Goodness, time flies when you’re having fun. And it goes even faster when you’re organising a BOM and are way behind on your sewing. So much has been happening this last month and sewing has therefore not really been a priority. My gorgeous cat Flynn has been poorly and ended up at the vet’s twice. He’s not eating and for a cat who’s normally a walking stomach that’s really bad. He’ll eat anything and everything, even salad, so to see him turn away from food is disconcerting. He’s only two years old and should be stuffing himself with all the food, play and sleep but at the moment all he does is sleep and feel sorry for himself.
Secondly, I’ve found a new job. I’m moving away from sales and going into an office job. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. I haven’t worked on the computer for quite a while so it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes me to get back on the ‘horse’. Going from a fabric shop into an engineering firm is quite the move. As I’ll be commuting to Berne I will have more time to EPP which will be fun and will hopefully help me get this BOM sewn.
Right, let’s get to it. Here are the links for the February Row:
As always: please let me know if there are any problems with downloading the templates and I’ll do my best to solve the problem.
Olive is the best little nurse. She’s doing her best to look after Flynn, cleaning him and checking on him every now and again. Although she’s also happy to steal his food and oust him from her favourite places…
How do you make sure your English paper pieced quilt has a nice edge that’s easy to trim and bind?
I used to get folded over bits of fabric and little holes but after a while I found an easy way to get a nice straight 1/4″ edge. I simply add a 1/4″ to the template and cut it out. I always cut the seam allowance at a 90º angle.
When I wrap the fabric around the papers I leave that edge unwrapped and trim the fabric flush with the paper.
Then I sew the pieces together with my usual whipstitch and end up with a wonderfully flat edge that is easy to bind without losing any of my points.
Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a great start to the new year.
Let’s start this block of the month. I’m incredibly excited to get back to English paper piecing. I’ve been neglecting it as I’ve been focussed on the granny square blanket and a cardigan I’m crocheting. I’ve also done a lot of bag and pouch sewing but almost no patchwork or quilting.
You need to print out January 1 and January 3 once and January 2 as often as you need to get the width that you’d like. I’m going to print it out eight times which results in a quilt that is 60″ wide. The quilt consists of twelve rows and will end up being 72″ long. You can, of course, make the quilt smaller by making less rows. I might add some squaring up lines to the templates after a few rows.
As you’re printing, make sure you don’t scale the printout. Keep it at 100% and check the little square is 1″x1″.
I can’t wait to start this project and see what you guys make of it. Happy sewing!
It’s been a while but I’m excited to be back in this little corner of the internet to announce that I’m hosting a free Block of the Month next year. I’ve already talked about it on Instagram but let me tell you all about it here, too.
First, it’s not really a block but a row we’re sewing every month. Here’s the chart of the finished quilt:
I realise that it’s not easy to see the quilt properly in this little picture so the link for the chart is here: Chart BOM24
The chart will help you decide whether you want to join in and also make it easier for you if you’re a planner. I’m going to wing it (and probably be envious of everyone who’s planned their quilt in advance) and stick to my technique of choosing my fabrics as I’m sewing.
Every month you get three ‘blocks’ one centre block and two end blocks that square up the quilt.
The width of your quilt depends on how many centre blocks you make. Ten blocks in total give you a quilt that’s 60″ wide. You can of course make it smaller but the length, if you stick with all twelve rows is 72″. If you would like to make your quilt bigger, I can add more rows, but at the moment there are only twelve. Here’s the link to download the rows in the picture above: Chart Pieces BOM24
Every first of the month the blocks will be ready to download here on the blog. If you would like to join in and see what others are making you can check out the hashtag #sharksdinnerbom24 on Instagram. This is where I’ll be posting my progress.
And because you should always end every blog post with a cute picture, here’s one of Olive Nomura Shoulderhopper.
I’ve started on the Grenoble Quilt. I have to admit that I was naughty and started on it before having finished three WIPs. I simply couldn’t wait. However, I did go back to my pile of unfinished projects once I’d scratched that itch and finished three small projects.
I’ve cut up my template into small chunks of 6 x 7 squares which means I end up with blocks that are 7.75″ x 9″, a nice manageable size to work on while I’m out and about.
Once I finished the first block I sewed the little template onto it so I remember where the block goes.
So far I’ve only finished two blocks but I’ve decided that once I’ve sewed the first seven (which means one whole row). I will then sew them together before continuing with the next seven blocks. This method should make it easy for me to see my progress. I can get bored by projects if I don’t see enough progress.
