Hello, and welcome back to Bonjour Quilts. Looking for some distraction from the fact that it’s mid-September already? You’re in the right place! Read on for all the news.
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What I’m Sewing…
Now that my citron yellow and teal quilt is all sewed together I was able to fold it up and get it off my design wall.
It looks a bit rough as I haven’t ironed any of the inter-block seams yet. I figure it’ll need an iron right before I baste it so I might as well save myself an iron now.
My design wall was finally free so I put up the scrappy Bottomless Bear Paw blocks that I’ve been working on.
I sewed up 10 lower-volume Bear Paw blocks to test how I want to edge this quilt top. You can see them to the left and right of the brighter blocks. Mainly light aqua and light blue with low-volume/white/grey. I do like the lighter blocks around the edges, but I might play with some other layouts too. Perhaps alternating light and dark block columns?
While I was mulling over the Bear Paw blocks, I may have accidentally started another quilt. The problem was I saw this lovely collection of Ruby Star Society fabrics that were purchased a couple of months ago.
I’m sure the Bear Paws won’t mind hanging out on the design wall for a while. After all, they have some good company:
That’s Tigger doing his best impression of a guard cat. Guarding is very tiring work it would seem.
While Tigger was sleeping on the job I got all my fabric cut:
And then began the tedious job of drawing diagonal pencil lines on the back of my squares. I love half-square triangles (HSTs) but not so much this part of the process. I have tried tape on my machine for seam guidance, but it doesn’t work very well for me. I keep coming back to this tried-and-true method. Although I am curious about those who have rigged up a laser pointer over their machine to create a laser line. That might be one to try.
Once the HSTs were sewn I did have to move the guard cat from the ironing board. He’s quite a curious fellow (sticks his nose into many things, literally) so it wouldn’t have been safe to have him up there.
That’s about a quarter of the HST blocks I need sewn up and trimmed. I’ll keep working on them through the week and see how far I can get.
Around the Interwebs…
Have you started sewing for the Spooky Season yet? Check out this blog post for tons of Halloween quilt ideas.
If you haven’t got a Halloween quilt in you this year, maybe a smaller project? There’s this fun appliqué skull pillow, a patchwork trick-or-treat bag, FPP Halloween pumpkin ornaments or these cute little critters.
These embroidery patterns: uncomplicated, elegant, beautiful.
How about some cross-stitch inspired by patchwork? For those times when you want to work small scale.
I love this Instagram account full of fun jewellery for casual days (because it’s nice to feel well put-together even when you don’t have a special occasion).
National Jelly Roll Day
Did you know that 21 September is National Jelly Roll Day? A completely made up holiday created to sell fabric, but hey, as long as you go into it with your eyes open it’s okay, right? Ha!
I have 3 quilt patterns that are jelly roll compatible, so in honour of this great day let’s check them out (along with some gorgeous versions sewn by readers). And let’s have a sales code, shall we? Use JELLY at the checkout for 20% off any/all of these jelly roll patterns!
1: Stash Knockout Quilt
The Stash Knockout quilt pattern has instructions for using FQs, but can be easily adapted to use jelly rolls (and scraps). With 5 quilt sizes, you should be able to find a version that suits your stash requirements.
Here’s Cheryl’s lovely version, sewn with alternating rows of blue and green fabrics:
Debbie’s version shows you can combine smaller amounts of several jelly roll colours to create a modern looking colour-blocked quilt. I really love this photo of her quilt top up against the light.
Terry’s version of Stash Knockout is a sultry combination of jungle greenery and delightful florals:
Jenae sewed up this fresh version of Stash Knockout with patterned blues and low volume fabrics. Love the swirled quilting as well!
2: Star Sweep Quilt
The Star Sweep Quilt has instructions for 5 quilt sizes, baby to king. It can be sewn up with all manner of fabric cuts – jelly rolls, fat quarters, scraps. Very flexible and another great stash buster!
Here are two more, both sewn by Narelle in two different colourways. They’re both very joyful and show how you can really have fun with this pattern and the fabric you might have at hand.
Cheryl sewed up a fantastic lap quilt using Star Sweep as a foundation. She then used some of the stitch-and-flip offcuts to create an extra border of her own. I love to see how you adapt these patterns to your own purposes!
3: Window Panes Quilt
The Window Panes quilt pattern also has instructions for 5 quilt sizes, baby to king. It’s also a great way to use up your stash as it works with jelly rolls, fat quarters, scraps, larger remnants. You can also have a lot of fun with the fabric placement in this one – here’s a post with a bunch of mocked up options to fire your imagination.
