Giant Star Quilt

Auditioning...
(suggestions for quilting and finishing most welcome)

The four centre squares will yield a quilt center of 74 in square.

Option 1. I'm thinking of using the charm squares to surrond them (will finish at 4.5in), then adding another plain grey border around that. If I use the same width as the charms then the quilt will end up at 94 in square. I'd make a scrappy binding.

Option 2. Instead of the grey outer border I could use the charms to sash between the four blocks and around the outside and it would end up 88 in square. I'd use the grey for binding.

Option 3. Scrap the queen size quilt and make the stars into four baby-size play quilts or two single bed quilts.

The whole ide of this quilt was to use some stash and to create something simple to practice some free-motion quilting on. I was planning on some free-motion design in the stars, a grid in the grey and cables in the border or grid/lines in the stars and free-motion in the grey.

What do you think?

(I have two charm packs and 9 layer cake squares to use)

February Finish - but only a sneak peek

Finally finished - a little past the due date - and in the mail is this little doll quilt.

It should have arrived so I'm just waiting for the recipient to let me know it has been recieved so I can post the final pics.

I posted some peeks here and admitted to insanity.

See those pinwheels below?

Each of them is about 2 inches square. I thought sewing them together was bad enough, but the quilting took insanity to a new level. Lots and lots of seam intersections...lots and lots of unpicking! I gave up on the free-motion attempts and stuck to the tried-and-true walking foot and straight lines.

I love the final quilt but I'm not in a hurry to attempt tiny pinwheels again any time soon.

This quilt is also my first finish for 2012. Makes me a late starter, but lets me join in with the rest of the girls doing AJ's '12 in 2012' WIP challenge.

(Full details here )

Being totally realistic, there is no way I'm going to finish 12 quilting WIPs by the end of this year. I'll be happy just to get a few crossed off the list and clear some space in the sewing cupboard.

Speaking of lists - here is mine:

I wrote it out quite a while ago and have added a few things to it over the last year.

But look - those crossed out ones have been finished!

It isn't all quilting. There are all sorts of projects on there. Some are started, some are kits ready to go, some are just wishes.

It would be nice to get a few more crossed off.

Doll quilt sneak peek - or why quilters are insane

The doll quilt swap is on again and here is a little sneak peek for my partner.

It has been a drama filled few months trying to get this quilt created.

Plan A would have been easy, there was plenty of fabrics in the stash that would have worked. But Plan A got pushed aside by Plan B when I uncovered a special fabric in the stash.

Plan B required a few more special fabrics. I found the border and background fabrics at a local quilt store, and the perfect backing and 'extra' fabrics on Ebay. The design was all worked out.

Then the fabric went missing in the post.

There was no way I could go back to Plan A after spending weeks thinking of Plan B, and I couldn't get substitute fabric in time to complete Plan B, so it was time to come up with Plan C.

Plan C required another search through the sewing cupboards and led me in a totally different direction.

Out came the 1930's fabrics I used for last year's swap and I unearthed some perfect neutral co-ordinates as well, so this will be totally made from the stash (yay me).

Plan C became Plan D and then has probably moved on to Plan E or even F, but I've given up trying to keep track. So much for a quick and simple doll quilt!

(As a post-script, the fabric for Plan B has been replaced by the seller and will probably turn up here before I finish this one. It will be hard to remain focused.)

And this is why quilters are insane - see those big squares in the top left corner?

They are 4 inch squares. Take two of those, sew them together, cut them apart, sew them together, cut them apart, sew them together and cut them apart again (give or take a few repetitions) and you (hopefully) end up with two 2-ish inch squares like those purple pin-wheels on the centre-left.

And see those tiny triangle off-cuts in the bottom right corner? I'm finding it hard to throw them out!

Insane.

Getting closer to a completed quilt

I've been busy quilting away amd look how much I've completed!

Just need to do the borders now.

And here is a shot of the back with the light shining through.

