0 tone it down {a finished quilt}

Once upon a time, way back in December last year, I fell in love with this gorgeous quilt and could not help but run to the store to get my copy of American Patchwork magazine and start cutting my fabric and piecing all the tiny squares together right away and I was smitten.

I chose lots of low volume fabrics from my stash and decided to go for sort of vintage, faded vibe. This one is my absolute favorite block.

I decided to make 12 blocks to make a nice throw sized quilt and everything was going great. Then I pieced all the blocks together and I was no longer in love :(. The quilt seemed "too busy"??? So, it sat in a dark closet for couple of weeks and then one day I suddenly knew that a little "quilt surgery" might be just the right fix.

 I decided to rip out the two very busy sashing strips and replace then with plain white fabric instead. It worked!!! Now, the whole surgery turned out to be a lot more complicated then I first thought, but it was so very worth it. 

My quilt top was a lot more balanced now and I loved it once again, yay! Very dramatic, I know :)

I did these continuous eights/ wishbones quilting and while it definitely is not perfect, I think I'm finally getting better with my FMQ. The only thing that is kind of bugging me is that after washing and drying the quilt became a lot more crinkled than I'd prefer. Any idea why sometimes quilts crinkle more than other times? I wonder, is it the quilting that determines that? I mean, I still like it, I would just prefer it to be more flat.

I really love this big gingham I chose for the backing. I think it complements the old fashioned look of the quilt quite well.

And yes, this is what happens when my son helps with taking pictures. Dragging the quilt all over the grass is an essential step in making the quilt "ours". Yes, yes, my heart did a few skips when I saw what he was doing, but thankfully the quilt did not sustain any grass or mud stains. Phew!

Long post, right? Thanks for reading. Svetlana

Detail: tone it down {a finished quilt}

0 winter wonderland sewing

Hello, happy Monday to you all!

I thought we would all be back to our regular routine of school and work as this was supposed to be my kids first day of school this year, but our winter weather decided otherwise.

See, this is our backyard. Beautiful, that's for sure but also very, very cold (wind chill dropped all the way down to -40 degrees!!! today).

Schools are closed and our houses look like queen Elsa from newest Disney movie Frozen came and did some decorating :) Not bad, I say, but it would be quite nice to go out and enjoy all this beauty without freezing in seconds.

So, I decided happy bright fabrics were just the cure for winter blues. Hopefully by the time I finish stitching these epp lozenges together I will actually know what to use them for. I thought of making a pillow at first, but now I'm thinking a tote bag might be a way to go???

I've also made quite a progress on my Tone it Down quilt. I have 12 blocks finished so far but I'm simply not sure how I feel about it right now. I might be getting a little tired of low volume :( Or maybe I just made it too busy? Can low volume be too busy? See? Maybe I just need to get out to clear my head. Let's hope for nicer weather soon :)

Hope you're all staying warm and safe. Svetlana

Detail: winter wonderland sewing

0 lately

Hello, how's everyone doing?

We're enjoying a relaxed but very cold and snowy winter break. It's been snowing for days and roads are in terrible condition, but I'm quite enjoying our being house bound, as I got a few more blocks for my Tone it Down quilt finished.

This one is my favorite so far. I was planning on using only green, blue, gray, and low volume fabrics for the quilt, but it felt like it was missing something. So I decided to add some peach/ pink, yellow, as well as some grayish black and I think the whole color scheme works a lot better this way.

I also did tons of epp, I keep all the supplies in my Sew Together Bag which makes making a few hexies here and there so much easier.

These lovely enlongated hexagons (lozenges) might be my very favorite epp shape ever and I'm planning on turning them into a scrappy pillow cover. Should be fun :)

Hope 2014 is off to a good start for all of you, too.

Svetlana

Detail: lately

0 tone it down {starting a new quilt}

Somehow, in the middle of all the hustle and bustle to get things ready for Christmas, I started a new quilt. How could I not, though?

As soon as I came across Tone it Down quilt pattern by Lisa Alexander (pattern can be found in February 2014 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine) I knew I had to give it a try. This is a low volume quilt with an instant vintage charm which I love very, very much these days.

The blocks are a little time consuming but that's perfectly fine with me as I'm in no rush with this quilt and enjoy working on each block immensely.

There's a quilt along going on in blogland and lots of amazingly talented peeps are making their own versions of Tone it Down. Want to see? Click here.

Off I go, more Christmas prep to be done. Talk to you soon. Svetlana

Detail: tone it down {starting a new quilt}