Summer Sampler 2016

Well my procrastination about joining this summer sew along cost me money as I missed the deadline for the introductory price. Never mind, I'm only three weeks behind. On Tuesday I decided to take the plunge and the first two blocks were soon made.

I have decided to pair Bonnie & Camille ranges with Karen Lewis screen printed fabrics on a Kona steel background.

I think I will do a substitute block for week three's sno cone block as it doesn't speak to me. I will do the block along with block 4 next week.

Liberty quilt

A quick turn around on this one as I am away for the weekend and like to clear the decks. Liz used all but a few scraps from a Liberty bundle.

The pantograph chosen is full of the joys of spring with rabbits playing in a garden.

Riley Blake fabric challenge for the Modern Quilt Guild

I applied for the challenge fabric through the MQG and then forgot about it. Then a 1kg parcel from Riley Blake was shipped to me. Hmm, intriguing. It arrived, and didn't weigh 1 kg at all and contained the challenge fabric. A generous 3/4 yard which remained pristine  in its packet. Fortunately there were some shipping delays for others so the deadline was extended until 31 May. Yes I am posting a full three days before entries have to be submitted and I only started it just over a week ago.

My thoughts all along were Welsh strippy quilts like this one here. Of course I didn't do any research and just relied upon my memory. One of our local guilds was requested to make quilts for the children's ward of our local hospital so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

I pieced and quilted the black and white quilt above, using a pantograph for the strips and ruler work for the printed strips. I have learnt a lot from the process and need a lot more practise. I also FMQ's the borders and went straight from the pantograph into the border like I was taught by Angela Walters. no ends to sew in. It was at this stage that I heard that the sizes were completely wrong for the hospital. So I don't know to whom I will gift the quilt.

Then I dyed the quilt using Procion dyes. Not a bad result but a bit patch and a bit orange. Friday morning I Facebook messaged a local shop owner who confirmed that she had a Dylon packet of Tulip red, a quick dash into town and the quilt was soon in my washing machine. Yesterday and today I've sewn on the binding and submitted my details to The Modern Quilt Guild. Relief

What to work on next? Perhaps a small project that I scheduled to complete this quarter, whilst also quilting a customer quilt.

Folk art basket

I thought I had just about finished this folk art basket by Button Angel yesterday. However when I went to turn it inside out and finish it, I realised there were six leaves not stitched down. Hmm. Do last night I unpicked it and have remedied my mistakes this morning.

I mostly followed the pattern but made a few adjustments as I went:

I made the basket round rather than oval

Some circles I replaced with buttons

Stems were made out of ribbon

And I used fabric for the appliqué rather than wool felt.

Blocks for Helen

These are some of the blocks that I have sewn for Helen (Indiana Dreams) for our Bumbling Honeys Bee. We are hoping to meet up in July as Lizzie and I are in London or at the Festival of Quilts in August (or  both). Some projects are with their last person, so are on target for a July finish. Some are more tricky than others. I have found that deciding what to make almost takes as long as making my contribution.

The full reveal won't be until we hand over our blocks and the envelope shown above isn't my final block as I wasn't happy with the contrast between the Kona white background and the script fabric. I just have one block more to make and I have to pick up some fabric from Jane to complete it as my stash is deficient in some areas.

I hate extra seams in blocks and regularly adapt patterns for Blocks of the Month to eliminate the extra joins. You can see from the foundation pattern above that the letter E would have to be made up of two pieces which would have to be sewn together to make the block.

Well I decided to try and do some mitred corners to enable the block to be sewn as one piece. I can report I was successful. I did it by just sewing to the intersection of the pieces and reverse stitch to secure and then I did a mitred corner as you would do on a border. I've torn away the paper to show you how it looks. I was surprised at the sense of accomplishment I felt.

I will show you the final blocks after they've been revealed in July or even August.

My secret garden block of the month

You know that I love a good block of the month. This block of the month is hosted by Pat Sloan at the website freequiltpatterns.info This is the May block which I have just completed. Instead of using a red fabric around the middle text fabric I decided to pick out the pink in the centre block and used a favourite Lu summers fabric.

Here are all of the blocks laid out together along with my pack of fabrics that I have used so far. When I run out of a fabric, I plan to just add a different fabric into the mix.

Last minute

I am packed and ready to go to the quilt show in Nantes and had time to trim these two customer quilts before my lift arrives.

No time to edit the photos, sorry.

Craftsy class sale

I love a lazy spring afternoon as much as anyone, but I love a crafting afternoon even more! Craftsy has put hundreds of their top classes on sale at 50% off –– so you can find the inspiration to keep every day filled with creativity. Hurry, these deals end Saturday! 

