Posted on by agilejack

BQ2 Blocks Sewn and a Special Gift

I played pickleball early this morning and got my dogs out for a walk this afternoon while the sun was out. It was beautiful, but chilly. It finally feels like winter has arrived. But no snow yet. I’m fine with that since it was a year ago now that I went four days without power in frigid temps. I’m happy to have relatively nice weather a year later.

I had the evening free so decided to dig in and sew my BQ2 blocks together. There are only 20 blocks so It didn’t take long. I think I had it done in about 90 minutes.

I’m still going to add borders to this but my calculations tonight presented some bad news…

I need 7 width of fabric strips 4 inches wide which translates to 28 inches of fabric. I only have 25 inches of the sunflower fabric. So I went ahead and ordered another yard. I’ll be happy to have some left in my stash since I love this fabric so much.

While I was at it I bought a few other pieces because my sewing room is not quite filled to the top with fabric.

There is something very satisfying about pressing a quilt top when it’s all sewn together.

It’s a great opportunity to relish the colors in these gorgeous fabrics.

So now onto the special gesture…

A few days ago I received a package from Wendy at www.sewcolorful.com. She wanted to send me a package to help spur my creative juices.

She sent me a fat quarter bundle of some of the new William Morris fabrics that were colorized by Kaffe Fassett. It’s really fun to see the fabrics because it’s unlikely I will see them in person in any of my local fabric stores. Of course the colors are amazing!

She also sent some chocolate truffles, which did NOT last very long, and a packet of wonder clips with some adorable doggie paper clips.

Huge thank you to Wendy for this kind and caring gesture. I’m already well into planning what I’ll do with these fabrics. . .

I’ve been wanting to make a quilt called Kavala for several years. I first saw it on Instagram posted by Mrsmagillaquilts in Australia. The account owner, Tanya, has a really cool style to the quilts and other stuff she makes. You should definitely take a look at her Instagram page.

Anyway, she made the Kavala quilt several years ago and I fell in love with it. Here’s her version.

The pattern is from an old magazine and has been unavailable for years. I was incredibly lucky to get a copy of the pattern. But even without the pattern it would be pretty easy to figure out.

When I looked at the Kaffe/William Morris fabrics from Sew Colorful, I thought it would be fun to use them for this quilt. So I dug into my KFC stash and started pulling some smaller scale fabrics to pair with the fat quarters.

I selected one KFC fabric for each of the fat quarters. I went with small scale prints so the new fabrics will be the star.

I like all the combos but am having a bit of a challenge with the one in the lower right. I ordered a couple fabrics that might work better with that print. There is the tiniest turquoise vein running through the blue leaves. That’s the color I’d like to use with this print. But I’m going to try a few options to see what works best.

I’m pretty happy with all the other combos. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make two blocks out of each combo but I have no idea if the fat quarter will be enough since the blocks are so big. The blocks are 15 inches so it won’t take very many. I’m going to wait a few days before I dig in on this new project.

I think I’ll finish up the brown batik quilt top while I’m ruminating on my version of the Kavala quilt. It will go together quickly.

26 Replies to “BQ2 Blocks Sewn and a Special Gift”

  1. How special to get a present through the post. I love that. And what a lovely gift they all are too. Love the look of your combos with the KFCs added.

    I’m just beginning a hugely daunting challenge of making a velvet bedspread for my daughter and SIL. Essentially its a series of Ohio stars with alternte rows of square in a square blocks. Velvet is damn tricky so wish me luck.

    Have fun with your making. Send a thought of encouragement and any tips dear readers!

    Lindy x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. I am glad your creative juices are flowing again! It’s always a treat to see a post! Love the BQ2 quilt. I can’t wait to see what you do with the Morris/Kaffe fabric. I ordered some to make a dress. 🙂 Marie-Claude

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I want the borders wider for a bigger impact and the proportion I want. and I might even make them wider now that fabric is coming!

      You can find the BQ2 pattern for sale online.

      Anne

      Like

      Reply

  6. Congrats on getting your mojo back. Love the direction you’re going with the Kavala quilt. It’s a very unique pattern that I haven’t seen but I’m sure once you post there will be a multitude of copies😁 . It’s always fun to be inspired by your creativity!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. absolutely love the sunflower quilt! The combination of colors is one of my favorites! I get stuck with a lot of purples because I love them and this helps break me away! Simply beautiful

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. I love your quilt. I made that pattern once for a quilt guild challenge. It won a prize! So glad you have gotten your sewjo back. You have helped me get mine back too. Thank you for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I cracked up when I saw your border calculations! I spend ages trying to figure out how to make quilts with no waste, and just last night was making a spreadsheet with complex formulas to work out the minimum fabric needed for a new design!

    0.04 of a 42″ strip is less than 1 3/4″ – I can’t afford to order another half yard + postage for that (and even if I could, I’d rather spend my fabric budget on something new for another quilt!), and I wouldn’t want to wait for the extra fabric, so I would have taken a different approach:

    • is my fabric only 42″, or can I get wider strips? (some of my Kaffe fabrics are 44″ wide, and I’m not averse to using 1/4″ into each selvedge, which would solve the problem)
    • How much seam allowance have I included to piece my borders? If I’ve been generous, can I make it 1/4″ exactly and get that extra 1 3/4″ that way? If I was really desparate, I might pare it down to 3/16″!
    • Are there any scraps from my blocks I can piece in?
    • If all those fail, I’d cut my 7 strips 3 1/2″ (or even 3 9/16th if I had a ruler than accurate!)

    I’m sure other quilters will think I’m mad, but as my mother (who was famed for getting more out of a piece of fabric than anyone could imagine, and usually couldn’t have bought more even is she wanted) would have said “necessity is the mother of invention”

    Rachel

    Like

    Reply

  13. Anne, I love your BQ2 quilt. It’s gorgeous, fun, and fresh, and I love your color choices. How did you decide to use purple for the intersecting segments? I realize green and purple are complements, but it wouldn’t have occurred to me to reach for purple because I don’t see it in the flower blocks unless I’m just not looking closely enough. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Leslie

    Like

    Reply

    1. I looked at the sunflower fabric and thought it would need either some kind of pink or purple. I pulled a couple fabrics to consider. I really thought I’d go with the pink but convinced myself to go with the purple. That purple actually IS in the sunflower fabric… but in very small quantities. What I like about the purple over the pink is that it has those little turquoise ferns that really pop. I honestly think I could have gone with either fabric. I think some kind of darker green would have been a very boring choice.

      Anne

      Like

      Reply

  15. I just love the colours in the quilt, I made a scarf with purple and green. I have to say every time you use a fabric I don’t have Lets just say it makes my fabric store very happy . The sunflower is spectuclar.

    Like

    Reply

  16. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your use of colors, patterns, and fabrics. Thank you for sharing this picture. I was so excited when I saw this, I bought the BQ2 pattern thinking I could use some of my KF. And then, while looking for another fabric, I discovered this one. Do you think it would work for the 13.5″ blocks with a 9.5″ “A” block as the fish? If so, what would you use for background and sashing? My initial thought was a black/light blue batik for the background (L), maybe a blue for the sashing (D)? Or would that not be enough contrast? I wish I had your abilities! I appreciate any suggestions.

    Thank you,

    Cheryl Traylor

    E1

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment