|
|
Posted by Q in Craftie Craft, Quilting, Sewing on March 31, 2011, at 7:36 pm
For some reason I want to add a mouse ran up to my knee… to the end of that. Why? I don’t know…
I’ve mentioned that I am participating in Swaps yes?! The first one I participated in is at Block Swap Adventure 12.5inch blocks are swapped each month, and you can sign up any time and will be included in the swap for the following month. I did that one last month and will continue to participate. This month I am going to make (as per my partner’s request) a single colour themed block that will eventually be part of a rainbow quilt. I like that idea and am looking forward to contributing something toward it.
The first one I actually signed up too, but the second one I participated in is being hosted by Cheryll at Gone Stitchin’. I completed my hot pad last night and posted it today, so it’s on it’s way to my mystery swap partner! This was different, because I don’t know who will be sending me a hot pad, and my partner doesn’t know that I have completed one for her. Here is a (bad) sneak peek of what I made. I quickly snapped a couple of photos this morning before I left for work, but didn’t inspect them properly and they were quite blurry…
 Pot Holder Sneak Peek for Lets Exchange Swap at Cheryll's
Unfortunately the pot holder is not much better than the photo ! I realised how dreadfully amateur my sewing is after looking around my mystery swap partner’s blog. I hope she doesn’t mind too much. I know I will get better as I go along… [Have you seen Finding Nemo?! there's a scene where they all sing... just keep swimming... just keep swimming... well I will just keep sewing] Cheryll is hosting another swap that will be posted about on her blog tomorrow, so go check it out, if you are looking to participate in one.
So after being a bit traumatised at the post office today about sending this gift away, what did I do? I signed up for another swap Nothing like shocking my fear into submission! But I really like little zippy pouches and purses and this swap is for that! So I couldn’t resist and went ahead and signed up for it. Sandy from Cookies and Cream Crafts is hosting this one and you can sign up for it until the 12th April.
 Zippy Purse Swap Hosted by Sandy at Cookies and Cream Craft
I also added a scrappy border onto my Endless Summer Le Petite Project ( just in the nick of time!) The parade will be on the 1st April (US time) at Sinta and Sheri’s blogs. I really love how this turned out using the Sugar Pop Fabrics by Liz Scott for Moda, and I had a bit of scraps left over that were a similar width to the inner border requirements so I just stitched them together and used that for the inner border. I like the size of it now, so will not be adding a wider border.
 Endless Summer Centre Block
 Endless Summer With Scrappy Border Added Take 1
 Endless Summer With Scrappy Border Added Take 2
I am thinking of making the backing for this from something water proof so that I can use it as a picnic rug. Maybe all the colours will distract the ants for a while.
Realising that my blog should come with a warning (and I will be expanding on this, I have decided to put up some permanent signage). If you are not from Australia, these signs are of constant amusement to tourists in fact you can buy them as fridge magnets, tea towels, oven mitts, mouse mats almost anything in souvenir shops and even places locals shop.
 Koalas Next X Kilometres
 Roos Next X Kilometres
 Wombats Next X Kilometres
My personal favourite is the little wombat. Actually, not so little and if you make them angry you had better watch out. I think they are cute anyhow. So there are similar signs that people stick in their car windows. I think it’s supposed to help us drive better when we realise that there is a little person in their car. It’s supposed to be a warning to hooligans.
.
.
 Baby on Board Warning Sign
So you get the idea right, it’s shaped like a road sign, and it warns people.
.
.
.
.
.
I thought I needn’t go all scary with the yellow and black, it’s only a blog right? but I do think you need to be warned so here is mine…
 Dummy Quilter on Blog
I will be adding a page, explaining and warning others not to do the dummy quilting things I do!
So I don’t (well I have once or twice, but I didn’t last night) do Friday night sew ins, because unlike most of you, I need to be in bed and sleeping by some early hour I won’t mention, because I am embarrassed about having no energy to even sew. I did get some stitching done today though.
First up, I would like to show you (well I actually did do this on Friday night … part of it anyway) my very first hexagon flower! I know, I know… not another person doing hexies! Well I wanted to try and when I read about using the new Sewline Glue Pen (in Vignette Issue 2) instead of tacking, I grabbed my Sewline pen and my Hexagon pieces and gave it a go. My first attempt failed didn’t succeed as well as I would have liked. I had some directional pieces as the petal hexagons and when I was done sewing, they made no sense, so I unpicked 3 of them last night and restitched them, so they do make sense.
 My First 1inch Hexie Paper Pieced Flower
This morning I followed the well written instructions in the Endless Summer pattern and completed sewing block 1 (or star 1).
 Endless Summer Star Block 1 using Sugar Pop Charm Squares by Liz Scott for Moda
I continued chain piecing the rest , I just did the first one step by step to make sure I got it. Later in the day I felt like I needed a break and heard my brother and his wife talk about going to a national park close by, so I chucked some stitching into a bag and headed off with them to the national park. My parents and the family puppy Peppa joined us. I stitched a bit lying on the grass, it was a really nice Autumn day, not to hot and perfect in the shade. Wouldn’t you like to be sitting on the grass stitching, right here?
 Tall Gum Tree at Picnic Spot in Belair National Park
In addition there was my favourite person in the whole world.
 Charlotte at Belair National Park
I know one pic of her, is just not enough, so here are two more.
 Charlotte
 Charlotte
And did I mention the family puppy?! Peppa is an English Staffordshire Terrier and is about 3 years old ( I think). My parents adopted her from a breeder, she was a breeding mummy, but had problems after her first litter. My parents got her soon after their last dog passed away. Sindy was the first Staffie we had had and after her, can’t even think about other breeds. They are both the kindest gentlest doggies ever. Peppa is a bit easier to photograph, Sindy was petrified of cameras, so it’s fun to be able to take nice photos of Peppa. She is very attached to my dad so didn’t hang out with me for too long but I snapped this while she was sitting with me.
 Peppa
She looks like she could be mean, but she is the biggest softie you could meet.
That was the break I needed from my machine and when I got back home I went straight back to getting Endless Summer sorted out. Whilst ironing the blocks after completion, I noticed one error and then went on with my life… only to pick it up again and consider unpicking it and re-stitching the block. I ironed a couple more blocks and decided that because I had the patience and wasn’t feeling too uptight about my mistake I would re-stitch it.
So I took it apart and then started to re-position only to realise that the block I had just unpicked, was in actual fact not wrong but right… I had picked up the wrong block to unpick. (Hence my dummy quilter on blog warning sign) So I unpicked the right wrong block (I had to write that sorry ) and stitched them both back together (correctly)
 The Correct Endless Summer Block, Accidentally Unpicked doh!
I finished all the nine star blocks, and have now started to add the sashing, but because the Dummy Quilter on Blog idea was going around in my head, I had to play on the puter a bit first. Here are the blocks, in pattern order sans sashing. I think I should finish the top tomorrow, which gives me just over a week to quilt it for the parade. The last 2 months I just sent pics of the top, but I would like to have this quilted before I send my photo to Sherri and Sinta.
 Endless Summer Blocks Laid Out in Pattern Order
So an awesome Saturday stitching and playing. Hope yours was awesome too!
Posted by Q in Craftie Craft, Quilting on March 12, 2011, at 11:22 am
I didn’t get a chance to post this last week about sewing achievements, but I did actually achieve something. I think I mentioned that I had basted and pinned Mon Ami on Monday night and started the quilting. Well I didn’t finish it on Monday as anticipated I was just so tired when I got home from work, that sewing was not going to be part of my evening.
 Mon Ami Schnibble Quilt using Plume by Tula Pink for Moda Basted
I did quite a lot of quilting on Tuesday night, but didn’t quite get to finishing it all. Wednesday night, I got it all quilted. I stitched around the stars, did a serpentine stitch on the inner background border , stitched around the peaks and valleys on the half square triangles and straight line stitched about 5/8th of an inch apart on the outer borders.
I then made some pretty pink binding using my 1inch Clover Bias maker and bound it by machine. I wasn’t up to doing it by hand and I could nearly taste the satisfaction of completing it. I attached the binding to the back first, then folded to the front and used a decorative stitch to attach to the front. I am admittedly not very good at this, but I will only get better the more I do it, so I am quite happy with it.
Some problems with my quilting.
- I still find my tension a bit strange and inconsistent at times and am not sure what to do about that
- my machine has a handy quilting guide attachment for equidistant straight line quilting, but it doesn’t attach when the walking foot is on, only the standard foot. So the straight line quilting kind of bunched a little at the end of the lines
So this is the second quilt top I got finished so far this month!
 Mon Ami Schnibble Quilt using Plume by Tula Pink for Moda Backed and Bound
 Mon Ami Schnibble Quilt using Plume by Tula Pink for Moda Hanging Up
 Mon Ami Schnibble Quilt using Plume by Tula Pink for Moda draped
I gifted this one to my mum as well.
Quilt Details:
Pattern – Mon Ami Schnibble designed by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosies Quilt Co
Completed as part of Le Petite for January 2011 – Hosted by Sinta Renee at Pink Pincushion and Sherri at A Quilting Life
Parade of other completed Quilts for Le Petite Here and Here, I highly recommend having a look, it’s so wonderful to see the same pattern in so many different colour, fabric and even size variations!
Posted by Q in Craftie Craft, Generic Ramblings, Quilting on March 2, 2011, at 7:06 pm
Here in Adelaide, and where I was born (and the rest of the Southern Hemisphere) it’s the start of Autumn. Here in Adelaide it means the Adelaide Festival, The Fringe Festival, the Adelaide Cup – conveniently a new public holiday for the Adelaide Cup, which is also conveniently very close to my birthday. St Patrick’s day and getting close to Easter.
So I like March? what about you?
Today I have a few things to talk about
- my parade (no not that parade… my parade)
- the Where the Wind Blows fat quarter pack giveaway at Vignette in Stitches
- I decided to make a list at the top of my post just in case I forgot something whilst writing, and I have already forgotten
The Parade, is the Le Petite Parade for February and can be viewed here on Sinta’s Blog and here on Sherri’s Blog – mine is on Sherri’s blog this time. Coming up we are making a pattern called Endless Summer by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts. After my little tragedy with the black and whites I think I may go back to pre-coordinated fabrics before improvising again.
Here is Sinta’s version of the pattern, isn’t it purty?
 Endless Summer pattern designed by Pam Buda Quilted and Pieced by Sinta Renee
(Pic copyright Sinta Renee)
To celebrate the printing of Issue 2 of Vignette Leanne Beasley of Leanne’s House, has passed on a Fat Quarter Pack of Melanie Hurlston’s Where the Wind Blows Fabric Collection, which is used in a project in Issue 2, to Perri, the hostess extroadianaire at Vignette in Stitches Blog, so hurry on over before the 10th March (next Thursday) so you can get a chance to win too!
 Vignette Issue 2 by Leanne's House
(Pic copyright Leanne Beasley)
I’m not sure if I will be stitching any more today, I had one of those days at work where you get into the office, sit down and look up and its 5:30pm. I always explain to people that I turn into (more of (?)) a moron straight after work. It usually takes my brain a few hours to recover, especially after debugging, and I have been debugging this particular code for a while now… Recovery, however, seems a bit elusive today, so I may wander over to the television and numb my brain with something entertaining. You don’t want to know what I find entertaining… he he he
But I am looking forward to spending some quality time with some fresh cottons this week, and have no fear, you will be the first to ‘hear’ about it.
Oh yeah…
Sneak Peak of my block progress so far for the March Block Swap Adventure below
 If I Gave you Any More Details it wouldn't be very Sneaky now Would it?
Posted by Q in Generic Ramblings on February 26, 2011, at 1:41 pm
This month, I got around to ordering my pattern for the Le Petite project for February (hosted by the lovely Sherri at A Quilting Life and the also lovely Sinta at Pink Pincushion I think on the 7th of Feb. I ordered it and the Mini Fit to be Geese Ruler (developed by Monica at Open Gate Quilts) from the Fat Quarter Shop. I am in Australia and delivery takes at least a week. Every month we make a teeny quilt. This month it was the Schnibble called Sweet Spot by Carrie of Miss Rosies Quilt Co.
 Sweet Spot Schnibble by Miss Rosies Quilt Co Version 1
Pic by Miss Rosies Quilt Co
I thought I had this brilliant idea to use black and white fabrics with just a hint of red to make it pop, sound’s fabulous right?! wrong
Here are the pieces after I cut them all out, at this stage, I was still optimistic about the outcome.
 Fabric Selected and Cut for Sweet Spot Schnibble
I could still be optimistic, that looks fine doesn’t it? to me there was no hint that this would not work at all. I knew I didn’t have much time (I think I cut on Wednesday night), the quilt top was due for the parade on Monday – and well I had to fit work and some down time in there too!
I started playing with the Mini Fit to be Geese Ruler (I am going to write a separate blog entry/tutorial type thing on this soon, so won’t go into detail here) and got started on the 100 flying geese in this quilt (36 of which are part of the sawtooth star blocks).
 Sweet Spot Progress - First Trimmed Flying Geese Unit
 Sweet Spot Flying Geese Units Trimmed and Untrimmed
Thursday I was tired when I got home and didn’t do anything. Last night I finished the first 36 flying geese and then got half way through the next 64. At this point, still optimistic about the colour scheme.
I made some sawtooth star blocks, which I thought looked great!
 Sore Tooth he he he
Except this one, which I have renamed
 Saw Tooth Star Blocks for Sweet Spot Schnibble
I made some flying geese borders, which on their own also looked fine and I didn’t suspect a thing.
 Sweet Spot Flying Geese Borders
and then I put them all together, to get this anticlimactic effort
 Finished Sweet Spot Quilt Top
… I am a little disappointed with the lack of contrast in the centre stars and how it came together. Am going to add red blanket stitch around the saw tooth stars and appliqué red circles in the squares where the stars meet. Also adding a red border and then probably going to bind in black, with a red backing.
But hey… it’s Saturday afternoon and I got it done on time, and I’m slightly less frightened of flying geese units and slightly more experienced at piecing. How you doing?
Posted by Q in Craftie Craft, Quilting, Softies - sewing on February 3, 2011, at 7:05 am
So, remember the Mon Ami Schnibble I was working on? – I finished the top (well sans borders) it has yet to be quilted, but was what I wanted to do during January because of the Le Petite or Year of Schnibbles Project Hosted by both Sinta on her blog Pink Pincushion and Sherri on her blog A Quilting Life
So on the 1st of the Month, everyone who participated project is paraded on each of their blogs and this month I am proud to be one of the parade!
Here is the post on Sinta’s Blog for the Mon Ami Schnibble Parade 1st Feb 2o11 (I’m in this one – about half way down the post yay!)
Here is the post on Sherri’s Blog – as you can see one pattern can have a life of its own.
As you know I am not the speediest of sewers/quilters, but I did get a start on Miss Perkins, but she is not quite ready for a parade just yet. I tried to attach her legs without a doll needle and was not happy with the results so will be getting that today. Miss Perkins also doesn’t have a mane, tail or eyes just yet. But with the Rosalie Quinlan Fabric Collection by Lecien Fabrics Grandmother’s Flower Garden, she is quite the Melly and Me child isn’t she?
 Partially Completed Mrs Perkins Giraffe from Pattern by Melly and Me
-Note to self – Iron On Interfacing does not work well as a photo background he he he
I also got some stash additions yesterday, want to see?
 Three Yards of Pretty Bird Fabric Designed by Pillow and Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabric
Whoop Whoop! This arrived yesterday from my mum’s latest Fat Quarter Shop purchase ( I snuck some stuff in there!) and will be use to make the wonderful Stella Handbag pattern by Patty Young!
 8 Fat Quarters from Playdate Collection Designed by Patty Young for Michael Miller Fabrics
and speaking of Patty Young and Michael Miller Fabrics, I also added these 8 fat quarters to the stash! – They are not ear marked for anything just yet, but I can’t to have a ‘date’ with them.
And last but definitely not least, my local discount craft store Spotlight has a sale on that started yesterday so I grabbed two of these 25 X 2.5 inch strip rolls which equal one ‘jelly’ roll and are also not yet assigned to a project.
 2 Times 25 Strips of 2.5 Inch Widths from Spotlight Pink and Lime Green
|
Blurbie Thing Hi, I'm Quanita, Q for short and this is my space... Qspace
30-something - IT Geek - totally neurotic - In an wonderful relationship with a cool cable guy - Aunty to Charlotte Rose (and another niece coming in August 2012!) - introverted extrovert - Gen X - Arty Crafty
Welcome and enjoy your stay!
|