Book challenge

Not on my to do list for April but a finish none the less is the trivet or in my case mat for a vase from the book Patchwork Please by Ayumi Takahashi.

 

This is a simple foundation piecing project and the quilting was quick and easy too as I started sewing on the turquoise outer strip and then changed to the cream and then the red strip where they crossed and then back out again with no ends to sew in. I used Bonnie & Camille scraps with Moda red dot, Sweetwater grey text print and the middle print is by Lori Holt.

 

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Where's my scheduled post?

I know I wrote a post scheduled for today yesterday. I thought I was os orgnaised. I'd even planned what I was going to work on today. But the post has disappeared. Back to the drawing board. I do know I was going to tell you what I completed yesterday:
1. I quilted the two mini quilts. Not as easy as it sounds as the machine didn't like the seam bulk in a few places.
2. I quilted the Siblings Together quilt - this was much quicker. And it has been trimmed.
3. I trimmed the small flying geese units.

Do you think the mini quilt is finished as it is or does it need a grouping of buttons in the middle to finish it? I'm a less is more person so would call it done at this stage, subject to binding it and adding a hanging sleeve. The binding will be a rainbow stripe if I can put my hands on it. :)

 

Now the flying geese units are ready to sew together into the final row of the Bee in my Bonnet rowalong row. Then there's the outside border to piece and it's ready to put together.

 

 

 

I even trimmed the quilts ready to sew the binding to the front of the quilts tomorrow. So the plan today is to stitch the bindings and finish the basket weave star. After I've been to Zumba.



Just another Manic Monday

 

 I'm torn as to what to do today. I would like to finish week 4 of  my Spring time Sampler but I really need to get my mini quilt in the post on 1 May. It is ready to quilt but I have the Siblings Together quilt from the FQR Kinky Bee on the long arm.

You may wonder why I even put the ST quilt on the long arm now. I have a new customer coming this morning and I thought it would be good to have a quilt on the frame so as to explain how the machine works and the importance of everything being square as Lisa has prepared the backing for this quilt beautifully.

Our quilt group had a UFO day yesterday and I worked hard on all of the piecing I took with me. I made progress on all my projects but none are finished. This is a block made from this tutorial for the May Simply Solids hostess. A good leader and ender project with all of those little squares to piece. I need to add another row of squares on each side and surround it in white.

The above block caught my eye on a blog and I thought it would work well with my other BOM stars and with lots of small scraps, it will tie in all of the fabrics, so I printed it off and added it to my basket. The tutorial is from ADD crafter.

And then some more scraps were used to start this project from Patchwork Please! , a book which Lorraine lent to me.

 

Whilst looking for a fat quarter that Liz Dandelion needed for her Block of the Month, I also found this work in progress that I pledged to work on this month or was it this quarter? So out it came. All of the blocks are now finished, so I just need to get them all on my design wall and sewn into a quilt top.

 

 

 

And last but not least, the last row of the row along - the 2" by 1" finished flying geese. These aren't finished as I find the trimming of those tiny blocks so tedious so I just trim five at a time. However I think the plan for at least the next hour is to set my machine quilting and to trim up these blocks whilst supervising the machine. At least then I'll be ready to sew all of the flying geese together. After that, I need to finish the mini quilts.

 



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Hosted by Kirsten at Gemini Stitches

Shake your Pom Poms blog hop

Hurrah it's time for the Shake your Pom Poms blog hop. Celebrating all things Pom Pom. Hosted by Madame Samm and led by Thearica of Pigtales and Quilts.

 

 

I remembered buying some Tilda pom pom trim some time ago from Guernsey. I even went and collected my order on a trip with Jane. So I broke out my box of trim and a handful of Tilda fabrics. Now what to do with them?

I waited for inspiration to strike and I wasn't disappointed. Pictures of Noodlehead's latest pattern for a divided basket kept popping up on blogs. Cute pattern - how would it look with a Pom pom trim? I added in the grey and aqua spotted fabric from Bonnie & Camille into the mix. I can recommend this pattern for a quick and easy make. Who can't use another basket for their notions or embroidery?

 

 

So shake your pom poms for my contribution!!