When I started the block I thought I would go scrappy with the background too, but I haven’t really got enough different low volume scraps so in the end I decided to only use solid whites. As they are scraps they’re not all the same white but I don’t mind that at all; I think it gives it a bit of movement. So far I’m only using greens but I’m thinking of doing the zigzag in dark blue and the crosses in teal or even pink. I’ve got a bit of time before I have to decide what to do (twelve more blocks to be exact) and I rather like not planning ahead. Especially as this quilt will be completely made from my stash.
One thing I have to admit though is that basting and sewing squares is booooooring. Thank goodness for Netflix or this would not end up as a quilt but as a cushion or table runner.
We have a new addition to the family. Please meet Flynn Curlytail
He’s not going to stay an only cat. There’s a little girl coming at the beginning of April. By then he’ll be eleven months and she’ll be six months old. Olive is a white cat too and they are both hearing impaired.
Flynn is the sweetest little boy you can imagine, he loves to snuggle and is very clever. I’m grateful to have a sewing buddy again and I’m sure there’ll be lots of ‘cats on quilts’ pictures with him. Here are the first ones:
And just in case you’re wondering why he’s called Curlytail; his tail is very often curled up like that:
It’s amazing what can inspire you. I was once inspired by some quilted toilet paper. This time inspiration was a knitted jumper. There’s a fabulous magazine in Norway called Hjemmet, which my mother has subscribed to for as long as I can remember. As I was reading one of their knitting supplements on classic Norwegian jumpers designed by Dale Garn for the Olympic Games throughout the years I fell in love with the jumper designed for Grenoble in 1968.
Design by Dale Garn, Norway
I’m not a knitter, in fact all my Norwegian jumpers and cardigans have either been knitted by my grandmother or my mother, but I am a quilter. So I turned the Grenoble jumper into a Grenoble quilt. I changed very little in the snowflake as I think its beautiful the way it is but replaced the stripes with a zigzag as I loved the zigzag at the bottom but knew I didn’t have space for it in this quilt.
It’s going to be a long term project. I’ve decided to go for 1.25″ squares as this means this quilt will end up being 61.25″ x 73.75″. I think that’s a good size for a single bed. I might make it bigger but I think it’s good to start with a manageable size.
I’ve calculated that I need 2891 squares for this quilt, 1753 for the background and 1138 squares for the pattern. I haven’t calculated how much fabric I need exactly but I think it’ll be about 1.50m for the background and about 1m for the coloured fabric. I’m still pondering a few things before jumping in and starting this new project:
should I have one fabric for the background or go scrappy?
what colours to use. In the picture I used light blue but I’m wondering if I should go for greens as I’ve just made two blue and white quilts. Or maybe use reds, pinks and oranges for a modern look? I’m definitely going scrappy for the coloured squares.
I have a rule for this year: to finish three projects before I start a new one as I have a million WIP’s cluttering up my sewing room. I’m trying to find the ones that take the least effort and are finished the quickest…
If you would like to make this quilt, you can download the graph and use as a guide.
It’s always fun to make baby quilts and right now I’m making the most fun baby quilt ever.
It all started when I took a class at Quilt Con Together. Jo Avery was teaching her Journey to the Centre of the Earth block. I’ve always been bad at improv and this seemed to be a compromise as you design the block and then FPP (foundation paper piece) parts of the block. It was fun but also very hard and I had to watch the class twice to get a hang of the technique. Once mastered, though, it was incredibly liberating. I made one 12.5″ block and turned it into a cushion.
As I was doing the triangles/spikes I thought they look a bit like monster teeth. That was it, my imagination ran wild and this is what it came up with:
Isn’t that a fun quilt? I tried very hard to not make the monsters scary and I really hope I succeeded. The first monster I did was the green one, then the orange, yellow and purple one. I have to admit that my favourite changes all the time but I think it must be the yellow one. He looks a little worried and quite shy, I think.
As I was deciding what colour to do the last monster (I had planned on making a blue one but realised it would blend too much with the background), I laid the blocks on the floor and Holly became the fourth monster, even showing teeth. She was actually meowing at me, telling me she was hungry and to get a move on and feed her.
In the end it was my daughter who said that the last monster should be purple and I think it was a great choice.
I’m waiting on some basting spray as I want to try spray basting for the first time. I always like trying things out on small pieces and a baby quilt is perfect in that respect. For once I actually know how to quilt this, I usually struggle with it and often quilt in the ditch or echo quilt, but this time I’m going to have a sort of grid in the centre and leaves in the border. The monsters will get a bit of quilting in the ditch to emphasise hair, horns, teeth, nose and eyes but might also get some texture.
