Sew Yummy – Where everything is yummy

Zig Zag Quilt

By Yummy | September 12, 2019

This is another of my quilts that came from the Zig Zag Nines quilt by Bonnie Hunter that I ended up deciding not make when it was already partially assembled. Crazy yes, but I just didn’t have a use for a king sized monstrosity of a quilt and the assembly of it was not going well by any stretch of the imagination.

So I made my own mini Zig Zag quilt that will go to charity.

I did some simple machine quilting using a wavy stitch on my Sapphire along the seams of the blocks and in a cross-hatch pattern. I wanted a few curves in the quilting to offset all the straight seams in the piecing.

I found a fun backing for this quilt that reminded me of the tetris video game with the little blocks of various colours.

This is another quilt off the UFO list. This makes 17 (or maybe 18 I need to double check my list) UFO’s completed this year. Sadly, I’m going to run out of year before I run out of UFO’s. However, unless I get new start happy between now and December I should start 2020 with less UFO’s than I started 2019 with, so at least progress is being made.

The big & little patch quilt

By Yummy | September 8, 2019

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I needed to make 44 – 16 patch blocks to make a border on a quilt. I’d made more than half of them when I pulled the quilt out and realised I’d been making the blocks with 2″ squares when quilt was based on 2.5″ squares. That was a fun moment – NOT. Out came the 2.5″ square bin and I had the opportunity to start back at square one. Some swearing ~~may have~~ occurred. The right blocks have now all finally been made and are waiting for me to finish off that quilt

However, rather than focus on that quilt I’ve been fixated on the 6 inch – 16 patch blocks that I made by accident. What to do with them?

I searched different settings for the blocks and my friend Bonnie suggested this one after I suggested a much more elaborate one what would have taken much more effort and time. So, I cut out sashing and made some four patches and came up with setting that looked like this.

I liked it!

So I started sewing and eventually this is quilt top that I ended up with:

I’m really pleased with how this turned out! I see some wavy quilting to soften the straight lines but other than that I haven’t thought to much yet about how to finish it off.

I must confess, I never did make a Y2K Quilt.

By Yummy | September 5, 2019

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I had great intentions to make a Y2K/Millenium quilt back in 1999.

I traded “squishies” of fabric with other quilters from across the US and Canada and even around the globe so I’d have 2000 unique pieces of fabric to make my special quilt. But despite the best of my intentions no quilt ever got made with them. Maybe everyone else made a quilt but I never got there.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and I’ve gradually used up those squares in scrap quilts. Here is what is left of those 3″ square just prior to my cutting them down to 2.5″ squares to be added to my much more used 2.5″ square bin where I’m always looking for more variety.

I don’t think I’ve used any of the 2000 squares at the original 3″ size which makes me wonder why we traded that size in the first place.

Here is what was left in the Y2K bin after I pulled all those out:

Scraps that had no business being there. They are now in the scrap pile waiting to be cut up into usable sizes and properly sorted into their correct boxes or tossed, whatever is most appropriate.

And now I have a nice empty box:An empty box, hey, does this mean I should start a new project? I’d hate the box to suddenly feel unloved after all these many years.

Rainbow Swirl Quilt

By Yummy | September 1, 2019

24 Comments

This quilt top has been made for some time but for some reason I’ve never written about it. It’s like I made it and forgot about it. It really is too lovely a quilt to forget about.

Like everyone I get many ads for quilt patterns, fabric and supplies. Honestly, most I don’t even open as they get funnelled into folders and only looked at when I get some spare time. And the more time I spend on the computer the less time I spend creating. However this one pattern called Rainbow Swirl from the quilting company caught my eye:

I have no idea why the one dark green square (which nicely isn’t in the pattern) but I liked everything else about the quilt. It looked complicated but I crossed my fingers and downloaded it anyways.

I was quite reassured when after purchasing it to find out it was all squares and half square triangles along with good illustrations on how to put 16 sections together (4 of which are plain white). The only quibble I had with pattern was that the orange and red sections were very close in colour and hard to tell apart. But that’s me being picky and might even have been the printer.

Picking the right fabric from my stash might have been the hardest part of the quilt. I angsted for a while but I always seem to find fabric selection the trickiest part. The right fabric is key! I found some lovely Alison Glass fabric as well a some other assorted fabrics that seemed to to the rainbow effect of the star justice.

I cut the pieces and sewed the half square triangles at home and assembled and sewed the blocks together at a retreat. They quilt top went together very nicely indeed.

Here is my finished top:

Now to get it quilted (I say that a lot). I have a place on the wall for this one that is *just* big enough.

Chain Link Quilt

By Yummy | August 25, 2019

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I saw the pattern for the main block in this top somewhere on my travels on the internet. I can’t remember where it was, maybe facebook, but the block pattern stuck with me even though I read that it included partial seams.