 

I stitched the pom pom trim to the outside of the pocket with two sets of straight stitches but I trimmed one pom pom from each end of the trim to allow for the seam allowance.
 

 

And here it is with the matching needle case I made it the Stitch Me Up embroidery blog hop.

 

 

Do visit the today's other contributors and for the complete schedule visit Pigtales and Quilts.

April 25

Mhairi

Just Sew Sue

I Piece 2 – Mary

Get More Done...Today

Scraps of Life

Dancing Thru-Threads

Needle d

Sowing Stitches

Cooking with gas

Sunday was a good sewing day. As well as piecing my two Mother's Day mini quilts I pieced the star row from the Bee in My Bonnet row along at the same time. I had put off making this row as it's only 3" finished, but Lori's method meant no half square triangles to trim up and only three steps to make each star. It was also a great scrap buster as each star only took a 6.5" by 1.5" strip.

Just one more row to finish of small flying geese. I have half of the outside border to finish too. One of my quilt groups has an all day session on the last Wednesday of the month, so I plan to cut some of the squares ready to make progress on the last row this week, but when at home, I'll be working on week 4 of the Springtime Sampler. I may appear to be impatient to get the sampler stitched, but I know that if I don't finish it as each step comes in, it won't be finished and I have several UFOs in my cupboard to prove the point. :)

 

 

A successful Sunday

Yesterday I shared that I had started with this:

 

And got as far as this:

 

I'm pleased to report that I have finished piecing the mini quilts.

 

 

They look identical but my iron spat on one of them, so that's my mini quilt. The middle of the quilts look a little bare so I'm thinking of a rainbow circle of buttons? Any other ideas. I will be quilting the tops with a large spiral to emphasise the circular motion of the pinwheels. Which colour would you put on the top - I designed it with the yellow at the top, but could also go for the red as seen on the right hand side or even orange or turquoise.

 

Please come back on Thursday when I'll be sharing my project for the Shake your Pom Poms blog hop.

 

 

The deadline is looming

I signed up for Cheryll's Mother's Day mini quilt swap as I loved the Christmas mini quilt I'd received in the last swap I participated in. Also it means I'll have two more mini quilts to display in my hanger as I'll receive one from my partner and I'll make a duplicate of this one for myself. Definitely a win win.

I saw a rainbow version of a Camille Roskelley pattern which I loved. So bright and cheery. However my mini has to be exactly that - mini- so I drafted the following to be 12" square. Each square is 1.25". Hmm, perhaps not such a good idea.

 

But I proceeded undaunted and picked out the following basket of plains from my new solids stash paired with a favourite grey.

 

 

Quite a while later and I now have a pile of half square triangles to trim. I borrowed Lorraine's rotating cutting mat to make the task quicker, but my square ruler is just a bit too big to help, so I'll look for a six inch ruler in the near future. 

 

 

I would say Monday's job is to piece the two mini quilts but I have an album to put together for WI which I have been putting off due to not having any printer ink. But the ink arrived a week ago, so I really need to crack on as the album is to be presented on Friday evening. Ooh and week 4 of the Springtime sampler arrives tomorrow. Not that the frames for week four are finished yet. I think it's time to get started on the day so I'll have more time for stitching.

 

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Hosted by Kristy

Is there a quilter in the house?

I definitely think a quilter might live in a house like these. Definitely eclectic.

 

At the top of my most recent three rows, you can see some of the 42 border blocks. I have four corner blocks and about twenty border blocks already pieced. I used them as leader and ender pieces when sewing the house blocks. I think I have just two rows to complete now. Of course I've left the fiddliest rows until last - flying geese and stars.

 

I'm pleased with how the rows are turning out. I haven't added the ends and sashing strips which I'll do at one sitting. Hopefully in the not too distant future. However now I need to turn my attention to my Mother's Day mini quilt swap. I know Mother's Day has passed for those of us in the UK but I decided to still participate and have until 1 May to get it in the post. More of the mini quilt tomorrow.

 



It's a good day so far

The sun is shining, Facebook is working properly again for me and I now have my SD card back - thanks Lizzie. I've just finished another Bee in My Bonnet row. This is a row of baskets, which looks appropriately spring like along with the row of tulips.

