Tilkunviilaaja®

This quilt project saw its first public appearance in June, when I shared what was on my sewing table just then. It’s fascinating that I’d written this when I only had ten blocks ready: “My vision is to sew the nine-patch blocks together somewhat at random – only creating pools of colour that flow across the quilt surface.” – When you see the picture of the finished quilt top, you can see if I achieved that vision! In my July greetings from the sewing table, I was completely taken by this project. This is what I said: “I've been working my way through my many containers of leftover fabric pieces (they hold resource pieces, not scraps) and pulling out everything that's large enough to yield at least one 2" square. Quite often I find pieces large enough for me to cut three squares but not four. Why is that? It’s so inconvenient because I need two sets of four squares for each block.” In that post, I described the process of making these blocks and shared several p...

In an earlier post about my three ongoing quilting projects, I already showed one set of zipper bag panels after quilting and trimming. I also mentioned that I’d finished the bag but not taken photos yet because the weather was so bad. In case you don’t remember, this is how the panels looked: On the very next day, the weather was favourable again and I was able to take the finished zipper bag to our garden to find suitable places for it to pose in. One of the places this time was a concrete slab which may or may not have supported a flagpole some time in the past. That day, the concrete slab only needed to support something pretty light: my quilted zipper bag called Anecdote / Tositarina: Next, I picked up the bag and moved it about half a yard to the left, to pose on a stone step. Do you think that the owls on this side are surprised to see all that moss growing on the steps? When I looked at this photo, I had to go back to the picture of the quilted and trimmed pieces - I ...

Today, it’s time again to share some of my “quilt thinking” and reflections on one of my earlier quilts, and today’s quilt is Gone with the Wind / Tuulen viemää from 2013. When I look at Gone with the Wind now, I notice immediately that quite a few blocks repeat the same fabrics. My present-day me would probably pick more fabric variety! A larger selection of fabrics might make the quilt even more interesting to the eye, and in that sense, the quilt might be “better”. But I’m very happy with the choices that I made back then. Though I was inspired by a quilt image, I figured out the actual block measurements myself because I was still working with a centimeter ruler! I never even tested the original tutorial by Coriander Quilts, so I don’t know if there is a big difference between my measurements and theirs. Though I always wanted quick progress back then, but I still took the time to make t est blocks. I made four versions before I was happy with the proportions. These were t...

My quilt studio has been unusually quiet since mid-August. First, I spent a relaxing summer vacation at a cottage/villa by a small lake, then had a short mini-break in a hotel, and then my first working week included a lot of activity and a few long days. The first quilting project by the lake was a hand-sewing one. I made hexagons out of scraps using the English paper piecing method and cardboard shapes that I've made many years ago. Though most hexies don't have a specific role yet, some are already attached together into small pieces that I’ll later use as details on my zipper bags. Here’s one example: Of course many of the hexies will become the end pieces for the zippers in pouches that I make for my Open series. Second quilting project. Back at home, when I finally had the energy and opportunity, I worked tenaciously to finish all the nine-patch blocks that I still needed for the quilt surface. I cut squares, sewed nine-patches and pressed. Here are the last 16 bl...

There are quilters who avoid using many multicoloured, patterned fabrics together because combining them feels daunting. Many address this challenge by purchasing curated sets of multicoloured fabrics because the designer has already done the matching. However, combining a variety of fabrics from a variety of designers does not have to be a problem. In this splendid colour tips post, you will find my quilt thinking on the topic of multicoloured, patterned fabrics: what to watch out for when using many such fabrics together and how to use them successfully. What to watch out for when using multicoloured, patterned fabrics Your worst enemy is chaos – unless you are looking for a chaotic effect. My process when making the Goodwill Among Neighbours quilt is an example of how multicoloured patterned fabrics may not always want to play together just like that. I deliberately chose pretty strange combinations of fabrics to some of the blocks thinking that a simple, geometric block wil...