It is very hard to get a shot that shows up the quilting. I'll try again when it is bound.

Under the needle (or Surprise...I'm quilting!)

I've finally forced myself to sit down and get some quilting done on my big star quilt.
I was crazy enough to unpick everything I had done, peel off the backing, replace it with a lighter fabric and then rebaste the whole thing.
It was a big effort but I am much happier with the way the quilting looks on the new fabric.
Lesson learned: don't let the quilt shop lady talk you into a fabric you really don't want.

I chickened out on the free-motion and am using the walking foot instead. It means lots of turning and pushing and so on but I'm learning a lot as I go. I'm finding it easier to manage the more I do and my stitching is becoming more even. Pity I can't sew a straight line...

As soon as this is quilted and bound I will try some more free-motion on a much smaller quilt.

I'm not quite half-way through and so far I really only have one little section I'm unhappy with. I'm prepared to call it a learning experience and leave it alone.

One step closer to a finished quilt

The back is done!

I finally sat down and got the last of this quilt back put together.

I'm not sure about the 'train squares' panel in the top third - I'm thinking about pulling that section apart and replacing that bit....I'll let it go for a few weeks than have another look.

What do you think?

Here is the front.

I might bind it with a blue and white spot or something red to pick up the colours in the sashing.

And here are the two sides together.

I think I will add something around the edges of the backing to give myself a little extra playing room for quilting - maybe some strips of the binding fabric.

Potholders

I had the bright idea of organising a sew-along/swap in the on-line craft group so that I'd be forced to try out some of the techniques I've been putting off, and to use up some of the stash.

The idea is to make a batch of potholders, send them off and get a whole lot back in return.

I need to make five by the end of February and I've only managed three tops so far, but enjoying the challenge I set myself - to make them without spending any money!

Doll quilt and table runner sneak peeks

Two more swaps in progress. Doll quilt due to be posted on 31 October and table runner for the end of November.

First up - fabric for the doll quilt. Lots of sweet repro vintage prints cut into tiny little strips.

Next - a pile of christmas prints that will become a table runner or two. The green is a lovely minty shade, combined with a rich red and some salmony pink, with lashings of metallic gold.

A visitor and ANOTHER quilt in progress

This little guy has been hanging around our place for the last few weeks, changing trees every day.

He has a few battle scars so hopefully he will stay safe with us for a while.

I've spent a few hours over the weekend working on a baby quilt for a work friend's baby shower. The original plan was simple charm squares with a co-ordinating border and could have been completed in a weekend. However, the plan changed when the fabric arrived, and this is where I am up to....

It is inspired by Helen's Bye Bye Birdie quilt that appeared in Homespun magazine, http://patchwork-of-mini-grey.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-9-of-blogtoberfest-bye-bye-birdie.html and the bird appliques are taken from another quilt in a later edition of Homespun.

I've pieced the four long strips but the geen sashing isn't attatched yet. There will be two more sashing strips, a narrow pink border and a wide green spotty border.

That won't take long, but the quilting will take me a while.

And these little birds all need stitching down and they also need eyes and legs.

The baby shower is next weekend and I've decided not to try to finish it in time. It would end up rushed and I know I won't be happy with it.

I've also got some other commitments this week that simply can't be put off.

I think I will take a trip to the shops for a shower gift instead, and take my time working on this.

I'm sure there will be another little girl in need of a quilt sometime in the future.

A new flannel quilt in progress

A few weeks ago I recieved this snuggly bundle of fabrics in the mail from http://www.fabricshack.com/

I recently found out that you can fit four yards of flannels in a $13-ish envelope (from the US) and set about working out how to get something special using as many prints as possible. I played with a simple design and then spent a bit of time online picking out fabrics. Jack joined in and narrowed down the selection, and we ended up with 1 yard of the bright stripe fabric, and 1/4 yard of each of 12 different novelty prints.