I've spotted a "Professional Yarn Dyeing" class and Elizabeth Hartman's new class with a bear and a reindeer pattern included. Ooh and Susan B Anderson's my first toe up sock. There are 785 classes on sale. Wow.

Link to Craftsy

My Secret Garden Block of the month

It is no secret that I love a good Block of the Month (BOM). And free is even better as I have plenty of stash to use. April is the fourth month of Pat Sloan's BOM and I was particularly drawn to this month's Keukenhof block as I visited Keukenhof a few years ago on a scrapbooking retreat.

I eliminated some of the seams in the background portion of this block and got it down to eight pieces from twelve pieces. I love the Karen Lewis red floral print and the Carolyn Friedlander background looks good with the other fabrics I chose. As I am using stash, once I've run out of a fabric, I substitute something similar. The navy in this block is an example of this approach as I'd run out of the navy honeycomb pattern in a previous block.

Q2 2016 FAL

I did finish most of the items on my Q1 list but never got around to showing them to you, so my Q2 list will be entirely different.

First is my Moda Building Blocks quilt which has been waiting to be quilted for some months now. It's time to get it finished.

The hexagon quilt is quilted and now needs to be trimmed and bound. I'm on the home straight with this one.

This is Lizzie's University quilt which I need to finish and quilt before she's at home on either study leave or school holidays. The blocks are 50% complete, so they will be worked on at our Modern Quilt Guild days.

This is probably the most urgent thing to do and it's to make a pennant for our WI. I commissioned a pennant stand to be made and it will be delivered tomorrow. So that means I now need to make the pennant to go on the stand. I have just found some background fabric so have pencilled this job for Monday of next week.

A few small projects to finish. The first is a basket. The outside is done and quilted so it shouldn't take more than a few hours to get it finished, so why has it been in the cupboard for months?

And this has been in the cupboard almost complete for possibly two years. It looks very sorry but is a social tote. All it needs is the binding, again, a few hours work.

And an Instagram block designed by Lori Holt to be made into a project bag. Hmm, do you think it would take more than two hours. Perhaps not and now I've found my press stud pliers, it'll be even quicker.

Last Siblings Together block

For this monster 18" block we used the quick flying geese method similar to the method used at www.patchpieces.com/files/flying geese.pdf I wasn't as quick as Sonia who did the block in 30 minutes, probably because I don't have many large pieces of solid fabrics so had to rummage for something suitable.

I have made quilts for Siblings Together for four years so it is now time to change direction and participate in the Jersey Modern Quilt Guild charity quilt and also make my QAYG block for the Beachability quilt that Jane is making. There's never a full moment around here.

March is craft month

Craftsy

March is National Craft Month, and one way you can celebrate is by honing your crafting skills! Craftsy has grouped complementary classes together that will help you in your learning journey. These bundles are now discounted starting at 50% off for the next few days. Hurry, the offer ends Sunday!
And if you go to the Craftsy blog you can enter the free giveaway too.

Are you thready?

White Stuff are running a competition where you have to embellish a piece in f fabric and there's a £50 voucher as a prize in every store and a grand prize of a crafty trip for two to Italy. This is my entry for which I have been editing for some rhinestones to arrive for the eyes. Then I found out the square should have been a rectangle, so today I have added dome cream fabric, some lace to cover the join and a White Stuff button to draw the eye.

I am pleased with my free machine embroidery which I haven't done begore and will deliver my entry tomorrow, if this the cult throat doesn't develop into a cold.

March goal setting

 

I have just had a look at the list of quilts that I wanted to finish in the first quarter and well, they're all finished. I've just had a look at my list of projects that I want to finish this year and they're all biggies. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and work on the patriotic hexagon quilt that I started with Jenny and Lorraine about three years ago. I guess the benefit is that it's a collaborative effort and if I get it quilted, I can ask Jenny or Lorraine to bind it? That sounds like a plan and they're quick than I am at finishing projects.

The first task is to find a cheap source of wide backing and then formulate a plan of attack for the quilting. I'd love to find a digital quilting pattern for the flowers.

February OMG finish

I am pleased to say that I finished the kitty quilt using the Elizabeth Hartman pattern. The 18th birthday that I made it for is in ten days time but unfortunately I miscalculated and entered the quilt into the Needlework Section of the Jersey Eisteddfod.

My daughter Lizzie loved the grey background for this quilt so I'm using the same grey for her "Going to University" quilt. I have 22 blocks out of 50 pieced so far for that project.

