people in my mind were both friends. Both names are still in use, but now they are sisters, rather than friends. Will have to use the friends names for blocks totally different to these.

The first one is my favourite of the two quilt designs today.

Interesting design, but disappointing colours.

Blocks in this project file are all from the Electric Quilt Library.

Another interesting design, and the colours are more interesting than the first. Amazing what adding more green leaves have done to the colour scheme, though still a bit washed out.

Another new floral collection in my Mum’s favourite colours. I learned to love Mum’s favourite colour while working on a quilt for her in her requested colour.

A slight change in the arrangement of blocks, and a bit of quilting!

Love it!