UFO Fridays - Quiet Play BOM

I am thoroughly enjoying the Quiet Play block of the month (BOM), now that I am almost caught up. I am in Boston when the September blocks are released but I can work on those when we return. Inspire was the august block and I chose red for the lettering and orange for the stars.

Now that I see all of the blocks together, I realise that I have to add the spacer strip to the bottom of the February LOVE block but  can do that when stitching the September blocks. Once I am caught up on the shapes, I can start seeing some of the rows together which is exciting. I think I need a turquoise and green blocks next.

WIP Wednesday - crazy zauberball socks

I love the Crazy Zauberball sock wool by Schoppel I do like a matched pair of socks but Crazy Zauberball socks are anything but matched!

On my bunny blockers by Ainsworth and Prin are a pair of vanilla socks of 60 stitches knitted toe up with a fish lips kiss heel. I use 2.25mm circular needles and I knit these two at a time. These were knit a couple of months ago and just needed the four ends sewing in. I finished these in 30 minutes including the soaking and blocking. It's silly what little jobs are left not done when they result in a finished product in a short space of time.

On my blockers from Loop of London are a pair of vanilla socks with a fish lips kiss heel made from the scraps of the Crazy Zauberball in colour 2231 striped with a full ball of 2254. The lighter colour was purchased on a trip to Yorkshire to go on retreat with my friend Gill. There is just a nugget of the red colourway left. I did five rounds of each colour and carried the yarn up the inside of the sock.

Next I need to prep a pair of socks for our forthcoming holiday and finish the fringe on a scarf to be donated to the shoebox appeal for Romania.

Make & take Monday - reusable make up remover pads

 My daughter Lizzie asked for me to make some reusable make up pads a few days before Xmas. So I made ten up for her using an Accuquilt 3" circle die, old towels and muslins accumulated from the Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser that I use.

Lizzie then told me earlier this eek that she needed more, so I duly cut more circles. Cutting towels makes such a mess but a great use for old towels or towels in colours that no longer match your décor.

Lizzie overlocked 30 or so on my underused overlocker. whilst I looked at the few muslin cloths that I hadn't used. a light bulb moment - what if I sewed two cloths into bags - one to store the pads and one to collect the dirty ones that could be thrown into the washing machine with a full load of washing.

They may not be the prettiest things I have ever sewn but they are very functional and already hanging in the bathroom, ready to be used.

UFO Friday - 100 days 100 blocks

Did I tell you I jumped on this band wagon, I resisted right until the last minute. I decided to use up my pink scraps and make a pink quilt for a local breast cancer charity. I added in a few reds and purples for variety and completed the blocks some weeks ago. Today is day 54 of the sewalong which continues for 100 days. I hope to keep posting whilst we are in Boston. 

I particularly like block 100 which I plan to turn into a label by embroidering my name and the year once the quilting is finished. I didn't want the foot to catch on the embroidery.

I put the blocks on my design wall and have tried to have the darker blocks on the outside graduating into the lighted blocks in the centre. Given that the blocks were made with no plan other than pink, it has come together pretty well.

I did some fussy cutting and have two blocks with the Alison Glass mermaid featured, both of which are dark blocks and on the edge of the quilt.

 The heart in this block was just an Art Gallery scrap in a goody bag but I love how the bock turned out. The quilt is now on my long arm and is about half quilted. I hope by next Friday that it will be bound and complete. What to work on next?

Work in Progress Wednesday - Cherry Blossom Festival Sampler

This pattern was released by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery five years ago but I was determined not to stitch in until in Japan, which happened in June 2019. after booking the holiday, I stash dived for linen and floss and put together a kit. I always bind the edge of the linen to keep it tidy.

I took my cross stitch out and about in Japan and here it is at Osaka castle, which isn't what I as expecting. However in Yokohama we got absolutely drenched and the red lining of the bag containing my sampler bled onto the linen. I tried to get the pinky stain out using soap to no avail.

At home I tried nail varnish an a friend suggested salt. as the project was heading towards the bin, I decided to throw it in the washing machine. Success! There are slight colour differences but I can live with that.

I then decided to focus on finishing the project during #onethingwithamy. I was pleased to finish it in one week and once finished and pressed was taken immediately to a local framer. I am always amazed at how much I can complete when I focus on only one task. Often the biggest problem is deciding what task or project to work on. Next I am going to work on piecing my #100days100blocks into a quilt top.

make & take Monday

Most months at Jersey Modern Quilt Group we have either a make & take or demo. There are so many great free patterns on the internet that we try to highlight to members. One that caught my eye was Sotak Handmade's slim pencil case.

