A plan

I designed this sampler quilt on EQ7 for Festival of Quilts next year… It’s 73 blocks in total.

I thought I’d better make a start and casually do a block every so often- I’ve tacked down some pieces for applique , I just need to sort out the arrangement again slightly and needle turn them by hand. It’s nice to have a job I can do whilst watching the TV. I’ve actually never done an applique quilt block before. True story.

Don’t think that’s all I did last night, I’ve sewn four blocks for a secret project too. I will be able to reveal that at the New Year, but until then, you will have to wait…

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Kaleidostar cushion complete

I’ve spent the last three days working on this cushion, sometimes paper piecing triangular sections for hours. I actually sewed and listened all the way through from Chris Evan’s Breakfast Show to the end of Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Monday whilst OH was sleeping as he’d just finished a night shift at 7am. Ken Bruce’s show always reminds me of being at my grandma’s house and the taste of roast pork with salty cabbage as it was on in the background. This is a good thing 🙂

Sorry for the lower quality pictures- I’m saving the good stuff for the magazine that the tutorial will be printed in. More on that when it happens.

Do you remember this post back in August where I showed you the mock up design? Well I took Simone‘s suggestion on board and called it the Kaleidostar cushion- thanks Simone!

The whole cushion is constructed from Oakshott shot cottons, specifically it’s the Oxblood, Apricot, Haematite and White Marble colours. They’re really nice to cut and to sew. I must say the Haematite grey is my favourite, I love the dimension in the different tone weft and weave threads.

I even put a fancy zip in with a flap for the very first time. I used this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew and adapted it ever so slightly to position the zip differently. It was easier than I thought!

Day 10 of Blogtoberfest today… are you getting bored of me yet?! 21 more posts to go!

Can’t stop the block

I’m trying to get my little bits and pieces done and out of the way. This weekend I’m working on a tutorial for a magazine using Oakshott shot cottons (as well as making 300 chocolates for 2 weddings, but that’s another story) so I look forward to showing you that soon.

I’ve already made my block for my tote bag for Mouthy Stitches. I need to correct some rubbish points on the bottom section and actually construct it into a bag, but this bit is pretty much sorted.

And I’ve made the starting centre block for Free Two Bee that is about to start.

Both items have a posting deadline of the end of the month so I’m on it like a car bonnet. Which leaves me more time later in the month to go and watch ice hockey games in Nottingham with OH, my new favourite thing. Go Panthers!

Fabric cake!

Hey Denyse Schmidt fans- check out this cake!

This cake is by Baker Days, they offered me a free letterbox cake in order for a review. Not one to turn down cake(!), I said yes!

At Baker Days you can personalise designs for all occasions and upload your own photos which are then printed on a cake of your choice. I thought a fabric cake would be a lovely gift for a fellow sewer, a close-up of a quilt block would look stunning too! I chose to photograph some of my Flea Market Fancy fabric- the colours are reasonably accurate, the orange looks a bit dirty on these photos- it’s actually much better in real life.

The letterbox cake starts at £14.99 for a madeira sponge which seems like quite a lot for such a small cake (it’s about the size of a side plate and shallow so that it fits through the letter box as the name would suggest). However this does include first class UK delivery (which was pretty speedy- I sent off my photo and the cake arrived 2 working days later), careful packaging, a lovely tin, a notecard with your chosen gift message and even some balloons and streamers! If you pay a bit extra, other cake flavours are available including chocolate chip.

I must admit, it was pretty tasty- the sponge is, well, spongy, and the jam and slight butter cream used to attach the icing to the top is nice too. And because it’s not a massive cake you don’t feel guilty about eating half in one sitting….

For more information, go to www.bakerdays.com

Quilt and Stitch Village

I’ve decided to enter another quilt competition and wondered if you also might like to?

The Quilt and Stitch Village 2013 is at Uttoxeter Racecourse (not too far from me!) from 26th-28th April 2013. I know this sounds like it’s absolutely ages away, but if you plan to make a new quilt especially for the show like I do, it’s really not all that long!

It costs £5 to enter (plus return postage costs) and you must complete the entry form and pay before the end of January. Categories are for quilts but there are also embroidery categories as well if that’s more your bag. Categories include wall hangings, innovative quilts and bed quilts, plus there’s a category for kids too. It seems a lot simpler than the Festival of Quilts and that’s not a bad thing! International and group entries are also welcome. It’s run by Sally Stephens who was the editor of Popular Patchwork during my time on Popular Crafts, so I feel like I sort of “know” her even though we only met a couple of times. More details can be found on the website HERE.

I’m planning on doing a pictorial quilt for the Innovative category (of course), but instead of my usual applique style I’m thinking of a pieced pixelated one…. but not sure of the subject matter yet! I thought of maybe making one of a musician or an actor, but nothing cliched like Audrey Hepburn, James Dean or The Beatles, someone more modern but will be iconic in the future. The only people I can think of right now are Morgan Freeman or Stephen Fry.

Would that be weird? I have other ideas if so, what do you think?

WIP Wednesday- Charm Packs in action

I’ve just remembered that I’ve not shown you one of my WIPs started a little while ago. I started it as a distraction project (and have already named it “Hello Chevron”) and it will use 3 charm packs in it’s construction. I’m not letting myself pick it back up again yet though as I need to get thinking “curtains” and stop procrastinating.

I drew up this plan in EQ7- the pink bits are patterned pieces from the Hello Luscious charm packs, the rest are solids cut from yardage…

As you can see I’ve done the top row already. As my room is a mess because the other side of the garage is being painted and what-not, I could only really trap it in the door to photograph early this morning, but I think you get the idea!