I spent a few hours one Saturday cutting and the rest of the weekend sewing, pressing and trimming and ended up with a completed quilt top. The best part is that the whole quilt top cost less than $40, including the cost of fabric postage.

Here it is laid out on a queensize bed. Jack calls it his 'new kilt'.

The top turned out a bit larger than I had imagined, but it looks like a perfect size to use on a single bed instead of just as a throw/lap quilt as I had planned.

The four yards were cut rather generously so I managed 9.5 inch squares from each fabric, with only a small strip of each remaining. The stripe fabric worked really well for the sashing and there is only a very tiny scrap left over.

Jack's favorites are the 'Rescue' range - the multi prints of fire engines, police cars, trucks etc. There is one with a blue background and one with a beige background in the quilt, and they were very thick, soft, rich fabrics - lovely to sew with.

I was a bit disappointed with the Riley Blake (2 x green car prints) and the Michael Miller (black multicolour owls and black icecream prints) fabrics as they were much thinner. The colours and designs are great but they were harder to handle and I'm worried they won't wear as well.

I'm busy picking fabrics for the back from my rather large stash of novelty cottons. I need to go on a search and rescue mission to find the ones Jack has pilfered from the pile over the last few days.

The back will be a crazy-ish random eye-spy creation and the binding will most likely be a plain solid colour. I'm thinking of either quilting in the ditch or in a diagonal grid pattern.

Hopefully I'll have the backing completed this weekend and will be able to get it sandwiched and quilted by the end of the month.

DQS Posted - final sneek peek...

After struggling to get this done due to a never-ending dose of awful, horrible, energy-sapping flu, my doll quilt finally got posted this week.

Here it is wrapped and ready to go!

As my partner won't be able to open it until Monday, here is a final sneek peek to tease her until then.

Version number two, my keeper-quilt has gone on the back-burner as I simply haven't had the energy to finish two. Also, I had sewed down most of the binding before remembering that I needed to add the hanging sleeve. At least it made the decision on which to keep and which to give a bit easier.

I learned a lot making these, and had a few minor disasters. I'm happy with the finished one and hope my partner and her family have some fun with it.

EBDQ more sneakys....

I've been working hard at this but it keeps wanting a little bit more here and a little bit more there - did I mention it has a life of its own?!!

Two sneak peaks - one from each of the quilts. Still not sure which one is the keeper and which is the giver but either way I'm having fun and so glad I get one for me.

Still need to layer and quilt, embellish (just about collected all the bits) bind and label. So far I've completed fabric selection, some basic but slightly tricky piecing, lots of vliesofixing, lots of raw edge applique, lots of tying off threads and slightly more hand embroidery than I'd originally intended.

Quilting should get done today if my machine agrees with me. I've changed my mind on backing fabric for both at least three times and still undecided on the binding.

Doll quilt swap - sneaky peaks

I've made a start on my quilt for the EB doll quilt swap - after toying with several different ideas I remembered an applique pattern I'd copied about a year ago. Half an our playing with the size on the photocopier at work and several hours of sketching and scribbling and picking through the fabric stash and I've come up with something I think my partner will enjoy.

I'm making two - similar design in slightly different colourways. As most of this will be experimental for me, I'm hoping that by making two I will be able to work out any problems on the first one, and perfect the techniques somewhat on the second.

And this means I'll have one to keep - which is great because I'm a bit in love with the the design so far. Just crossing my fingers that it looks as good in fabric as it does in my head!

Here are the fabrics I'll be using for the backgrounds - aqua-toned blues for one, royal-toned blues for the other.

It doesn't look like much at the moment - but maybe you can make out the little peeks of the bits I like best, hiding at the side of the photo.....
I'm picking up my sewing machine from a service tomorrow and want to get as much of these done over the weekend as I can. Quilting on my star quilt will have to go into the too-hard basket for a week or two, but as I have to unpick all the dodgy quilting I've already done on it before I can do any more, it's not such an issue.

