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.

A good friday!

 

Hooray for Bank Holidays!  A few hours sewing today meant that I could finish off cutting the fabric for my Orbit quilt and then get to work on the piecing.  The above photo is what I managed to get done before tea time.  Now it is double that and hopefully will be finished tomorrow, if the kids play nicely with each other and stay out of my way.

 

 

Earlier this week I took a trip to A & E after experiencing some pain in my left hand. One x-ray and two examinations later the Dr told me that I have torn a tendon in my left thumb.  Rest was diagnosed......yeah right as if I can manage that.  Sewing today hasn't been that easy or the quickest and yep, my left hand is now suffering and a bit achey but I can say that it is worth it.

 

Remember the spotty fabric that I had picked from my stash to make up one of the half yards needed for this quilt?  Well it turns out it was Amy Butler all along but from her Lotus range rather than the Love range.  Who'd have thunk it!



Back to show the finished quilt top soon.

x and + bee anyone?

 

 

This block has been on my mind all week.  Seriously every day I have looked at it and pondered about starting a quilt despite not yet having cut all of the fabric for my orbit quilt.  It seemed like destiny to me when I came across a brand new bee starting up in May.  I'm all signed up and raring to go.

 

There are still places available if you want to sign up - just head on over to Patti's for all the details or sign up via flickr.

Being a bee virgin I am super excited and can't wait to see what everyone creates for each other.

Next....

This weekend I have managed to bind my Primitiva quilt and so found myself without a project (apart from the ongoing Swoon).  This needed immediately rectifying so I headed onto the t'interweb for some inspiration.

And soon I found this.  Quickly, I ran upstairs to the sewing room to see if I had any fabric in my stash which would be suitable and sure enough I did.  About 2 years ago when I started to sew again and was just beginning to find my way around blogs and online shops I bought 20 FQs of Amy Butler's Love collection.  If I remember rightly I got a random selection in a sale.  But sure enough some of them were duplicates and so I had some half yards.  This meant that I could go down the original supply route not the scrappy route on the pattern.

 

 

A little helper decided to get involved in the sorting and even loaned me her crayons so that I could do the colour by numbers planning sheet.  She loves 'helping', usually pressing the buttons on my sewing machine when I don't want her to!

 



Although I had 20 FQs unfortunately there was only 4 half yards in different prints and so the 3rd from the left on the top row isn't AB Love but something from the stash which is a pretty good match.  The bonus is that I even have a couple of yards of the periwinkle print and matching solid for the backing.  All I need to do now is get cutting.

This one is going to be for me.

The one where I make something that isn't a quilt

Yay it's the weekend again which means sewing time!  Far too much school work each evening this week and parent's evenings to be done meant that there were no sewing opportunities for me (boo hiss!!)

So yesterday I set about making something that has been on my to do list for a couple of weeks.  A bag for yours truely! 

I started with this:

I kept it simple as this is the first time that I have ever tried to make a bag and I followed this tutorial.  I read all of the instructions as I went along, sometimes even twice, determined to get it right first time.

Although the bag could be made without a pocket I put one in.

I amazed myself by managing to line up the metal closures first time!

Though I did make one slight modification to the pattern.  The strap was meant to measure 29 inches but I just did it the width of the fabric, resulting in a longer strap but perfect for me as I am pretty much a dwarf and with this strap I can wear it across my body - great when out and about with the kids and I have to make a grab for them both.

Here it is.  One finished bag.  OK so it took me a bit longer than the 1 hour stated in the tutorial but that was only because I took my time. Honest.

 

 

Fabric: Ruby Star Shining Orange clocks and Kona Olive.

Switching and swooning

 

It's Mother's day and so as a treat I got to switch around the spare room.  This made me happy but the cleaning up I had to do in the process didn't.  A couple of months ago my sewing space got invaded by my husband and a computer.  A necessity I was told, I won't get in the way I was promised.  Honest.  Yeah right.

 

I had didn't have enough room to swing a cat yet alone quilt a quilt any bigger than a mini and so a switch was needed.  It started with the bed, who would have thought just moving it from one wall to the other would have created enough room for two separate work areas.  Result!

 

At the end of the bed there is just enough room for my shelves that store most of my stash.  A quick tidy and organise was needed here after the chaos created when I was scrappy tripping.

Another little cupboard houses all my scraps and odds and sods with the added bonus of somewhere to keep my swoon squares to hand.

Plus I have enough room to be able to move my sewing table for when I need to quilt!  Extra bonus!

Then there is the hanging space on the doors to the eves - a perfect size for my swoon blocks.

Talking of which, I managed to make another 2 this week and so I have managed to catch up just in time for this month's Simply Solids Stash delivery - one pink swoon coming soon.

 

 

I have no idea why this one is upside down, lets just pretend it isn't! 

(S)crappy quilting and swoon part 2

 

 

It's done!  It was finished last weekend but has been sitting around until I could get a daylight picture of it in it's full glory.  Unfortunately I cannot say it is my best work infact it is probably close to some of the worst quilting I have ever done.

 

I blame British Gas.

 

Honestly it was all their fault. 

 

Just as I sat down to start quilting on the evening of the day of interruptions British Gas called trying to flog me something.  When I returned to the sewing machine some 15 minutes later all of my plans seemed to have left my brain space.  I started to quilt.  Badly.  20 minutes in I ended up ripping out a whole load of stiches and vowed to return to it the next day.

 

I did.  And soon realised that I didn't have enough room in the 'sewing room' aka the spare bedroom to quilt the monster.  I stopped and took all my stuff down to the kitchen where there was enough space plus a radiator. 

 

Then I hit a whole load of tension issues.  I starting swearing and shouting and then that was followed by a whole lot of screaming until my Janome started to play nicely.

 

By this point I wanted it done.  So I upped the speed which resulted in some seriously wonky straight lines.  I like to refer to them as organic but they are in fact just plain crappy.

 

I had a whole lot of scrappy binding to hand and so that was whizzed on and hand stitched to finish in front of the fire/telly with a BIG drink!

 

 

Don't look too closely! 

Backed in the IKEA numbers print that everyone seems to have lying around and quilted each side of every other square to create a simple grid.  My second quilt of the year - it was finished in February and I'm having it as my month's make!  Destined for my youngest daughter's bed and it's a good job really as it's not going to win any prizes and I'm not sure I could face it being in anyone else's home!

So that was last weekend.  This weekend has been all about this baby:

 

 

I have finally got round to doing my first swoon block using my Simply Solids stash.  Friday evening and Saturday morning I cut all the solids for 3 blocks and this morning I spent a couple of hours putting my first block together.  It took me a while.  I have learned an important lesson since last weekend - sometimes speed isn't your friend. 

 

I read the instructions and re-read them but I think I might have missed the part about pressing seams open as some of my points are a bit bulky.  I'm gonna re-read those instructions again before I do my next 2 blocks but saying that I'm happier about this baby than the #(s)crappytripalong as I am now calling it.