Sewing news

Oh dear Lord - it's been absolutely ages since I last blogged. To be honest I have taken a bit of a break from blogging.  It seems that once I go back to school in September life just goes onto the highest speed and the weeks whizz past. It seems that we are now in November - how the heck did that happen??

But some photographic proof of sewing that has been happening round here......
 

More Swoon blocks made

Nordika staple dress

Another staple dress - this time AMH Field study

Bed runner - Tina Givens 'Opal Owl' and a load of solids

 

 

 Back soon with more to show!

The week that I made a staple dress and a quilt top

Yes you read that correctly.  This week I have made a staple dress and completed my St Louis 16 patch quilt top...and made and sent my X and + blocks for the August queens.

 

 

Amy hadn't given any preferences so I went a little bit scrappy for her but kept the triangles white to calm the blocks down a bit.  Nikki asked us for bright, modern and geometric.  I think these fit the bill.

If you instagram the #stlouis16patch quilt seems to be the quilt of the moment.  Just like the #scrappytrips was a few months ago.  I jumped on the bandwagon and turned this stack of 1 yard cuts of  Sarah Fielke's 'From little things' into a quilt top.

The blocks came together pretty quickly using 4 inch strips which were stitched then cut and flipped and stitched back together again.  Each block measures around 14 inches finished.

I've had this fabric sitting in my stash for about 2 years now so it felt good to cut into it and turn it into something which will be used.  My eldest has already claimed it for herself once I manage to find some suitable backing fabric and get it quilted.

But what I am most proud of this week is my staple dress.  Again another hashtag (#stapledress)
and what seems to be world wide domination if instagram and flickr are anything to go by.  I made mine using some AMH Field study - sundials in turquoise. 

Now I was quite nervous about sewing a dress.  I've not done anything like following a proper pattern for ages but I went ahead, reading the full instructions very carefully and checking each step of the way.  I mastered french seams and neck and arm facings without hitch and even managed the shirring (5 rows) around the waist.  And what's even better is......it fits!!! 

All I need now is an excuse to wear it!  I have another one of these planned using a Nordika panel along with my new found confidence in dressmaking.

A few finishes

School has officially finished for the summer holidays - yay!  But hang on....the heat wave also seems to have finished.  Bloody typical.  I've been stuck in a classroom with 30 kids in temperatures upto 31 degrees and today, the first day of my holidays I've been stuck inside with my own 2 kids whilst we have thunder storms and torrential rain.  Lovely! Grrrrrrr.

Oh well.....more finishes to show and tell.

I've only just got round to finishing my two quilts for Siblings Together - they were sat with the binding attached for ages but other things like finishing school reports and end of year stuff got in the way.  They are now ready for posting tomorrow.

A few more blocks done and dusted for the x and + bee.  These were posted off to the ladies last week.  The August blocks will be done by the end of the week.

Along with these finishes a couple of starts too.  A St. Louis 16 patch and a Staple dress.  Hopefully finished later this week!

Time

I can't believe we are over half way through June already.....the weeks are slipping by far too quickly, the end of yet another school year is ahead and it seems to have been a few weeks since I have done anything remotely crafty. 

Instead what I have been doing has been rather lovely and well deserved, I might add.  Days have been spent soaking up the sun, reading lots of books and generally doing nothing more straining than lifting food or drink to my lips.  Oh the joys of a holiday....I now need another one please!

Back to reality for me though now.

These are my June blocks for the X and + bee ladies (though they were made last month!).  Nan wanted scrappy with solid triangles:

 

I am pleased to say that she likes them!

 

 

The next two blocks were for Cathy.  She asked for the + to be in red, either solid or a red print.  I went for the solid.  She also said that she didn't want anything too bright and so I opted for a truely low volume approach.  These left the UK earlier this week heading to the US so I'll have to wait and see if these fit the bill!

 

 

Earlier today I pulled fabrics for next month's Queen bees but a children's party stood in the way of any actual sewing and tonight's task is lesson planning. A sunday night job that sometimes fills me with dread and fear that yet another week is quickly approaching and time is slipping away.  Oh well only another 5 weeks and four days until the summer holidays....not that I'm counting or anything!

Stash building

A spot of shopping is always a good thing right? 

 

 

Some black and white prints simply because I didn't own any!

 

 

 

 

Then some reds, yellows, pale blues and pinks.  Because I needed them too.

 

 

And because they look great with the rest of my fabric family!

 





I've been a busy bee.....honest

OK so it's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been any sewing action going on around these parts.

The orbit quilt is finished and being used (no photo as proof - you'll just have to take my word for it!).

I took delivery of my Big shot after it has held captive by UPS for a couple of days.  Apparently they couldn't find my house, well Mr Royal Mail postie finds us everyday, we're not even off the beaten track, just down a driveway inbewteen 2 other houses!  I had words with them and with a bit of help from googlemaps they managed the delivery!

 

 

When ordering it I went for a couple of dies, the tumbler and a half triangle die, I think 4.5".  A couple of practice runs at using scraps and left over charms just to see what it did and I am smitten. 

 

 

The tumbler was put into action to create a cushion for the youngest to match her sherbet pips quilt.  Whilst I was at it the eldest requested a Cat in the hat cushion, which I even tried a bit of FMQ on - it's not that good but I guess an 8 year old won't mind.

 

Instagram pic

 

 

But my productivity doesn't stop there!