Even more stars - look how they twinkle

A week off work has given me time to get sewing - and look what I've managed to acheive!

I'm really happy with this especially as it is the most complicated pattern I've attempted.

It is actually quite simple to piece as it is all strips, but the cutting and measuring require a bit of concentration.

Not one to be working on while enjoying a glass of red!

I got the outer borders sewn on this morning and spent quite a bit of time with the iron and a can of starch before taking these photos. Then I took a trip to the local quilt store to pick backing and binding fabric, batting and thread. The backing is a terracotta-orange colour and I picked up some fqs of the fabrics used in the stars so I can do a scrappy binding. I'll even have some leftovers for cushions if I ever get around to it.

The plan is to get the quilt basted by Sunday afternoon and then work on it for an hour or so every day or two and hopefully I'll have a finished quilt in a few weeks. I've even tidied up the sewing room so I can leave it underway once I start.

I did sign up for the EB doll quilt challenge at the same time - -although I'm hoping to get both finished together.

Stars in my eyes...

Completed - the first block of my scrappy star quilt. Approx 30in square. dodgy photo - when I've done the next block I'll take pics during the daytime ;)

I've wanted to attempt a lone-star style block ever since I started dabbling in patchwork.

I found this pattern in the Jelly Roll quilts book and some scrappy strip rolls in my LQS and decided to dive in.

The diamonds came together pretty quickly and I'm quite pleased with my seam allowances and the straightness of my stiching. The colours in the strip rolls worked fairly well and I only substituted one star center with fabric from my stash. I've tried not to overthink the colour placement but there is one set of greens in another star that I'm not happy with - lack of contrast.

Cutting and sewing the background setting triangles has been a bit more of a challenge. The bias seams in the corner squares don't sit quite flat so I'll need to make some adjustments.

Otherwise, I'm happy.

Three more piles of diamonds and two piles of setting triangles are starched and ready to sew.

And on another theme - an early reminder of Father's day......

Here is my little man and my big man - one is mopping and the other is 'helping'. Check out the action the little guy has already. I might need to invest in a real mini mop for him.

And of course the dog has to be part of the action. I think it took three times as long as normal to do the floor this weekend!

Shopping....

Look what happens when you drop into the local fabric shop while waiting for an appointment!

This strip roll is for a lone-star style quilt. Only got 20 strips to see if I can manage it, and if I like it. If I like the way the first two blocks turn out, I'll be back for more.

And this bright set of FQ is from the Adalucia range, sitting right inside the door just to tempt me. I really didn't need it but just couldn't walk out the door without it! I'm thinking of making a QS quilt with it in a similar design to the one below.

I'll use 10in squares that will give me final blocks of about 9-9.5 in (the ones below are 5.5in) with five fabrics per square. Not sure what to do for sashing and if I should add cornerstones to the sashing. Might use either the first or the third one in the top row for a 10in border, if I can get enough.

I'm a bit hesitant to cut them, in case I don't like the design when I put it together. These colours are way outside my normal style!

The alternatives I have in mind are simple large squares, large squares combined with a four-patch or a stacked-coin style. Any other suggestion would be quite welcome...

This is the design I'm thinking of using as a starting point. This one is only lap-size. The blocks are about 5.5 in, the sashing is 1.5in and the borders are about 6in. it began life as a pack of thirty 6in charm squares. I wanted one fabric in the border but could only get single fat quarters in the same fabrics so I improvised. The creamy looking fabric is actually a goldy-beige and tones quite well. For some reason the camera altered the colours quite a bit.

Well, certainly some sewing in my future - best get cracking.

Bag swap sneak peek

Here is a sneak peek of the fabric I'm using for the bag I'm making for my partner in the EB bag swap.

I'm rather in love with it and just happened to buy enough to make something for myself afterwards. It is called 'Jacobean Rhapsody' by Timeless Treasures fabrics.

