Monday make - Thimble SAL week 3

 

I accidentally made block K above for the Thimble Sal with Happy Sew Lucky a week ago, so when I started sewing the blocks on Saturday. I am combining my Ruby Star stash with Kona solids for the background. This week's assignment is three blocks - K, L and M.

I was particularly pleased with my fussy cutting of the Ruby Star selvedge into the "SPARKLE" banner. 

I was also pleased with how the "connected" from another selvedge fit just perfectly.

Here are all of the week 3 blocks together.  I definitely need to add some red, orange and purple background blocks.

Retreat planning - Go Big Baby Bear

 

In November I will be going to two retreats. The first weekend in November I will be in Leeds at the Modern Quilt Club retreat with my daughter and two weeks later, we have our local retreat. As I am in Aberdeen next week, I really need to plan what projects I will be taking with me. I like to do most of the preparation at home so that I have a productive weekend.

I had wanted to make a baby quilt for a friend's daughter but navy and neutrals just didn't inspire me. Last Friday, Yvonne mentioned that pink had crept into her granddaughter's colour palette. My heart sang.

I found a great dark navy in my stash which will be the perfect background. I pulled out all of my pink and purple fabrics. There are a lot of spotted fabric in my pink fabrics. I need ten different fat quarters for this project which was originally published in Make Modern magazine but will be released as stand along pattern soon.

There's a good mix of favourite fabric designers in my final choice including two fabrics by April Rosenthal from the original rainbow sample, Elizabeth Hartman, Alison Glass, Liberty and more.

I think the result is a nice gradient from a pale pink Kona to a pink / purple fabric for the half square triangle border. Tomorrow is our guild day, so I plan to cut these out tomorrow. we have a busy meeting with a quick AGM followed by our usual sewing and PAT testing of our machines for insurance purposes.

WIP Wednesday - jingle all the way

I have joined in the sewalong for Jingle All the Way by Kimberbell Designs. Cristin Sohm hosts the videos on Youtube and it slowly take you through the blocks for the project section by section. I though I was about ten blocks behind, but it turns out to be fourteen blocks and two filler blocks!

The first block was Jingle all the way and you can either do the one block for section 1 or two blocks for the whole quilt. The benefit of doing all of the identical blocks is the work on later sections becomes lighter.

Next were two nine patch blocks for which I am using grey rather than black. They were quick to piece and then were quilted on my embroidery machine with a plaid pattern.

The three Le Moyne stars were next which was more of a challenge as my hoop is not quite big enough, but I reduced the quilting design from 8" to 7.75" and removed the basting stitches. I like how these turned out.

Next were two border blocks and time to stitch together section 1. I forgot to put stabilizer on the back of the border fabrics and I can see the difference in how they turned out. However, section 1 is complete and I'm starting to catch up! 

Next should have been five peppermint twists but instead I decided to do the simpler candy cane blocks. Watching the embroidery being done is so hypnotic. I am pleased with my choice of background fabric for these two blocks.

 A new video was released this morning, so I now need to stitch:

Three filler blocks for section 2

Five peppermint twists - one of which I need to complete section 2

Stitch together section 2

I'm not doing too badly given I had only started this project this week.

Monday make - thimble SAL

The Thimbles sewalong with Happy Sew Lucky started a week ago, so when I started sewing the blocks on Saturday, I was already behind. I am combining my Ruby Star stash with Kona solids for the background.

Unfortunately, the first block I sewed was for week 3! Not a good start but I was pleased with my fussy cutting of the word "strawberry".

The week 2 blocks turned out beautifully with records, a tomato, another strawberry, pop, an owl and a skier. Very random!

Yesterday I finished the last of the week 1 blocks too. The blocks look great together so far.

A few months ago, I started tidying up my solids stash and destashed any smaller pieces. I then sorted the remaining solids by colour which made choosing the background fabrics much quicker.

 

Friday finish - Christmas tiny town

 

Christmas Tiny Town by Heart in Hand was the UFO selected for October for our Guild FO Challenge. Fortunately, I had worked on it during September, so I finished it early in the month and it has now been framed.

What to work on next? I have an ultrasound later today after supervising some work at my father's apartment, so a busy day, but I hope to make more progress at the weekend.

WIP Wednesday - bee quilt

 

This is another fabulous quilt made by Gisele, which I quilted with a bee and floral design in medium grey Glide. I am amazed at the variety of yellow bee fabrics used for the pieced hexagon background. Another stunner ready to be returned to its new owner.

Monday Make - medallion quilt

 I have been quite productive over the last few days, but tech seems to be working against me and making progress slower than I had hoped. I loaded a customer quilt on to my long arm last Monday and quilted it yesterday.

All of the floral fabrics were giving off spring vibes as we head into autumn. A central medallion is surrounded by these rectangular floral blocks. The quilt was all hand pieced by our talented friend Gisele and when her stash was sold, this quilt top was purchased by a friend. 

I used Glide thread in the colour bone and the digital pantograph Malachite by Urban Elementz. My next job is to load another customer quilt onto my frame.