Wednesday, June 11, 2014

oakshott ruby



oakshott ruby quilt pillow

I am so excited to be part of the Oakshott Ruby Mini Quilt Challenge hosted by Sew Mama Sew. I've been admiring oakshott fabrics for quite a while so I was thrilled to have this opportunity to actually see it in person, not to mention to use it in a project!

oakshott ruby bundle

I received the ruby red fat 8th bundle which included 16 fabrics and I knew right away that I wanted to use every one of them in my quilt (though ultimately, I think I only used 15 of the 16.) The challenge was to make a mini quilt but I actually made, um, 3?!?!?  

oakshott ruby quilt pillow

Quilt 1:  For the first mini, I started by cutting a small amount off of each fabric (about 1" to 1 1/2" from the short side) and sewing them together in strips. I then sewed the strips together and framed it with a chambray fabric (at least I think it is chambray) which I heavily quilted with straight lines. As I had planned to leave the oakshott unquilted, I substituted flannel for the batting. And then I finished the mini into a pillow by adding a simple envelope backing.

oakshott ruby quilt pillow

Quilt 2: The pillow looked so lonely on my couch that I figured I should make it a friend! This time, I cut the oakshott into triangles and used a dark gray essex yarn-dyed fabric for the background. I then framed it with a border of linen that was similar in color to the chambray used in the first mini. I heavily quilted the linen border with straight lines (to complement the first mini) and for the gray background, I quilted a bunch of intersecting diagonal lines.

oakshott ruby quilt pillow

Quilt 3: After I finished the second mini, I added the large leftover pieces to my stash; however, I still had the small scraps from the first two projects - what to do, what to do. I mean, I could have just added them to my scrap drawer but instead I started sewing them together. And the next thing I knew, I had made another mini with the scraps. I sewed this one with absolutely no plan - and while I questioned my piecing choices often while making it, I decided to just keep going. 

oakshott ruby quilt pillow

To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this one and I wasn't even sure I wanted to share it on my blog, at the very least not in this post. I actually had this post finished well before I clicked the publish button because of this indecision but since quilt blogging is about sharing the successes and the failures, I decided to leave it in! I think I would have liked it better if I made each section an actual rectangle instead of sewing some of  the background fabrics to the oakshott on an angle. But oh, well.

oakshott ruby quilt pillow

I decided to really experiment with the quilting on this one and I am so glad I did. I quilted all sorts of different shapes, used a few different colors of thread, and I quilted some of it with heavy, matchstick quilting while other parts I quilted quite lightly. Again, there are some things I would change with the quilting (including quilting more of the ruby sections) but overall, I had a lot of fun doing it and it is something I am going to definitely try again.

oakshott ruby quilt pillow

Thanks so much to Sew Mama Sew and Oakshott Fabrics for giving me the chance to work with these great fabrics. I definitely hope to use oakshott fabrics again! 

And be sure to visit the other bloggers involved in this challenge:

Debbie of A Quilter's Table
Malka of A Stitch in Dye
Deborah of Whipstitch

46 comments:

  1. They are true gems - I especially love the pillow with essex linen, such texture!

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  2. Beth,I actually really like the third one! It's quirky and fun and would look good as a pillow with the other two. :)

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  3. The pillows complement each other so well, and I actually think that your mini quilt is a total win! I love the free form nature of the way you just went for it, and the quilting on it is perfect.

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  4. Your projects are so pretty especially the red against the gray pillows.

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  5. Goodness! They are all terrific in their own right! I especially like the rubies against the gray Essex..

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  6. They are all nice however I really like what you did with the 3rd one, I think it's bright, creative and fun. Be proud of your work

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  7. Great use of those Oakshott fabrics Beth, you really met the challenge :)

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  8. I agree with the others - they are all so beautiful and compliment each other perfectly.

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  9. I love the cushions, especially the first one. Beautiful colours too.

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  10. Those are fantastic! You really made the fabrics the star of the show, and they are beautiful! I have to admit, the third one is actually my favorite! You are very talented. . . even when you are questioning your work!