It's also a busy day today:
* visit with Sirens WI to the Classic Herd dairy with afternoon tea
* Visit to Lifeboat station with other WIs
* Geocaching event - meet the Danes

So with that in mind, all I plan to do is cut out my next row which is five sweet little houses. I cut two sets of houses last night but the roofs are too small so back to the cutting board. I hope the sun is shining on you wherever you are.

What's going on?

I can't log on to Facebook via my PC and the SD card for my camera has gone AWOL. Technology is great when it works and when you have all the right bits. Good news - ink cartridges have arrived today so I can print off stuff. For week 3 of the Springtime Sampler I've had to work from my Ipad to follow the pattern. I must fully charge it tonight ready for week 4 on Monday.

 

Here's week 3 along with my new frame and needle keeper which arrived this morning too.

 

 

Tomorrow I'll continue with the Bee in my Bonnet basket row but for today, I'm going to put my feet up and browse a couple of books that Lorraine has lent me.

Tulips from Jersey

I've had a  busy few days with Matthew going back to school in the UK, canasta games etc. Lizzie is now back at school too, so we can get back to our normal routine. I can't believe how much more food is in the fridge, just because Matthew's been home.

Monday, week three of the Springtime Sampler arrived. No ink for my printer so I've had to view the pattern on my Ipad, which would benefit from a full charge so I don't have to keep stopping and part recharging.

 

I have also completed one more row of the Bee in Your Bonnet row along, a lovely spring like row of colourful tulips. I've even incorporated some of my newest fabrics from my Orbit quilt in the stems, three leaves and two flowers (numbers 3 and 5 from the left).

 

 

Today, I have started cutting some basket blocks for the next row but I will get back to my cross stitch when the Ipad is fully charged. Thursday is a full on day with a visit to the Lifeboat station with WI, a visit to the Classic Herd Dairy with Sirens WI and a geocaching event in the evening with a promise of ice cream!! So I'm not sure when I'll get time to finish the basket row, which I think consists of seven baskets, two of which are already done. It would probably be a good idea to do some cutting when everyone else is asleep tomorrow morning as I'm an early riser. Lorraine has lent me her rotating cutting mat to road test, which may make the cutting more efficient.

 

 

FQR Kinky Bee

FQR Kinky Bee block for Charlotte April Bee mama, a photo by libertyjsy on Flickr.

Another improve block for April's bee Mama. That's a challenge for me. As Charlotte has kindly provided us with a stamped addressed envelope, I need to get it ready for Matthew to take to East Midlands tomorrow.

I've also been frantically cutting and piecing tulips for the Bee in your Bonnet row along. I hope to finish that row tomorrow.

Springtime Sampler week 2

Finished in time for Monday's week 3 stitching chart to arrive, except that I haven't finished the frames for week 3 (or 4 or 5 for that matter). :) I'll work on those tonight. What to work on today?

I haven't been stitching so much over the last two days. On Thursday I spent the morning sewing with Anne. We worked on piecing Caesarea Quilter's Farmer's Wife blocks together. We managed to piece about three more strips together and have completed about 60% of the top before borders.  We work well together, Anne sews whilst I pin and press. I don't think we'd have accomplished as much if just one person had worked on their own. I kept forgetting which row blocks should be in, but we soon got into a routine and I took photos of each row before starting to pin them.

Lizzie made these cream egg cup cakes yesterday to take to our monthly WI canasta game (I was on a winning team). we have St Martin's WI canasta afternoon on Monday so she will be making some more as they were appreciated by all of the ladies.

I have finished a UFO and have three finished items from the one project. My Sew Happy Me, Christmas bunting has been turned into three Christmas mini quilts, all ready for the sample swap at the Fat Quarterly retreat. I bound the second mini quilt and wanted to add some small buttons to the joints of the bear. Jenny was kind enough to let me have the four red buttons, but once I had sewn them on, I decided they weren't what the project needed.

 

 

 

So this morning I broke out my Kandi Kane and some red hot fix crystals and I'm much happier with how the completed project looks.

