Little Log Cabin Trees become a little quilt top!

Well, I just couldn't resist joining them together!

It was a work of art squeezing enough white fabric out of the bits I had left from a previous project to make sashings and setting triangles but I made it with just inches to spare.

This was my version of a Super Bowl Sew In as I had it on TV last night while I stitched - just up to the Madonna half time show.

I haven't made many quilts 'on point' but it is something we have been discussing in my Tuesday quilt class so I thought it would be good to have a go. There you go I was 'working' after all!

I have now cut some of the very thin strips in the original bag for a very skinny border and then I need some more white on white to finish it off.

Rob is now on his way to Heathrow and my parents are on their way to Scotland so it should be a quiet week around here (hopefully!)

Little Log Cabin Trees

This weekend has been the nearest we have had to a snow weekend this winter.

For various reasons my ongoing class projects did not seem very appealing and I decided to start something new. I have loads of projects that need borders, basting or quilting but really I just wanted to piece. 'Mindless piecing' I call it, just feeding sections through the machine one after another, getting lost in the process and taking your mind off issues going on in your life.

I saw an article on the internet about these little trees and decided to give them a go. Here is the first one I made.

 It all started when I remembered these little bags of scraps I had bought at the Festival of Quilts last year. Just how much fun can you have with a £1.40 bag of fabric?  

 Well, you can make these cute little log cabins!

 But first I decided to make a batch of trees. I started with some dark brown scraps which were not in the bag and some white background squares.

 I pieced these to make little trunk sections. Then I sorted my green strips out of the scrap bag.

 The first row of the branches!

 Then the second!

 Finally the third row added, 13 little tree blocks were squared up to just under 4 inches each.
Now all I need to do is add a round of background fabric and join them together....
Or shall I make some more log cabins out of the remains of the bag?

In reality I will be ironing clothes and helping my son, Rob pack for his trip to New York which leaves tomorrow.

Wonky Trees

As you may already know I love liberated quilting and improvised piecing in particular.
In November I started a new patchwork and quilting class and decided to do some improvised piecing for the first few weeks just to get everyone loosened up.
A couple of weeks before Christmas we did wonky trees and these little beauties are what they produced!

I've got some really talented ladies in this class!

Wonky Houses at Festival of Quilts

Tonight I have arrived home happy, but tired from two days at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. The show must be the highlight for British Quilters and this year has been as enjoyable as ever.

The best things about it are - meeting up with old friends and making new ones, seeing some of the best quilts in Europe, great shopping opportunities and the feeling of being part of something special.

I really didn't want to come home when I was 'kicked out' at 5.30pm today but I have come away with lots of inspiration for future projects.
The quilts were of a really high standard as ever. My observations were - less entries from 'big names', not always agreeing with the judging, less entries from outside Europe and lots of quilts which were entered in the wrong category (makers have to decide whether their quilts are art quilts, contemporary or traditional)
As always I have taken lots of photos, over 300 actually and I will try to share some of these over the next few days.

We will start with a quilt that I came upon by accident - I didn't see it in the catalogue.
One of my current areas of interest is liberated piecing and this quilt is a masterpiece of liberated wonky houses. It has been made by 178 quilters from the Czech Republic and is 6 metres wide by 2 metres tall. It has been awarded a Guiness World Record although it was not clear what this was given for.

Lots of liberated, improvised piecing, each house individual and interesting to look at. It was a highlight of the show for me!