Pedal to the metal

I had the urge to finish something last weekend.  So I quilted and bound this mini quilt.  Sorry about the picture, but taken inside, so you cannot see my quilting, which I am actually very proud of, because I deviated from straight lines OR stitch in the ditch! 

This week I had very limited Internet access as we had used up our allowance.  So the finishes are growing more quickly then previously anticipated.  It just goes to show how much time I waste!

 Hmmm this is the only photo I have of the FINISHED Rainbow QAYG string quilt.  Blame the rain and two boys who delighted in rolling around on the finished top and were very cute "pretending" to be asleep...which lasted 3 minutes!  Actually it needs a label and so does the mini quilt, so technically neither are a finish....yeah right!

During the week after I wore a hole in my finger stitching down bindings, I switched over and worked on my Yellow Sister...I think this will be my last!  Last night I started making triangles to fill in those gaps...so they are complete hexagons and I can decide on a layout.  Well that's the theory.

 Saturday I stayed home and worked on my Dresden Plate quilt top.  I made all the pink centres, machine appliqued them down and then joined the blocks together.  It took a whole morning.  I am kicking myself that I didn't do it sooner!

The weight of the pieced plates has made for a heavy top.  I found it tricky to sew straight when putting the pink border on.  This purple fabric is what I originally brought for the final border...but that was before I brought the pink.  I don't know, what do you think, does it work?  I was aiming for a purple quilt (the intended recipient likes purple), but hot pink is dominating so far. I only have a metre of the purple, so need to purchase more if I stick with the original plan.

 Then I started working on the Blue Twister (using Indigo Crossing by Moda) quilt, which I really really want to finish. I found the extra fabric I needed during the week, so I made the final border Saturday afternoon.  About 2/3 of the way through cutting the little twisters out, I cut too far...boo hoo!  Luckily I had a 2" scrap and I was able to piece that into the border and it worked.  Phew.  However I am completely out of the the background fabric now!  Oh well that's not a disaster...unless the shop is all sold out...and they are located on the other side of Adelaide, but fingers crossed!  In the mean time I cut a blue skinny border, to see how that looks...I think this layout works....just so long as the background fabric is available!  This might be the last time I make a quilt without a pattern!

And finally I finished the day by piecing the long rows of this quilt.  Just realised it looks awful on the bottom row, but it is straight I promise!  I had run out of the blue/grey leaf print in the bottom row, but as good luck had it I had some in my stash.  The fabric for this quilt was gifted to me by Lisa, and I started it while we were away on our quilting weekend in May.  I am pleased to finish it, but bit scared to trim the edges, especially the top edge, don't want to loose that zig or zag!

Phew, you exhausted?  Yep me too.  Knocked off this afternoon so DH and I could take the kids to the train park, it rained a bit, but we had some family fun, so hopefully that makes up for my ignoring them somewhat during the week!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Bunny rug for baby - tutorial

Want to help me to make a present for newly arrived/expected soon babies?  My mother continuously asked me if I had any bunny rugs when I was expecting DS1, I never found any in the shops the same as she had when we were born (although the hospital had them), but this is my home made equivalent.  

In this post I used a 75 cm length x width of fabric in two different flannel prints.  In the past I have also made them 1 metre x width of fabric. Take your two pieces of flannel and iron (steam is best) them right sides together.  I try to line up one short and one long edge - the animal fabric was not as wide as the pink, go figure I thought width was standard!

 Trim the selvage's off both sides, and even up the top and bottom.

 Using a side plate as a guide, cut off each corner so that it is rounded.

 Pin the corners as you go.  I didn't bother pinning the straight edges, as the flannel sticks together really well if you iron it all over first.  Yeah I know, who likes ironing, but it makes for a better result!

 Using your walking foot, sew a quarter inch seam right around the edge of your blanket, leaving a 5" gap.  Make sure you do a little reverse on each side of your gap.  (If you have a overlocker, you may like to also stitch the edges to reinforce them, making sure you do the gap edges separately.)

