seabreeze - a finish and a winner

I've finally finished my seabreeze mini "into the shade"

after quilting it with straight lines 1/2 inch apart I decided to add some more lines 1/4 inch apart - I think my matchstick quilting addiction makes me think the lines need to be close !  I also quilted with matching colours in the three different sections.

I backed it with a fabric that I bought a while ago and then I wasn't sure what to do with it - turns out it will make a fabulous backing for wall hangings - and I sewed some little hanging pockets too so I can hang it with a piece of dowel.

I'm really happy how it turned out - its a bit bigger than most of my minis at 22 inches but I'll find a wall to hang it on.

Stats
size:22"x22"
pattern: Seabreeze by Megan Bohr of Canoe Ridge Creations
top fabric: Prima Homespun, Michael Miller Cotton Couture, and AGF Pure Elements solids
backing fabric: Modern Workshop by Oliver + S for Moda
binding fabric: Prima Homespun in Aqua
batting: Warm and White cotton 
quilting: 1/4 inch straight line
thread: King Tut 40wt #927, #956, #924 by Superior Threads

I'm linking up to the seabreeze mini quilt along reveal linky party over at GnomeAngel's blog - if you've been following along with the quilt-along make sure you check out all the fabulous little quilts that have been made !

before I go I get to announce the winner of the seabreeze pillow giveaway !!

I asked Mr Random Generator to pick a number ...

drum roll ....

and the winner is #27 - Archie the wonder dog - I love your cushion - such gorgeous colours!!!

congratulations Helen and Archie - I'll email shortly !

thanks so much to all who entered - I have another giveaway planned in the next week - its a pattern by Jess Frost of The Elven Garden - stay tuned !!

a seabreeze giveaway

Last week it was my turn on the seabreeze mini quilt along blog hop and as well as making a mini quilt I also made a seabreeze pillow to giveaway.

I had such fun making this pillow - I made the blocks 2 inches rather than 3 inches so it ends up as a 18 inch square pillow.

I used the same fabrics and same layout that I used in my mini quilt and quilted it on the diagonal - I was going to cross hatch it but I'm happy with the softness of just doing one line.

I used one of my favourite fabrics Erin McMorris' Summersault for the back - the raindrops just happen to have the same colours as the front !  I made a zipper back too !

If you'd like to win this pillow, just leave me a comment ! if you follow my blog then you can leave a second comment telling me that !  If you're visiting from instagram I plan to have another giveaway for my instagram followers very soon !!  please note that due to postage costs the pillow insert isn't included !  I used a 20 inch insert for the photos.

I'll get mr random generator to pick a winner on Sunday 3 August 2014 at 6pm (australian eastern time)

and don't forget the seabreeze mini quilt along blog hop is still going on and finishes with a linky party on Saturday 2 August over at host Angie's blog - you can find all the details here.

seabreeze mini quilt along

Hi there - thanks for joining me for the Seabreeze Mini quilt-along...

Thanks to Angie at GnomeAngel for organising such a fun blog hop - she has selected the Sea Breeze Mini by Megan Bohr of Canoe Ridge Creations for the quilt-along.  All of the details of the quilt-along are on Angie's blog and she is doing profiles on each of the bloggers so make sure you check it out !

I love making mini quilts - they're quick and easy and also a great way of of trying out a design before committing to anything larger !

I also love half square triangles - they are such fun and so versatile so of course this is the perfect combination for  me !

While thinking about fabric choices  I tried out a few different combinations for the quilt in EQ7

I think there is definitely a pink and white seabreeze in my future !

I decided to go with the solids this time - just for something different !  I used a mix of Spotlight Prima, Michael Miller Cotton Couture, and Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Elements but I've matched pretty closely to the following Kona solids:

Baby Pink, Carnation, Bright Pink, Cactus, Sprout, Lime, Bahama Blue, Azure, and Lagoon.

I'm calling it "Into the Shade" due to the ombre effect of going from light to dark !

I've put the top together and started quilting in straight lines - after looking at it for the past few days I've decided I need to do a few more lines of quilting - I have a bit of an addiction to matchstick quilting but I'm going to refrain from doing that on this one !

I'm also making a cushion/pillow for a giveaway - I'm making a smaller version of the mini with 2 inch blocks which will make an 18 inch cushion/pillow - I've used the same fabrics as my mini quilt - not sure how I'll quilt that one yet - maybe straight line or maybe cross hatching !

and because I love this pattern so much I've made a start on another cushion !  eeek somebody stop me !

I've made quite a few mini quilts with the eternally cute half square triangle block.  I like to sew them the old fashioned way - using my hera marker to mark a line diagonally on the square and sew on either side which is how I made the blocks for both the solid mini and cushion - I usually only cut my blocks 1/2 inch larger rather than the normal 7/8 inch so that I don't have as much waste.

However, last weekend I found another way of sewing the blocks together - I saw the Clearly Perfect Angle sheet on a sewing machine which jogged my memory that I actually had purchased one a few years ago and as I couldn't use it with my old machine it was put away.

After a bit of a search I found it and it fits the new machine really well !

it is a plastic sheet marked with angled lines - as well as sewing half square triangles you can use it to sew diagonal corners, joining strips for bindings and probably lots of other uses - all without having to mark your blocks.  I decided to give it a go and made some more triangles for another cushion - I'm happy with how they turned out but I might just make my blocks a little bigger next time I use the clearly perfect angle - giving me a little more wiggle room !

As I mentioned I'm currently making a cushion/pillow for a giveaway next Tuesday 29 July - if you are visiting from Instagram I'll be posting about it there as well as here so you won't miss out !

To continue with the Seabreeze Mini Quilt-along blog hop - tomorrow's bloggers are Rachel @ Little White Dove and Penny @ Happy Spider Knits Podcasts - can't wait to see what fabrics they're using !

I also hope you checked out yesterday's bloggers Kellie and Gillian from Secret Society Sewing - Gillian even printed her own fabrics to use !

Have fun making your own Seabreeze Mini and don't forget to come back next week for the cushion/pillow giveaway !