Some days are rocks...

Some days are diamonds.

And some days are just somewhere inbetween.

Spot the problem.

Not sure exactly how this one happened, or how I didn't notice it yesterday??

It may well be that it will become lost in the masses of rings by the time this quilt is finished.  But can I risk it?  Looks like Mr Seam Ripper will be called into action for this one.

And no, this doesn't appear to be a melon shape... moral of the story, don't stop in the middle of a curve, even if your husband asks a question that needs an immediate answer.  I think this is the rock part of the day :0)

 The FMQ foot is back in place and I'm just over halfway quilting the third quarter.

Moving onto the diamond part... a quick squiz at what's on the design wall at the moment.  I would urge anyone contemplating constructing a design wall to go for as big as you can fit.  It will never be big enough but we all know bigger is definitely better in many areas of life (like chocolate bits, bench space and stash cupboards).  And we also all know that the bigger it is... the more you will try and fit on it.

At the moment - with rain pouring down relentlessly outside, these just make me happy!

I am a firm believer that quilting represents my creative response to what is going on in my life, or the world.  Whether it's winter, or work or kids... something has been triggering a brighter, uplifting palette of colours.

Three Feathered Star blocks down... only 6 more to go!  I still love these, and hopefully no-one gets bored with the occasional progress.  These will be set in a sashed nine patch, with contrasting cornerstones.  Can you see it?  And no, I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt it yet!

And  as promised, I did unearth my Mystery Stitchery blocks... which were temporarily lost.  It seems I'm up to block 6 out of nine.  There are some quite simple stitcheries to be done, with a couple of more complex ones... so there is no reason at all why I can't get some real progress done on this one over the winter months.  As the Mystery is well and truly over, I have the final layout and fabrics - all lovely French General - I have all the incentive I need to get this one at least up to the piecing stage.

The Slippery Slope

Having a pretend new project was only one step away from having a real new project.  Like anyone with an addiction... it's impossible to stop at one... or two... this may well be the end of the Project Diet.  But on a positive note... it is June... that's a whole 5 months longer than I thought I'd last!

Before I embarked on the new project, I decided to treat myself to another Feathered Star block - I just felt like having a break from all the FMQing - and a bit of careful and precise piecing was just the ticket.  My LQS The Country Yard has a monthly stitching Saturday - so along with a few of my monthly Saturday quilting buddies, we enjoyed a lovely day out, stitching, talking,and catching up with Kerryn newly returned from Quilt Market.  I took my cut out squares and triangles, and started piecing up some of the units.

Even after a few more days of sewing, I've still got quite a bit more to do.  I tend to do one seam at a time... and enjoy each little perfect interlocking point.

No trip to a fabric shop is complete without at least a teeny bit of retail therapy.  I took along some of my "one day this is going to be a quilt" bundles and matched up some perfect background fabrics.

It was only a short hop skip and jump to cutting up some of those fabrics and FINALLY using my new Simple Curves curved ruler and mock Double Wedding Ring pattern.  I'm amazed that I hung out this long!

I could be in LOVE!   First there was one...

And then there was TWO!

The background is a beautiful Moda Weave... a printed woven pattern with a bit of a sheen... kinda almost.  This silvery beige is the perfect compliment to the assorted prints I've accumulated - it's got a vintage vibe that I'm really happy with.

In my mind I see applique in the background square which is formed by four blocks meeting up.  I just haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to do it.  I also need to work out what fabric I'm going to use for the alternate blocks triangle corners (instead of the black/white sketch).  Perhaps a solid?  Or a dark print?  Any ideas???

This weekend I want to spend a bit of time sorting through my BOM stitcheries... funnily enough they don't seem to get done when you have them packed away.  And the Tokyo Subway quilting is still waiting for the second half to get started.  Plenty to keep me busy!

What are you up to this weekend?

Skipping Friday and Saturday...

... and then we have Sunday.

I finished up my Feathered Star block... isn't she lovely?