 Put your hand into the gap and grab the nearest corner, then pull the rest of the blanket through carefully.  Press the whole blanket again, taking care with the edges, ensuring they are fully pulled out.  I kind of roll the edge between my fingers (not sure how else to describe it!) to make sure the two layers sit flat.  You could also gently poke the edges out with your finger from the inside.  Iron down the seam allowance at your opening, so they sit nicely.

Now using a coordinating thread, top stitch (sew a 1/8" seam) right around the blanket edge, sealing up the opening.  The top stitching reinforces the seams, as flannel does tend to fray over time and this blanket will be washed a lot.  If you like you can do two round of top stitching to make it extra secure.

And your done, one bunny rug for baby!  If you use the 75cm length they make good baby wraps for newborns, if you go the longer drop they are more suitable as a cot blanket - or perfect for autumn born babies that are going to be wrapped (and grow longer) right through winter and cooler spring nights.

I made four, two for gifts (one pink for a girl and one green for gender unconfirmed) and two I am sending HERE....for the babies of PNG, if you wish to help also read this POST. 
Happy quilting Sue SA.

200th post

In my mind I had planned a special 200th post, but alas this morning  I am unorganised, uninspired and procrastinating!  These are my finishes from last weekend, a boys I spy quilt I FINALLY quilted for Heart Kids SA.

 The top started by my team from our Heart Kids sewing session in Feb, also quilted and bound.

 And the quilt that my mother took home from the Feb sewing bee, to quilt and bind.  I think I still need to check it for unclipped ends and they all needs labels.

This is what I have been doing while I have been procrastinating...(from bottom to top) washing newly purchased flannel, finding a backing for the Scrappy Trips Around the World (not pieced it yet) and pinning a table topper.

 This is the reason behind my procrastinating and frustration.  I had vowed to finish a UFO this weekend.  And I was well on my way to achieving that goal, with the rainbow QAYG string blocks.  But I couldn't remember the method/measurement that I used for binding and joining the blocks the first time I did QAYG and I have been less that satisfied with my "from memory" version. 

Plus I realised that somewhere along the track one of the orange blocks was cut smaller then the rest.  Resulting in the sashings not forming a straight line and meaning that I will have to trim all down one edge, to make them the same width. 

So while this quilt is just awaiting its edge binding, I am certainly unimpressed with my efforts.  DS1 on the other hand is delighted and has been wrapping himself up in it, rolling around on his favorite colours and crowing to DS2 that he has a new special quilt that Mum made just for him!

So in order to find the mojo to finish this "mess" and learn to live with it (my kid likes it so what if I don't!) AND then the motivation to start the next UFO but do a MUCH better job, I am blogging! 

Sorry perhaps I will do a fancy pants 200+ post....we will see! Happy quilting Sue SA. 

Vintage machine fun

I drove a willing friend to a Biggest Morning tea (with a difference) last weekend.  Ray and Lorraine opened their home, to display Ray's collection of machines, Lorraine's collection of quilts and the local quilting group cooked up a delicious array of morning tea treats, all to raise funds for the Cancer Council.

These cute machines were in a display case, which was lucky because that eliminated the temptation to take one home!

 

 Naturally the red one was my favorite!

I loved the rounded design of this machine though.  There were a few millinery sewing machines, as well as ordinary domestic machines.

You see lots of black machines, but not many silver!  This reminds me of the original aeroplanes, with its lovely shine and simple design.  Nothing fancy, but a good solid stitch I am sure.

The beauty of this outing was that I got to have a hand crank sew on this machine.  I have a hand crank machine, but no idea how to thread it (or the bobbin) or service it.  So I got the titles of some specialist books from Ray, so I can look up the details of my machine. 
 
