Find the lady

I have been sewing the borders for my 'Roll, roll, cotton boll' quilt, but it's slow going. So of course, I've been amusing myself with other things! I continue to be fascinated by Mile a Minute, and have layered and quilted this one for my DBiL.

I tried to use some grown up fabrics for this one, football, ladies, music etc. and instead of I-spy, have decided to call it 'Find the Lady'!

In case you couldn't find her, she's here,

and here (those are knees, in case you couldn't work it out!)

and here. The fabric is a Michael Miller I bought ages ago to make a quilt for DD. I only have scraps left now.

I've also been working on another challenge for Tonya Ricucci. She asked for words for a Christmas quilt called 'Bah humbug!' and suggested insect fabrics etc. I'm sorry, but my first thought was humbugs, the stripey sweets, so have done that instead.

I got a bit confused over the 'm' as I wanted it curvy, not angular, and thanks to some welcome input from Jane, managed it in the end. I'm not sure if it's what Tonya wants, but she can always put it on the back or save it for another quilt!

Two down, three to go!

I have managed to finish another of my current projects. It's a Linus mile a minute quilt and I'm pleased at how it's turned out. I didn't have enough of any suitable green to make the borders, so used four different greens - very suitable for MAM!

I quilted it simply with some loops, and with a red binding it looks fine.

Only a week to go, and while I've layered up my purple stars quilt, I don't think I'm going to achieve my challenge of completing another three projects in a week! Ah, well, at least I'll give it a go.

One down - four to go!

In my last post I decided to challenge myself to finish five of my current projects by the end of the month. I'm such a dilettante that I have various things on the go all the time (apart from my big box of UFOs, you understand!). Well, so far so good.

This Linus mile a minute is finished now.

I used a fabric with Snoopy playing football as the centres, and I think it's bright and cheerful for a football-loving boy or girl.

I have also been busy putting borders on my purple stars quilt, luckily out of my stash! The purple fabric I bought ages ago in a sale. The lighting was poor in the shop, and I thought it was navy, and perfect for backing a quilt for DS. When I got it home, I found I had bought 5 yards of purple fabric, and it has taken me a while to get through it! (The selvedge has the date 1996 on it - but surely I haven't had it for that long?!)

Mile A Minute Finished!

People often ask how long it takes to make a quilt, and recently I've been able to answer that (in my own case). Last year, I made 24 quilts - of various sizes - so, it must have taken me a fortnight! This year, however, I've not finished very many at all (8, actually) which means it's taking me about a month for each! Still, I've now finished my last bodice, the summer holidays are looming, and here's my Mile A Minute for J all done!

I bound it with various pieces of dark grey fabric from my stash. The quilting posed a problem. I couldn't decide whether to do meander, a design with stars, hearts, leaves or what, so I did them all! I started with meander with leaves,

then moved to meander with stars, (this one's a bit wonky, but so what!)

then with hearts.

I added a bit of writing just for fun (this is the 'Boys' from 'The Jersey Boys' which is the West End show he's currently working on),

and finished with double loops.

The label's on, and it's ready for his birthday next month. Hooray! Now for the next one.....

More Mile a Minute

I've done lots of sewing this week, but very little quilting. I'm still hard at work on the costumes for the play. I have completed mine, Hazel's and Becky's, and only have Sally's top to finish, Jackie's shift and top and Nicky's top to do! Unfortunately the last couple of tops are the tricky ones. More on that later.
Yesterday I got so fed up with dressmaking that I spent some time putting together a Mile a Minute top for DD's boyfriend. He's a quilt-lover and constantly drools over DD's collection. Here's the top spread out on our bed.

Most of the fabric came from my strips box (why is it that no matter how many strips you take out, the box barely seems any emptier?) but I did cut into some of my novelty fabrics to liven it up a bit. I added a few strips of ironing fabric (hint, hint)

some skeletons (always popular)

a naughty lady left over from one of DD's quilts peeping at us, (incidentally, her friend is not naked, but wearing shorts!)

some 20s Flappers having fun,

a nod to technology with some mobile phones,

and cucumbers and a cupcake - who could make a quilt without those two motifs?!

And in the bottom corner, the young man's initial,

just in case anyone tries to purloin it!

Finished x2

Since the safe arrival of our neighbour's new grand daughter, Eva, I have been busy trying to get the quilt finished. Her uncle is up from London, and will be able to take it to his new niece. After layering and quilting I found a piece of green hand dye which matched the inner border and completed the quilt.

The best bit is the lovely fabric on the back

- I really find pastels really hard to work with, and don't think this quilt works particularly well. At least it's finished, and nobody could hate it, could they?

While I was in a completion mode, I finished the binding on this Linus quilt. It's mainly Mile A Minute, with a central heart block and four corner blocks from my donated orphans store. Many thanks for those blocks - they work perfectly!

I have quilted it simply, with a heart in each block.

I used a freezer paper heart which I ironed onto each block and then free machine quilted round it.

As you can see, I wobbled a bit, here and there, but I don't think anyone will notice!

One fnished and 1002 to go!

Well, I'm exaggerating slightly on the numbers of quilts I have yet to finish, but it certainly feels like a lot!

I have actually finished my jars quilt for Project Linus. Most of the jars were donated by Karol-Ann, but I made a few more myself to bulk the numbers up. I have been rooting round in my stash for other fabrics with designs which would be suitable to keep in jars, so I can make some kits up for Linus. It's not so easy to find suitable motifs.

My Turning 20 quilt is now a top, and I have the backing and wadding all ready to turn this top into a quilt - all I need is the time! (I decided to extend it at the sides slightly to make it a bit wider. I just put multicoloured strips together. I didn't want a border the whole way round, as I felt it was long enough already!)



Other UFOs are waiting in the wings - such as this Mile a Minute for a colleague's son. He's a football fan and supports Coventry, who are called the Sky Blues, so it had to be bordered with pale blue!

I still haven't got the Old Quilt finished. I think it's the size which is making me reluctant to tackle it, plus the boring quilting motifs. I prefer to do something a bit more exciting than hourglasses!

I'm also making another baby quilt for a little one due to appear in November! I must get this bordered and finished if I'm to be in time for its arrival.

And of course, there are always extra bits and pieces on hand. Some lovely ballerina fabric was donated to Linus, but there wasn't enough of it to do anything with. I fussy cut the ballerinas out, and have started to make them into Mile a Minute blocks. Seemed like a good idea at the time!

And to add to all this, I've just downloaded the pattern for morsbags, to start my life as a guerilla! So much fabric, so little time!

Mile a minute

Hooray! My mile a minute top is completed! I decided to make mine 10x10 blocks, and put a narrow black border round it to make the colours sing. I'm really pleased with it, and have already started some more blocks - couldn't resist it! I'm going to give it to DS for a sofa quilt - he lives in rented accommodation and the settee has seen better days. It will be ideal for that purpose. Typically DD has also requested one, but since she currently lives at home, and the settee is still in good condition (lol) she can wait.

I also experimented a bit with variations. There's a strped frame for added pizzazz, a plain yellow frame to unify and a motif in the centre to identify the receiving group.

If you're interested in the mile a minute, then check out Fiona's beautiful top (she obviously has some very pretty fabrics in her scrap bag), Patti's amazing blocks (she's responsible for starting the whole thing off - look back to July 7th for a tutorial) and Andrea's fantastic 'quilt as you go' mile a minute quilt (yes, she's actually got a finished quilt, and a gorgeous one too!), but beware: they are very addictive!