A little bit closer reveals a cream on cream print as the background.  For a really traditional block - it has a very contemporary feel, achieved simply from the eclectic fabric selection.

I've spent a couple of days revisiting the Berries and Bluebirds quilt top that I had started enlarging by adding extra borders.  Next time I promise to just leave things be!

Sometime in the dim distant past, I attached applique panels to the sides... and lost the mojo for the top and bottom borders.  This weekend the mojo got a bit of a shake up... and I'm away again.

Little Missy Moo has been persevering with her own blocks... and making progress on the design wall.  And check out her little machine!  There is only three more of these cross blocks to do... and then I need to work out what to do next.  The pressures of being a mother/daughter sewing duo!

And next we have Thursday...

As you can see... I'm very good with my days :0)

A bit low-key today... just playing with little fabric bits.

All cut and laid out

OK I'm happy with the placements now... ready for piecing tomorrow

It's amazing how the seam allowance shrinks the finished product down so much isn't it?  The finished block is 18" - so not exactly tiny, but the unpieced version is at least 4" bigger.  This block and these fabrics just make me feel happy.

A Confession of Sorts

For someone who makes beautiful quilts, it's a bit embarrassing to admit that for the last few weeks my bed has looked like this:

So first thing today I stripped off the upside down quilt (which actually is a beautiful pieced Buggy Barn cat quilt), reorganised things, and now it's much better!

Today is the last day of school holidays for my kids, so the rest of the morning was spent tidying, vacuuming and general organising getting ready for my return to work.

I did however to squeeze in a little bit of sewing time.  Block One of the sort of new project was completed!  Isn't it lovely?

The colours were pulled from this feature fabric (although I had long since integrated these fat quarters into the stash pile).

Included a luscious bundle of co-ordinating fabrics that were a lucky win early last year.

And added a few extra bits and bobs from the stash

Using this lovely wall hanging as inspiration... I stopped trying to work out how to include the feature fabric within the blocks (sometimes it is hard to use these super large scale prints effectively) - instead using it as the border only.

Choosing this quilt block creates the perfect vehicle to highlight all those lovely fabrics.

101 Fabulous rotary cut quilts by Judy Hopkins and Nancy Martin - Amsterdam Star

I altered the block size, block centre and scattered the fabrics throughout the triangles (instead of keeping the triangles for each block the same).  Did I mention that I really like how this is turning out?

Just in case you missed it

Design Wall Monday

Just a bit of a change on the design wall today.  I've had the Modern Sampler up for what seems like months now... it was so refreshing to take it down and lay it out on the floor instead.

This photo shows how I tend to put quilts together, first in units of four, then 16 patch units.  Only a few more seams then it will be done.

It didn't take long for other things to crop up though.

 Nadia has claimed a small section for her own blocks.  After choosing her first fat quarter pack (what a mother/daughter moment) she announced that she wanted to make a quilt!  These wonky cross blocks are perfect because she can practice her straight seams, but as it needs to be squared up anyway, it doesn't really matter too much what her seam allowance is.

I popped up the four My Tweets blocks that need blanket stitch - just in case I'm inclined to forget about them.

I also redid that first Seeing Squares block, including a few more neutrals, and whipped it together.  This is actually one of the other layouts...

I've started piecing the second block but still have a few spaces to fill.

 

Because I've been so good... I thought I deserved a crack at something new.  Just one block.  Until I finish something else momentous...like quilting or binding or something, and then I will be "allowed" to do another block.

Well, this feature fabric has sat in my stash for at least a couple of years - so not really new.  And I had it on my list of WIP fabric piles needing a project.  I've come up with all sorts of projects ideas over the last couple of years - but nothing that has said "do it!"  After trawling through the book 100 Fabulous rotary cut quilts...  I finally found that one that I just had to start.

This is only a small portion of the first block... but I am loving it!

The original quilt had blocks which finished at 16 7/8th and had all sorts of weird measurements.  After resizing it to 18" and using my favourite easy triangle rulers...

... it was much more straightforward.  There was only one piece that measured odd at 2 5/8ths.  Easy peasy.