Friday, March 30, 2012

Little Retro Flowers

This is a quick one! Lots of projects still in the almost finished stage & while I don't count this as 'finished', I wanted to show it off anyway!

I decided on changing up the fabric placement a little. Arranged this way, my eye sees the inside pink swirly flower shape first, then I do little figure 8's around the blue & white petals. I have to look to see the original flower shapes & I like that.

retro flowers top

I love this pattern. The cutting was not nearly as time consuming as I thought it would be (this template helped a lot!). Sewing the curves (without pins) was fun! The trouble came for me when I was trying to piece everything together. My sewing machine had a hard time handling these thick seams. It got me thinking...if my machine somehow committed suicide via the window, would I magically find the money for a nice new one? Let's just hope nothing bad happens to it for now...
With some advice from awesome flickr group peeps, my walking foot got me through. Not easily, but well enough.
This little baby will either have more solids added as borders to beef it up, or I will bind it & call it a mini, not sure yet.

I have plans to make a much larger version with the traditional layout (fabric to be determined). I will not tackle it with my current machine though. Guess I better save my pennies nickels! (Did you hear, Canada is nixing the penny!)

Linking up to crazy mom quilts for finish it up Friday & to amylouwho for Sew & Tell.

12 comments:

  1. I love what you did with the placement! The fabrics are fun and bold. Perfect for this quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very fun design...I've never seen anything like it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks AWESOME! I love how you arranged the blocks, putting the pink in the center. It changes the look and I happen to love it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I echo everyone else, beautiful and very nice fabric placement!! I love that pattern, just ordered my templates and hope to get started with one soon! And, btw, I have head of sewing machines "jumping" so I think you should go for it and help it along :o)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad you figured out a way to make it work! I really like this colour placement, it adds a little extra to the pattern.

    I read about the penny yesterday! I'm so excited. They do nothing but weigh down my purse!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looking good! I like the different placement. I'm in this QAL too but totally overwhelmed with starting. I didn't buy the template but maybe I should... www.paperstarfish.prettyposies.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think it looks really great and refreshing the way you've arranged the flower petals. I know the quilting sounds a bit challenging with the thick seams and all, so good luck with that!

    I was working on a Starburst block a while back, and there are a LOT of points that come together in the middle, and an old lady quilter/friend of mine suggested slightly wetting the bulky part and whacking it really good with a hammer. The bulk was still there, but I didn't break a needle (or my machine!) after I did that. Just something to tuck away. :)

    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This looks terrific with the blue background! I am hoping to start this project today too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kim, you are a no-reply blogger, so I couldn't email you.

      It's funny, I used these fabrics just to test out the pattern...they were leftover from a custom quilt someone ordered & I wanted to use them up. Now I am liking this little quilt so much that I might have to buy more of that ocean blue to make it larger!
      Make some time to start yours - it is a fun pattern!
      Thanks for stopping by my little blog. :)

      Delete
  9. Awesome! Love the bright bold colours!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful! I love those bright colors, and the layout is perfect!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you very much for your comment :). Sorry, I am getting spammed & had to turn on the word verification for now.