Category: Quilting

Village Show

eli

Today, our little village held its annual village produce show in the community centre. For years I have been saying that I will enter and I never have. Till today.

This morning I decided to enter my Rainbow Hexies cushion. It was competing in the “all crafts” section as there wasn’t a quilting one and had to compete with some fabulous woodwork, a bag, fabric covered boxes and other things. I didn’t win but I got a Highly Commended and am very happy with that.

Now, I was a bit unhappy today as I am at times a little blonde. The enrolment form had the opening times on and I didn’t check them before I dropped my cushion off.

Once I realised that I didn’t know what time to go back for it I checked times on the website where it said 12 noon. Off I trundled to find the doors closed. Slight panic on my part, home to check website again, call number of guy in charge, no answer. Really annoyed now as I want my cushion back. Fast forward to 3.30pm when I take the dog out, walking past the community centre. The centre is open and they’re putting stuff away. Viewing time was from 2pm till 3pm. Arrgggh! At least I got my cushion back.

Categories: Quilting1 Comment

On a Roll

eli

I’m on a roll. My list of UFOs is getting smaller by the day. First I finished my Swoon, which is being used by the whole family.

Then I finished my Rainbow Hexies.

I wasn’t sure how to quilt them and in the end quilted straight lines in every other row, while following the hexies in the others. I’m hoping that once the cushion cover is washed it’ll give a nice effect.

The back is simply the same Essex linen with a bright red zip so that I can easily take off and wash the cover. Which, I’m sure, will be necessary as this is our cat Charlie’s little corner.

Next on the list is my Hexy Heart. However, before I start on that one I will have to clean the house. I’ve turned a blind eye to all the dust bunnies hiding in the corners but they’re slowly growing into elephants. Time to roll up my sleeves, I believe.

Categories: Quilting, UFO1 Comment

Bang

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Do you remember my little list of UFOs? Well, there was one unfinished project that didn’t make it onto the list because, quite frankly, I’d completely, totally and utterly forgotten about it.

My Swoon block, which was made with Camille Roskelley‘s fantastic pattern.

I had started on the quilting, trying some stippling and didn’t like it. I need to practice a lot more to get it smooth, I think. I buried the block in one of my drawers until last week when, with the speed of light -bang- it reappeared. I started unpicking my stippling and did some echo quilting instead. The star in the middle was hand quilted using some perle cotton.

As this is supposed to be an outdoor cushion, mainly used for our picnics in the garden I used a darkish print on the back and used a zip for the opening.

Stippi the bear seems to like it and I’m just grateful I have one less project on my list of UFOs.

Categories: Quilting, UFOLeave a comment

BQS 3 – The End

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The mailing window for the British Quilt Swap Round 3 opened last Thursday and I’m happy to report that I will be sending my mini off on Monday, a little later than I wanted.

On the other hand I’ve been very lucky and have already received my mini from my partner Teresa, The Lochside Quilter. Look what she sent me:

Little Miss Bossy-Boots took one look at the  hexagon quilt and asked if she could have it for her dolls. I’m still thinking about it… Did you notice the cute little tissue holder and fabulous charms Teresa included? The latter will definitely find their way into my Spring Carnival quilt.

Thank you so much, Teresa!

 

The quilt I made isn’t something I would have made for myself and it really took me out of my comfort zone. However, it has taught me a lot. First, I loved the curved piecing and can see some more of it in my future. Second, raw edge appliqué is fun and can be very effective. I like the fact that the tree trunk’s and leaves’ edges are a bit fuzzy. Third, autumnal colours are beautiful. I don’t use them much although I was obviously attracted to them before this mini as I bought Denyse Schmidt’s Hope Valley a couple of years ago.

Here’s the label I embroidered for the back.

In addition to the quilt we’re supposed to send a little extra gift.

I love pincushions and think that you can never have enough when you’re sewing so that is what I’m making for my partner. I’ll show you a picture once I’ve finished it. I know the number of pincushions I have has quadrupled in the last few months because they are so much fun to make and receive.

Now all I can do is wait and hope that my partner likes what I made for her. Fingers crossed.

 

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Let’s Put a Pin in it

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Have you heard of  scrap vomit or technicolour yawn quilts? Katy from I’m a Ginger Monkey (I know, I know) has a great tutorial on her blog. I have been wanting to make a scrap vomit quilt literally from the second I saw a picture of her first one. However, I don’t really have the time or the scraps to start on it yet. I have been cutting all my scraps and some truly ugly fabric into 2,5″ squares for a while now but with 49 squares in each block I still have a long way to go. The solution?

Make a pincushion from Block B.

Now if I had made the block using 2,5″ squares this pincushion would have ended up the size of a small planet. Not very practical. So instead I made it with 1″ squares. Crazy? Yes, but I was nervous as Aron, our lovely 11 year old dog was at the vet’s today to get his teeth cleaned and a few biopsies from some lumps. I really needed to focus on something else and this pincushion did the trick.

There are some fun fabrics in there: an easter egg, an elephant, gloves, a ladybird, a radish, strawberries, a bird, a guitar and a lamb. Not easy to see but you might just get a glimpse of them here and there.

For the back I used some sheep.

If you like this pincushion go check out the scrap vomit appreciation society group’s photo pool on flickr. Who knows, you might want to have a go yourself.

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Fireworks

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A little while ago there was a picture of some gorgeous fabric on the Fat Quarterly blog: Katharine’s Wheel by Nel Whatmore. The fabric came with a Designer Challenge to make blocks inspired by circles, swirls and fireworks. Before I could engage my brain I had left a comment to enter the draw. Can you imagine my excitement when I was picked?

Five fat quarters arrived and the fabric was even more beautiful in real life than it had been on the pics; the colours were incredibly rich and zingy. I had had a few ideas buzzing around my head while I was waiting for my parcel but the minute I saw the fabric I ditched them all. No way was I going to cut these beauties into small strips and circles.

I quickly googled Catharine Wheel Fireworks as I have to admit that I know nothing about fireworks, never having bought any myself. Swiss national day (1st August) is celebrated during the school holidays and we were always away. The pictures were lovely and I soon drew some blocks with lines coming from a circle in the centre. I wasn’t quite convinced and started drawing curves. Bingo!

After a few variations and some serious trial sewing I found a curve I liked and started cutting up my lovely fabric. I think the big pieces really showcase the bold flowery prints and rich colours.

I made cardboard templates of my two sections and cut out four of each. Then I sewed together one section a to one section b making quarters, two quarters into halves and then the halves together making sure all the points meet in the centre. After I finished the first block where I used the five different designs I decided that the stripy one was stopping the block’s flow and made another one.

I then wondered what to do with the two blocks I had made and on a whim decided to make a bag. A few weeks ago I bought three different green Konas from Florence‘s pop-up shop on Etsy. Sadly I didn’t make a note of the different names but one of them was a perfect match with Katharine’s Wheel.

There’s a stripy pocket for a mobile phone or key and some fabulously stripy handles.

I also cut off one of the selvages and sewed it onto the lining to remind me of the challenge.

I’m really happy with this bright, swirly explosion of colour and hope that I’ve fulfilled the brief of the challenge.

Categories: Bags, Quilting3 Comments