Rag Quilted Picnic Rug

I love rag quilting!  Even though it's messy (threads everywhere!) I love the end result when you pull it out of the tumbledryer and everything is fluffy and cuddly.

I'll be teaching this technique to my class in June so thought I'd better rustle one up for them to see.

Modelled by daugher no. 3

.... and daughter no. 2 + dog (with slipper!) gets in on the action!

This is a great method of quilting for those of you daunted by quilting larger pieces (like me!) as each of the 'bricks' get quilted separately and then joined together.

Not the Yellow Brick Road!

Picnic Rug complete!

I made the binding extra wide using all the fabrics that are in the quilt front.

All we need now is some nice warm sunshine & a picnic basket full of goodies!

I'm thinking of making a stylish wee carry bag for my rug to use up the leftovers.  Watch this space!

I've linked this post to Lynne's blog of Lily's Quilts. She's got a new monthly feature where you link photos of your favourite/happy project of the past month.  Go check out what projects have been making other bloggers smile!

Picnic Rug Progress

Last week I started working on turning blue & orange rectangles into a 'bricked' effect picnic rug.

Here's what I've done so far:

I've been in a bit of a dither over the quilting of this, 'cos I didn't feel the 'outline seam' quilting was enough, and the plain orange 'path' through the middle needed broken up a bit. 

A single line of quilting through the plain orange didn't satisfy either, and I'd done too much to then start free motioning all over it!  What to do?

After much deliberating, I used some of the fabric leftovers to make hexagons & laid them on the quilt in various ways to see what worked.

I'm liking it better now.  This pile of mess will be the binding:

Almost there!  Check back in a day or two to see the finished quilt!

New Fabric & Picnic Rugs

The postman almost got a hug from me this morning!

It's so rare that I order brand, shiney new fabric, but I stumbled across a fab UK fabric website called Gone to Earth.

They have great deals on fabric bundles by well known designers, and their P&P is first class (literally!).

Here's what I got:

Heather Bailey 'Nicey Jane'

I was originally thinking of a picnic blanket with these beauties, but can't bear the thought of using it for that!

Will design something special to show off these lovely prints.

And here's a wee peek at a picnic blanket I am working on.





My crude design!

I was given a metre of Kaffe Fasset fabric a couple of years ago, but have to admit I didn't like it much!  (It's the orange, zig-zaggy, floral print - I'm sure it has a proper name!). 

I am a bit adulterous when it comes to using fabric, I'm more than happy to mix designers with whatever else I've got e.g. the blue floral was a vintage sheet from a charity shop!

I've made a few changes since taking this pic.  Will have more to show you all soon.