Monday make - Buttoned up

 

I have enjoyed making the Buttoned Up pattern by Pen and Paper Patterns over the last seven weeks. I have even quilted and bound the quilt within the scheduled dates. All of the fabrics are from Ruby Star Society, including the backing which is a wide sateen. This fabric had been stashed to use for a bag and it matched the colourways of the block perfectly. It's great to stitch from stash that you'd forgotten that you'd purchased.

I have used the smaller foundation pieced bonus block as a label, but it's not yet sewn down. I may enter this quilt into a local competition and as I work alongside the judge, I use a nom de plume to enter.

I used a champagne bubbles pantograph with Superior Thread King Tut in a variegated pink.

Looking for my mojo

Number 3 was selected as the UFO to work on this month for our Guild UFO Challenge. I avoided starting it for about ten days and as we head towards the end of October, I have been forcing myself to work on it. I dislike the fabric I'm using for the twelve cottages intensely. It's so stiff.

Whilst avoiding this project, since coming back from retreat, I have been doing nothing whilst avoiding this project when I could have been working on other projects. I'm planning on finishing this in October, I will not let it defeat me and I hope that will give me back my mojo for other projects.

Once this is finished, I have two quilts to bind for more October finishes.

There will be two more months left of our 2023 UFO challenge, and one quilt is finished and the cross stitch piece is half done.

WIP Wednesday - Maple and Eucalyptus

My #100day100blocks quilt has now been quilted. Having found the Quietplay 108" backing in stsh and purchased wadding, the backing and wadding had been loaded on my machine for about ten days. I had mistakenly thought that the quilt blocks were 10" squares but they were 8" squares and I was daunted by the sheer width of the backing on my machine. 

Yesterday I pressed and loaded the quilt top, having decided to do at least two rows a day. I was delighted that by the end of the day, the whole quilt was quilted. It is now ready to trim and bind using a Quietplay stripe. I'd like to finish this quilt and one other in October and focus on smaller makes in November and December

I used the digital pantograph Fast Feather by Christy Dillon using King Tut by Superior Threads in the colour Cleopatra. 

I now need to focus on binding two quilts and finishing my UFO challenge cross stitch - June Cottage. 

 

Monday make – another mini quilt quilt

At the recent Modern Quilt Club retreat, we were given a block to stitch up into a cushion cover. All of the pieces were pre cut, so it was a quick stitch. I realised that without the last border added, the block would be the perfect size for another mini quilt for the special care baby unit challenge for my Monday evening guild.

I  quilted the block using some leftover fabric from a backing and used the same fabric for the binding. I used a pale pink Aurifil thread for the quilting and simply stitched in the ditch.

Now I need to tackle some of my big projects and plan what to work on at our local retreat in less than three weeks time.

Friday finish - mini quilt

I took this small project to the MQC retreat in Leeds last weekend.  It would have been a quick finish if I had remembered to cut some banding and take it with me. This is one block from the Buttoned up SAL with pen and paper patterns. I had stitched one heart bonus block so had one block spare. A border was added to make the block into a 20" square. I then quilted it very simply and trimmed the piece down to 18.5".

Once home, I added a 2.5" binding and machine stitched the binding from the front to finish. I even remembered to add one of my labels. I am enjoying the quick finishes that these small projects give and it's a great opportunity to use up spare blocks. I plan to make two more in November.

How do you use up your miscellaneous blocks, do you make them into a large project, a mini quilt or do they languish in a drawer?

WIP Wednesday - mini block sampler

I haven't posted about the mini block sampler sewalong with Art East Quilting recently, but I have been keeping up with the stitching. One block is released every Monday morning, and I usually sew it on that day. 

The October blocks have had a spooky theme, so I have been using the Tiny Frights Collaboration from Ruby Star Society.

However, I have run out of some of the backgrounds so some substitutions will be coming. I hope you can see that the blocks have an achromatic colour scheme, starting with with white in the centre and finishing with black on the edge.

 

Monday make- messenger bag

The Modern Quilt Club October 2023 finished yesterday afternoon and it’s fair to say that I spent most of the time on the Campfire Messenger Bag by Noodlehead. It was all cut out in advance and interfaced. My daughter also made one in emerald green vegan leather. Two very different looks from the same pattern.

