Tilkunviilaaja®

Today, I will share some of my “quilt thinking” and reflections on one of my earlier quilts. This is one of my first quilts, and it’s called Winter Apples / Talviomenoita: I was inspired by a quilt-along that Crazy Mom Quilts started in the spring of 2009. The quilt-along made me wonder if I could make a quilt if I followed her lead and sewed one block per day until I had enough for a quilt top? Turns out that I did! Though I did not sew one block per day along the quilt-along. This is the first picture of this quilt project, and one of the few that I took: I didn’t have a blog or a proper digital camera, and quilt photos were thus a rare thing for me back then. When I look at the quilt blocks now, I would like to re-do some of my nine-patch blocks so that they would all have enough value contrast. Especially the ones that look more like a “square-in-a-square" blocks! The centers of the nine-patches are of an extremely long piece of fabric that I bought in 200...

This post is one of my Splendid colour tips series, where I share information to help you choose fabrics and colours for your quilts with more confidence. Today’s quilt colour is beige, and I’ll be sharing the following: My thoughts and helpful tips about using beige colour in quilts What to watch out for, and ways to use beige effectively in quilting Practical examples from my own quilts and quilted items Beige is a calm, balanced colour, and it can make us feel comfortable. Quilters usually categorise beige as a “neutral”. What to watch out for when using beige in quilting A quilt with an abundance of beige, especially if there isn’t much contrast may look and seem boring or drab because the colour is probably the most neutral of the colours that quilters call neutral. Because beige is a neutral, it will go with pretty much any colour as long as you remember value contrast: make sure that your colours are clearly lighter or darker than the beige fabrics next to ...

In my previous post less than a week ago, I introduced a surprise project – and now the project is finished! I wanted to see if I could create as nice a zippered bag as I’d done a few years ago. Here are the two bags side by side: Sliver/Lastu on the left and the new Rumba shoulder bag on the right – you decide how they compare. For me, they look surprisingly similar on these sides, and are equal in charm. Before I share more photos of the finished Rumba bag, here are a few in-progress shots. First, one surface piece when quilted: And the other piece after quilting: Although I have many other go-to quilting patterns, easy enough to do and suitable for smaller surfaces that I quilt on my domestic sewing machine, I decided to use the same pattern that I used on the Sliver bag. I got the idea for this quilting pattern of intersecting arcs from my long-time IG friend Alfhild @alborve and it has become my favourite. Where the two arcs intersect, a crosshatch patte...