January Month End

Time for a quick update on January's goals and progress....

The journal layout...

1 My main focus goal for this month was to finish This Little Piggy.  Finish quilting.  Bind... label and blog.  Yay... big tick for this one!

2 Second goal was to finish piecing Bursting Star.  Also done!

3 was to baste Dylan's Hawthorn Quilt.  Done!  Although this horrendous hot weather was not helpful!

4 My Butterfly Patch BOM goal involved finishing the last block and assembling the remaining pieces.  I added to the goal and finished the border.  Bonus!

5 Ultimate beginner quilt... Finish row 1... after much angst this finally was completed.

Then I had some additional tasks...
A  Complete first block on the Happy Cloud Sampler scrap edition

 B Finish section one of Line Dried

I ahmed and ahhed about whether to start the Summer Sampler 2017 and finally pulled the following from stash.  I'm pretty much following the colours suggested although with a bit of leeway depending on how the stash fabrics fitted together.

And the first block!  This is actually block 9 of the sampler but is the central block.  I wanted to see how the fabrics were going to work together in this focal spot.

I also had a couple of projects that didn't have goals, but I wanted to remain on my agenda.

Sweet Escape... I managed to complete enough blocks for the first quarter and have just started sewing these together.

And finally my scrap Transire Quilt... little 2" cut scrappy plus block/nine patches.  I have actually made a few more since this photo was taken.  I've worked out the best way of fitting this project in is to ensure I lay out at least one block at the start of the sewing session and use it as a leader ender as necessary.  I don't have a huge collection of squares cut out, so I am just adding a bit of cutting time each session to cut a block or two.  The colours are just meandering as my scrap collection changes...

And that's January's progress.  As I work casually throughout this month, I usually start heaps more projects than i can carry on with through out the year.  We will have to see how successful this year turns out.  I have way too many projects needing quilting which is often a long slow process for me.  My overall goal for the year is to get a mix of old and new projects finished... both just tops finished and completely finished... although i am not going to put a quantity on that.  January's success has been a confidence builder that i might just get there!

The Ultimate Beginner Quilt (a sampler),,, Row 1. Done!

Somewhat ironically the road to successful straight line quilting doesn't seem to be very straight.

I will start this story by stating that i have previously tried straight line quilting with my Brother Innovis and it was TERRIBLE!  Whether it is the quilting foot or the machine or me or a combination of all three, it is something that just does not work for me...

I decided to try and advance my lackluster skill set by applying different straight line designs to the individual blocks of the Ultimate Beginner Quilt and use my Janome 1600P semi industrial straightstitch sewing machine with a walking foot.  Match made in heaven, I would have thought... but apparently not so much.

The initial block one quilting was unpicked immediately and I decided to stick with a modern minimalist approach (less is less/bare minimum to hold it together)... in the hopes that faults wouldn't stick out too much.  It was OK but nothing to rave about.  Horizontal lines either side of the seam lines.

And block two was more of the same... echo quilting either side of the nine patch seams.

The QAYG technique I decided to try involves sewing the blocks together wrong sides facing... and only sewing the backing fabric.  Then, after pressing the seam flat, applying a straight cut strip turned into a sashing with the raw edges turned under, and then top stitched over the seamline and seam allowance. (On the whole this technique seems to be working but i wont be 100% sold until i attempt to join two rows together).  Let me know if you want photos of this step and I'll do a more comprehensive post about that with the next row of blocks.

The first experiment I used a 1/2" sashing and of course it only just covered the 1/4" seam allowances, but little whiskery threads poked out.  So I changed the sashing to a 3/4" sashing and that solved that problem... but it means that it covered over the edge of the block, which would become a problem once the blocks have design elements like points!

So I unpicked version two sashing ... and the quilting... and applied 2 1/2" framing strips and requilted the blocks...

Because I stitched through the framing strips... it just kind of looked weird... slightly pulled to one side and not well matched... and I actually spent the past few weeks just considering what the next step should be.  Was it time to accept defeat or was there other options I just hadn't considered yet?

It just didn't look like how I imagined.  The quilting lines top and bottom should align... but they didn't 😕😤

As an aside... I still didn't get 100% drag free stitching, which became obvious on the 9 patch where the stitching intersected.  On such a small piece it didn't have enough time to pucker but there was definite shifting and distortion.  I also applied starch to both the block and backing fabric and this did help although was not a complete success.  So the Janome 1600P did not solve those problems.

So I took my problem to my local quilt shop and had a heart to heart with Kerryn the owner.  She knew exactly where i was coming from... and the reasons why I was attempting what I was... and we discussed options.  And whether it was worthwhile continuing... the hard questions!

She suggested quilting something completely different on block three and use a different sashing which was a bit more camouflaging... then reassessing... with possibly rearranging the blocks to provide more contrast between them.  On top of this, I decided to quilt close to the edge of the block to baste the edges down, although this would be hidden on the front of the quilt under the sashing strip, the stitching would still show on the back (which was why I didn't do it in the first place).

So I did some diagonal quilting... with my baby Bernette machine and it turned out amazing... well, for me.... then I added a sketch black and white sashing strip in a 1 1/2" finished width... which offered the perfect amount of camouflage and also added that certain something that had been missing.

And it all seemed to come together and looks a lot more balanced.

I added more horizontal and vertical stitching to the framing on the first block, and more vertical stitching across the second... which has helped make them more individual.  Although this may be tweaked a little more before I finish... I decided I didn't need to change my block layout.