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  11. Gorgeous Beth! As usual, your style and quilting blow me away! xx

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  12. Pretty. The last one is probably my favorite of them. The quilting added to it as well.

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  13. Stunning stunning stunning! I love the red triangles on the grey background!

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  14. Love all your projects! While your pillows are more symmetrical, the asymmetry of the third makes it really interesting (could look at it a long time and discover something new every time!), unique and totally wonderful!!! As far as I am concerned, you went out on a limb with the third one and the limb didn't break!!! Well done!!!!!!

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  15. Think all three are brilliant but the triangles are my favourite. Simply beautiful.

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  16. Good looking cushions! The different designs are great. I actually like the improv one, especially the little blip of color on the bottom corner.

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  17. Wow, you are quite the overachiever! I love both the pillows, they looks so modern on your couch. I was trying to enlarge the one photo to see what you are reading now because I totally got that book The Fault in Our Stars when I saw it on your blog before.

    I like the mini you experimented with and am glad you shared it!

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  18. Great pillows! They are each unique but they go together so wonderfully as a set. My favorite is the triangle one, because the reds looks so stunning against the grey essex. And the third one is fantastic! I could really see it hanging in a modern art gallery!

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  19. I really love your pillows. and I would put the other piece on my coffee table without hesitation.

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  20. I love all three so much! Your Quilt 3 mini caught my eye on flickr and I had to come check it out. I think it's fantastic! I love the improv piecing and the quilting is so cool. Awesome job!

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  21. All three pieces are fantastic! The best part is that I can tell you had fun creating them. And, they look great on your couch. :)

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  22. Love the pillows! Definitely need to make some new pillows for my house!

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  23. Gorgeous! I love how you used these with they grey linen. Those pillows and the mini quilt just work so well together.

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  24. I think all three pieces are really stunning. I love the colours of the Oakshotts and you have really brought them to life wonderfully.

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  25. Absolutely gorgeous. I love that grey cushions!

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  26. I love the last one the best very modern!

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  27. I love these bold colors with gray! Thanks for your beautiful projects

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  28. Lovely! And I really like your abstract freeform quilt at the end. You have a great eye for volume and balance and it turned out to be a modern piece of art. Thank you for sharing your projects!

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  29. I like the 3rd one (patchwork) the best. 24Tangent "at" gmail "dot" com

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  30. Love these projects. I'm really liking these Oakshott fabrics.

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  31. Those pillows are amazing and would be perfect to make as gifts!!! Love the colours you chose too: warm and cozy!!

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  32. I love the contrast of the improv'd mini with the structure of the pillows. They are just so different from each other, and ever so lovely!

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  33. I love the combination of these fabrics plus the linen. Your pillows are gorgeous! And I like your quilty art too! Thanks for sharing!

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  34. Love your projects, love the fabric!

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  35. Thanks for sharing the 'whole' story. As a quilter who doesn't have a blog, I do appreciate it when bloggers share the highs as well as the projects that did not come out the way you might have liked. It gives the rest of us the sense that we can try new ideas and handle however they turn out. I appreciate your courage to share the bigger picture.

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  36. So beautiful! I actually like the one you are hesitant about the best. It's fun, free, and has lots of wonky energy. I reminds me of the insides of geodes (the rocks you break open to find gems/crystals inside). The quilting on it is great! sarah@forrussia.org

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  37. I love that you shared them all with us. It helps us all to realize that there are experiments and experiences out there and we should try just throwing caution to the wind and going for it! Thanks for helping me to "get brave" and try something new out of my comfort zone! I love these fabrics, by the way- so rich!

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  38. I love the reds. Turned out wonderful.

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  39. So fun to experiment with quilting!

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  40. Oh my gosh! My son would loooove these for his new couch!! Your Pillows are Awesome!!!

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  41. I really like the way the grey fabric sets off the bright colors!

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  42. The trees really caught my attention; I would love to make a pillow like that.

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  43. I think I like your third one the best.

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  44. Fabulous use of the fabrics in your projects.

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  45. Liked all of them. I love to just sew scraps together and see what they make. So fun. Thanks.

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