Merry Christmas 2022

Like I announced in this post, I dug up the files for my 2017 Christmas quilts (they hadn’t transferred to my current computer) to make some updated Inklingoable Christmas quilts. I replaced the 4.5 inch [11,4 cm.] Inklingo LeMoyne Stars (from the free shape collection,!) and 3 inch Inklingo LeMoyne Stars with 4 inch [10,2 cm.] five pointed stars.

I think the eight pointed stars from the 2017 quilts look more like snowflakes, and the curved shapes of the five pointed stars in the 2022 quilts are more harmonious with the other curved blocks.

These quilts use the 12 inch [30,5 cm.] Inklingo Ribbon Flower and 9 inch [22,9 cm.] Inklingo Dresden Plates. The Inklingo Dresden Plates finish at 9 inch [22.9 cm.] originally, so I virtually put a 1.5 inch [3,8 cm.] frame around each block, to make it finish at 12 inch.

2022 Christmas quilt with 12 inch Inklingo Ribbon Flower blocks in a straight set, alternated with framed 4 inch Inklingo Five pointed star blocks – Original Quilt design by Annika Kornelis

And my final updated Inklingo Christmas quilt design. This time I combined the Ribbon Flower blocks with Inklingo Clamshell Rose blocks, with the 4 inch clamshell shapes in a 12 inch block. Like in the top quilt, 4 inch sashings with the 5-pointed stars in the cornerstones.

Merry Christmas and ‘Vrolijk Kerstfeest’ from Rotterdam!

XXX Annika

Five Point Star Quilt Designs Continued

Well, it’s been a while, but I promised you more quilt designs with Inklingo Fivepointed Stars blocks, a bit folksy this time.

Inklingo School House and Stars – Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis, combining 9 inch [22,9 cm.] Inklingo School House blocks with 4 inch [10,2 cm.] 5-pointed stars.

Inklingo School House, Stars and Log Cabins – Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis

These are all 10 inch [25,4 cm.] blocks. The sashings are 2 inch [5 cm.]

You can use the Inklingo 1 inch Log Cabin shape collection to frame the Five pointed star blocks.

The 9 inch Schoolhouse blocks need a 0.5 inch frame to finish them as 10 inch blocks. In the picture I used the sashing color for these narrow frames. It makes the sashing look a bit irregular, but using the same color is probably easiest to make a narrow strip look neat in an actual quilt.

Inklingo has 0.5 inch Log Cabin shapes, but they only go up to 5 inch long. If you print two in a row and don’t cut them apart, you could use them to frame the blocks, trimming off excess on the outside after piecing.

Five pointed Stars in Log Cabins – original quilt design by Annika Kornelis

Again 10 inch [25,4 cm.] Log cabin blocks, using the 4 inch Five pointed star as the center, framed by 1 inch Inklingo Log Cabin shapes.

I alternated these with unpieced blocks. If you wanted, you could applique the same stars on those blocks. The Inklingo shape collection for the Five pointed stars provides an applique option too.

I designed this quilt with scrappy fabrics for the logs and alternating blocks in mind. It still looks a bit coordinated, because truly scrappy coloring was too much work in EQ. Of course you could also do scrappy stars.

XXX Annika

Two More Five Point Star Quilt Designs

I promised you more quilt designs with the latest Inklingo shape collection, the 4″ Five Point Star blocks.

Today I am showing you two designs which have a more modern look than the previous designs, which look more traditional / vintage.

Five Point Star Minimalist Christmas Tree – Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis.

I designed this quilt to use pieced blocks, but of course you could applique circles with five point stars on top. The 4 inch blocks are set with sashings of different sizes, to get the right elongated shapes for the tree above and the heart below.

In the tree quilt design, I set Width (vertical sashings) to 0 in EQ, and Height (horizontal sashings) to 2.250 inch. In EQ, I set the Left and Right Borders (9 inch) to a different width than the Top and Bottom Borders (4.5 inch).

I Love All Stars – original quilt design by Annika Kornelis

For the heart quilt design, I set the sashing Width to 1 inch, and sashing Height to 1.750 inch. The dark borders are 4.5 inch all around.

Next, I have a couple of more ‘folksy’ quilt designs with Five Point Stars coming up.

XXX Annika

More Five Point Star Quilt Designs

I am a bit under the weather, and only feel like doing something fun when I am up. So I allowed myself to play with the Inklingo 4 inch Five Point Star block some more!

I only have energy to come up with very simple design ideas, but I think they have the charm of traditional, timeless quilts. I envision them as soft, crinkly quilts with cotton batting.

In this post I am showing you combinations with five patch blocks, both set straight and on point. EQ lets me combine 5 inch blocks with 4 inch blocks if I set block size to 5, and add 4 inch sashings and use the cornerstones for setting 4 inch blocks.

Inklingo Five Point Stars (4 inch) Combined with Five Patch blocks (5 inch) straight set with 4 inch sashings. Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis. The blocks are completely Inklingoable. You could opt for pieced stars or for appliqued stars.

Twinkle, Twinkle – Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis. Same blocks as above, different coloring, set on point.