 

 

 

This morning I hand stitched the binding down on the last of the three mini quilts and I'm pleased with it. All of the mini quilts have used miscellaneous Christmas fabrics that I came across in my stash and they make the red work panels look completely different. The panels are stitched on the same background fabric with the same red thread, but the different styles of fabric in the stars  gives each quilt a different look.

 

 

I also stitched the details on the Bee in your Bonnet label block pieced earlier this week. Like a fool, I wrote in the date on top of the bee's head, completely forgetting that I had to stitch in the antennae too. Fortunately I'd used my favourite Frixion pen so a quick press with a hot iron and it was as good as new.

 

 

 

 

Today I should have been at the Caesarea Crafters' crop, but I just wasn't prepared with a project to take, so I have stayed home and will work on finishing the week 2 stitching of the Frosted Pumpkin Springtime sampler. Then I need to complete some of the frames for week 3 over the next two evenings.

 

 

Busy Bee

I am way behind with Lori Holt's row along. However I cut this signature block out of the fabrics I had to hand for my Orbit quilt and sewed it at the same time. All I need to do now is draw on the Bee's antennae and my name and the date. I can then stitch it one evening whilst watching television. It should only take me 30 minutes to stitch.

 

  

I'll draw in the stitching lines today, as well as continue to sew my Springtime Sampler and quilt the last of my Christmas mini quilts ready to bind at my Guild on Monday evening. I need to do more of the row along and will probably take that to Caesarea Crafters crop day on Saturday and hope to get at least one row sewn together.

Orbit quilt top is finished

This quilt top really was quick to stitch together. A couple of the fabric choices called for half yard cuts and I only had fat quarters. Some I managed to get out of a fat quarter but others I just cut into another fat quarter to add variety to the top.

 I don't know if anyone else has this problem with directional fabric, but if you look at the Lucie Summers floral print above, the flowers all had to be the "right" way up. The same is true of the script fabric below. I had to cut a second half square triangle of the grey print (top middle) as the string of dots wasn't going the right way.

 

This quilt top has now been pressed and put away until I can find the right backing fabric which I'm thinking will be the large Ikea text fabric, possibly dyed either yellow or orange, but I'll have to wait until someone's near a branch of Ikea who will buy it for me. I'm kicking myself that I didn't stop at Ikea in Southampton in February. I still have lots of other projects to finish so I can work on those for a while first.

 

Today's plan is yet more Springtime Sampler sewing and a Christmas mini quilt to be quilted.

Comma Orbit

The best laid plans are often derailed by some new fabric. Did I quilt my Christmas mini quilts yesterday? Did I start stitching week 2 of the Springtime Sampler which arrived first thing yesterday morning? Of course I didn't, I was distracted by the Orbit pattern and the stack of fabric I'd purchased for it. I cut a few blocks out and stitched them along with a Christmas mini quilt, then yesterday morning I started cutting up the rest of the fabric.
 

Apologies for the rubbish photo, but I think you get the idea, I should have it pieced today, then I think I'll wait for some of the script Ikea fabric which will go nicely with the three different script fabrics in the pieced top and I could even dye the fabric to match the yellow or orange fabrics.

 

 And I think I will start working on week 2 of the Springtime Sampler whilst watching week 2 of the Great British Sewing Bee this evening.
 

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Design wall Monday

With Nat of Made in Home

Q2 Finish a long

>

I've buried my head for too long blaming my chest infection, now is the time to make a list for the second quarter. I've already set out what I need to work on this month. What could I finish and what should I finish? I must be mindful that the Fat Quarterly retreat is in July and I have swaps and bee quilts to finish.

 

Should:
Japanese X & Os
Kinky bee stars
Spring time sampler
Christmas mini quilts x 3 for FQR swaps in July

Could:
* Orbit which I haven't even started
* April AYOS
* May AYOS
* June AYOS
Carolyn Forster Pink and grey quilt

I've just realised that those marked * are not eligible for the finish along as I haven't started them before April 2103, but I still want to make them before Q3 starts. Time to get showered and quilt two Christmas mini quilts whilst waiting for week 2 of Springtime Sampler.