Liberty Stars Quilt – In the beginning

April 19, 2015 jessica Leave a comment

Last year I signed up to Liberty Club #2 with Polka Dot Tea Fabrics, and I could not be happier with the variety of beautiful Liberty prints picked each month by Danielle and Jeannette. I’m getting fat sixteenths which measure approximately 10″ by 13.5″ (or 25cm by 34cm), the Liberty fabrics are 54″ wide so the cuts are more generous than your standard cottons. There are currently Liberty Club places available, you can sign up on their website.

Liberty Stars Quilt - Stars 001-008 — Liberty Stars Quilt – Stars 001-008

I’ve been a bit scared to cut into my Liberty stash but I thought maybe just a little bit off each piece would be a good start and a great way to showcase my collection over time. I’ve been wanting to start a slow-go project to, particularly eyeing off 60 degree / 6 point English Paper Pieced stars. It’s a perfect match and so my Liberty Stars Quilt project was born. I’ll be posting progress shots on Instagram using #libertystarsquilt or you can follow me @pescapresents to.

Liberty Stars Quilt - Star 009 — Liberty Stars Quilt – Star 009

I’ve chosen 1½” 60 degree diamonds, each side of the diamond is 1½” long, the angle of the acute (pointy) end is 60 degrees, and it takes 6 of the diamonds to create a full star: 6 x 60 degrees = 360 degrees, a full circle – woohoo maths! As shown in the picture below, the stars measure 4½” across and about 5¼” top to bottom (tip to tip through the middle).

Liberty Stars Quilt - 60 degree / 6 point stars — Liberty Stars Quilt – 60 degree / 6 point stars

I cut 2, 2″ strips (less than 1/4 of each piece) from which I could get 8 diamonds, you only need 6 for the star and I’ve saved all the spare pairs for more mixed stars.

Libery Stars Quilt - Stars 010-012 — Libery Stars Quilt – Stars 010-012

I cut the fabrics for my first 20-30 stars and pieced the first 8 stars while away for a long weekend in December 2014, it’s a nice easy take-anywhere project and it’s intended to be a slow project, just a few here and there and while I’m away. I haven’t decided on a layout or background fabric yet but I’m sure that will come with time, I don’t even know what size I’m aiming for, something decent between large lap and bed-ish size I guess but I haven’t done the math to calculate any rough requirements yet. I’m just enjoying making stars and having a close look at each and every one of these beautiful Liberty fabrics.

Liberty Stars Quilt - Stars 013-016 — Liberty Stars Quilt – Stars 013-016

I wish I knew what each and every fabric was, I don’t have it to hand but if there’s one in particular you like I should be able to find out.

sewing machines

Juki Update

February 11, 2015 jessica Leave a comment

Almost two years on and I’m still completely in love with my girl Suki, a Juki TL-98P. Seems I’m not the only one either, my previous post from when I first got this machine has been the most popular post on my blog ever since.

She gets plenty of attention when we go out to, every sew day there’s someone who wanders over… “Oh, so this is the Juki!” and I tell them all about how awesome she is. She’s not light to carry around but now that I’m used to sewing with her it’s worth the effort. At home she sits in my “proof of concept” aka hacked together drop in table, more on that and my new sewing space in an upcoming post!

I’m now lost without my knee lift when I jump on another machine (though I kind of wish it was a little bit further to the right, and maybe not so low). I’ve also mastered the knack of the needle threader, yeay! All in all, she’s awesome and we really understand each other now.

As a follow up I contacted Juki to ask if there was any update on the possibility of an equivalent to the TL-2010 Q (available in the US) being released for those of us on a 240V power supply, but unfortunately there are no plans for one (I’m getting better with pedal control but would still love the speed limiter).

That’s ok, the TL-98P is still a great machine and I’d buy a new one in a heart beat, hopefully when I do Suki can go to someone else who wants to try the Juki without committing to the full purchase price of a new machine, and they’ll fall in love with her to.

The rep from Juki Singapore (a Juki subsidiary and regional HQ covering Oceania and Asia Pacific) was really helpful and also let me know they would be at the AQC Show in Melbourne this year, April 16-19 2015. They’ll have the Juki TL-98P there to see, and will be introducing the TL-2200QVP (a long arm quilting machine), along with their other machines. If you’ll be there go check them out.

If you can’t make it to the show, the official dealers in Australia are:

Sewing Machine Warehouse – Penrith, NSW
Sewing Machine City – Bayswater, VIC
John Watts Sewing & Quilting – Booval, QLD

I have it on good authority that Capron Carter in Sydney also sell them and I’m in the process of contacting some other stores to find out where else you can get a Juki TL-98P, the most common thing I hear is that no one has ever seen them in a store. It’s true they’re not readily available but it’s worth the extra effort to find one.

If you have a Juki, I’d love for you to get in touch, leave a comment or shoot me an email. If you have questions about the Juki TL-98P, just pop them below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Edit: I’m so happy to hear that Juki now have an Aussie Brand Ambassador, my friend Molli Sparkles, who’ll be down at AQC to help demonstrate the TL-98P and all their wonderful machines!

finishes, quilting

Quilts for Lachlan & Heidi

January 30, 2015 jessica Leave a comment

Hello! I’m still here! Went a little bit AWOL from blogland for a bit there. The 1st Modern Quilt Show Australia back in May last year was a huge success (more on that to come) but boy, was I wiped out afterwards. Just as I was getting my sewjo back a couple months later, we went and bought a house (as you do) and so everything was packed up and moved and unpacked. There was just enough time to settle in before all the Christmas/Birthday craziness, with a few house warming parties thrown in for good measure and so here we are at the end of January and I’m finally getting back in the groove.