We even remembered to add one of our many labels to our makes. This label is from a bag makers box from Studio7t7.

I was pleased with my fabric selections ~ a denim exterior from Guthrie & Ghani, a matching zipper from Purple Stitches, Ruby Star canvas from 2023 Festival of Quilts, Alison Glass lining for $3 a yard from Gather Here in Boston and Ruby Star Speckled for the accents. The poppers were purchased in Birmingham from the market and I need to find the right tool to set them properly.

Friday finish - wrist straps

When your son sends you a link to make canvas wrist straps, what can you do other than make him a pair. Fortunately, the  pattern was simple to follow. I did make a few modifications to make it quicker. He has them now as my husband is visiting him this week, hopefully Matt will let me know if they're too big, too soft etc. so I can make him some ore as he goes to the gym most days.

Preparing for retreat

 

I don't think I've ever been so late in getting my suitcase packed for a UK retreat. Everything has to fit into one suitcase as I am flying. To be honest the maximum weight is 23 kilos and I' not sure I could even move that much. As usual I am flying to Liverpool and traveling with Gill to Leeds.

I have lots of stuff for my daughter and I am concerned that despite several Facebook video sessions that I will leave something behind. We are planning to make the Campfire Messenger by Noodlehead together and mine is cut an interfaced and I cut Lizzie's interfacing too.

A late choice was a mini quilt pattern from Quietplay's club and I've sewn a little of each segment and then chosen a plain fabric to match and pinned it to the relevant segment. This will have a silver linen background. I plan to piece the top and finish it once I'm home.

Quilter's Big Tote by Minki Kim - again I'll piece the front of the bag and quilt and finish at home. I need to buy more Bosal to finish this. These are all Ruy Star fabrics from stash.

I have a spare block from the Buttoned Up quilt along so I will make it into an 18" mini quilt for donation by our Guild to SCBU.

It will be interesting to see how much I achieve. I think I will leave the bag until the Saturday and do something simple on Fridy afternoon / evening.

September 2023 achievements

I am still working on my Maple & Eucalyptus quilt every day and getting nearer to a finished quilt top and we were away for eleven days in September so I shouldn't be disappointed with my achievements.

July Cottage from Country Cottage Needleworks

Mini charm cushion for my son 

Stevie dress made at Sew Confident during our holiday.

Scrappy mini quilt for a guild donation to SCBU.

Zip Divide It! Basket pattern by Lou Orth

October 2023 plans

With a retreat this month I should be very productive and hubby is also away for two weeks visiting our son and then his brothers. I have a couple of projects to finish by 9 October. I have prioritised my projects as follows:

1. Mini quilt for SCBU - a play date with my scraps and my new embroidery machine

2. Wrist straps for Matt

3. Shirt cushions for Matt

4. Messenger bag - to make at retreat

5. Giant Tote by Zeriano - to make at retreat too

6. Maple & Eucalyptus

7. Unbuttoned QAL

8. Charm quilt

9. 2023 Collector's Heart

10. And finally my guild challenge UFO is June Cottage of the month

Zip Divide it! Baskets

 

At the last Modern Quilt Club retreat I purchased a kit to make the Zip Divide it! Basket - pattern by Lou Orth . It was a pattern that had caught my eye, it was Ruby Star Society fabrics and Saira of Olive & Flo Handcrafts is very persuasive. Not that I really needed to be persuaded!!

The pattern comes in three sizes from small and fiddly to large. My favourite is the middle size. Even though you can see there's not much difference in size between medium and large and the zipped internal pocket is the same size in both.

Of course, I had to add some labels from Kylie and the Machine to my makes. At the time of starting the project, I had obviously forgotten this essential step as the side seam on the large bag had been unpicked and a label inserted.

Monday make - July Cottage

 

Country Cottage Needleworks - July Cottage of the month was chosen as my project to work on in the UFO challenge for September. I had not even started this project and it didn't inspire me either. I think that was because of the patriotic nature of the design so I decided to use the piece to celebrate my French ancestry.

I can't truthfully say that once I'd started the project it came together quickly! However, once I was onto the borders, it did move quicker.

It is in a temporary frame until all of the monthly cottages are complete. After finishing this stitch, I did some more stitching on my Collector's Heart, which I will put on my October to do list.