 

 

May sees the first month of the x and + bee that I joined a while back.  Patti has done a great job in organising 23 of us.  My month is February, which at the moment seems a long way off but I am so looking forward to it.  Yesterday I cracked on with making blocks for the May queens, Nicky and Mary.

 

 

Nicky had requested bright and modern:

 

 

 

 

Mary put her request in for black and white prints with brights:

 





And guess what....I didn't stop there....I also managed to get my June blocks done too.  Only because I'm jetting off on my hols at the beginning of June and want to get them posted off before I go! 

One of my Siblings Together quilts has been quilted too, I just need to hand stitch the binding on and then move onto the other one.  Ideally these need to be done before I go away too just so I can tick them off my list.

Phew......think I need a rest!

Going round and around

The Orbit quilt has been quilted in a spiral, first time that I have ever tried something other than straight lines.  The centre was an absolute bugger to do but once the whole of the quilt wasn't being forced through a standard domestic machine throat it did seem to get a little bit easier.

Initially I planned on using my walking foot guide to ensure that the spiral was quilted evenly but it had other ideas and so I did my best to keep the lines about 1.5 inches apart.  On the whole I managed it.

The binding has just been machined on and later today will be hand stitched to the back and finished.  Then into the washer and dryer and ready for me to use.

x and + practice

Block 1 - 4 fabrics (don't like the little apples as background)

Block 2 - scrappy - much better with white background not sure about the +

 

Block 3 - Yay!  Blender fabric for + and white background is the way forward

Today a little practicing took place before venturing into the x and + bee.  Digging into scraps and playing around with placement of fabric saw a couple of hours pass by.  Quick and easy blocks = happy me.

Shopping and swapping

This lot shouldn't be at my house it should still be in Hobbycraft.  You see I didn't actually need any of this. I only went in for a quick look but somehow came out with a carrier bag full and a purse £40 lighter.  Maybe I will try to hand quilt something in the future now I've got the hoop, thread and needles.  Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?

Now I definitely needed this lot!  The pins fabric is for my charm swap with Cindy over at Fluffy Sheep Quilting and the charm packs and birdy fabric needed to come and live at my house and be part of the ever growing fabric family.  That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

 

 

The fabric arrived at 10.30am this morning and it is already cut and ready to be posted off, how's that for speedy!

Looking at the Flickr group there are some great fabrics that I can't wait to get my hands on and I will be able to tell my husband that I didn't 'buy' any of them! 

Perhaps I shouldn't tell him about the Sizzix big shot and dies that fell into my shopping basket when I was ordering the much needed wadding.....hmmmmmm.

Siblings Together 2013

 

 

Last year I made a quilt for Siblings Together like many others did.  This year I have decided to do it again but I wanted to make 2 this time round.

 

So last night I raided my stash to see if I had anything I could use as inspiration.  The sewing was completely off the cuff, not planned and that is how I decided to go with the quilt too.  I came across a bag of Reunion bits and pieces left over from my husband's quilt from last summer which I then teamed with various solids and a couple of prints from the stash.

 

After an hour or so I had this:

 

 



 

 

 

Another hour or so this morning and I have a finished top measuring 53 x 47 inches.  

 

 

 

 

Now I've said before that I don't do 'boy' very well but I'm really pleased with how this has turned out and hopefully it will make someone else happy.

 



 With the boy top done I quickly whizzed on to the next quilt top.  I have loads of girly prints and pinks etc in my stash but I know that there are some girls who might not be pink and frilly.  Ages ago I had bought a couple of Moda scrap bags in Happy Daisy and had started to sew them together in a simple stripe.  Then I had left it.

Until today....

Whilst it looked OK initially I soon realised why I had left it - being a scrap bag the pieces were only about 28 inches or so long, far too narrow for a quilt!  By chance I had a couple of yards of solid blue which matched some of the blue in the prints and so I added a 6 inch border all the way round.  It now measures 63 x 41 inches and it a bit more useable as a quilt.

Here it is:

Now I have 3 quilts waiting for wadding and quilting, unfortunately that's the bit I don't really enjoy.

Rainbow charm swap

A few days ago I signed up for another charm swap.  This time round it is a rainbow swap which is great as I do love a nice bit of colour.

Colours have already been assigned and I'm in the green group. Hmmmm.  I like green but it isn't a colour that I would readily choose when picking fabrics.  I'm usually drawn to reds, pinks and purples but I knew what print I wanted straight away.

Sew Stitchy pins in Olive!

It took me about 5 mins to get ordered and paid for after reading the email.  Of course I had to order just a bit more than the 2 yards that I need for the swap.  Oh and a bit more fabric might have happened to fall into my basket as well....just to make those shipping costs worthwhile....honest.

Once it arrives I have to slice it into 5" squares and post it off to Cindy and then await a rainbow of charms in return.

Orbit top complete!

It's done!

This morning I waved my 3 off on a bike ride and so without anyone in the house to pester I managed to finish off the Orbit quilt top.

I already have some Amy Butler solid in periwinkle and one a couple of yards of the periwinkle print for the back but I'm out of wadding unless I use up all my scraps and  that 'heat and press batting together' tape.  I'll probably just wait until after the weekend and get some ordered.

The different prints work well, even that Lotus spot, and I'm happy with the result.  I now just need to work out how to quilt it.  I was thinking of a spiral as I've never done that before and I am hopeless at FMQ.  Failing that I will probably do what I do best.....wonky straight lines.