Wednesday 12 August 2015

The start of a new quilt

It's always so exciting starting a new project.  I have wanted to make a rainbow quilt for quite a while now so took the plunge and started cutting.  I bought a Sissix die cutter last year and I love it.  It certainly made cutting out the rectangles far quicker than rotary cutting and because I folded the fabric I was able to cut 6 or 7 at a time so I have a nice pile of ready cut fabric for when I want to make another project.
I had already cut some red rectangles at the start of the year so up first was the yellow fabric:


Such pretty scraps - I can't bear to throw them away so they have been put aside for a rainy day!



For the first time ever I bought some fat 1/4s at the Festival of Quilts - it was wonderful to be cutting them straight away instead of stashing them on my shelves.


The oranges were next.


I finally got round to making up a design board.  This one is very temporary but what a difference it made.  Immediately upon putting the fabric on the board I could see that some fabrics just were not going to work whilst on the cutting mat they seemed to all tone together nicely.  As you can I am short of one yellow fabric, which I think I have now rectified, and I am not entirely happy with the green column either .....


The general detritus that accumulates on a cutting table ....


A rainbow of scraps!


I started sewing the pieces together and really like the way it's coming together.  There is going to be a very small white line between the two columns of the same colour with a wider sashing between the separate colours and I've then a couple of other ideas to play with.

Linking up today with Let's Bee Social #85 at Sew Fresh Quilts.

14 comments:

  1. Greens can be a tricky color to find in fabrics. There seem to be so many more muted and brown/green tones than brighter jewel town greens. I like your idea for separating the two color columns differently than between colors.

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    1. Yes I have lots of green rectangles that have been rejected and still not really happy but will just have to go with it!

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  2. this is going to be a rainbow delight! Can't wait to see more!!

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    1. Thanks Jayne - in my head the finished quilt is great!

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  3. I know what you mean about waiting to cut into new fabrics... when I'm in the middle of a project and then have to wait to cut into them it's almost torture. It looks like a very lovely start and you just can't go wrong with so much color! Sometimes if I run into something that is not working, I just sit on it overnight and let it marinate. It happened the other day, that I was running into a roadblock with one of my projects. I left it for the evening and went to bed... the next morning I knew how to fix it!

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    1. Usually I would leave it but this is for a deadline. I also have two child free days tomorrow and Friday so really just need to get on with it!

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  4. Beautiful colours! And I am *so* jealous of your trip to Festival of Quilts! I went last year and had a blast, but was at a family wedding this year (still a blast, but much less quilty!). I smiled at you getting to cut into your new FQs already, I only just started cutting some of last year's haul up. :)

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    1. I am not very good at actually cutting fabric but when I returned from NZ a few years ago I couldn't bring all my fabric back with me ....... OK I bought 5 boxes but the rest I had to give to friends, freecycle or donate to charity shops. I learnt my lesson!

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  5. This looks beautiful and I love your rainbow of scraps photos!

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    1. I love fabric scraps - will probably keep these on a shelf for a couple of years and then let them go ....

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  6. I agree... new projects are so much fun! Your rainbow quilt is looking fabulous up on your design wall. Can't wait to see your progress!

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    1. Thanks Lorna. I am on a deadline with this so hopefully progress will be pretty speedy!

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  7. It's looking good! Love your idea of the thin strips between each colour in the columns. Hope you're still having fun :)

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  8. In theory the thin were wonderful but in practice they are taking a long time to iron right so that it actually looks straight - or straight'ish!

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