As always, I love it when you all add your own mods to these patterns. Here Eileen sewed up the twin size for her young son, but included a very cute alphabet panel in the centre. Great work!
Cheryl also thought outside the box with fabric placement (and worked with what her stash had) to create a modern quilt with an abstract Mondrian air. I love how these quilts all look so very different but use the same pattern!
I hope you enjoyed this show-and-tell and that it inspires you to sew with some jelly rolls this week. And don’t forget, if you’d like 20% off any (or all) of these three quilt patterns, just use the code JELLY in the shop. Happy sewing!
Chez Bonjour…
It feels like it’s been a hectic week, probably because it’s the last week of Term 3. Our youngest 2 kids will have two weeks’ school holiday and they are quite ready for a rest. The eldest headed back to his interstate uni last weekend, and our daughter, who is first year uni, is still soldiering on.
We had a visit from a kookaburra through the week. Poor fella flew into our pool fence (I felt so bad about that). He sat on the fence for an hour and then flew off, so I guess he was just a bit dazed. I hope he’s okay and eating lizards in someone’s back yard.
I’ve managed several coastal walks this week, here in our corner of the Sunshine Coast.
We’re very lucky to live here, and I feel very grateful every time I see these lovely ocean landscapes.
Cats’ Corner
If you’re new to Bonjour Quilts, let me introduce you to our Burmese cats, Tigger (orange) and Lulu (brown). They are 2.5 years old, mischievous, tolerant of cuddles and face kisses, and generally keep us all very entertained. They do occasionally chew on things I’d rather they leave alone, but hey, them’s the breaks!
Have a great weekend!
Time for me to sign off. I hope you’ll find some time this weekend for stitching, crafting, or making of some kind. There’s something special about creating with your hands—it’s like a little retreat for the mind and soul. Enjoy yourself!
Until next time,
Kirsty x
Well I know that the AQS doesn’t come to your part of the world – but – there is a company in Florida that sells small led lights that you Velcro to the machine and one of those is a laser. I use just the light one to help me see. Maybe google to see it. Can’t tell you the name at this time as on vacation so no access to lamp.
Thank you, Shirley, I’ll have a google around and see what I can see. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know!
I always look forward to seeing what you and the cats are up to. The quilts are so fun. Color really does make a difference. And your photography is spectacular. I think I need to put Australia on my list of places to visit! Have a wonderful time sewing.
Hi Carolyn, you should definitely come visit Australia – lots of colour, water and sunshine!
My electronic Brother quilting/sewing machine has a laser; and it can be shifted left and right if needed. It’s a HUGE help when sewing diagonals, especially if you’re batching them.
That sounds brilliant, thanks for letting me know about this one!
Love all the pictures, thank you for sharing. Hope birdie is doing wekk
Thanks Reabecca, I’m sure the kookaburra is fine, he was looking around and appeared quite alert before he flew off. He was probably embarrassed that he flew into our fence!
I would love to have some of the crown fabric. Where can I find it?
Hi Cheryl, that fabric is by Ruby Star Society and it’s called Coronation. It comes in a couple of lovely colours, although it is an older line. I googled it and found a few shops with it for sale. Try a google search and hopefully a shop close to you (or at least in your country, for postage) will pop up.
I love seeing your patterns and designs and especially you cats
Ann
Thanks Ann. Sometimes I think I should rename the blog Bonjour Chats!
I have a Baby Lock Unity with a built in laser light and that, combined with Diagonal Seam Tape saves me hours when doing HST’s! I love it! I love your newsletter (and the cats!). Thank you for adding brightness to my day!
Oh, a built in laser light – that is really clever! I will have to remember that when it comes time to upgrade my sewing machine. Thanks so much for the tip, Linda!
So that’s what a kookaburra looks like! Singing that song for years, but they are not seen here. Love the kitties! Wish I could sleep that well, my daughter’s cats are also pros at sleeping! NOW the plethora of quilts! WOW Every one is beautiful! Wonderful how the color change can make an entirely different feeling! First signs of fall here. Thanks for all the wonderful pics and stories!
Hi Joan, thanks for dropping by! Yes, the kookaburra is quite a handsome bird, native to Australia and New Guinea I believe, so I guess you’ll be waiting a while to see one in Canada! I’m not sure how they’d go with your winters!
The cats really are Olympic level sleepers. Although Tigger has a habit of checking that everyone is breathing at 3am. He will come in, jump up on the bed and stand on you (for me, he always stands right on my bladder) and once you stir (thinking he wants a cuddle or to get under the covers with you) he goes away as quickly as he came. We all get the same treatment (some of us are better at waking up than others) and then he goes to sleep with the last person, happy that he’s sure we’re all still alive! He’s a funny cat.