 And I got to treadle to my hearts content on this machine!  I discovered it is harder to get started on a treadle then you would think.  If you don't start off the right way the wheel goes backwards and you break your thread.  I got the hang of it fairly quickly though.  So now I am lusting after a treadle, in a beautiful cabinet!  I can see the risk of having one though, every child that came into the house would want to have a "play", but I guess that's exactly what I was doing too!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

PS Pop over to my other BLOG to see the quilts we have donated to charity this week.

Saturday distractions

Its the end of the week, its been a busy week.  You think you can sneak in a little quilting.  An hour passes and your surprised at how much you have achieved.  Awoken at the crack of dawn the next day you spend time at the machine instead of on the computer....and it pays off!

Don't mind the fact that this HeartKids SA top has been in your sewing room for months, its a finish!  Well nearly, just have to find the binding, its here somewhere under all this mess...

Phew,  I found the teal sister....

Boosted by your recent finish you trot off to the quilting shop, with a shopping list of three items, necessary to finish three different WIP that NEED finishing.  Alas you have a child in tow and the shop doesn't have the items you came for (although free advice for a cost saving measure, reduces the need for one purchase) HOWEVER said child finds new favorite fabric....

Which justifies purchases for a NEW project.....because your oldest born cannot possibly have too many quilts! And its nearly his birthday.  AND there is no justification for the fact I am easily distracted!

Because who really really needs fabric of foxes and gumboot wearing donkeys?  And I cannot even blame the child, as he was happy with his construction fabric.....the rest was my idea!

Including this panel which was on sale and we all have a soft spot for Maisy at our house.  I probably should have brought four of these panels, as DH was telling the story he read about recently of the parents with three boys that through they would try for #4 with the hope of a girl....they are now pregnant with quads...two girls and two boys!  Hmmm "lets start counting! seems a bit cheeky for that family, but otherwise I am hoping it makes a nice quick baby gift for down the track.
Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Victorian catch up

Last weekend was a long weekend in most states of Australia, plus our children had a day off school on the Friday.  We made the most of this extra long weekend to go and visit my family in Victoria.  My mother made the most of this opportunity to organise a surprise catch up with Lisa and Vicki, for me to see the progress of their quilts, since our weekend away together in Bordertown.

I was not expecting much progress, because I haven't achieved much, as it was less then a month ago!  However lucky Lisa has had a week off and was very productive sewing her triangles together into a top.  Lisa only started cutting on our weekend away, so has been very busy.

She also made these blocks on her week off, I just love these fabrics!

Vicki has made great progress with her Double Wedding Ring blocks and is very pleased with the outcome.  I am defiantly in the market for one of these special rulers, when I find out the name I will let you know, as it looked "easy". I say "easy" as I am still not convinced that it is one of those patterns you can be slap dash about it, but the ruler certainly reduced the need for cutting all those fiddly pieces of the rings individually, which is a big time saver.

Mum got a final border out her stash and sewn onto the fish quilt. 

Mum had to search the shops for this great red spot print for the car quilt, which I don't think I showed you previously, but she did start at Bordertown.

This was my contribution to show and tell (because the Zig Zag quilt top was still in pieces at home), as you can see (in the poor light, top LH corner) the teal sister is nearly finished and the yellow stars are WIP.  We had to share our show and tell space with my boys and their train tracks!

Happy quilting Sue SA.

Stitching update

I should have posted on the weekend, but really got distracted with life, kids and trying to squeeze in a few more minutes at the machine!  Since coming home from Bordertown retreat I have been hand sewing my chocolate stars into a completed sister, while viewing my way through the complete set of Downton Abby on DVD.  Significant progress has been made on the teal stars and they are ready to be sewn together.

The time that I have been able to sit at the machine though has been spent working on my Zig Zag Quilt.  I really love the colours, sorry it is a bit dark, but the top half is alternated with a light blue, which doesn't appear as sharp in this photo as the white.

I am really pleased with the progress, all the blocks were in rows (on diagonal) and just needed to sew the rows together.  Alas it is not as wide as I would like, so I have gone back to making blocks and trying to salvage every last piece of fabric in each colour to add two blocks to each row. 

Happy quilting, Sue SA.