Piecing in Portland 5

Another UFO that has been sitting in a box waiting for attention.  Really all I did was sew four seams and this was a finished top!  But I had been deliberating about offsetting the rows.  In the end we decided the straight setting was perfect. 

This is a big quilt.  Too big (and white) to take out into the winter wind on the rocks.  And so big it drapes nicely over the bed, but not so great for photos. 

 I might have finished this quilt top and found yet another perfectly matching backing for my quilt!  

(I tell you Widebacks has a great range!)

BUT this one is going to sit awhile before I come to a decision about how to ask the long armer to quilt it...and find the money!

This neglected wall hanging got dragged to Portland.  I loved the pattern but didn't read it before hand and just assumed it was a little wallhanging.  But it is not.  So the temptation to make it bigger, eg lap size was great.

Vicki helped me with the maths to get the Raspberry flying geese to work.  I had cut them all out with the Go cutter, so I was sure they were correct.  But let me assure you I spent a lot of time unpicking and re sewing seams to get them to fit.  Obviously my original quarter inch seam in the first place was not true.  So after a fair bit of mucking around it all worked out just fine.

I am in love with this Raspberry shade of red.  

But this project is going back in its box for me to contemplate its future eg. does it get another border and if so is it flying geese?

Happy quilting Sue.

2016 Wish List

The only quilt I didn't make/start on my 2015 wish list was a Delectable Mountains quilt, pattern by Bonnie Hunter.  

Even though my scrap stash is greatly depleted I would still like to make one in forest colours.

Desperate to make this mini quilt - cake stand baskets, in reproduction fabrics of course!

Then there is always room for more than one basket quilt in my life!

Curves have never been on my agenda, but the curved ruler changed the playing field rules for me.

And now I have a new pattern (urban abacus) AND a mini curved ruler with a pattern so I had better make both!

There is always room for some charity quilts, especially kids quilts.

I have plenty of novelty fabric cut into 6.5" squares to use up.  I have all the dies to make this churn dash using my Go Cutter.  I just have to buy some more background fabrics, white is a bit impractical for kids quilts!
Lisa showed me this pattern Tic Tac Toe last year and it has been on my to do list since!

The original pattern has different coloured blocks in the outside corners, but I prefer this look.
Now where to start?
Happy quilting Sue.

Cot quilts completed and progress on basket quilt.

I have been steadily working on the basket quilt, which is suppose to be a summer weight quilt for our bed.  In reality it is a UFO that is starting to haunt me.  However I have made some progress,  I have mastered the art of "perfect circles", enabling me to make the extra cherries for the 3rd appliqued block.  The pear and apple applique blocks are missing here - off getting their borders added.

I have added the neutral background triangles to the completed basket blocks.  It seems I am short one basket block and missing a handle on another...sigh! I am determined to finish this quilt, but keep getting distracted.

 A quick cot quilt, just added some colourful prints to the sides.  This is the second Maisy panel I have used this year and there is a third waiting in the wings.  I had some fun FMQ this one, but tried to keep it simple.

 The back is made up of leftover flannel I found in my stash.  I love flannel backings for babies.  

I have had this pirate fabric in my stash since our oldest son was a toddler, he is nearly 8.  

 So I couldn't go past using it as a backing for this panel.  I didn't even need to add a border to this panel, just quilted and bound it.  Another quick cot quilt finished, perfect baby gifts.  More FMQ fun was had. 

Now I just need some babies to arrive...at someone elses house, not mine!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Sewing weekend at Bordertown

I had a fantastic fun long weekend away sewing with my Mum and two friends.  I managed to start and finish piecing two miniature quilts/wall hangings, which I am thrilled about.

This pattern is called Sugar and Spice by Rhonda McCray and was published in the Special Winter 2013 issue of Quilt Mania and is 12" x 16".  I need to applique the gingerbread men in a bowl (in wool) in the bottom right hand corner, hence the different layout of the log cabins.  The logs are cut at 1" and the pattern would never have worked if Vicki hadn't pointed out that my quarter inch seam (I was whinging about it) was a tad too wide and I could rectify it by moving my needle position.  SEW glad she told me that as it solved all my sewing problems and provided a huge "ohhh, duh!" moment!