I decided not to completely cross hatch this block and I actually love that little triangle thats unquilted.

This quilt won't turn out perfect, it is definitely a work in progress and an evolution... but I can see hope!  That is the main thing.

My goal for January was to get the first row completed, so I very happily FINALLY ticked this off.

This Little Piggy... a finished quilt!

This month I started with several progress goals, one finish goal and a couple of projects to keep in mind throughout the month.

I am pleased to report I have finished my This Little Piggy quilt!

Having this as a priority goal meant that it was right there reminding me to get it done.  I made a separate list of tasks that needed to be done and slowly crossed them off as the project neared completion.  Writing up a blog post is the last item to tick off the To Do List.  This was my "One Monthly Goal" for January... finishing linky  HERE

Adding a label was one of my specific tasks... so easy to forget to do.  This time I hand wrote the year on the preprinted label.

It is not heavily quilted but I did do a spiral filler through the sashing which will help to reinforce those block seams.

Two backing fabrics keeps it a bit interesting without having to do any pattern matching...

And the magic flange binding is the perfect finish and is the best version I have done so far!  The black and white flange helps to control the pink overload.

 I am so happy to have this one finished... and just goes to show that i can achieve big things when I put my mind to it.

New quilt? Yes, thank you!

The start of a new year isn't complete without starting at least half a dozen different projects.  The fact that this is our schools long summer holidays during which I work casual hours means that often my quilting eyes are bigger than my output capacity!

However, I always manage to convince myself that just one block... or section... per month is perfectly manageable and get stuck into it.

This year I decided to finally use a collection of fabrics I have held dear for years... possibly more than 6... it's been ages.  Anyway, I started with a half yard of a gorgeous bird print from Alexander Henry and a yard cut of a coordinating floral print.

Tucked away in my storage bins was an accumulation of blending fat quarters and odd cuts and metres of background fabric...

... which I rounded out with some newer stash items.  Sometimes your personal taste doesn't change... I love this just as much as I did all those years ago... but could never find a project that i felt would do it justice.

Enter Line Dried... a quilt by Corey Yoder from Coriander Quilts.

Ohio Stars are one of my favourite blocks... especially the standard non variation version...

Big blocks and little blocks...

Precision piecing...

Although there are the odd point's chopped off that im not particularly worried about.

And the first section put together for January.

On a separate note I have taken advantage of the stellar weather and washed a number of quilts.  Love this modern log cabin variation flapping away in the sunshine.

The Ultimate Beginner Quilt (a sampler)

One of the new projects I have started this year is the Ultimate Beginner Quilt by Fat Quarter Shop.

The instructions give a key and matching Kona solids  (although you can totally choose your own scheme) and I chose to raid the stash and find corresponding prints to match the colours suggested.

If you follow me on instagram you might remember me agonising over colour palettes a few months ago... I finally settled on the following 12 fabrics and chose the multicolored print as the backing fabric... after making the initial selection... total fluke that it matches so well.

So why a beginner quilt as obviously it has been quite a while since I was a beginner? 

Well, a couple of things.  Sometimes it's good to make something simple and refresh on those basic skills.  I wanted to use this opportunity to work with colours that I maybe wouldn't put together... even though I like all the fabrics individually, and I'm quite intrigued by the fact that the blocks have no background... they're all colour baby!

This is block one and yip... it's very simple.  The other thing I want to experiment with is a quilt as you go technique using finishing strips over the seamlines... more to be revealed...

I have always had enormous problems with plain old straight line quilting, and I want to find a technique that allows me to practice this without committing an entire quilt to possible doom.  I have quilted this block by echoing either side of the seamlines.  My husband has a colleague who is expecting a baby due soon so a simple and colourful "low commitment"quilt will be perfect. 

Happy New Year!

December seemed to disappear rather quickly... school prizegivings... appointments and end of year activities seemed to take over and all of a sudden its Xmas and then New Years.

My December goals were not fully met... but progressed well so happy all round.

I wanted to get the last applique block completed for the Homespun Magazine BOM My Butterfly Patch and this was fused pending blanket stitch.  This whole project fell off the radar (as they do) so I now hope to get this top sorted out over the next few months.  It is so close!

I have managed to get Nadias Bursting Star quilt top fully sewn together and added plain side borders today.  Still needs to be pressed but looking good.

The start of the year has meant new planning tools!  I downloaded some new calendars and WIP recording pages...

And sent hubby off to buy me a plain unlined journal to keep everything in.  He bought this one with a beautiful floral cover which I LOVE!

Snipping and sticking... and its all starting to come together.  This year I am using two pages per month... a calendar page and a to do list which includes a monthly focus.

It didn't take long to fill up several pages of WIPs which I split into projects being constructed and those awaiting quilting.

I also started a new project list which has 4 projects already. 

The first is a scrap sampler quilt  by Happy Cloud Creations which I'm going to tackle over the next 9 months... this is block 1, and I need to make a couple of nine patch blocks each month for an Irish Chain effect.  These are 16" blocks so will finish with a 72" quilt including sashing.

My second project is a scrap Plus quilt (inspired by the free pattern 'Transire')... using 2" cut squares.  I know this is a successful size of scrap and fits well as a leader ender project.

And these scrap projects have been allocated their own small tub to keep them contained... hopefully!

I am make super progress on quilting This Little Piggy... and have great hopes of getting this quilt finished by the end of the month... enough so that I am going to join One Monthly Goal for the first time...  January link here

I have also resurrected the Sweet Escape log cabins and started filling the design wall.

Ok... that's enough for now.