WiP Wednesday – the quilting begins

I’m not very good at the actual quilting part of making a quilt. I tend to go with straight lines because I worry that my wonky quilting will detract from the pretty (and we know I’m all about the pretty in my quilts!).

But I’ve decided to be brave, bold and quilty with my Spanish Tiles quilt! It deserves more than straight lines I think!

So we have this:


It’s a swirly sort-of-feather thing in the centre of my panel. I totally cheated. It is not free handed. I found this fabulous resource for free quilting stencils (Patsy Thompson designs) and couldn’t go past this swirly thingamajig. So I printed it out, then traced over it onto a bunch of tracing paper with my sewing machine needle (no thread) to give me an outline to trace-quilt. I think that whole sentence sounds more complicated than the process.


Actually doing the tracing part helped me get the idea of how the design went so it was good practice before I put thread to fabric!
Okay so my lines are a bit wonky, the stitches aren’t all even. But that’s okay. I’m happy with it though I am wondering if I need to fill the space in a bit more?

A little backtracking – I made the backing for the quilt yesterday. It didn’t turn out quite as I had planned. I am really bad at quilty maths. Maybe that’s why I like paper piecing so much, I don’t have to do maths stuff! But! I made it work with the fabric I had.



I used 2 yards of Vintage Modern Red Swirl, and some scraps of the Seaside Cottage prints from the quilt top as a border with a bit of grey to finish it off. Like I said, not how I planned but I quite like it.
So that’s where I’m at! Being brave, getting my FMQ on, and hoping to goodness I don’t stuff it up!

Linking up with WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!



Oh and make sure you pop back here tomorrow! It’s the big kick off for the Sew Seasonal Blog Hop! Free patterns, giveaways, fun projects – you really don’t want to miss all that, now do you?!

A Donktober Project

Donktober is nearly at an end. How sad is that! On the upside, it means you have time to make something fabulously donkeylicious to enter in the linky party. It starts over at Missy Mac Creations on the 5th November. Less than a week away!

I decided to make something with my paper pieced donkey pattern. Which btw is a freebie in my Craftsy store in case you want to celebrate Donktober too! (There are prizes for the linky party.. you know… in case you need extra incentive!).

So here is my first ever attempt at a fabric basket!



You can tell it’s my first attempt as I cut the donkey’s hooves off. Oops. They are there, just underneath the basket!



I even attempted some FMQ words on this one – it says donkey on this one (original, I know!) – again, first attempt, part of the “d” is sitting round the corner of the basket. Things like this are the reason why I should plan out my quilting first before just going at it.



With a bit of a hee haw on the other side. FMQ words are way quicker than embroidering them.  I didn’t even embroider the donkey’s face, I used fabric marker hehehe. Can you tell?! We’ll say that I did it to make it more durable without my wonky embroidery stitches possibly coming loose (but really, we all know it’s because I was being a slack-ass hehehe).



Some fabulous Summerville text print on the back (and for the handles). I FMQ’d some loopy loops all over it to make the basket sides a bit firmer).



Red stars and dots on the inside – keeps it bright and fun I’m not sure yet what we’re going to store in this. Maybe Jaybird’s matchbox cars or Lulu’s hair ties. I’m sure it’ll be put to good use one way or another!



So there you have it! A cute little donkey project – made more impressive by the fact I resisted using any ass puns on it. ( I did consider making a cushion with the donkey saying “Sit your ass down” but maybe that was just funny in my head).

Any donkeylicious or ridonkulous projects on your To-Do list? Might want to consider adding one after you check out the prizes on offer for the linky party

Thanks Erin for the very fun Donktober celebrations!

Sunday Stash – the sale edition

Perhaps that should read the sale “addition” because boy did I add to my stash this week! Spotlight had 40% off all quilting fabric! How ridiculously fun!

I coerced my mum into coming with me (she’s the best fabric enabler around – wise move on my part) and ended up with even more fabric. Mum asked if I’d make a baby quilt for some family types who are expecting a new baby girl. So we had a bit of fun picking out this sweet girly fabric line.



Princesses and castles and carriages and Frog Princes! Too cute! I’m thinking I’ll make one of the quilts from the Living Large 2 book with these.

Scoured the clearance section (also 40% off!) for some fabrics to use for backings.



That greeny solid in the background? I got umpteen metres of that at $2.80 a metre. No idea what I’ll use it for – but isn’t that the quilter’s way? Buy on sale, just in case! I’m sure it’ll get used



I was quite restrained on these – just 1/4m cuts as I have no real plans for them. The stripey one? It’s a Henry Glass print – who knew you could find Henry Glass at Spotlight! The Aussie prints I just couldn’t resist. They are such sweet prints!

In addition to that, I took a big step to classifying myself as a real quilter. I ordered an entire bolt of white. Oh yes. 15m of white homespun. If I paid on the day, they were happy to give me the 40% off discount. I could not pass that up. $62.50 for 15m of fabric? Yes please!  Now to wait til it arrives! I also finally got a bunch of batting (also on sale – woohoo!) so am very keen to baste my Spanish Tiles quilt. Okay I’m not keen to do the actual basting but I am keen to getting it closer to finished!
And a couple more little things to add – these are from some lovely quilty gals!

Fiona from Celtic Thistle Stitches sent me some beautiful linen from Latvia – look at this fabulous car print! Lovely generous lady sent me a whole heap! Mr 5 will certainly benefit from this!



Marieka from Bespoke Bites gave me all these sweet little owl prints – knowing that my Lulu (2) is a bit owl-obsessed these days. You can bet she spotted these before we even got out of the car and immediately claimed them with her second favourite word “Mine mine!” (First favourite is “No” of course).



Whew! So with all those gorgeous additions – I’m not sure if my fabric cupboard is going to close. But I’m certainly not complaining. The more fabric the better

Linking up with Fiona at Finding Fifth for Sunday Stash!

Blogger’s Quilt Festival – Fall 2012

 I haven’t entered the Blogger’s Quilt Festival before but decided to join in the fun this time round! I’m very much looking forward to all the quilt candy that will be on display.

I couldn’t decide on a quilt to share for the festival, so decided to make one! This is a mini that I have been planning on for awhile. The festival just gave me the push to actually do it!

So: we’ve had Too Pretty for Pickles – the pillow edition – now I give you:

 Too Pretty for Pickles – the mini quilt edition!

I used Cuzco mini charms again – picking out all the purple and blue prints. These are matched with Bella Solids in Amelia Purple and Peacock. The centre and the binding are Bella Solid in Berrylicious.



I have always loved the Pickle Dish pattern, but wasn’t game to take on all those curves. So I decided to simplify it. This is my version of the Pickle Dish pattern – but with no curves (and still paper pieced of course). You can find the pattern listed in my Craftsy shop. I don’t think the name Pickle Dish sounds nice enough for such a pretty design, so I named mine Too Pretty for Pickles.



I attempted some FMQ in the flower borders. Little double loopy things that I hope vaguely resemble a peacock tail feather. The rest of the quilting is my standard straight line.

The backing fabric is some more of Kate Spain’s gorgeous work – Terrain this time. It goes beautifully with the Berrylicious.

Some details on this little mini quilt:

Too Pretty for Pickles
Measures 15” square

Paper pieced block

Designed, pieced and quilted by me

For the mini quilt/wallhanging categories
#32

A happy little mini quilt featuring lots of my favourite things. Now the big decision - where to hang it?!

TGIFF – Ornate Mini Quilt

So I shared my WiP version of the Ornate Mini Quilt the other day, and now I can show you the finished version!



As you can see – I opted for simple quilting! Because you know, normally I’m super over the top fancy pants quilting everywhere (haha I wish!!). I did briefly toy with the idea of some FMQ somewhere on it (my FMQ ideas are always brief). But I had never worked with linen before and decided not to get too bold.

Plus I want the pretty fabric and curved piecing to be the focal point!



Gorgeous Echino paired with linen. I love Echino. I never know what to make with it, but I just love the bright colours and the designs (lots of bird prints!). I wish I had more of it!

Especially the new 2012 Fall prints. Look! I just spotted this one on Fabric Worm today. Oh love!



Whoops – fabric tangent. And here I am supposedly not buying more fabric. Those sweet birdies might tempt me though.

So back to the mini quilt…



Here it is quilted and bound! I’m really pleased with how this turned out. My first attempt at curved piecing, and my first real play with linen! And somehow, with two unknowns, I still ended up with a beautiful mini quilt! The pattern for this quilt is by the Sometimes Crafter. So pretty isn’t it!

And while talking about curves, I have to share this little funny. It’s a bit of spam from my last post about this mini but gosh spam can be entertaining.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WiP Wednesday – the Curves Edition":
If yοu want to meet a pаrtiсulаr kinԁ of wοman a great way tο
go аbout this іs tο uѕe аn inteгnet seгνice thаt shows you ωhat women aгe
аvailаble in your area. And the morе you write somеthing
about yоurself, the easier yοu’ll fіnd
ѕomеbody tо сonnect wіth.
For a wеstеrn guу who doesnt know muсh аbout
Аsiаn culter anԁ values, you woulԁ gеt
yourself offenԁ hеr even іf yοu
ԁo not meаn to.

If only I could have replied like I do to most comments, I would have said,

”Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for the heads up. You’re right -  as a Western guy, I’m afraid I don’t know much at all. Especially as I’m a girl.

I don’t know that your internet service would help me meet a particular kind of woman in my area as really I just want to make friends with a long-arm quilter so I don’t have to quilt my own quilts.

I do hope I wouldn’t offend her quilty culture and values with my non-square quilt tops, and my clumsy attempts at basting. But you’re right. Maybe the more I write about myself, the more I’ll find somebody to connect with that would gladly quilt my quilts and free me up to do more paper piecing. .

So hey Anonymous, thanks for the help! And long-arm quilting soul mate, if you’re out there, you know, drop me a line sometime.”
 

And to think I very nearly turned the Anonymous option off on my comments! How I would have missed out if I did

Linking up with TGIFF this week over at What a Hoot!

And with Finish it Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Announcing the Sew Seasonal blog hop!

Ready for a bit of festive fun?! Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts and I have just the blog hop for you! We're a bit excited to announce our jointly hosted blog hop - Sew Seasonal!
We've been busy bees designing some Christmas block patterns. I have designed 13 paper pieced blocks (what else?!), and Alyce has designed Ornamental - 12 rotary cut, machine pieced Christmas ornaments!

And with their powers combined - you have 25 Christmas blocks - perfect for an advent calendar! Or use them individually for fun projects like cushions, table runners, something festive!
The paper pieced patterns come with 5" finished templates with a guide for scaling up to a bigger size, whilst Ornamental comes in 2 sizes - 5" or 10" finished - meaning that it will work perfectly for charm packs or layer cakes!

We have a fantastic blog hop lined up with 23 other bloggers. Each day will feature one paper-pieced block and one ornament, with ideas of what to use the blocks for. I know that we have cushions, ornaments, table runners and much more coming hot off their sewing machines to you!

1st November: Kristy from Quiet Play & Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

2nd November: Marieka from Bespoke Bites & Jane from Where Jane Creates

3rd November: Susan from Patchwork N Play & Kelsey from Kelsey Sews

4th November: Janice from Better Off Thread & Erin from Missy Mac Creations

5th November: Lucy from Charm About You & Rebecca from Making Rebecca Lynn

6th November: Charlotte from Lawson and Lotti & Amy from Amy's Crafty Shenanigans

7th November: Jess from the Elven Garden & Cindy from Live a Colorful Life

8th November: Elaine from Dashasel Sews & Kelly from Jeliquilts

9th November: Beth from Plum and June & Fiona from Finding Fifth

10th November: Juliet from Tartan Kiwi & Fiona from Celtic Thistle Stitches

11th November: Taryn from Pixels to Patchwork & Anorina from Samelia's Mum

12th November: Megan from Jaffa Quilts & Jane from QuiltJane 

13th November: Gemma from Pretty Bobbins

Then it's your turn! Download the patterns (they'll be free for the duration of the blog hop in our Craftsy stores!)  and make one or more of the blocks to create a finished product. Anything you like, as long as it's completely, 100% finished!

Then come back here on November 30th to link up your finished product to win some awesome prizes! There's also a Flickr group for the blog hop, where you can share your blocks as you finish them. Show off your progress, and be in the running for a prize there too. That's 2 different ways to win prizes! Yay prizes!

And what are these fabulous prizes?! Well, so far we have:

Fat Quarter Shop

Awesome Launch Day giveaways - Secret Squirrels - check back November 1st for details!

+ 2 x $10 vouchers

Intrepid Thread

Joy by Kate Spain - full fat quarter bundle + panel (oh yes a FULL bundle!)

Fabric Worm

2 x $25 vouchers

Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts

1 x $25 voucher

Stash Modern Fabric

1 x $30 gift voucher

Blossom Heart Quilts

Japanese Christmas fabric - fat eighth bundle

Quiet Play

Cherry Christmas Charm pack

Plus, are you needing some Christmas fabric supplies for the hop? Well, Chrissy from Sew Lux Fabrics has set up a special discount code on Christmas fabrics in her shop! So if you need supplies, be sure to check it out. The code is "sewseasonal10" and is for 10% off all Christmas fabric (Joy, Blitzen, and Sentiments) through November 18th. A charm pack or layer cake will work perfectly for these patterns!

Phew, got all that?! If you're going to join in the Christmas fun, grab a button, join the Flickr group, and let us know!

WiP Wednesday – the Curves Edition

 I’m a bit afraid of curves. I generally try to avoid them at all costs. I just can’t get my head around how to make the two pieces of fabric fit together.

But! I am happy to say – that’s the case no longer! Now I’m only mildly worried about curves. Because I managed to do this:



That’s right – a mini quilt focused on curves! I did it and believe it or not, did not take out the seam ripper even once! I know, right? Miracle!

The pattern is Ornate Mini Quilt by the Sometimes Crafter. I saw one of her mini quilts on a blog and fell in love. Bought the pattern straight away and after only a few minutes picking out fabrics… just went for it! I had it cut out and pieced over a couple of days - not long at all!



The fabric is a bit of Echino – which I adore. The majority of the prints are from one fat quarter. The fussy cut birds though are from another. Mainly because I goofed up and fussy cut my pieces in the wrong direction originally, so it was a mad scramble to find some replacement pieces! The birds work I think! And I paired it with some lovely linen  that I received as part of a swap gift. Thanks Kate!



Oh yes – look at all those curved pieces! I’m rather impressed with them if I do say so myself. The pattern made it seem quite simple – very clear instructions even for a curve newbie like me!
So this is just the quilt top – hence the WiP status. It will be done for TGIFF this week though

My other big WiP Spanish Tiles is still waiting on two things – backing fabric (on its way!) and batting (waiting for a sale!).



I’ve decided not to add any more borders and just finish it off with the dark grey as the binding. It doesn’t look it in the picture (I stood on a chair to get it to fit in the photo) but it’s quite big – 60” x 70”. I really don’t need it bigger than that for a lap quilt!

And that’s it on my WiP list at the moment! The lack of batting has put me off tackling anything too big! I have been working on a few little paper pieced patterns though. It’s nice when they turn out as planned (not like cooking dinner last night!).




So that’s it from me for this WiP Wednesday! Guess I should stop reading blogs and playing in EQ7 and actually sew something in order to have more to show for next week!