The partial seams turned out to be simple!

I had just enough of the red fabric for the background to make 25 blocks including the optional sashing which I think really adds to the overall look:

However, it wasn’t a useful size and I had no interest in a square quilt. And I couldn’t find anymore of the red fabric even with my good google search skills. So I had to get inventive.

This is what I came up with for borders for the top and bottom of the quilt:

However that still didn’t look finished and I didn’t want to make it a square quilt by putting borders on the sides. However, the sides needed something. So I thought why not duplicate the inner (black) border treatment.

That looks more finished to me even though part of me is screaming that one needs the same border treatment on all 4 sides of the quilt.

The moral of this tale is that picking a random piece of background fabric that looks like it should be big enough and hoping it will be is not always the best plan.

Friendship Star Baby Quilt

By Yummy | August 17, 2019

14 Comments

This quilt has been sitting in the “to be finished” pile for a few years. Started at a quilt retreat a few years ago, this quilt has had its share of tribulations. First I had intended to make another quilt with these Alison Glass fabrics but I cut the grey background fabric incorrectly and had none left with which to fix my mistake.

However, I did realise that I could make friendship starts with the blocks I had cut. So I made those, only to find out I didn’t sew them all in the same direction. Some ripping out and an opportunity to resew occurred. Then I had 9 blocks and needed to set them. Now what? I had no more of the background fabric and nine 12″ blocks does not a quilt make.

I did have a kona grey one shade lighter. I decided I’d use that for sashing and borders and see how it turned out. While the difference is subtle is it noticeable when you really look at the quilt. However, I like the interest it gives the quilt. I don’t think it is too jarring to the eye.

I’m not sure where this quilt is going to end up. Im happier with it than I thought I’d be.

I finished it with simple in the ditch quilting and some denser quilting in the border. It’s 43.5″ square, and best of all it’s out of the UFO pile and finally done!

A Wider Nine Patch Quilt

By Yummy | August 12, 2019

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I wasn’t happy with the nine patch quilt as originally made. It was too long and skinny. I’m intending (as of now) for it to be a child’s charity cuddle quit but as initially made it would only be useful if the child was a skinny beanpole.

So, first I made an additional column and then another. Now it looks like a more useful and cuddly size at 48″ x 64″. I’m not sure now, however, what I want to do about borders. I sense this project might sit a while as I contemplate whether it gets quilted as is or if I make it a wee bit bigger with borders.

Nine Patch Quilt

By Yummy | August 5, 2019

8 Comments

I started making some 9 patches a la Bonnie Hunter. Scrappy whites/lights, scrappy anything goes colours, darks in the center and outside corners and lights in the other positions. I made a bunch with no real plan in mind. Simple pleasurable, mindless sewing – the best kinkd.

The a friend showed me a quilt . The idea was using a different colour stripe but I thought, why not blue? And I came up with this:

Simple, bright, easy.

I started made a whole bunch of these until this ended up being created:

I’m thinking a small white border followed by a wider blue border.

Construction notes:

9 patches are made from 2.5″ squares. Blue strip is 2.5″ x 6.5″. (6 can be cut from one WOF strip).

Bento Box Quilt

By Yummy | June 28, 2019

5 Comments

The website where I found this Bento Box quilt pattern has long since taken down the tutorial, Too bad since it was a very well written pattern so it is a pity I can not link back to it. I guess that is what happens when you work on a project for 4 or 5 years before finishing it. Good thing I had made a print out of the instructions.

I made it with a light grey background and a fat quarter bundle I received in a monthly assortment of fat quarters I was receiving from Sew Sisters Bargain Hunters Club. So pretty isn’t it? (no affiliation, yada yada).

Simple quilting using the serpentine stitch programmed into my sewing machine and straight stitching in the borders finished it off.

I’m putting this one aside for the next time I need a baby quilt for a little girl.

Fish Quilt

By Yummy | June 18, 2019

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A friend of ours is having a third baby and for each of her first two babies we made her a quilt that was “sea” themed. This time around we couldn’t find any suitable materials and were at a loss what to make until I saw a quilt on another blog called one-fish-two-fish-red-fish-blue-fish That was it! I’d make fish blocks! That would be sea themed!

I did some web surfing and found the instructions for the blocks I made on the Objects of Design blog here . I made 54 blocks using a variety of batiks and “batik like” fabrics. I then played around with some sashing ideas as I did not want the fish touching each other. I ended up using 1.5″ sashing finishing at 1″. The outside borders were 3.5″. Any wider and I’d not have been able to use WOF for backing.

Here is my finished quilt:

I used a gorgeous blue fabric for that back that reminds me of water!

The quilting was done on my sewing machine using a serpentine stitch which I think nicely mimics the look of waves.

Oh and the fish swimming the wrong way is intentional. There is always someone swimming against the stream!