Umbrella Prints Flowers Collection and Drunkard's Path Variation Quilt

Earlier this year the team at Umbrella Prints sent me their brand new Flowers Collection  ... in their own words "... quiet moment when the sun sets, the light is soft and golden, the reds and pinks are saturating the sky and the flowers absorb the last rays of warmth".  Umbrella Prints is a textile house in South Australia run by Amy Prior and Carly Schwerdt. These  inspirational girls  have been designing and hand printing fresh patterns onto organic cotton and hemp/cotton since 2006.  

Image by Umbrella Prints. Used with permission.

The hand of the fabric, the colors, and the designs are gorgeous! I set my bundle aside waiting for inspiration to strike, and when it did it came with a rush. The quilt top come together in a long evening of sewing, trial and error, fabric auditioning, standing back ~ walking away to ponder ~ and viewing from a different angle.

This quilt isn't my usual style of patchwork/design but I am very pleased with how it turned out, and even more so that I thoroughly enjoyed the less structured process of creating. The design wasn't planned, instead blocks were made one at a time using two different size Drunkard's Path templates, over-sized so that the two different size blocks would fit together, then arranged and re-arranged. 

Several other prints were added to complement the Umbrella Prints Flowers collection including a number of fabrics from the Doe collection by Carolyn Friedlander; a great match in both color and design style.

You may notice that I had a great time quilting this quilt. The lines are closely spaced - just over a 1/4" apart. The lines are quilted with  the use of a walking foot and a quilting guide which assists with the even spacing of the lines. 

I have changed the color of the quilting thread (the top thread) throughout the quilt, using soft colors ~ several different shades of pink/peach, grey, yellow, light brown, and white. I did not change the color of the bobbin thread, and used an off-white thread to blend with the backing fabric.

For the back of the quilt I have used a single text fabric (Seed Catalog by Holly Holderman - this fabric is no longer available, however a reprint of this design, in six new colors, will be available in June. That is good news!).

Binding fabric from the Doe collection by Carolyn Friedlander ~

Ladder Lines in Natural

With thanks to Amy and Carly from Umbrella Prints for the fabrics and inspiration.

Now listed for sale in my Etsy Store.

Listing details here: Modern Baby and Toddler Quilt.

Thank you for stopping by,

Rita 

RELEVANT LINKS:

2015 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Challenge - a creative challenge for designers, artists, quilters, makers, tinkers, film makers, animators, children, professionals, thinkers and you. 

Umbrella Prints Store

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission.

Sunday Stash #274 Oakshott ~ Scandinavia and a Giveaway!

Introducing the latest collection of colors for

 Oakshott Fabrics ~ Scandinavia. 

The inspiration for is palette of eight calm, muted tones of vaporous blues, soft greys, milky whites, and  woody shades comes from the clean, bright, airy colors of stylish Scandinavian interiors and the ethereal quality of northern winter light.

Oakshott cottons are a fine quality fabrics, ethically hand loomed in an environmentally friendly way, in the south of India. The cotton weave is shot - with a warp and weft of different tones. In this instance the fabrics are shot with a common white warp (the straight grain), creating a range of soft pastel colors.

OAKSHOTT ~ Scandinavia available from Oakshott Fabrics.
as bundles of fat eighths, fat quarters, half meter blocks, and 1 meter packs.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Michael from Oakshott Fabrics is kindly giving away a Fat Quarter bundle of the Scandinavia Collection to one lucky RPQ reader.

To be in the draw leave please a comment on this blog post. Only one comment per person/per email address - email me if you are not able to leave a comment (redpepperquilts at gmail dot com) and I will leave a comment on your behalf. International entries welcome!

The draw will take place at 12 am (Australia EDT) on Monday 30 March 2015, at which time comments to this  post will be closed. The winner will be announced by edit to this blog post, and will also be contacted by email.

ENTRY HAS NOW CLOSED

Thank you for all of your entries!

The lucky winner of the Oakshott Scandinavia bundle is:

Congratulations Deborah! Deborah has been contacted by email.

ONLINE STORE ::  SHOTTHROUGH BLOG 

NOW ALSO ON FACEBOOK 

Thank you to Michael and the team at Oakshott Fabrics for a generous giveaway. Good luck everyone!

Enjoy Sunday,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
RPQ + Oakshott Quilts and Projects



COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission.

Color Wheel Block Quilt II - A Variation

The week in stitches.

