Hubblebird's Quilt Blog

The last time I posted I was determined to finish blocks for the scrap quilt. But I got squirrelled! I have always admired Audrey’s (from Quilty Folk) Autumnal Tulips quilt and reading her blog about starting a new one reminded me of this. I went back to the original post Here  in 2020 and noticed that at the time she had offered a PDF download of the templates to make the block. Obviously I am well past the time date of that offer, but inspired by my (ahem throat clearing noise here) newly acquired template making skills, I wondered if I could make my own templates and make a version of the block myself? In short, making scrap quilt blocks fled into the distance for the weekend as Audrey has lit a fire in the belly to try more appliqué. So I made templates. And I made a sample block.  I wanted to use the muted tone of fabrics that Audrey favours to make up my sample.  They are old fabrics.  Some are from a jelly roll bundle that I bought to make a quilt when I firs...

Bramble Blooms Pt 2 Update Yippee! I’ve finished the centrepiece for the  Audrey’s  QAL …. and I’m so happy to have got this far.  I have a renewed admiration for all those skilled needleturn appliqué experts out there as I found my first foray into this appliqué technique enormously difficult. I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’ve improved both with stitching and placement of the appliqué pieces. The red flower, last to be sewn, is definitely the best. My first attempt at the pointy flower pot didn’t go well. The long, slim, valley at the bottom of the pointy ‘leaves’ proved impossible to appliqué.  The fabric (not the best quality) frayed terribly and I finally gave up.   Instead, I redrew my template with curves, and I found sewing these to be much more manageable.  I’m quite pleased with how the funky looking pots turned out.  They match the funky looking flowers! Tackling the mistake for the middle flower came last. In the end I decided that ...