Baubles And Snowflakes – original quilt design by Annika Kornelis. This design is a variation on the previous design. Exact same blocks and on point set, but different coloring and less piecing, because I left out the partial Five Patch blocks around the edges.

Well, I hope you are as inspired by this latest Inklingo shape collection as I am, because I have more designs to show you!

XXX Annika

Winter Treats Quilt Design

Winter Treats Quilt – original design by Annika Kornelis

Inklingo’s Linda Franz recently published a shape collection for one of my favorite shapes: A five pointed star. So of course I had to play with this in EQ!

The shape collection makes several 4 inch [10,16 cm.] block variations. It contains several bonus shapes, like the half star point shown above, and a center pentagon with matching triangles to finish the star. As usual, a very clever and complete shape collection! There is even a layout for printing the star shape for back-basting appliqué!

This collection is sweet, so I put two block variations in a very simple design that reminds me of gingerbread cookies, chocolate, marshmallows, whipped cream and peppermint. Winter Treats!

In EQ, 7 x 7 rows of 4 inch blocks are in a straight set with 2 inch [5,08 cm.] sashings. It is only because I used three colors for the sashings (chocolate brown, gingerbread brown and white) that it appears there is an inside border in this design. The actual border settings in EQ are, from the inside: 0.5 inch [1,3 cm.] – 3 inch [7,6 cm.] – 1 inch [2,54 cm.] – 2 inch [5,08 cm.] – 1 inch [2,54 cm.]

This makes the center of the quilt 40 inches [101,6 cm.] square and including borders 55 inches [139,7 cm.]

I drafted the blocks by tracing over an imported picture of one of Linda’s pieced blocks in EQ8. It wasn’t entirely symmetrical on my Block Worktable, and the actual seam lines didn’t fit my snap settings exactly. I had to eyeball and adjust the placement of the parts inside the 4 inch square a bit. The drafted blocks may not be entirely accurate, but I think it’s close enough for design purposes!

I hope to come up with more designs, combining the 5-pointed star with other Inklingo blocks. I had an idea to play with my 2017 Christmas quilt design to replace the small eightpointed stars with the 5-pointed ones, or try some other combinations with Ribbon Flower. But, I have not been able to retrieve the project file! :-(. I hope it is still on my old laptop, perhaps I forgot to transfer it to this computer along with the rest of the files.

If I find it, you will probably get to see the results!

XXX Annika

Circling Swallows Quilt Designs

Circling Swallows set On Point, with sashings. Striped fabrics are all oriented towards the points of the diamonds. Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis.

Linda Franz did a blog post about sewing Circling Swallows blocks with Inklingo on her All About Inklingo Blog. Everything you need for a 10.84 inch [27,53 cm.] Circling Swallows block is in this Free Shape Collection!

It is wonderful that she included the additional square and QST you need to finish this larger star, which aren’t available to print on fabric, to print on freezer paper for templates!

I wanted to see what this block looks like with striped fabrics, so I drafted the block in EQ8 and played with it. I only found red and blue striped fabrics to my liking in the EQ Libraries, so that determined my color palette.

Circling Swallows in a straight set, different orientation of the striped fabrics. Alternated with striped eight pointed stars. Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis.

In the quilt design above, the bigger stars (3.18 inch / 8 cm.) are not Inklingoable. But, if:

• You used the 3.06 inch [7,8 cm.] diamonds from the Celestial Star shape collection, and
• Pieced them slightly outside the printed lines, and
• Use the freezer paper templates for the QST’s and the squares from the Free Shape collection,

I think you could make it work.

Variation of the quilt design above, straight set, now with a slightly different coloring and added sashings with cornerstones. Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis

I think the orientation of the striped fabrics in the red stars in this last one is more harmonious with the orientation of the stripes in the Circling Swallows blocks.

The orientation of the stripes in the red stars in the design above this one is more dynamic. If I were to add sashings to that one, I wouldn’t also add cornerstones. I think it could become too busy.

Anyway, I have decided I really like striped fabrics for Circling Swallows!

XXX Annika

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Quilt 2021 – original block design by Annika Kornelis – original quilt design by Annika Kornelis. Straight set.

2021 Was a very full year for us. In January we received the keys to our new house. In March a complete renovation started (removing walls, kitchen and bathroom etcetera). This of course meant we had to shop for lots of new stuff, including furniture, a washing machine, garden chairs and garden tools. My mother-in-law passed away. Her house needed to be emptied and sold as well.

We moved in June, with the renovation not entirely finished (that happened just last week!).

I started a new job in August. And lots more did happen, including me losing my appetite for chocolate for weeks. I didn’t feel like it, and once I tried it, it tasted horrible! I was cured just in time to be able to enjoy my special Christmas bars! I never had COVID as far as I know, but it makes you wonder….

Phew… I am glad this year is almost over.

Today was the first day after our move I did some EQ’ing again. We haven’t even decorated a Christmas tree yet, but I did not want to break my tradition of posting a Christmas quilt design!

Christmas 2021 quilt design. Same block as above, set on point.