As well as finishing this quilt, you may just be able to see the lovely new badge that I'm sporting for the Jersey Modern Quilt Guild which arrived in time for our February meeting. The Guild has now reached capacity so we can only invite ladies to join us when there are spare tables.

Unseasonal finish

Another small finish that has been hanging around since December. I don't like black fabrics in Xmas collections so I put them aside from the Sweetwater layer cake that I used for my Christmas churn dash quilt. There were two designs repeated so I quilted two pairs using Insulbright for the wadding and made some oven mitts. I used shop bought bias tape and all I have had to do for two months is stitch down the tape. They're now done and ready for Christmas.

My cake making has also been unseasonal as I used this heart bundt tin for a stunning lemon drizzle for an event last weekend. My only purchase on our university visiting trip last week and from TK Maxx too.

A little finish

I saw this pattern by Susan B Anderson on her podcast and thought it was cute. Then I saw on the Little Yellow Uke and Little Bobbins knits podcasts that they were hosting a Little along. The penny only dropped today that the name of both podcasts contain the word little. Doh.

I purchased the pattern from Ravelry and debated about what yarn to use. I thought that I had nothing suitable until I spotted this wool that I purchased  on a trip to the WI's Denman College, perhaps two years ago. I then borrowed some DPNs from a WI friend. I quickly had the body knit and I needed to buy some eyes, which soon arrived.

I have never knitted an I cord before so that was a new technique. And I think I nailed it. I think attaching the eyes was the trickiest part. Nick couldn't tighten the eyes and suggested either pliers or a small hollow tube to apply consistent pressure. A light bulb came on and I dug in a donation bag and I pulled out my eyelet setter. Perfect.

 Another small finish and I have also got all of my Eisteddfod entries together apart from my framed cross stitch which I will collect this afternoon. I decided not to complete one entry which would have been a rush and that has worked for me. There's always 2017.

Learning new things

I am still a beginner knitter, having only started knitting again a few months ago. I have also become an avid watcher of YouTube knitting videos. One I have been watching is Kristin of Voolenvine and she mentioned that she had a shawl pattern that she would be looking for knitters to test knit the pattern due for release on 1 March.  I offered my services as a beginner knitter and the pattern duly arrived. 

The eyelet section was quick and relatively easy, so long as I remembered to do the increases. Then I had to wait for the beads and crochet hook to arrive for the beaded section. YouTube came to the rescue with a video for doing an applied border. I was really pleased with the mock cables in the border. 

The shawl was knitted in Manos del Uruguay in silk blend fino (30% silk and 70% wool) in the colour flame red. The name is a little ironic as I bought two balls in a fire sale for £5 total. I was a little nervous soaking he project, but it blocked well, but did bleed. All ready now for the Jersey Eisteddfod. I think I wil wear this to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March.

February socks

My February socks for the brown bag sock club are done apart from sewing in ends and soaking, but I have to get on with a test knit and another Eisteddfod entry.

These were knit on 2mm Karbonz which like many have observed are not very smooth. I think I want to try some Addi sock rockets next. Perhaps I might be able to pick up a pair at the Edinburgh Yarn Fest in March. The wool is Crazy Zauberball. And I almost forgot, I tried the Fish Lips Kiss heel for the first time. These are half an inch shorter in the foot than my last pair so I am hoping they will fit better after blocking. At the moment they are a snug fit.

When I got home yesterday, a little parcel from Canada was snuggled in the corner of our front door step. It was this gorgeous Bis-sock from biscotte yarns. The draw on their website closed at the end of January and arrived in just two weeks from the draw closing. And it is so soft, on a 85% superwash merino and 15% nylon base. I can't remember the name of the colour way though and it doesn't seem to be on their website.

My Secret Garden BOM

I am a sucker for a good Block of the month (BOM). This year I spotted the Pat Sloan - My secret garden over at Freequiltpatterns.info I jumped in and made the first 16" block last month. I used fabrics from recent I Want her Stash bundles with a dash of red Blueberry Park by Karen Lewis.

Having made good progress on my #craftfor20 tidy up of my craft room, I decided to stitch up a storm yesterday. So I printed off the instructions for February's blocks and stuck down snippets of my fabrics to the instructions. I changed the centre square and eliminated the HSTs.

The blocks look very different from each other at the moment even though I've used the same red Blueberry park print and the dark blue honeycomb print. I have bagged up this month's fabrics along with the blocks ready for March so as to try and tie the colours together. I will also add the January fabrics too.