This pattern is called Rolling Stones and was designed by Ann Hermes and was published in the February 2008 issue of BHG American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.  However I have recently seen it advertised on their website, so you could possibly get it for free online.  It is 14" square.  This was a lot more work then the log cabin, but that was just because of the cutting.  I think I am still sold on making miniatures as they are so quick!

 

These basket quilts were NOT quick!  I thought that I had the required number of baskets made and would just be sashing them and fiddling with a few handles and the appliqued fruit.  But alas due to my inaccurate seam allowance the blocks were all 1/4" too small.  I unpicked more then I would care to share.  Then I discovered it was quicker to just make new ones, especially those with triangles, which stretched when I unpicked and resewed them.  I did manage to redeem a few that  I had unpicked though, so I decided to sash all the blocks that were correct.  That way at least I felt like I had made some progress.  The benefit of sewing in a group is to get everyones ideas.  So I am going with a layout quite different to the pattern, which I am really pleased about.  Lots more to do, but very happy all the boring unpicking was done in the good company of friends!  

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

PS also had a teeth grinding moment of terror, which Mum and Vicki rescued me from, when I managed to jam my needle down in the machine.  Due to some long thread ends getting sucked down and caught up inside.  At a later date I ran over these pins.  

I plan to be much nicer to my machine in future, as this bent pin going into the inner working of my machine would have been very very ugly and expensive!  

Hand quilted evidence

I cannot believe it, but here is the evidence...I hand quilted something and finished it!  The quilt police will be out to inspect and fine me, but I don't care!  Part way through freely quilting a pattern (four orange peels) in the red squares I remembered your suppose to mark the pattern!  But they turned out OK and if they didn't it was no bother to pull them out and re do.  I finished the quilting while we were away in the caravan, but it took me all week to pick the binding and sew it on.  I like the black binding, but definitely a first for me!

This little basket quilt was a free pattern from Temecula Quilt Co and she made 113 of these cake stand blocks (link to pattern is HERE) ...big deal you say, well they are 2.5" square, so yes they were FIDDLY and making nine was enough for me!  I laid my 6 x 12" ruler behind it to give you some idea of the scale.  I am disappointed that I cut some of the points off, but I am hoping one day to learn some secrets to accurate piecing of miniatures.  Secrets that probably apply to normal quilting, eg fine tune your quarter inch!

 I dragged out my box containing my blocks and fabric, set aside for the Farm House Kitchen quilt this weekend.  This quilt had been in progress so long its now a UFO.  I started with a great deal of enthusiasm and was stumped when I got to the applique bit.  I use to be a reasonably good at needle turn (with freezer paper) applique.   But somewhere in the middle of raising two babies I ditched hand work for quick machine piecing and lost my skills and my confidence.

 There is another UFO that involves applique in my cupboard - the shapes are fiddly.  And I found that a few hours in front of the TV this weekend with some simple shapes has restored my memory, skills and confidence.  Mind you those cherries are a bit ordinary, but once I find my Perfect Circles (already pulled the house upside down) I will be able to rectify that.  I also had to make these four pieced baskets.  That involved a bit of fiddly as the blocks are different and not on point like the rest of them (about 15 in total).  I didn't want my fruit to be lying sideways.  So I re engineered the pattern to suit myself.

These blocks are next, to be filled with plums and apples, plus some handles.  I have sewn the centre seam with a very long stitch on my machine, so it is easy to unpick and continue my hand work beyond the seam line.  I will go back later and stitch it properly.  Not sure if this is the standard way of doing things, just my preference, I am worried about stretching the bias edge of the triangle if its not joined.  Now I just have to keep up the enthusiasm, as this quilt was planned to be my "summer" bed quilt, so I have eight months to get it finished!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.