Tag: FAL

Fly, Butterfly, Fly!

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This little butterfly was designed with one specific task in mind: to use up even my smallest scraps of Liberty Tana lawn.

ButterflyThe butterfly finishes at about 9″ x 12″ when printed out at 100%. For my purpose, however, I printed it out at 75% as I wanted to make sure I could use up even the tiniest of those blue and green scraps. The antennae are free motion quilted in a variegated Aurifil 40wt (no 4669) which I bought to quilt my Churn Dash quilt. The butterfly itself was pieced with Aurifil 50wt (no 2000) which is a perfect match to many of the Liberty lawns. I appliquéd it onto a red cotton/linen fabric that I’ve had in my stash for a few years. I auditioned different colours for the background but found it nicest on the red. Funnily enough, when I popped it onto some white, the butterfly looked really washed out.

All of the Liberty lawns came from Ali’s shop Very Berry Fabrics on Folksy and I already have plans to buy more (don’t tell my bank account, I can already hear it groan) as Ali sent me some scraps with my last order and I’ve completely fallen in love with one of them. Sadly she doesn’t seem to have any in her shop at the moment but you can be sure that I will be stalking her in the next few weeks.

This is my third finish for Q1 of the FAL and I’m very happy about that. I really would like to make one of these butterflies in solids as I think it would look stunning in a rainbow of colours too but I’m going to be good and continue with my list before starting something new.

So far, I’ve made my EPP patterns available for free and I want to do this with my last two, Butterfly and Liberty Bloom, too. They just need a little more work before I can upload them to the blog. Hopefully, they should be done by the end of this week. Afterwards, however, I’m thinking of opening a shop on Craftsy or Etsy and asking for a small contribution for my patterns. What do you think? Would you pay a couple of pounds for my EPP patterns?

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing4 Comments

FAL – 2nd Quarter

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It’s that time again, the time to fess up and bring out all the WIP’s to link to Leanne of She Can Quilt‘s Finish-A-Long list. My list for the first quarter was filled with small things like a sewing kit and some cushions which I managed to finish and one quilt which I didn’t even get out of the drawer it’s been banished to. So, as you can imagine it’s going on this quarter’s list. Right, here’s my list for this quarter:

1. Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ log cabin quilt.

Pink Log CabinsI’ve got four log cabins so far and will have to make at least another sixteen, I think. I’m not sure I have enough fabric so I might have to be a little creative and add some sashing to make the quilt big enough.

2. The Spring Carnival quilt. This is quite ambitious but I really want to bring it to the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July.

Spring Carnival ProgressMy biggest problem here is that I’m fast running out of the stripy fabric I’m using for the ‘background’. I believe I have enough for two more columns, then I have to decide whether to keep it that size or choose a different fabric and add a frame around the stripes.

3. Master’s Bag

Master's Bag

I promised to make this bag last year (hangs her head in shame) and only started a very short while ago.  I know it won’t take too long to make, I just need some uninterrupted sewing time which isn’t easy with Little Miss Bossy-Boots on holiday.

4. The Spring Version and Blossom panels.

Réalt Glas, Spring and BossomI’m not sure what to make with those two. I was wondering if I should turn one of them into a small quilt for the couch by adding a few borders and maybe making a bag with the other. Or maybe another cushion? Watch this space as I’m not sure yet what to do.

5. In The Woods

In the Woods FinishedTote pocket or doll blanket? The jury’s still out.

I think I’m going to stop here as I’d really like to finish everything on the list and there’s more than enough on there to keep me busy. Also, I know myself well enough that I’m sure I will start many new projects.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Finish-A-Long, Work in Progress3 Comments

Finish-A-Long: My Finishes

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This Finish-A-Long, hosted by the lovely Leanne of She Can Quilt, has really helped me finish some WIPs that had been lying around for quite a while. My list contained five projects and I finished four; not bad going for me. Of course, the one project I didn’t finish was the biggest one, Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ log cabin quilt. I’m going to put it on the list for the next quarter and make sure I start with it.

I was really happy to finish my Hexagon Heart which I started in April and was destined to raise funds for my local cancer treatment centre.

Hexie Heart Cushion

The second finish was my Double Circle of Flying Geese, or Skein of Geese as I called it which I started at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July. Once I got home I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to remember how to foundation paper piece so I put all the bits and pieces in a drawer. Once I got everything out and got started I realised that not only did I remember how to do it, I also thoroughly enjoyed the process. It’s now sitting on my sofa being used every day.

Double Circle of Flying Geese

Two of my finishes ended up in my sister’s house: the sewing kit I made for her and the ‘Spin Me Around’ cushion.

Kris's Things

I realise that I only finished a few small things but I’m so grateful to FAL because without it I probably only would have finished the sewing kit and started a lot more new projects.

 

Categories: Finish-A-Long2 Comments