Sheds, babies and projects

This summer in Northland has been one of the wettest in known history.  Not the greatest conditions to try and finish one's quilt shed!!  We finally got the roof on... after hubby had a bout of covid, and the rain and wind decided to behave itself.

Doors, windows and roof...

Once the outside was done, it was time to look at the interior.  First a bit of a clean up of construction rubbish...

Much cleaner!  We decided on mdf panels for half the flooring, and foam tiles for the other half.  This worked out to the cheapest way to cover the floor space in the most useful manner - a work area and a basting area.  

Then it was time to outfit it with all the important stuff I had accumulated in Sewing Shed number one, but had got too out of hand to be able to find anything, so the storage solutions were the most important element.

I ended up placing the sewing table on the right hand short end to avoid afternoon sun in the eyes... and plenty of storage for smaller items in this zone... quilting rulers, patterns, small scraps etc.

The back corner has a new cutting table and my old shelves were installed above, the ironing board is just to the left.  

A batting covered design wall covers the entire back wall...

The left hand short end is filled with cupboards and open shelving.  I have fabric cupboards, and WIP cubbies... a bit of a book shelf... still a work in progress but the piles on the floor are getting smaller.

Swinging back around to the front, we have the front door and that is my sewing shed!!

One of the projects/sew alongs that I have been patiently waiting to start was Corey Yoder's new Sunny Patches mystery sew along which uses a jelly roll and assorted yardage.

I have this Flowers for Freya jelly roll with a few of the matching fabric in fat quarters...

Then I pulled a whole heap of fabric from my new stash containers...

And this was the first mystery block.

It wasn't long before the design wall had projects on it... this is going to be a new The Country Yard project... using a range called Sun Washed.

And I pulled out last years rainbow challenge and have been plugging away filling up the empty spaces.  I just have two more star blocks to finish, and to the right you can see the start of the Mystery quilt with the jelly roll creating setting blocks.

Little Amarni is not quite so little any more.  Being about 4 months now, she is quite a character.  Here she had just worked out how to get her thumb in her mouth.

She came to visit me at work...

Just generally looking cute :o)

Stuff going on in the shed

 The March #apqresolution project was to finish piecing the Brightly quilt.

When I last worked on this, I had several sections pieced into chunks, and had started laying out some pieces to fill the gaps - but then someone needed the pull out bed and I labelled all the bits and tucked it away.

Turns out I needed to sew eight more blocks which didn't take all that long to piece.

This was where the fabric selection started getting tricky - I had run out of many of the scraps used previously and the ones I did have left were already used in critical places - time to bring in some new fabrics while still trying to make them look like they fit.  Good luck with that one 🙄

Progress...

Then the last few seams to put it all together.

Scraps in all their sparkly scrappiness 🤩

As always, getting to this stage of the process leads to thinking about quilting strategies.  There are some nice negative spaces which would lead themselves to some interesting FMQ opportunities but I'm undecided whether I want to invest that much effort.

There is always some time to choose new fabrics for a block.  The rainbow block colour for this month is pink - even though technically it's not in the rainbow 🌈.  I'm always surprised by the volume of pink fabric I have - I absolutely hate pink but as the mother of a previously pink loving daughter it had become a necessary evil.

I also purchased some fabrics from Rainbow Stash - look, they have prints too!  A bundle and some randoms, I am slowly building up my love volume stash but who can go past a luscious floral.  I have seen the Cluck Cluck Sew Diagonal Seam tape before, and took the opportunity to buy some from a NZ business.  It has made all the difference in keeping my seam allowance constant with my new sewing machine so I heartily recommend it.

On Instagram I am keeping up with the creative prompts with Amy's creative side... The prompt for your first quilt meaning a little photo session with this cot quilt.

Not bad for a first time of everything 😘.

Finishing my March challenge means I can now jump into all the other March projects.