The bag is taking a little longer than expected because I rolled my foot at work and couldn't walk for three days - right on they day I was meant to be going fabric shopping! My foot is still several lovely shades of blue-black but it is my left foot so I'm able to sew right-footed without a problem.

I spent the weekend fussy cutting to make the most of the fabric design, cutting out and ironing-on interfacing and pellon. I also unpicked the small amount of quilting over and over again.

Now I've got to make and apply some binding, design and apply some pockets and try and figure out the rather poor instrustions for the lining.

Hopefully it will be all ready to post off on Monday. I don't think I'll have time to make the little purse I wanted to put with it.

Janome club quilt

This is the most recent WIP and still out in a prominent position in the sewing room.
My weekly (well, whenever I can attend) sewing group decided to spend a Saturday morning a month making this quilt and using it as a chance to learn different tricks and techniques on our machines. Most of the other ladies have fancy machines with hundreds of stitches but my little girl is a bit lacking in that department so I've been trying to learn things like pin-tucking and lace insertion to add interest where they are using fancy stitches.

This is a quilt-as-you-go project but I'm waiting to finish the front of my blocks so that I can use the left over fabric for the backing to create a double-sided quilt of sorts. Then it is a good chance to learn some new quilting techniques on the small blocks before joining them up. The blocks will be quite a bit smaller when finished.
The quilt is based on the Renaissance Quilt pattern by Monica Poole (Moonshine Designs). I've altered mine to include an enlarged centre panel, surrounded by twelve smaller blocks - two of each design. I'm thinking of adding a scrappy sashing between the blocks to break up the green. So four down, nine to go. I've got at least four more in various stages.

(Again, really dodgy photos. The colours are much prettier in real life)

Even more...

These were started before Jack was born but.....

A lovely rainbow cardigan that needs half a sleeve and then sewing up. I really enjoyed this but didn't manage to finish it before Jack was born and found it too hard to keep count of the raglan sleeve decreases in between feeding and changing. Once Jack got too big it went into the cupboard with the rest.

Next, the block of the month that I cheated and bought the whole kit for. I sewed up the block backgrounds, cut out all the appliques and then decided I wanted to hand applique it all and put it away. After making Jack's santa sack I realised it wasn't that hard, pulled out the first block and got going. Then Jack got mobile and boxes of embroidery thread and needles weren't safe for long so again it got put away.

The finished quilt is actually a double size. I thought of making two smaller quilts or a quilt and wall hangings instead, but need to get the blocks done first.

The humpty block is almost done. If I keep this where I can get to it and try to do half-an-hour a few nights a week then this block would be done in no time. Another candidate for the monthly challenge?

And still more....

Other projects - these are the oldest and need to be cleared off the list to make room for others...

First are some blocks for a sampler quilt. These were my first attempts at patchwork and were based on designs from a library book. I quite like the bottom three and need to think of some way to use them. The top two don't have enough contrast and I had problems with the templates and the finished measurements being totally different from those in the book.

Not sure how much of these fabrics I still have - I know for sure that most of the solid blue and green have been used for binding other quilts.

This next one is my 'beginner's quilt', made in the first class I took. I was half-way through the quilting when I gave up out of sheer frustration and stuck it in the cupboard.

The top isn't square, the quilting is terrible and I really hate the backing fabric. I want to unpick the quilting, replace the backing (its horrible pink) and then layer it properly and quilt it again.

I've been told just to finish it as is but my heart breaks when I look at all the puckers both front and back and I know I couldn't live with it.

This is the problem with classes when the teachers don't really give you enough guidance or share the special little tips and tricks. I think I've learned more from books, magazines and a drop-in sewing group than I did at this very expensive class. I also think it was far to big to attempt as my first experience with machine quilting.

I picked the border fabric - it leaped off the shelf at me but the shop assistant picked out the other fabrics. Individually, I like them. Together they make the paisley print look orange. Here is a close up of the feature fabric. I still love it and would use it again but would be more conservative with pairing it with other prints.