Quilting 81

I had a nice surprise this morning. Val of Val's Quilting Studio highlighted my blog and my English paper piecing on her blog. Thanks Val! I do love sharing what I do with others and I love to learn from my readers! Val is a quilter and she makes imaginative, happy quilts and she is lightning quick! Val's dog Jackson is a supermodel who somehow makes his way into most quilt pictures! Thanks again Val and welcome to those of you who found your way to Faeries and Fibres via Val's Quilting Studio!

I've been busy quilting 81 The Giant Monstrosity. All of the ditch quilting is done and I've outlined all the stars and hexagon flowers so it was on to the diamonds in the border. Although it looks complicated it was fairly straight forward and there was virtually no marking. I quilted melon wedges (or S curves) in each of the four small diamonds that make up the large diamonds. I was able to work continuously all around the quilt.

Once all the diamonds were quilted I moved on to the outside edge of the border. This picture shows the border from the back.The lines that radiate out from the melon wedges were done freehand. The aren't perfectly even but they are close enough!

The only marking I did was the curved line from one point of the diamond to the other and then I marked the radiating lines in the corner block with the butterfly. Once the straight line quilting is finished I'll be able to bind the quilt to reduce the bulk.

The last step will be to fill in all the empty spaces with some interesting designs. Not sure what they will be but I'm thinking about doing something like I did with my Lazy Girl quilt. This is an example of what I am thinking about doing.

My quilting time is going to be limited for the next few months because I've been asked by a designer to test a new quilt pattern. I can't tell you anything about it other than to say it is inspired by a very old quilt and it is English paper pieced (but it isn't hexagons). Once the pattern is ready for sale I'll be able to share pictures with you! It is a very exciting and interesting quilt. I've made one block and think I am getting the hang of the technique which is new to me. The hardest part is going to be selecting fabrics for this scrap quilt but isn't that always the case?

Friday I will publish Block 7 in my Value Proposition Hexagon QAL. I can't wait to share this really lovely block with you. I think you will like it!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H