Tuesday 19 November 2013

Plodding Along

I haven't blogged the last few weeks but I have been busy.

I finished my paper piecing blocks for the November Queen of the bee group I am in.



I love the colours the Queen chose.  This combination is so striking and will make a gorgeous quilt.

My fabrics are ready for the upcoming Bonnie Hunter mystery.


I am making this quilt with someone in mind and I think these colours will be just right for her.

And out of the blue I got the most incredible urge to make a low volume quilt.
Has that ever happened to you?  All of a sudden you just HAVE to make something right here, right now?
"Low Volume" is the new buzz word going around and I love the quilts I am seeing.  So I put everything aside and dug into my stash pulling anything and everything I thought would pass as low volume.  Admittedly there are some fabrics in my blocks that are probably a bit too 'voluminous' but I really didn't want to buy more fabric.  I think they are soft enough to blend with the overall serenity of the quilt so I am going with it.


I followed the pattern from Cheryl Arkison and Amanda Jean Nyberg's book Sunday Morning Quilts. This has to be one of my all time favourite quilting books and I plan to make every quilt in it, I just love them all.
I have moved some of the blocks around to get a better overall balance since taking this picture and if all goes well I will have this top together by the end of today.

And finally, I have been practicing free motion quilting on my Express Your Love quilt. I am WAAAAY behind on this project but with a month of holidays coming up it is on the top of my to do list.

This week I finished quilting the sun's 'rays' and the goddess body.
I apologise in advance for the terrible quality pictures. I took them at night which normally isn't too much of a problem as I usually enhance the pictures when editing them but for some reason my computer program would not let me increase the brightness this time.  I will get better pics when I complete the  next section.


I am disappointed that the light gold came out so much brighter than the medium and dark golds I used. When I lined the spools up next to each other I thought the 3 colours blended well but after quilting, well  not so much.  Hopefully when the whole thing is quilted it will blend a little better.

Here are a couple of close ups:



Far from perfect but it's all practice and I can see improvement so that is all I can ask of myself.

Until next time.

Sue


15 comments:

  1. You have been busy! I really like the low volumes too, even though it is so NOT me. :)

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  2. Your paper pieced blocks look great! And fabulous FMQ!

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  3. Wow, your paper pieced blocks look incredible! I havent really gotten the low volume craze yet. Aren't you glad you didnt use the ting hexies on the face forexpress your love along?! :-)

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  4. Lots of beautiful work....love those paper pieced blocks. They are Amazing! Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

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  5. Despite what you have said, (we are critical on ourselves sometimes) I think all the gold contrasts are a fabulous choice for this quilt overall---they are really popping out beautifully!

    Low volume quilts have been trying to reel me in as well--it's only a matter of time before I succumb to their beauty! LOL

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  6. Those paper piece blocks are AMAZING. The colors are so vibrant and I totally want to find the patterns for them now. I'm still fairly new to paper piecing and while I feel like they're a bit more time consuming than traditionally pieced blocks the results are just too stunning to not want to make another.

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  7. You have a great balance of lowish volumes in your quilt and your paper pieced blocks are stunning.

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  8. Those paper pieced blocks are fabulous! And the low volume quilt is gorgeous! Love what you've done with the goddess quilt so far!

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  9. Your goddess quilt is amazing! I think the threads blend. You are amazing. The low volume trend is gorgeous. Yours is a lovely example

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  10. Beautiful quilt!! I love Sunday Morning Quilts too. So far I've only made The Missing U, but it was so much fun I might have to make another one :)

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  11. Your low volume is gorgeous. Makes me want to make another one right now.

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  12. The low volume looks great and I like your star.
    Cheers Pauline

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  13. wow!! you bee blocks are just so striking. and I LOVE your low volume quilt. I think all of the fabrics work well together, and don't see any that are too saturated with color. so pretty!!

    Thanks for linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  14. Your goddess is fantastic! Thanks so much for linking up!

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  15. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season
    cheers Pauline

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