Hello, I didn’t mean to disappear the way I did but some time in December I lost my sewjo and still haven’t quite found it again. This happens to me every couple of years and I’ve found the best way to deal with it is to just let it happen and not to try and force my creativity.
I have been sewing a little bit for the shop window we’re planning on doing once the Covid-19 pandemic lets us go back to work. For some reason the Swiss government didn’t think that a fabric shop is essential. It’s a good thing I have enough fabric for the next three years then….
Holly helping
Our theme is picnic and the colours are white, yellow and blue. I’ve started to make a giant gingham picnic quilt. The gingham is giant, not the quilt. The quilt is 53″ x 53″ and will be bound in a royal blue solid.
I also made some colourful birds as we’re going to have a branch and some logs in the window and I thought it would be cute to have some birds waiting for crumbs.
Fat little bird
My colleagues are also busy. They’re making picnic baskets, serviettes and cushions to sit on. I might make a few strawberries and cupcakes to put on the plates, too.
First, though, I have to finish the quilt and that is a bit of a problem. For the first time ever I’ve used a polyester batting (it was delivered wrongly last time I ordered batting and I kept it) and I’m really struggling with it. It’s like the fabric is sticking to it and it’s very difficult to smooth out for basting. In the end I managed to baste it but as I’m quilting, the fabric is moving and I’m getting all these tucks. I’ve re-basted three times already! I’m now thinking of ripping all the quilting out again and quilting it by hand as I feel that I have much better control over it then. That’s my job for this afternoon sorted then.
Miss Holly Fuzzybutt
By the way, I don’t think I’ve introduced you to Miss Holly Fuzzybutt yet. My gorgeous boy Charlie died last September at the age of 18. It was very tough as we had a very special connection. In December we decided that we were ready for another cat so I contacted my vet. She told me about this old cat who was looking for a home and when I met her I fell in love with her. According to the previous owners she’s 20 years old but she’s still in good shape. Her hearing’s not very good but she still likes to play. She hates being alone and meows very loudly to try and find us. She fitted in perfectly from the start and we’re really happy to have her, even if it won’t be for a very long time.
Then it’ll be back to a very special quilt I’m making.
Blue Steps
One of my best friends from uni turned 50 last month and I decided to make her a quilt. I realise I’m a bit late but with the situation the way it is I won’t be able to see her for a while anyway and I’m hoping to have it finished by then. Some time ago I made her some cushions in the teacup fabric. As I only have scraps left, I had to go scrappy with the whole quilt. I’m halfway done with the blocks which are really fun and easy to do. I’m thinking of putting just one bright pink block in there for fun but I’ll have to see if it works or not before I commit.
Right, here’s to the fun of sewing! I still have to get back to my Block of the Month 2019 and finish it. I had another BOM prepared for this year but I simply can’t get myself to start a new one before I finish the last one. It’ll have to wait for the autumn.
Last one! That’s right, it’s the last tile for this block of the month. Then it’s time to appliqué the tiles onto a background, quilt and bind. And all this before the end of the year.
I’ve started with the appliqué but have only managed one tile so far. This month has whizzed past at an extraordinary pace and I have to admit that I haven’t finished my October tile. Shame on me, I know. I’ve just had lots of other things to think about and the BOM has sort of faded into the background. The main reason for my inability to sit down and concentrate on my sewing have been the raging hormones in my pre-teen daughter. I’ve simply been too exhausted to sew after all the ups and downs every day has brought.
As a blog post without at least one picture is rather boring I thought I’d post one of my little ‘helper’ Blue looking adorable.
Right, here’s the last tile:
I’m really curious about this one. I’ve had to think quite a bit about where to put my coloured accents but I think I’ve got the perfect placement now. The placement of the coloured fabric is actually the only thing I plan in advance, all the other fabrics are chosen as I sew and I never really know what the tile is going to look like until it’s finished.
I’m going to have to knuckle down, finish my October tile and get on with this one as soon as possible. I have to take things a little easy at the moment as I’ve been diagnosed with shingles. I see quite a bit of hand sewing and tv watching in my future.
Happy sewing!
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About This Site
This is the home of Shark’s Dinner.
Welcome to my little corner of the internet. My name’s Elisabeth and I love to sew.
Every now and again I get the urge to share my sewing with the world.