Taking the scenic route

 Sometimes life throws curve balls.  What I thought I would be focussing on at the start of this year was not necessarily what I ended up sewing.  Although isn't that every year 🙄.

You'll be pleased to know I finished my #apqresolution  for January - binding my Patchwork City quilt.

I did the big stitch binding technique and although I've yet to master the little cross on the corners I am happy with the overall effect.  Full disclosure, I did finish this on the last day of January 😁

The project for February is WIP number 7 which is creating the backing and basting The Amsterdam Star quilt.

Part of the reason it took all month to finish my goal was getting sidetracked with a baby quilt.  My boss had his first grandbaby and i decided it was a great opportunity to sew a gender neutral quilt.

And so we have the Tiger Plant quilt.

It's a generous size.

And gave me lots of opportunities to do some FMQ on my new machine - there were some hairy moments but nothing some more practice won't fix.

Some fun animals on the back and a scrappy binding (also big stitch) but mostly in this awesome green.  Serendipitously the baby was named Ivy 😱, and yes... A tiny girl 😊

I have also been involved in a project for my local quilt shop and here is a little sneak peek but more about this next week.

So February goals means making another block in my Monika/Suz rainbow challenge 🌈.

Another row in my Sidewalk Chalk quilt which is my #cutitupwithmolliesparkles project.

And somehow fit in another block in the project below of which I can't remember it's name 🤔🤔🤔.

So not much going on here... What's happening at your place?

2022 a new start

At this time last year who would have thought 2021 would be the year that it was?  I changed jobs after some 17 years working part time for the same person to a full time position with less stress.  This has also meant less sewing time, and  sometimes even when I have the time - I just don't want to sew!  Horrors I know... but I have always said I sew depending on my mental state and sometimes the brain just switches off and sometimes my eyes just don't want to focus that much.

I haven't looked at my achievements from last year yet - I finished work on Xmas eve and between the statutory holidays and taking 3 days annual leave I started back at work on Tuesday.  Hospitality industries in the Bay of Islands are historically super busy from Boxing Day on and although this year is still somewhat flat compared to a normal year, visitor numbers  are healthy for the covid economy - meaning work has been busy.

So what have I been up to?

I have been plugging away at my The Scrappy Star Quilt Adventure blocks...

And routinely play around with placements on my design wall.

I pulled a random selection of solids and some neutral prints and started the Shape Up Quilt - a free pattern from AGF.  None of my fabric quantities match the requirements so this is going to be interesting.

The first block is 25" wide... so big and bold.  I think I will tackle one block per month going forward.

I joined the All People Quilt #apqresolution challenge - choose 12 current wips to work on this year (only 12 not 200??) and then follow the monthly number draws to see what to work on each month.

 

January was 12 so out came Patchwork City and a quick binding fabric selection... black and white stripes just about always suits a bright multicolored quilt.

I decided to try big stitch binding as it is supposed  to be quicker.  Yes it is!  I am about half way through.

For Xmas this year I split a rainbow fq bundle with my best friend with instructions to work with a different colour each month.

This is my purple January  block.  I have a plan ☺ and there is more purple.

This is Monika's block borrowed from her instagram.  Its going to look so cool 😍

In other super exciting news I bought  a new sewing machine!

A Janone M7 Continental.  I am in love.  Thats a 13.5" throat space.

I also sewed a clothes!  These are the Jessa flared pant by Tilly and the Buttons.  Hems and button still to do in these photos.

Although I did get the rest finished too... and they are all ready to wear.  My 16+ year old Bernette still does a good button hole even if I do need the instruction book every single time 😅.

I put together a new bundle of fabric.

I pulled out some random low volume scraps... made a big mess...

And sewed some wonky log cabins.  These may end up going in a different direction.

And last but not least I have decided to join Molli Sparkles in the Cut it up  challenge - don't save your  precious fabric for the perfect quilt, cut it up and use it.  So I have chosen a bundle that I purchased some time ago and am thinking about what to do with it.  Watch this space 😅.