I have had a big week behind the sewing machine with some last minute stitching before I take a break from my sewing machine, and my sewing machine takes a break from me. I am heading to the USA for a holiday and to teach at Sewtopia, and my sewing machine is spending some quality time with a technician. I am sure we will both come back refreshed, inspired, and eager to sew.

In the meantime, and in preparation for this break, I have a number of new projects, including several quilts that I have worked on behind the scenes, giveaways, as well as Sunday Stashes to show you over the next fortnight or so.

This week I have been working on another version of my Color Wheel Block pattern. My first Color Wheel Quilt featured all solid fabrics (see Kona Color Wheel Quilt) so this time I thought it might be interesting to use only printed fabrics.

The arcs of the block are foundation paper pieced and I have alternated two contrasting colors, generally a "dark" fabric and a "light" fabric for each arc, although I didn't strictly apply this rule; provided there was contrast in color/pattern I was happy with my fabric selection. I have used many different quilting cottons (most are small scale prints), from lots of different collections for this quilt, all from my fabric stash. You'll probably recognize many of my fabric favorites!

For the background of the blocks I have used low volume fabrics. What is low volume fabric? I am not big on definitions, and I think it is perfectly acceptable to have your own liberal interpretation of "low volume fabric" rather than work within the constraints of a formal definition. For me, a low volume fabric is a printed fabric that reads as a light or white fabric. It doesn't necessarily have a white or off-white background although that is generally what I gravitate towards when choosing a low volume fabric.

QUICK QUILT STATS:

12 Color Wheel Blocks.

48 Foundation paper pieced arcs.

384 patchwork pieces.

Each finished Color Wheel Block measures 17" x 17".

Quilt top measures 51 inches x  68 inches.

Color Wheel Block Pattern available here:
Red Pepper Quilts Pattern Store

(You will be sent an email with a secure link to download

 this pattern (pdf file) immediately.)
Pattern is also available from my Etsy Store.

Color Wheel Block Tutorial available HERE.

This quilt top is ready for basting and quilting ... and will be waiting for me upon my return.

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

Click on any image for a larger view.

RELEVANT LINKS:
Red Pepper Quilts Pattern Store
Color Wheel Block Tutorial
The Finished Color Wheel Block Quilt II - A Variation
Kona Color Wheel Quilt



COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission.

Vintage and Feedsack Fabric Quilt

A Finished Quilt.

Quick Quilt Stats

Vintage and feedsack fabrics as well as new quilting fabrics.

Quilt measures 48 inches x 60 inches.

Squares and Four-Patch design.

First, please let me thank everyone who sent an email or left a comment on the work in progress blog post for this quilt, and the many recommendations offered to remove that vintage smell from vintage fabric. There were some really great suggestions - and some age old remedies - and in the end I rewashed the quilt top by gently soaking it in a tub, then allowed it to line dry, leaving it out in the sun for several hours. It seems to have worked a treat. I have had several impartial noses smell the quilt and all have told me that the quilt smells fresh, without a hint of musty odor. So that's good news. Really good news, allowing me to move on and finish the quilt.

I have quilted this quilt by first ditch-stitching all the seam lines, and then stitching another set of edge to edge straight lines (vertical and horizontal) through the center of the squares. Simple and functional, giving the quilt a lovely texture and a very nice drape.

For the back of the quilt I have used a single fabric from the Country Girls collections by Tasha Noel. Also note that for the quilting stitches I have matched the bottom/bobbin thread color with the backing fabric (red) and used an off-white thread for the quilt top. This was a risky decision for if the sewing machine tension is not right it will quickly show; either by the bobbin thread showing on the right side (the quilt top) or the top thread showing on the quilt back. My machine is delivering a neat stitch at the moment so I was fairly confident with this decision. She did not let me down.

For the quilt binding I have used an Art Gallery Fabric ~ Squared Elements in Turquoise.

I really am very happy with how this quilt turned out! I especially love that this quilt features so many of my vintage fabrics. It is always satisfying to work with stash fabrics, but even more so when they are treasured vintage fabrics collected over a number of years. I like to think this quilt somehow represents a small catalog of fabrics from another era, again made functional for someone to enjoy.

This quilt is for sale, however I won't be updating my Etsy Store until after Spring Break/Easter.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me: redpepperquilts at gmail dot com.

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Vintage and Feedsack Fabric Quilt ~ Work in Progress
Vintage Fabric and RPQ Feedsack Projects



COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission.