Progress

Despite a few days in Portsmouth this week (visiting the Historic Dockyard etc - fabulous!) I have managed a bit of sewing.  I am steadily quilting my big circles quilt.  This one I've decided to quilt block by block, and it's going very well.  The quilting process is showing my poor workmanship,and lack of accuracy, but I did the best I could, nod at least it'll be a finish! 

The pink spiders Web quilt is finished.  I thoroughly enjoyed making this and surely it must have made a bit of a dent in the pink scraps bag! 

And here is another scrap project.  It's a kind of scrappy Irish Chain.  I added a number of plain turquoise squares to the mix to add a bit of unity, and after adding a white border, will bind it in the turquoise.  This has definitely made a dent in the 2.5" box - I can get the lid on now! 

I must work up the courage to quilt the border of my Happy Days quilt, but not just yet!  I went over the The Bramble Patch yesterday and watched their long arm effortlessly and automatically sewing beautiful feathers onto a quilt.  It won't be automatic or effortless for me, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of having done it myself! 

Oh dear

I have been steaming through my UFOs recently, but it couldn't last I knew that sooner or later I'd return to type and start working on other projects!

Of course, I need to spend some time on Down the Rabbit Hole, and I'm currently adding the leaves.  I'm using the same green fabric, but as it's mottled, the leaves are slightly different shades.

One day recently when I was bored, I made a few of these cute dollies.  It's another Sarah Fielke pattern, and I loved choosing different hat designs.  They will slot into a quilt sooner or later. 

Then I was momentarily good, and got out this EPP I had done a while ago, and sewed it onto a background ready to complete it. 

Then, at Hannah's Room on Thursday, I saw a lovely Irish Chain quilt, which I thought would look good in scrappy colours.  I couldn't resist trying it out.  It's just 2.5" squares arranged in a 25 patch, with three plain squares in each corner.  I think this will look great and certainly use up some of the contents of the 2.5" bin! 

Quilting 'Happy Days'

i have layered up my Sarah Fielke 2016 BOM and have been quilting the main part. I decided to do an all over design rather than quilt each block separately, a decision which I have slightly regretted.  I chose a stylised flower motif, and all went well to start with, but I have a tendency to move the fabric too quickly, which results in some long stitches and iffy shapes.

You can see the shapes here.  But I was too far along to undo it all, so pressed on. 

Here is the main part done.  And done is done.  I wasn't going to enter it into any competitions, and I think it looks fine.  I'm having a breather before tackling the border.  I intend to do feathers there, but need to get some appropriate thread for that.  

Meanwhile, I've pulled out these improv Rocky Road to Kansas blocks and started putting them together.  If you like gaudy, this will be the quilt for you! 

Insey winsey spider . . .

I have so much enjoyed making spiders web blocks that I've gone a bit overboard with them. I've finished my scrappy one, 

and I love the effect, and the way all the scraps and strings are put to such good use.  I went to the Fabric Guild in Leicester and got this great backing, 

perfect for Linus quilts, excellent quality and £2 per yard.  I bought 4 yards but wish I'd bought more! 

Then at Knit and Stitch we made some blue spiders webs. 

I cut pale blue backgrounds which look super. 

And I still hadn't had enough fun, so have started this pink, red and orange one!  This will be hot, hot, hot! 

Stash-busting?

I saw a new book advertised as being 'stash-busting' and thought, 'that's just what I need!'  Something to literally bust a hole in my stash!  Fabulous!  I had a look at it, and nearly called Trading Standards to complain about misrepresentation.  The quilts were just lovely quilts, with motifs made in different colours.  So, flowers, not all cut from the same fabric, but all different ones.  The instructions list read, 3metres of background, 1 metre of border one, half a metre of border two, and fat eight of lots of different colours etc.  That's hardly going to bust a hole in anybody's stash, let alone mine!  Plus, I'd have to go out and buy the yardage, so would have to buy more new fabric than came out of my stash!  Take this quilt. 

Now, this could be described as stash-busting.  Apart from the white and the blue border, it's all made from scraps from my stash.  The piano keys border came straight out of my 2" strip box.  And here is my 2" strip box now. 

I can get the lid on a bit easier, but it's still stuffed!  The only quilts which are stash-busting are the ones designed by Bonnie Hunter.  After making one of her mysteries, I find my purple bin (for example) is only half full or I have run out of light 2" strips and have to get more.  Otherwise, any book which calls itself 'stash-busting' is a sham, and should be put straight back on the shelf! 

Steps off soapbox to show completed Stars in a Timewarp quilt.  I think the outer border should have been a bit wider, but at least it's a finish! 

And here is my hearts MAM.  The turquoise border pulls your eye to the hearts very nicely, I think.  Another good one for Linus. 

UFOs - begone!

Despite hardly being in the country for the month of February, I'm doing very well with my UFO challenge.  Once the binding is sewn down, I'll have five UFOs completed! 

Here is my Stars in a Timewarp quilt just ready for a bit of restful hand sewing.  There should have been leaves as well as flowers on the vine, but I didn't feel they added anything, so left them out. 

My Down the Rabbithole is coming on too. 

All the flowers are done, and I need to get on with the leaves.  I'm thinking of cutting them all from the same fabric for a change, as I think it might add a bit of calmness to it.  We'll see. 

The next UFO is spiders webs.  This is a cheat really, as I hadn't actually started it, but had always wanted to.  I'm hoping it'll make a dent in the strings! 

Looking great so far.  I might add another row or not.  Ill definitely make more quilts like this, as they are such fun. 

The MAM is waiting for the last row to be added, then a turquoise border to pull it all together.  That's for another day!