Monday make - mariner’s compass

 

A customer's lovely quilt in red white and blue to be gifted for a grandchild going away to school. I used Superior Threads King Tut in Freedom and the pantograph is tiger stripes from Anne Bright. The backing is minky which didn't cause any problems.

WIP Wednesday - happy stripes

My daughter sent me this earlier this week and she's not wrong. My Just My Type sewalong is going very nicely, but I haven't even started a bag sewalong which is on week 2. So why did I jump in to another sewalong - Happy Stripes by Emily Dennis.

Perhaps it might actually reduce my scrap pile, some of which is on my work room floor? I started with my red scraps with the thought of a rainbow scrappy throw but I might just mix up all of the colours instead.

 

Friday freebie - Lori Holt design boards

I thought I would remind you how versatile and useful the design boards from Lori Holt are. The tutorial is on Lori's blog at Bee In My Bonnet. I find the 18" plus size most useful for blocks that are 12" square. I even go as far as to take them to retreats. My local framer has a digital cutter so they cut the board for me and the only thing I do different to Lori's tutorial is to use as a fabric glue as I find a hot glue gun difficult to use without getting big blobs of glue.

I have been using the boards to keep each letter from the Just My Type pattern separate and I put the pieces back on the board once sewn to take them to the ironing board.

WIP Wednesday - six blocks to go

I have finished the eight blocks of the Just My Type Sewalong for May and added the coloured borders to just those blocks. I'm loving the colour combinations. I am only using the navy floral to border the three blocks with a mustard background as the background and blue floral are too similar in colour.

 This is all my blocks together so far and I have already completed all of the June blocks. Sorry if you're sick of only seeing these blocks as I have been working on them slowly every day and we are heading off on a short break to Copenhagen today. It's a direct flight from Jersey so no flying to the UK first so we'll be there just after lunch.

Monday Make - Ugly sweater tub box

 

My project for the UFO challenge this month  was to use these ugly sweater blocks (pattern by Kid Giddy). I made these two as part of the online retreat and made two more at last autumn's Modern Quilt Club retreat. The blocks are foundation pieced so in my skill set.

I paired the four blocks with two fabrics from Joules @hobbycraft which were a Christmas present from my daughter and the Tubby boxes pattern from Rosie Taylor Crafts.

You can't beat a pretty stripe for binding.

I love the little Kylie and the Machine label I added to the binding seam.

The only fabric I know the designer of is the red and white fabric which is an old Kate Spain line.

Friday finish - cutting out

 

On Wednesday night we returned from a river cruise from Amsterdam through the Netherlands to Ghent and Antwerp returning to Amsterdam on Tuesday where we visited the Keukenhof Gardens. This was one of the attractions of this cruse which we only booked a month ago.

On Wednesday we had a few hours spare before heading to the airport so we walked through the city, trying to see a few of the churches but they didn't open until 12. We did find a fabulous fabric shop called A Boeken which is also next door to the wool shop - Stephen and Penelope. I was only after a rotary cutter as I left mine in Nantes, but they only had the Prym cutters and I want something more distinctive so it doesn't get mixed up with other people's equipment at retreats.

I did very little cross stitching when I was away but I did cut out the remainder of the letter blocks and block borders for the Just My Type sewalong. 

Since returning home I've bought a few patterns but I've also stitched a letter block per day and started to add the borders on the first eight letters. Some of the background has also been cut out so I can put together the first row. I'm loving how the pink sashing brightens the whole quilt. I am only planning t use the dark floral on the mustard blocks as it's too heavy with the plainer navy.

My plan for the next few days is to continue stitching a block a day and add the frames onto a to h, finish my May UFO challenge and today I will be mostly being a couch potato and get my Prairie Schooler Santa progressed.

WIP Wednesday - Just my type

 

I couldn't resist stitching up the large typewriter block for the sewalong. It may not be scheduled to be stitched until September, but it was just too tempting to resist. I love the pink Ruby Star Society fabric for the paper in the typewriter which I bought in a destash.

I have even purchased a wide sateen backing ready for the quilt. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

Monday Make - project keeper

 

This is made using the Project Keeper pattern by Tiger Lily Designs . I love watching Youtube videos on stitching and more, Kari's videos are very high energy and she sells both made project keepers and the pattern for making one yourself.

I opted for a Tula Pink version with some OOP Tabby Road from one of my local shops for the inside and used Aurifil thread throughout. It was stitched on my Janome Atelier 7. Kari has two pocket options - a zippered pocket and a divided pocket for bobbins of floss. The way she divides the bobbin pockets and quilts the outside too, is very clever.

I chose a two zippered pocket version and I quilted the outside fabric with a Karlee Porter design. I used No 5 zippers which were larger than used in the pattern as the vinyl came up a little short. A zipper size was not specified in the pattern.

I used my favourite snaps to close the project keeper and even fussy cut the tab and it just about matches the front of the bag. The pattern comes with a link to a private video tutorial from start to finish. My observations are:

* Size of zipper should be specified

* The whole pattern was written in uppercase which is more difficult to read and means that spellcheck doesn't pick up spelling and grammar mistakes

* The back of the slip pocket is interfacing so I added a second layer of fabric to make the slip pocket as nice as the rest.

Friday finish - just my type

For the sewalong, the plan for May is to make eight letter blocks. as you can see, I tried so hard to do things in order, but then I added in the easy i and l as well as the heart for a quick finish. There are borders to go around each letter so my plan is to cut these during May and add them when completing the June blocks. I need to work out the distribution of the five different fabrics first as I have changed the placement of the yellow blocks as shown in the pattern.

I am using three different colours of neutral speckles by Ruby Star Society and allocating them in order - 1a, 2b, 3c, 4d and so on. I have been cutting out at least one block every morning and my design boards have come in very useful for keeping the pieces for each letter together. All of the pieces look very similar for all of the blocks.

Then I tack down the letter square (provided in the pattern) to the top left of each block. Particularly confusing are b, d, p and q which have exactly the same pieces. 

 I have taken the pattern, fabrics and cutting tools on holiday with us to Amsterdam so I can continue to cut one block a day and perhaps even the borders. I can then quickly sew up the blocks and it wil be ready to work on at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in four weeks time.

Pour l’Amour du Fil

I have already shared photographs of what I purchased at the show and what classes I took but now it’s time to show you some of the quilts on show. 

The theme this year was Australia and they kept playing Men At Work  “Down Under”. There were some interesting interpretations of the theme for the competition and this entry caught my eye.

I was only au fait with the work of exhibitor Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic. I wasn't able to do a class with her but I purchased the book instead.

The next quilt use my favourite line of Zen Chic, called something like Comma

Some designers had small unattended booths.

Here are some other works that caught my eye.

This Australian themed coat was a stunner which I spotted when I was queuing for customer service. I soon realised the lady was exhibiting.

Next year's theme is "The Netherlands" and my father is already planning the next trip.

April 2022 achievements

I didn't achieve quite as much as I'd hoped in April but we were away for a week in France.

1. 1988 Prairie Schooler Santa

2. Trip Around the world sewalong this was chosen for the UFO challenge - let's hope for a quick make this month. That was good to get this UFO finished.

3. Two branches of Christmas Tree by Barbara Ana.

4. A Ziggy Stardust inspired cushion for Lizzie drawn up in EQ8 by me. I plan to make another at the MQC retreat but the right way around this time!!

5. 2006 Prairie Schooler Santa

6. Project keeper - pattern by Tiger Lily Designs