The week gone

A small amount of regular sewing time during the week has produced a finished quilt top!  Woohoo!!

There's a square in there, finished size 75" x 75"

Unfortunately this will now be added to the "ready to quilt at a later date" pile, but, I am really happy to have spent the time getting this one done - sometimes you just need some mindless sewing, and I was super happy with the way this pattern enhanced the Eiko fabric bundle.

Saturday was my August stitching with the girls day... other committments meant it was just me and Charlotte this time, but we always have heaps to catch up on :o).  Luckily our combined kids are close enough in age that they play together *mostly* wonderfully, as long as there are ample baking supplies!

I decided to knuckle down and get something achieved on the Tillies Lane BOM.  My stack of hourglass type blocks has grown slowly and erratically, and I knew that I just had to move onto another stage, if the project was ever going to achieve any momentum.  So Block One of the central panel was created.  This is my latest scrap project, so everything except for the background cream on creams, is leftovers from other projects.

My next focus project is getting the Bluebirds and Berries quilt quilted.  First things first, deciding on the backing and getting it basted.  I knew I had extra backing fabric set aside for my huge applique quilt (all ready for the day it is finally finished), so to work out what the excess was (and whether there was enough for the B&B quilt) - I had to lay it all out.  It's been a while since this one has been out of the bag... enjoy the eye candy!

Approx 93" x 93" of pieced and appliqued loveliness

A closeup of the border fabric - this guided the choice of all the other fabrics in the quilt

A section of the applique with hand blanket stitch

 I started this quilt over 5yrs ago when we were in the initial stages of buying our house.  It was so stressful, and my husband suggested going to Paihia to "destress" at my then LQS (which has since unfortunately closed down) while he took the kids for very big ice-creams.  I took along the magazine that had the pattern for this quilt, and bought all the bits and pieces I needed.  After completing the construction of the quilt per the pattern, I worked out it was a touch small to fit on the bed comfortably, so designed and added the corner sections, to make the whole thing bigger.  Both the decision to make it bigger, as well as deciding to hand blanket stitch around the applique, turned this project into a mammoth task.  I still have quite a bit of the blanket stitch to do, and one day I will get serious again, and get this finished.

So that's me all caught up for the week, what have you been up to?

Last day of the holidays roundup

A little bit of binding...

Both in grey...

and a little bit of the stripe.

A little bit of backing (well, really a whole heap of backing) from Sew Fresh Fabrics.

Perfect

 A little bit of piecing...

The last block for this weeks Modern Sampler blocks

 A little bit of quilting...

Can you see it?

What about the back?

 I do know that my great plans of doing the Baptist Fan pattern on my large Swoon quilt have been shot to the ground.  A] I'm just not that good at it and B] I'm just not that good at it I can't imagine going through this procedure for an 80 x 80" quilt.  Thinking cap back firmly in place.

The other open areas of Lola's Medallion are slowly being filled up too.  With a bit of stippling around the sketch...

I've never felt comfortable stippling, but I think I've finally got the hang of it!

 And a bit of a wiggle over the sketch...

I've learned that using the 100wt polyester thread means that if you're quilting over anything but white, it just blends right in.  Good for when you want the texture but not necessarily the thread to be the focal point.  I'm looking forward to throwing this in the washing machine and seeing all those yummy textures crinkle up.  I have fully quilted three sides of the medallion - just the outer two borders to do on the fourth side.  Running out of bobbin thread was not on the agenda!

In the stash department, I added these specials to my Sew Fresh Fabrics package - some Flea Market Fancy flower and dots - these are great to just throw into things to freshen them up, and some nice muted bike path dots.

and some new fat quarters from Spotlight...

Hand quilting is progressing somewhat slowly.  I have been using my flash mechanical chalk pencil to mark these quilting lines.  While it's tempting to measure out entire rows - I find the chalk gets smudged and disappears too quickly after a few hoop moves.  But I have finished this little corner...

And have plenty more to keep me busy!

I'm quilting these lines 2" apart - I can always fill in later if I decide I want it closer.

The Need for something Bright & Cherry

You know when you have days that look like this?  The view from my bedroom.  Grey and boring.

That's the view of the orchard and vege patch, chicken coup and guinea pig cage.  The farmland behind belongs to the neighbours.

Makes me feel like raiding my fabric stash and pulling out something bright and cherry, and whipping up something fun.  Just like this!

This design is from the Buggy Barn Blooms book, which has a variety of 20" floral applique blocks.  There are two quilts displayed in the book, both very traditional - but no reason why I can't add a bit of fun with a more whimsical fabric selection.

Just one more flower to blanket stitch around, and this block is complete.  I haven't fully decided what I am going to do with this lone block.  While searching the stash I found my last piece of Valorie Well's wren fabric, I really like the way it makes sense of the colour palette.  But there's only a narrow width left... hmm, thinking cap required.

Maybe an asymmetrical quilt layout?  We'll have to see what happens.

Even though it is a large scale print - there are so many interesting little details in the pattern.  Note to self, see more, buy more.

Arisen from the dead is my huge hand blanket stitch project.  I haven't done any since well before Xmas.  It did go along to retreat with me, and I did actually do some of it.  Yesterday Monika and I had a fun play day at Charlotte's - fun for the kids, and the big kids made a mess with fabric paint.  Except me of course - I stayed on track and did some more blanket stitch.  As I approach the four year mark with this quilt, I'd really like to get it finished, or at least the top finished, this year.

Hand quilting has been progressing slowly.  I'm onto Block Three (of nine).  I've been having some blah moments with this one, and to be honest, if I could think of a great way to machine quilt it - I would have ripped my hand stitches, and started over.  But Charlotte and Monika talked me down from the ledge, and hand quilting continues.   We agreed that it probably needs more quilting in some areas than originally planned, and have come up with some options, then I had a brainwave last night, and can't wait to buy some darker thread to start the next phase.  Well, once the first phase is finished!