Sunday, 28 April 2013

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.

Friday, 12 April 2013

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.

Tuesday, 9 April 2013

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.

Thursday, 4 April 2013

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.

Monday, 1 April 2013

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.