Saturday Sewing with a Side of Quilts

Another Saturday and so it’s time for another update on what’s happening here at Bonjour Quilts. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the read!

What I’m Sewing…

I’ve finished the quilt top for my collaboration project (with the Fat Quarter Shop – it will be available mid August). Tigger the cat has been ever-so-helpful, every step of the way.

A cream Burmese cat in front of part of a patchwork quilt. The quilt will be a Layer Cake Lily Quilt, pattern will be available at the Fat Quarter Shop Blog in mid August 2024.

Once it was all sewn together I laid it on the floor to admire. Tigger sprinted down the hallway, landed on the quilt top and slid his little self across the room on it. Arrgh. No damage, but another session on the ironing board was needed.

Hard to believe this sweet cat can be a troublesome tabby from time to time!

Tigger the cream Burmese cat asleep on an armchair, on top of a patchwork quilt with stars. The quilt is called In The Stars and the quilt pattern is available at Bonjour Quilts.
Tigger asleep on my In The Stars quilt.

Pattern…fail?

I’ve also been working on a potential pattern that has tickled my brain. It started life as part of a different pattern but then it caught my attention and I couldn’t stop thinking about it in a different layout. I drew it up in my Quilter’s Planner, which has convenient grid/sketching pages throughout the diary.

Using the Quilter's Planner to sketch out a potential quilt pattern. The grid pages in the Quilter's Planner make it easy to catch quilty inspiration whenever it strikes.

It gives me a bit of a geometric fish scale vibe. I hoped it would be pre-cut friendly (layer cake or charm square) but now I think FQs might be the way to go. Do you have a preference?

Test blocks for a potential patchwork quilt pattern, utilising diamond quilt blocks that will be set on point.

I’m not actually sure it will amount to anything at this stage. I’ve sewn up a couple of test blocks and they have not hit the mark. You know things are getting serious when you break open your old trigonometry books! I’m not ready to give up on it quite yet – perhaps some time away from it will allow a new idea to spring forth?

Around the Interwebs…

It’s always lovely to see art made from something that might otherwise be thrown away. Here’s what your old cutlery could be doing in its next life! Or how about this beautiful mixed-media art?

This Instagram sewing video made me laugh – as did the comment that someone would use this for their cats.

This artist’s work is full of interesting shape and texture. I especially like the rug carved into the timber floor (towards the bottom).

If your seams don’t match or your points aren’t pointy, don’t despair, your quilting is still good for you.

Reader Quilts…

I always love to see quilts you’ve made from Bonjour Quilts patterns so please keep sending them in! Either email (Kirsty at BonjourQuilts dotcom), or tag me on Facebook or Instagram.

Here’s McKenzie’s version of the In The Stars quilt that you saw above. McKenzie’s is lovely in a mix of yellow and blue fabrics, with self-designed borders (extra credit for those!).

A version of the In The Stars quilt sewn by McKenzie. McKenzie's version is sewn in yellow and blue fabrics and includes multiple borders of her own design.

And here’s Cheryl’s version of the same pattern, in a beautifully sunny colour scheme. Extra points have to be awarded here too, as Cheryl has taken the HST off-cuts from the stars and turned them into a border.

Cheryl has sewn up this In The Stars quilt using a sunny array of yellow and orange fabric. She has also used the offcut HSTs to create a fabulous border for her creation. In The Stars quilt pattern can be found at Bonjour Quilts.

And here’s one more In The Stars for good measure. I love the elegant colour scheme of Melissa’s version, as well as the lovely quilting. Top notch!

Melissa's version of the In The Stars quilt. This Bonjour Quilts pattern is fat quarter friendly. Melissa has sewn her version in a beautiful mix of grey, light blue and dark blue fabrics.

Keeping with the theme of stars – here are two versions of the Star Sweep pattern that Narelle has previously sewn. She was able to sew both from her stash which is a major win in my eyes. I love how different (and striking) the two colour schemes are. Narelle commented that she forgot to put the borders on her quilts, but I don’t see any problem with that! (Here are some photos with borders, if you’re curious.)

Narelle's version of the Star Sweep baby size quilts. This Bonjour Quilts pattern is jelly roll and fat quarter friendly. Narelle has sewn her version in a gorgeous diagonal rainbow colour scheme.
Narelle's version of the Star Sweep baby size quilts. This Bonjour Quilts pattern is jelly roll and fat quarter friendly. Narelle has sewn her version in a beautiful night-sky colour scheme of black, white and blue.

Chez Bonjour

There have been plenty of wintery coastal sunrise walks this week:

A sunrise over the beach at Alexandra Headland on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
A sunrise over the beach at Alexandra Headland on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Thankfully there have been some blooms along the way to keep my spirits up!

A coastal flower bloom in ivory, mauve and gold.

And of course, the cats have been working hard. Oh sorry, I meant hardly working.

A cream and a brown Burmese cat cuddling on a grey cat bed. These siblings enjoying napping together every day.

But they sure look cute doing it!

A cream and a brown Burmese cat sleeping on a grey cat bed. They both look very relaxed. The ginger cat has fallen asleep on his back with his paws up in the air.

Have a great weekend!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the quilts and the links. Maybe sewing and reading will be a part of your ‘you-time’ this weekend. Take care and see you next time,

Kirsty x

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    10 thoughts on “Saturday Sewing with a Side of Quilts”

    1. I’m quite intrigued with the new pattern sketches and hope you can work out the details. I look forward to seeing it????

      Reply
      • Thanks for the encouragement, Pam. I will have another go at it toward the end of the week. A few days of just looking at it on the design wall will probably help with the thought process.

        Reply
      • Yes! Exactly. Mind you, I’ve yet to find any quilt they don’t approve of, ha. Mine aren’t very discerning it seems!

        Reply
    2. Don’t give up on the new quilt block idea! It looks great. I have a kite-shaped ruler (not sure who made it) but it might work for this block, along with some attached triangles for corners?

      Great blog again today. And the cats are so beautiful. Thanks!

      Reply
    3. Greetings from hot (109*F) Sacramento, CA.
      Your weekly email and blog always brightens my day. I love the variety of quilts, cats, photos and interesting sites to check out. Thank you.

      Reply
    4. Love the cats. Poor things have you been overworking them.
      They looked “conked” out. LOL
      oops like the quilts too

      Reply
      • Hi Roslyn, yes they have been working overtime – chasing geckos and chewing on things they shouldn’t be chewing! It’s exhausting work!

        Reply

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