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Next finish out of 11: the Mrs Jumbo quilted zipper bag

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The weather was finally sunny here, after many overcast days, and I was able to have a photoshoot of my latest make, the Mrs Jumbo quilted zipper bag: From time to time, I sew scraps together with no ambition to finish a zipper bag but knowing that I’ll eventually pick the piece up and use it. The elephant panel was one of such creations: I could see that the panel would need a scrap on the left hand side, to allow the face of the elephant to have a bit of breathing room, so I added it. And then I needed the panel for the other side. Luckily, I have a lot of resources to draw from! This is how the workspace next to my sewing machine often looks: These were the scrappy pieces that seemed most suited to become the other side of the elephant-paneled zipper bag: I took the picture so I’d remember how to organise the blocks. Did I organise them like this? No I didn’t, as you can see: The two sides of the Mrs Jumbo zipper bag do not resemble each other, though they share a simi...
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Splendid colour tips for quilters: All the colours in one quilt

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Today’s splendid tips topic isn’t just one colour, but all the colours – and all at once. In this post, you will see – again – what matters more for your quilt than colour choices do. You will also get seven tips that help you use a multitude of (or all) colours in your quilt while avoiding a chaotic look. What to watch out for when using many colours? My instant reaction to this question is: “nothing!” Though to be honest, there really are a few things to watch out for. If you make a wild, improvisational, unplanned and multicoloured quilt surface, its viewer may not easily find anything there to focus on. If you put such a quilt on show, most of the audience would be likely to move quickly past it to see the next quilt. Even so, a riotously colourful quilt may be fantastic and lovable as an item meant to be used! For example, the overall rhythm of my Spectrolite quilt is inconsistent because some blocks have a really harsh value contrasts whereas others have very little co...
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First finish out of 11: the Early Days quilted zipper bag

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Yay, it is still possible for me to reach the goal of sewing at least the average number of zipper bags this year! This recent finish, Early Days / Alkutaival is a step towards that goal: This was my starting point, more or less: The panels look underwhelming, don’t they? I found the upper piece amongst my resources (my scrap stash) and for some reason, it has only been partly quilted. I don’t remember why I made it in the first place – though I have a vague recollection that I put the piece together very quickly. But why would I start quilting it and not finish? No idea. Even though I had started the quilting with quite nice-looking stippling, I didn't want to return to my discomfort zone of free-motion quilting. That is why the rest of the quilting on that panel are straight-stitched curves. The other zipper bag panel got one of my favourite designs, intersecting arcs, though the placement of the arcs is different from my usual choice. If you want to know more about th...
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Looking back: Versoul guitar wall textile from 2012

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It’s time again to share some treasures from my quilty archives with you. Today, I will look back to 2012 when I created a quilted wall textile for my husband for his birthday. He plays the guitar and loves the Finnish custom-made Versoul guitars by Kari Nieminen. In other words, I made my husband a guitar: The official name of this quilted piece is Pasi’s Versoul Henry Gold Leaf Custom. The guitar picture on it is based on a photo that I found back then on the Versoul website. I didn’t want to infringe on Kari Nieminen’s copyright for the photo, so before I even started, I requested and got the permission to use the photo for this purpose. The making of this wall textile I took a screenshot of the picture and pixelated it into as many pixels as I had calculated I could manage when each pixel would be represented by an approximately 2” x 2” fabric square. Then I printed out the pixelated image. Luckily for me, this was an easy picture: black for the background and a variety ...
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A quilter’s praise for the simple square

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A square is a great shape in quilts. I’m may seem to be stating something obvious because the majority of quilt blocks are square, but this is not the single reason for the square’s greatness. Squares and other straight-edged shapes are easy to handle. In contrast, sewing a flat surface out of curvy shapes is difficult, and thus a great way to show off your sewing skill. One will never be admired for one’s ability to sew squares together! Because quilting is not a competition sport for me, I don’t mind taking things easy. One of the things I love about squares is that when you sew a piece, press and trim it into an exact square, it will be easy to sew together with a similar one and create a flat surface. It takes a bit more time and accurate trimming, but no elite expertise. Just look at these un-pressed, un-trimmed nine-patch pieces and imagine how hard it would be to sew them together like they are here, and avoid the seams turning willy-nilly! Same-sized squares are inter...
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