Tag Archives: Westalee Rulers

Scrappy Sunscreen


Old (… cringe …) blocks put to use at last.

Oh what was I thinking! Where did these fabrics come from? I must have ‘acquired’ them some how, way, way, waaay back on this patchwork quilting journey.

I do remember using them to learn this technique, but obviously put the blocks aside in the depths of the stash. Not letting them go to waste, they made another piece for quilting decisions.

No, the corner points where the blocks meet don’t match and the blocks were not even the same size! Some creative ‘fudging’ was needed to put it together.

Although the main block has a strong visual look, I decided to quilt in the secondary ‘square’ pattern using Westalee’s ‘Spin-e-fex’ Quilting ruler. That would hold down the strip piecing seams. With so many mismatched colours perhaps a variegated thread would make a good choice. It was okay but the quilting got lost, so an echo in a solid colour helped make it pop out a bit more.

That left the centres of each block and the myriad of seams where the blocks join together. The Westalee ‘Stepping Out – Yin & Yang’ ruler made this part quick and easy.

Oh, and UFO #5 for 2019 is finished!

So why is it called ‘Scrappy Sunscreen’? Our car is also getting on in years, made before windows included UV protection for the interior. The back window ledge is exposed to fading, so not only does this provide protection but it helps find the car in the supermarket car park!

Yes it too will fade over time, and who knows what it’s next use will be – perhaps as a pet blanket?

RobynsPatch

Snuggle and Read

It’s ‘Hearty’

One of my book club friends had a significant birthday, so of course a small lap quilt was the go! Just the thing to snuggle up with a good book during these cold winter months.

’Pink’ is her favourite colour, and with that start, it was off to the stash to find – luckily – enough fabrics for the task. As the birthday was imminent, it needed to be a quick simple design. Squares and rectangles lend themselves to chain piecing for a fast sew of a pattern, easy done!

‘Snuggle and Read’ a quilt for Jo’s birthday (bookclub)

Stitching in the ditch to anchor the blocks, mmmm …, okay but needs more than that to give it another level of ‘looking’.

What quilting would suit, and which quilting rulers to use – just love this part of the process – is the challenge. Two Westalee Rulers, the small arc template and the heart template fit like a glove.

Heart template

Quilting pattern of arcs and hearts

RobynsPatch

‘Snowflake Fury’

UFO #1 for 2019 Finished!

This one was four large blocks left over from a quilt, just laying around waiting patiently for being put together and quilted.

Joining up the blocks was the easy bit.

What quilting to put on it was the hard bit. A dark thread wouldn’t show up on the black and a light thread wouldn’t show up on the red, and ditch quilting would make it very bland.

Which thread – a variegated grey on top and in the bobbin.

What to quilt became easy using the Westalee Ruler Foot  ‘Spin-e-fex Snowflake Templates 1 and 2, and the straight edge of the 12″ arc ruler,  to make the patterns.

So the block centres became the framed snowflake…

Block centre

The centre of the quilt became a smaller version, which also sat on the centre side edges …

Centre of the quilt

While a simpler version sat along the block joins, and the corners …

Block joins

When quilted and bound it became ‘Snowflake Fury’!

‘Snowflake Fury’ – 4 large block quilt.

Now to go and pick out the next UFO project!

RobynsPatch

 

Shift the Schedule and Do the Deadline!

Just when I thought I had the schedule for 2017 UFO’s mapped out, along came a Deadline.

Family handsome lad had his First Birthday coming up! So, dig through the stash – ’cause I’m not supposed to be starting anything new! – and found a hidden gem of fabrics and pattern tucked away in one of those tubs in DH’s shed.

Piecing the top went fairly quickly, next the quilting and ‘How to Quilt It?’

Ditch stitching each block to anchor the quilt is a first must. Then stepping back to let the quilt suggest it’s own pattern – it’s a one block quilt that uses light and dark value of bright colours to show depth. After that out came the Westalee Rulers, and on with the Westalee Ruler Foot.

Using two rulers from the Sampler Set, and alternating them between the two blocks, gave the quilt the interest of close up detail.

'Lachlan's Quilt' by RobynsPatch

Matching thread colour to light value fabric and using the ‘Spinifex’ ruler.

'Lachlan's Quilt' by RobynsPatch

Matching thread colour to darker value fabric and using the ”Circle” ruler.

I missed the Deadline by a few days, but met the Schedule by improving my finishing rate! Phew – that’s another one done! But there’s still left over fabric in the tub, perhaps enough for …think about that later.

'Lachlan's Quilt' by RobynsPatch

‘Lachlan’s Quilt’ by RobynsPatch

On the back, animals to delight any little boy.

'Lachlan's Quilt' by RobynsPatch

Backing fabric has jungle animals.

Time to work on another UFO…

RobynsPatch