Cherish EPP to top stage

In June of 2024 I finally finished hand-piecing together the twenty full hexagon blocks and five half hexagon blocks of my English-paper-pieced 'Cherish' quilt (pattern and EPP kidset, with acrylic templates and precut paper shapes, from Jodi at Tales of Cloth in Australia).

I had bought the kitset at the end of 2020, and ordered a fatquarter pack of Lewis and Irene (for Moda) fabrics of their Teatime range as I loved the china blues and whites; I added other blues, yellows and greens from my stash and scrap bins.

Blocks 1-10

Blocks 11-20

Having hand-stitched the 700 pieces together, I felt I should stay traditional and also have a go at hand-quilting it - though will admit to cheating/being efficient by first basting the quilt with the basting stitch on my Bernina Q20 longarm machine, which made it so quick to prepare.

Then I spent many winter evenings with some slow stitching, working my way around the blocks with Wonderfil 'Spagetti' 12wt - 3ply Egyptian cottons.

I watched a few different hand quilting tutorial videos to get some tips and chose not to work with a hoop/frame as I didn't want to have to keep adjusting it all the time.

I've got about two thirds of the blocks completed, but have not picked the project up for the past three or four months; I will get back into it maybe when the nights get darker again with autumn/winter.

Measures 60" x 64"

Allsorts For You

This one was actually finished in late 2023 but I didn't take photos until I had finished all three in 'the set' of quilts made from my licorice-allsorts-inspired fabric strips.

Measures at 38" x 46"

Licorice Allsorts and Rainbow Bars

I quilted this on my Elna 720 domestic machine, as I wanted to match up the thread colours with the fabrics and it was easier to do this on the domestic, plus the quilt is not too big to wrangle on the table-top.

I used a mixture of straight-lines, swirls, zigzags and diagonal lines, in various coloured strips, and a ribbon motif was used in the polka dot sashings.

A polka dot binding for this one!

My handy helper hubby! He's (usually) very patient...

You can check out my other quilts made with these bright strips by clicking on the 'allsort' label in the side bar.

All Out of Allsorts

 

Another of my 2024 creations using the licorice allsorts-inspired fabric strips - you can see the other creations by clicking on the 'allsorts' label in the side-bar.

I used my longarm to do straight-line ruler quilting using a variegated Wonderfil thread - Fabulux trilobal 40wt polyester 'Ocean Breeze', which ran so beautifully through my Bernina Q20 longarm - and I love the way the colours show up in the white areas (where I simply followed the same lines of the black sashings).

It is 46" x 54" in size.

This one is staying at home on our sofa as I love the bright colours.

Licorice Allsorts and Rainbow Bars

Love a striped binding!  And made use of some prints from my stash for the backing.

This was the final quilt made with the colourful strips, so I am now officially all out of allsorts!

Rainbow Bars of (All) Sorts

Using up leftovers from this quilt and I think this was one of my favourite finishes of 2024!

I love licorice All Sort lollies and the longer Rainbow Bars.

My workmate Andrea Russell admired this one when I first shared a finished photo earlier in the year, so found herself the recipient of it as a Christmas/thanks-for-all-you-do gift.

Simple straight line quilting for this one, using my Bernina Q20 longarm and a ruler.

When working out a way to use up the strips in an effective and efficient manner, I decided on the graduated sizes and am really pleased with how it turned out.

Finished size is 51.5" x 54/5"

These colours, and the licorice black of the sashing, totally calls for a striped binding, and I used an orange batik from my stash for the backing.

Rainbow Bars - I think yellow is my favourite, but then again...they are all yummy!

You can see all my other quilts using the allsorts theme/colours by clicking on the label 'allsorts' in the side bar.

Cat inspection and approval given.

Gizmo -she looks grumpy but is the sweetest little cat.

Allsorts and Rainbow Bars trio

Another catch-up from 2023-24, with three lap quilts using up leftover strips - one of these having been made in December 2023, and the other two being created and finished during 2024.

I had made all these licorice allsort-themed strips (allsorts are a lolly/sweet/candy) back in 2018 for a farewell quilt for a workmate, and had overestimated how much I would need.

So I had enough for five more quilts in the past six years! Two baby quilts (for Piper Stanway and for Quinn Stanway), and then these three to finally use up all the strips...I will do a separate post for each one...

2024: All Out of Allsorts

2024: Rainbow Bars of (All)Sorts

2023: Allsorts For You

Here is a pic with some 'rainbow bars' and 'allsorts' - you can see my inspiration for the colours and stripes (and quite a few were eaten during the making of these quilts, in the interests of research of course!)

Raspberry Fling and a Summer Spin!

 

Another duo of bassinet quilts, made from leftovers and orphan blocks from this 2012 Moda Designer Mystery BOM quilt, to be donated to the NeoNatal Unit at Southland Hospital.

Raspberry Fling 19" x 20"

Both have a daisy flannel backing from my stash, and a black and white stripe binding that always looks so modern and fresh.

Summer Spin 19" x 20"

Monsters bassinet quilts

 More bassinet quilts make earlier this year, using up stash fabrics and leftovers/scraps, and offcuts of flannel. I was able to get five quilts using up this monster print...

I kept the quilting quick and simple with straight lines, zigzags, ribbons and loops, on my Elna 200 domestic machine, using thread colours to match the fabrics, and they all have a black and white stripe binding.

'A Mixture of Monsters' 18" x 22"

'Monster Mix' 18" x 21.5"

'A Mix of Monsters' 18" x 22"

'Mixed-Up Monsters' 18" x 19.5"

'Monster Mix-Up' 17" x 20"