Tilkunviilaaja®

Are you planning to make your first quilt – or perhaps dream of making one? Go for it, but please don’t make the three mistakes that I made! When I decided to sew my first proper-sized quilt in the mid-1990s, I made three big mistakes - but I was able to finish the quilt: Be smarter than I was and learn from my early experiences! Mistake 1: Cutting with scissors. In the mid-1990's, quilting became visible in the sewing magazines that I subscribed to. I fell in love with the modern, colourful look and decided to make a quilt for our new bedroom. But because I wasn’t sure if quilting was going to be a lasting thing for me, I also decided NOT to buy any special tools. They were expensive, and I already had the cost of fabric to consider. And anyway, what was the use of investing in tools that I might only use for one project? So, what did I end up doing? I’d selected a relatively quick pattern based on strips. Meaning, it would have been a quick make if I’d had pr...

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 green, and I’ll be sharing the following: My thoughts and helpful tips about using green colour in quilts What to watch out for, and ways to use green effectively in quilting Practical examples from my own quilts and quilted items Green represents wealth, health, calm, and nature. It is the easiest colour for a human eye to process, and it is believed to have a relaxing effect on us. Green is the second most popular favourite colour for both women and men. Therefore, it is a great choice for a quilt or quilted item that should attract both sexes. An interesting piece of information related to the colour green is related to a Namibian tribe whose language has a single word for both green and blue. And it seems that consequently, it takes them a long time to identify a more bluish green square ou...

When I started making this list, I wasn’t sure that I could come up with enough items, but as soon as I’d written down one, the rest came easily. Some of these 10+1 things may be familiar to you – they definitely aren’t secrets! Most items on this list are things that I wish someone had explained to me when I was a beginner quilter! So here they are: 10+1 things about quilting that you did not know – or at least haven’t stopped to think about in a while. 1. Fabric won’t mind if you do use it wrong side out. Because fabric has a “right side” and a “wrong side,” it takes me a bit of mental effort to consider using it the wrong side up. But if the wrong side of the fabric looks better for a project, we are allowed to use it that way. Sometimes the wrong side just looks better with the other fabrics. Ugly fabrics, for example! Or, the wrong side may be just that much lighter in value than its neighbours, and achieve good contrast. Here’s an example - both the lower two blocks in th...

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. In this post, I’ll share My thoughts and helpful tips about using pink colour in quilts What to watch out for, and ways to use pink to effect in quilting Practical examples from my own quilts and quilted items Pink represents femininity, sweetness, innocence, fertility, and romance. Pink is often used when marketing services and products for women and girls. Pink is an interesting colour and word for me as a Finn. When I was younger, the word “pinkki” was not part of our vocabulary. Even now, we call pale pink “light red” and Pink Panther isn’t “Pinkki pantteri,” but “Light Red Panther”. Also, not having used the word makes it harder for me to recognise (or name) it with confidence. What to watch out for when using pink Some people cannot abide pink; I once heard a male colleague say that he would never, ever wear a pink sh...