I have been sewing & quilting a bit here and there and popping pics up on instagram. Now I finally have a handful of fun things to share with you all, including a couple of special quilts for two awesome little people.

First up is Lachlan’s quilt, a Single Irish Chain in rainbow colours over a silvery mid-grey solid background. It worked out about 42″ square.

Simple straight line quilting outlines the chains in both directions, and bright blue binding keeps things fun.

For the back I used a darker grey (which I secretly prefer and wish I used it on the front to, the colours pop right off it). Both quilts have their name and the year embroidered on as a simple label.

Heidi’s quilt features pinwheels, made up using the leftover HSTs from another quilt I’m still working on. This quilt measures about 36″ x 47″.

The fabric line is Domestic Bliss by Moda, with Moda Solid in Snow as the background. I’ve quilted straight lines in the sashing and border to help define the individual pinwheels, and hand quilted inside the background on each pinwheel using Perle 8 thread. This was actually my first attempt at borders, for some reason those long strips scare me but at least on this smaller quilt it worked out ok.

I love this binding, is there anything Architextures Crosshatch (in Plum) cannot do? Another embroidered name & year.

I hope to see both these quilts being dragged around, snuggled with on the lounge, used as picnic blankets outside and maybe occasionally make it back onto the beds of two adorable little munchkins.

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday!

aussie modern instabee

Aussie Modern Instabee – April

June 19, 2014 jessica 2 Comments

Yep I realise it’s June. I fell a bit behind with my Aussie Modern Instabee blocks which my bee mates have been very understanding about.

On the plus side, it has worked out that I’m making the same block pattern for both April and June so getting all the cutting done at the one time and making a single text block has been great.

Here’s my Trellis Crossroads test block in my colour scheme of rich jewel tones & a scrappy low volume background. I played around with my fabrics to make a bit of a gradient around the quarters.

And here’s my April block for Claire who requested emerald greens with a pop of orchid on a medium grey background which she supplied. I was a bit low on greens so it was a great excuse to extend the range of greens I had. There are some real beauties in there including Botanics with a hint of metallic gold, Terra Australis, Saffron Craig & Pearl Bracelets to name a few.

Unlike me, the bee mates I’ve had so far have all been super prompt in sending their blocks to me. Clockwise from the top-left we have my March block from Natasha, May block from Crystal, June block from Clare and my April block from Liz.

I’ve got my June block cut out and ready to go (the same Trellis Crossroads pattern as above) and my May test block has been done so I’ll be taking those along to the Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild Sew Day this Saturday and I should be all caught up!

sunday stash

Sunday Stash – Catchup

June 15, 2014 jessica 6 Comments

I may have been quiet here recently but not for lack of new fabric acquired, so what better way to resurface than with a Sunday Stash (linking up with Quilt Show Winner Molli Sparkles), and a sneak peek at what’s been keeping me busy (psst… it’s sparkly!)

Sunday Stash - Fat Quarters from Kate Quilts — Making more of an effort to buy citrus colours, the purple is from Collage which I’ve always wanted and the kitties were just too cute. All purchased from Kate Quilts at the Quilt Show.

Today I’m sharing the fabric I picked up at Australia’s First Modern Quilt Show. April was a whirl wind of helping to get everything organised for the show and not a lot in the way of sewing, except for the quilt sleeves on the back of my quilts.

Sunday Stash - Low Volume Fat Quarters from Kate Quilts — Adding to my mini stash of low volume from Kate Quilts, these have been great for the Aussie Modern Instabee

It was hectic but all worth it, we were so happy with how everything went and that so many people came to visit.

Australia's First Modern Quilt Show — The main hall of Australia’s First Modern Quilt show, see more photos over on Instagram #modernquiltshowau

We also had a wonderful range of stalls who I was more than happy to support, I just wish I has some more time to go shopping. I did get to go visit My Patch Fabrics in Milton after the show and picked up a few more low volume pieces to.

Sunday Stash - Screen Prints from Ettie + Marion — These beautiful fabrics were hand screen printed by Minevra who launched Ettie + Marion at the show. The octopii were a bit creepy at first but I think they’re more friendly in peach.

As soon as the show was over I was straight back onto another project, a costume that had to be ready by the end of May (eek!) for WAMED, the West Australian Middle Eastern Dance Festival. Lucky I enjoy hand sewing because this was pretty much all done by hand. The sequins are a fabric, I’m not quite crazy enough to sew all those on individually but it is a pain to sew through. The beads and crystals take a while but they’re sparkly and pretty to look at so not all bad.

Anubis Costume - original design by Virginia Keft-Kennedy — Anubis Costume – so shiny, yet tricky to capture in a photo!

The costume is an original design by Virginia Keft-Kennedy with each of the seven performers designing their own motifs. Being creative on a short deadline isn’t always fun but I’m happy with how all the motifs turned out.

Pesca Presents

Liberty Stars Quilt – In the beginning

Juki Update

Quilts for Lachlan & Heidi

Aussie Modern Instabee – April

Sunday Stash – Catchup

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