I am wishing you all a safe and healthy Christmas, and all the best for 2022!

XXX Annika

Happy Easter!

Diamond Stars and Rainbows Quilt – original design by Annika Kornelis. In this design I tried to evoke spring meadows with fields of tulips underneath the rainbows. The easter bunny has probably hidden some chocolate eggs in the grass or among the tulips! :-)

I have been trying to design joyful quilts, to cheer you up during these scary, difficult times. I hope you are healthy and able to take good care of yourself.

We are still healthy, and have both been working from home for a couple of weeks now. We live in a small one bedroom flat, and our country is in what the government calls ‘intelligent lockdown’. I am staying indoors as much as possible. I think my designs from past weeks reflect that currently there is too much going on in a small space! LOL!

I chose rainbows, to symbolize hope, and stars for guidance and eternity, as the elements for the designs. I drafted blocks which have both, in EQ8. I am not entirely happy with these designs, but I am realistic: this is the best I can do under the circumstances.

Today, Good Friday, I had a resting day (no work until Tuesday!!), and we went for a long walk on a glorious day. After that, designing went much better. The air literally appeared in my quilts!

Easter Stars Quilt – original design by Annika Kornelis

I tried a different star in my block, and ditched the busy rainbow color palette. I opted for lots of white and not too much contrast.

In case you want to skip Easter altogether and go back to last Christmas, before this pandemic started:

Winter version of Easter Star quilt. Blocks on point and different coloring. Original quilt design by Annika Kornelis

Stay home, stay safe!

XXX Annika

 

EQ8 Project File for Willyne Hammerstein’s Raindrops Quilt Pattern

A variation of Willyne Hammerstein’s quilt pattern Raindrops Are Falling On My Head (in the book Millefiori 4 by Quiltmania)

Inklingo’s Linda Franz just released another shape collection for a pattern from the Millefiori 4 quilt pattern book by Willyne Hammerstein. This time it’s Raindrops Are Falling On My Head. This is another one that can be drafted in EQ’s square blocks. So I did! But no digital fussy cutting this time. I wanted to get this project file to you as quickly as possible, just in case you are bored in quarantine or social isolation.

You can use my project file as a coloring page, and to audition digital fabrics. EQ8 scales fabric prints to the block size. In my project file the quilt layout and block size are different from the actual pattern!

I don’t have the pattern, so I don’t know what the block size in the pattern is. So, if you want to make this quilt, and want to use an EQ8 file for auditioning fabric prints, you need to type in the correct block size in the project file.

The pattern is in centimeters, and your EQ may be set for inches. You can change the settings to centimeters.

Go to your starting window in EQ. If you click on the little cog wheel icon (Settings icon) near the bottom left, a pop up for Preferences for your Workspace and Project properties appears. After adjusting your settings, click OK. (If you are in one of the workspaces, you will get a different pop up when clicking the Settings icon.)

After changing to centimeters a 9 inch block will be a 9 centimeter block, which is about 2.5 times smaller. So if you plan to actually make this quilt, check your units before you spend hours of rotating and fussy cutting digital fabrics at the wrong scale!

If you are just playing with fabrics for fun, you can resize the block until your chosen fabrics fit to your liking!

You can download my EQ8 project file here.

Have a home made truffle to go with it, and have fun!

XXX Annika

 

Les Fruits de Mer Willyne Hammerstein Quilt Design – EQ project

Les Fruits De Mer Block – fussy cut in EQ with digital fabrics from the EQ fabric libraries

I wanted some fun and color, so decided to try and draft one of Willyne Hammerstein’s recent Inklingoable designs in EQ, to play with it. Les Fruits de Mer is one of the few Millefiori patterns that can be drafted as a square block, so it is suitable for EQ.

I don’t have the Millefiori 4 book with the pattern for the quilt. So I just picked an existing block from the EQ block libraries that gave me a start for drafting a block that looked close enough. I am sharing the project file with you (link for downloading below). If you have EQ8 quilt design software, you can use it to color the quilts with the digital fabrics of your choice. NOTE: The block size in the project file is random, just to play nicely with the fabrics of my choice!

If you are going to make the quilt from the Millefiori book, probably using Inklingo shapes, you can’t pick a random block size!

Playing with this project can be good practice using the Fussy Cut fabric tool and the Rotate fabric tool. Even though I drafted the quilts a bit smaller (less blocks) than the original, I got fed up with rotating and fussy cutting after some time. So, if you like the blue quilt, you can finish fussy cutting for yourself :-).

Fruits de Mer Quilt Small – Pattern from the Millefiori 4 book by Willyne Hammerstein – Drafted in EQ and colored by Annika Kornelis

Fruits de Mer Quilt Block close up

Fruits de Mer Quilt – Horizontal Set – Variation on the design by Willyne Hammerstein, pattern in the Millefiori 4 quilt book – Drafted in EQ and colored by Annika Kornelis

You can see the blocks in more detail if you download the project and open it in EQ8. It will not open in previous versions of EQ. You can download the project here.

Have fun and stay healthy and safe!

XXX Annika