Opps I missed a finish!

Not sure what happened but I must have been so busy with work that  I completely forgot to show you my finished wall hanging.

This pattern came from Carol Hopkins book "Civil War Legacies" which was gifted to me by Connie, when she was moving house.  The pattern has the interesting title of "Hookers Hat Patch" after General Hooker, who gave his soldiers red patches to wear on their hats.  

This wall hanging is under the 1 x 1 meter maximum size restriction imposed at our local agricultural show.  I have been asked to do some volunteer work the day prior to the show, and we promised to take the kids.  So I thought I would make an effort to put an entry in - its all about timing, the quilt was finished, the right size and I will be on hand to deliver it in time for judging!  I do not expect to win, but was happy to participate.

Happy Quilting Sue.

PS. Apparently no one else was happy to participate (or they didn't have a quilt that less then 1 m in size), because there were no other entries, so I was awarded first prize!  

My wall hanging (Hookers Hat Patch from Carol Hopkins book Civil War Legacies) has been sitting neglected for months.  I originally quilted it with Stitch in the Ditch around the blocks and simple straight lines on the border.  But I was really disappointed that the borders went wavy.  I am not sure if I blame the mitered borders or the quilting.  I am thinking blocking will potentially fix it...but I have never blocked a quilt before, so not confident of my skills.

With this minor dilemma I was tempted to just wack on the binding and claim it as a finish!
Of course after it sat neglected for months I changed my mind!  That is a quilters prerogative isn't it?  

 So I am not sure if you call this echo quilting, because it reflects the zig zag of the sashing or just chevron?  I had to make a choice at the end of the row, how to finish the pattern,  which I just made up as I went (and involved a little unpicking) but I am pleased with the end result.

Mind you the borders still ripple!

Now just need to bind it and then I can investigate blocking, to see if it solves the rippled edges.  It would be nice to call this project finished this month!

Happy quilting Sue.

Quilting Hookers Hat Patch wall hanging

Remember these little blocks?  

I think they are called Anvil blocks, but Carol Hopkins called her creation Hookers Hat Patch in her book Civil War Legacies, which is  my design source.

They have been made into a top, pinned and ready for quilting, for ages, and ages!

So I spent a day with friends doing a bit of quilting.  It was perfect really as I had to chop and change thread colours and stop and start blocks.  Chatting away as I quilted.

I finished all the little blocks, SID and the borders.  I just quilted straight lines along the stripes in the border fabric.  But now second guessing that idea as there seems to be a wobble in my edges : (

SO!  

Do I dream up some lovely little quilting design to go in the red zig zag sashing, or do I leave this space empty?

There is no rush to finish this wall hanging.  

I am just unsure if more is better or less is fine?

Happy quilting Sue.

Flimsy finish - Hookers Hat Patch

I faced my blocks in a different direction, but the instructions for this quilt came from Carol Hopkins book Civil War Legacies.  The pattern is called Hookers Hat Patch - named after the red patches General Hooker gave his troops to wear on their hats.

I cut lots of red triangles and made rows.

Stitched the rows together.

Admired the zig zag setting - which is something I have longed to do.

And bingo it was done!  Hmm not quite as easy as it sounds.

 I will be celebrating mitering the final border for a long time to come. 

I would attempt a mitred border again, but first rule, forget measuring, just use the whole strip of fabric and trim later.  I wasted good time unpicking borders because the strip wasn't long enough...I did this several times before I got my brain around the fact that you need lots of overhang to mitre a border!  I only stitched the actual mitre once...that was easy!

End result, three out of the four corners the stripes meet perfectly.  That distracts me from the points I cut off when setting the blocks.  And the fact I should have pressed open every seam on this quilt - because there are lots of lumps and bumps to deal with when I come to the quilting.  That said,  overall I am a happy quilter!

Happy quilting Sue.

A new quilt is born!

These sweet little blocks came alive in my sewing room.  I had spent a very long day making apricot jam, my first ever solo effort!  As a reward I needed to stitch something "easy". With all the lovely books I have received lately these ones spoke to me the most....after turning my bookshelf inside out and failing to find a pattern for a basket block I loved.

 What intrigues me about this block is how different it looks depending on which way you set it.  The pattern I found (by Carol Hopkins in Civil War Legacies - quilt pattern is called Hookers Hat Patch!)  is what I would call a anvil block and it sets them in a vertical zig zag - which I love, but don't think I have ever done before. 

Working from my reproduction stash I am using red, brown and gold fabrics as suggested by the author.  It is not a combination I have used before and suddenly I feel that my past use of colour has been very repetitive and safe.  So here's to interesting and new colour combinations in 2016 using new to me layouts.

Is that a sufficient excuse to be working on a quilt that is not on my wish list...when its only January?!  Some people wait til February to break their NYE resolutions!

A dive through my sewing bin uncovered enough selvedge to make a jigsaw.  I think there are enough clues here to track down some more of the lovely shirting I have been using.  The pattern calls for 28 x 3" blocks.  so I am nearly there.  Not sure I want to stop really, even though this size will make a stunning miniature.

Madness really.  Perhaps the heat has got to me?

Happy quilting Sue.