My next project has been puct back over and over again so I am going to allow myself to finish this one before next wednesday with any luck. Also from a charm pack, this time Tend the Earth by Deb Strain. I was originally going to make a kaleidoscope quilt with this charm pack and it didn’t really work out and I ended up with a few wasted charm squares and the whole thing got bundled away for a while. After I found THIS PATTERN in Modern Quilting magazine I knew I had to make it, I bought handles for it ages ago and then last week I discovered my slightly abused charm pack would be perfect for this as it says it needs only 33 charm squares (though I counted and it’s actually 34)!

Sorry for the slightly blurry pic, as I say, it was early! These are my two front panels, I’m just finishing the sides, bottom and flap pieces then I have to do the bit I hate- cut out ALL the interfacing and lining pieces. This is why I don’t normally make bags- too much pattern cutting! Just need to buy some more fusible fleece, mega strong interfacing and a big zip!

 

Really Big George- Finished!

In another avoidance tactic from sewing the other curtain (I really will have to finish that next) I finished “Really Big George”- based on a photo of Giant George. If you don’t know who Giant George, he was- until extremely recently- the biggest dog in the world ever!

This quilt is about a square metre and I have put it in my Etsy shop, but it’s not cheap 😉

There’s several different FMQ styles in there- my usual thread sketching but also I followed the design on the front on the background which gave a lovely effect. The fabric is from Heirloom by Joel Dewberry by the way.

The back is just simply Kona Natural, and the applique fabrics are a total mix of different manufacturers and designers I couldn’t possibly name them all.

The curtain fiasco

It’s time I told the (boring) story of the curtain fiasco that I hinted at earlier in the week. I now kind of wish I just made it into a quilt.

Firstly, you know how I was finding the piecing so boring? Well I finished enough to make one complete curtain, deciding to finish that one before embarking on the second. I added a band of white to the top and the bottom, but the measurements were based on guesswork. Holding it up to the window, it was too short by about 5″.

At this point it wasn’t a problem, I decided to add a 6″ band of yellow to the bottom. I then sewed the lining on, which is smaller than the front of the curtain so that the front curls round the back. Only when I actually had the curtain rings did we discover it was about 6 inches trailing the floor and they were too long! So I unpicked the yellow and stitched up the hem with just the white.

Only now it was several inches too short and it didn’t cover the bottom of the window! ARGH!

So what I have done is restitch the yellow back on yet again, but made the hem smaller and because it was stitched on after the lining, it makes the construction a little different. Some how this has made it the right length at last!

Bearing in mind I kept stitching the bands the wrong way round and had a lot of unpicking along the way I have really hated making this curtain. There’s loads of stitch holes from where it was unpicked that I’m trying to ignore, and also despite washing it there is still some really horrible brown stains that must have been on the fabric when I bought it. And I have another to do for the other side! At least I know what to look out for this time. I need to buy some more curtain lining.

I do kind of like it though, especially from the picture where I can’t see the problems and the faults as clearly. I love how it showcases my favourite ever fabric line.

On a happy note, my fabric arrived for the Japanese Charm Swap so I’ve cut my squares and they’re being posted today. And I will get 56 5″ squares back in all different japanese fabrics! I feel an eye spy quilt coming on.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday as there’s another curtain to go before the month is up!

Book Review: Antique to Heirloom Jelly Roll Quilts

This book is a bit different to the usual Pam and Nicky Lintott brilliance that you already know I love. This book was only released a week ago so you may not have seen it yet, it’s shiny new! The theme of the book is Pam’s antique quilt collection, showing these off and then making their own variations of these quilts from jelly rolls- the most useful of all precuts.

Each project has a spread about an antique quilt like this…

And then shows a modern adaptation you can make with the following project, like this…

If you prefer more complex projects, you are likely to prefer Jelly Roll Dreams that I reviewed several weeks ago, this book has more simple designs for quilts as the antique ones used for inspiration tend to be one or two block style throughout. There are the usual half square triangles and log cabin layouts that appeal to those who like traditional designs. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer traditional designs (but with modern fabrics) but the half square triangle and I have our fall outs from time to time!

Here’s some examples of the most interesting projects (to me anyway)…

This one looks useful for inspiration for the UK Border’s Agency Bee!

I like the look of the tumbling block quilt best and think I will eventually make this one- I thought this would be quite a hard thing to make from a jelly roll and I thought there might be Y seams to sew but apparently not! Yey!

Antique to Heirloom Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott is available from RUCraft for £11.99.

My mini quilt arrived!

This morning before work I went to the sorting office to collect a parcel. I hoped it was my mini quilt from Brit Quilt Swap 3 but when it was handed over it felt like sticks of dynamite and was in an unassuming cylindrical shape with a label saying it was from an architects in Scotland. Puzzled, I drove into work and opened it at my desk. Despite being misleading to look at, I had got my quilt from Jeanette (Hobby lass on Flickr)!

I’d been watching the group and all of these mini quilts that I liked and was hoping were for me one by one went to different people. I really wanted one with a picture, rather than the sort of mini quilt that I had made as that’s more my thing and I planned to hang it on the wall. Luckily for me, I hadn’t realised that there was another pictorial quilt in the works as Jeanette  hadn’t posted WIP pictures, so it was a really nice surprise when it arrived!

I opened it at work so I didn’t have my camera on me, so please excuse the phone photos…

I’m really happy with it, it’s very me and I really like the applique leaves and the button eyes! I have chocolate too but who knows how long that will last on my desk!

Thank you Jeanette!!!