Teal Dragonfly

Yes, I know, the dragonfly is cream/beige/brown but I've been calling this the teal dragonfly all the way through making it so the name has stuck. I love this quilt and I'm keeping it!!

I've used three different techniques for the curves seams. The middle part is my baste and topstitch method. The circle blocks on the outer border were done using the method I described in this post, making great circles. Then the circle blocks were cut with a gentle curve by stacking one strip of blocks on top of another and just going for it with the rotary cutter.  As long as the curve is not too curvy, the two bits will go back together with a 3-5mm seam.

Metallic thread was couched on to the body.  The thread has slubs (lumpy bits) so it wouldn't go through a needle.

I've done quite a few dragonfly wings now so it's getting easier to do. If you look at real dragonfly wings, you'll see that the small veins between the main veins are more like pentagons than squares.  They are quite easy to quilt too.  Also, dragonflies have a solid bit on the front tip of the wing.  Adding that little bit of satin stitch makes all the difference.

I bought the binding fabric for another project but discovered it was perfect for this quilt! I think my brain is just fixated on this beautiful dark teal colour.

Here are all the posts about this quilt:

Grid quilting

Pebbles and swirls quilting

Centipedes in my sashing

Variation on hearts quilting design

Koru Gecko

Finished and handed in at eight o'clock this evening - only four hours late! And I still have to sew the binding on the other dragonfly.

We tucked the gecko under a bundle of quilts for the show, hoping that it makes up for the fact that I didn't block this quilt. That outer border is very wavy.

This was how I quilted that last border. Leah Day calls this Water Plants,


Here are the previous posts on this quilt:
Start of the gecko design
My baste and topstitch method
More tips on baste and topstitch
Gecko scales - quilting pattern
Sneak peek at gecko quilting

Gecko - all pieced

All the piecing is finished. There are quite a few basting lines to remove and then I'm going to add a simple border and try to get it quilted in a week. Make that a night! I still have to finish the quilting on the dragonfly wallhanging and I think hand in time for the quilt show is next weekend. Help!! I'm going to have to ask for an extension - just like being back at uni.

Talking about university, I was at my lecture yesterday and the university are thinking of putting on a new Masters programme. We were given a questionnaire to fill in, basically asking if we would be interested in a 120 credit masters course that we could do now instead of a 120 credit postgrad diploma (that's what I'm doing now) and then the 120 credit masters course. Half the time and half the fees, of course I'm interested! There has to be a drawback and I would guess that it could be more difficult. I like a challenge!

I'm going to try loading this photo again...

Start of a gecko design

Since I have no sewing machine and I'm still sewing the binding on the heart quilt, I thought I would share my next design with you.

Preamble to the design - Last September I was down in Hastings at the Blossom Festival with the Caribbeanz Southern Stars Steelband. That's me in the back right in the black tshirt and sunglasses. I should add musician to my description about me! This was the second year that we've been invited to play at this festival and we have already been invited for next year, which is a BIG deal as the rugby world cup is on and we have tickets to the game down there.

Isn't the covering on the bandstand fantastic. It would make a lovely quilting pattern.

When we go to Hastings, we stay at the Omahu Marae. This is the wharenui (Maori meeting house and also where we slept). I love the kowhaiwhai patterns on the beams.


My design was inspired by some paintings in the wharekai (which I forgot to photograph). The one that inspired me was a very simple gecko shape. I thought it would be great to put that together with a kowhaiwhai pattern and make another ghost layer quilt. I went for a simple koru design. Put two simple designs together and this is what ended up in my sketchbook.


I'm in the process of transferring this design to freezer paper - and making all the legs and feet in proportion with the body! I'm not sure what to do about the feet. Real gecko feet are sort of tear drop shaped. Graphic images of geckos tend to have little circles for toes. Whatever I do, I'm going to fuse the foot part since the shape is too fussy for my piecing method.

I haven't decided on colours yet but it may only have four fabrics, light and dark for the background and light and dark for the gecko. Then again, I may do my usual and have about 40 fabrics in it!

My ghost layer quilts

I was really excited about using Katie Pasquini Masopust's design technique after reading her book 'Ghost Layers and Colour Washes'. It's a three step process that is really simple to follow and is fun to play around with.

This was my first one, done in a hurry as I needed it quickly for an exhibition at school. I didn't put a lot of thought into it. In fact, I think I used the squiggle from the example in Katie's book. I loved the design technique but I struggled with the piecing method Katie described. As you can see, my straight lines ended up a bit curved as I tried to match seams together.


I came up with my own method for piecing, which I will explain in another post, and made this little sample to try it. It was going to be a throw away sample but you know what quilters are like, can't throw anything away. So I added some embroidery and borders and it became a small wallhanging.


This sample was made to test some of the kinks in my piecing method. I discovered that fine bobbinfill will show on the top when you use monofilament thread in the needle. It was a useful exercise.


This is my latest project. It has grown a bit since this photo and deserves a post all to itself. More later...