It was my turn to do the make & take so first we share the link to the blog or website so that members can see the requirements and print off the instructions if they're interested in participating. Then it was time to do a prototype. I was pleased to find a random improv block which I cut in two to make a pencil case for my daughter. These are the fabrics I used in her going to university quilt and she plans to use it for make up brushes.

The instructions were easy to follow so long as you spot to not top stitch the lining as well as the case front once the zipper was inserted. So many didn't listen and didn't read the instructions!! On Saturday I took several projects at different stages and added a few hints, tips and warnings to read the pattern. After our meeting I finished the three part sewn pencil cases and I am pleased with them. I didn't have 7" zippers so I added an inch to the measurements of the pencil case and used an 8" zipper instead. If you have ever wondered how to measure a zipper, it's from the top of the head to the bar at the bottom of the zipper.

The turquoise windmills are for me to put in my singer Featherweight case as I need to buy some oil to keep in the box and also replace the 13 amp fuse with a 3 amp fuse. a great little project an I used Art Gallery samples fabrics for the linings of the bags.

UFO Friday - Improv quilt

Improv is very much out of my comfort zone. I like straight lines and the maths of quilting. However I did go to a London MQG workshop with Krista Hennebury (poppyprint on Instagram) I liked the way Krista gave us 30 minutes or so to complete each stage and we were restricted to three colours - I chose black white and red.

The blocks and strips from the workshop have been marinating. I have tried before to make it into something but it just wasn't working for me. however earlier this week I decided I needed to have a larger improv block in the centre of the piece. I then chopped it into four unequal quarters and inserted two of my strips from the class. Then I started going around the piece making blocks into strips and then adding them log cabin style around my central block.

I wasn't sure at this stage whether I was making a floor cushion or a mini quilt. I decide to just quilt the piece with straight irregularly spaced lines. The quilting starts with mainly black lines at the top, graduates into red and then becomes mostly white at the bottom. I think the quilting works and doesn't distract too much from the improv piecing.

I spent ages looking through my stash for backing as a Fat Quarter wasn't quite big enough but I found this print which I had a yard of and the colours go with the quilt top. I think I bought this at the Fabric Guild in Leicester about 8 years ago when Matt went to Welbeck DSFC for an interview. I abandoned the rest of the family at a space museum and went with Lizzie Allen and Heart of Charnwood to Fabric Guild.

I found the red and white striped binding in my stash too, so a very economical piece, apart from the trip to London to attend the workshop. It is now ready for my husband to hang it in our kitchen which is white, grey black and red.

Next I want to piece together my #100days100blocks but my sewing room is next to my adult daughter's bedroom and she is suffering with an horrendous ear infection so I am trying to be considerate.

Summer Book Club quilt along #sbcqal

The Summer book club sewalong started ten weeks ago using the Taller Tales patterns sold by Kate Basti on Etsy. I pulled al of my Tula Pink animals and a scrap of The Princess and the Pea fabric from Sew Hot. I then also pulled my Alison Glass text fabrics and plain cottons for the binding of each book. By using some similar fabrics in each block, I hoped that a cohesiveness would ensue. The background is Kona snow.

I made an initial block with the Princess and the Pea fabric but soon realized that it wouldn’t work wit the animals by Tula Pink. I will probably use that book as a pocket on a book bag in the future.

I then enthusiastically started making my blocks and photographing them but didn’t really keep up with posting the photographs. However last weekend I pulled all of my blocks made so far and made some extras to make a small baby quilt. I found it best to only make one block at a time as otherwise my plain fabrics got muddled. Each block didn’t take very long to make.

I put the finished blocks on my design wall, which really needs to be defluffed and pieced the small quilt row by row, working out what size of sashing was required for the wider blocks to work with the original blocks. The next blocks to go on my design wall are my #100days100blocks2019 blocks.

I then quilted the finished piece on my long arm with a multicoloured thread and a butterfly pantograph. What binding to use. A friend suggested lime green, but that was ever an option for me, so I brought out the striped fabrics I ha bought at the Festival of quits the previous weekend. In the end I chose the fabric with the most cream in it so as not to take attention away from the quilt and its piecing.

I now have a finished baby quilt ready for gifting and it’s time to share it on Instagram in the next few days in line with the sewalong schedule.

The backing was in my stash and just the right size as was the wadding. I machined the binding to the front and back as a baby quilt needs to be washable.