Happy New Year

 Well 2022 was definitely not the year of the Blog that's for sure.  I'm thinking that I want to be more bloggish next year - and the purchase of a new computer should help that along.  I must admit that I miss the freedom of typing on a keyboard instead of pecking at a screen... I enjoy the flow of typing thoughts, having learnt touch typing in the 1980's has never lead me astray although I also type a whole heap more rubbish... more like how my brain works so there's that :0).  Anyway I digress... what's been happening in the sewing shed/life.

The most exciting occurrence has been the birth of my first grandchild on Xmas Day!!  We welcome Amarni-Jade to our family.  She was a healthy 8pd 4oz at birth and has grown during her first week of life.  Woohoo... another baby to create quilts for.

After much discussion and analysis of various quilt patterns and fabrics with my daughter Nadia, we both agreed on the Cabin Nights pattern using a lovely animal print at the feature fabric.  Blues, greens, greys and browns and a bit of pink also.

I though a nine-block layout would be a great size - but of course it is enormous so I have spent the last few days finishing up the four block version which will be a better size for bassinettes and car seats etc... and one day would make an excellent doll quilt.  I just have the binding to hand stitch on and unlike my own children, I will actually finish this before using the quilt.  Dylan's baby quilt never had the binding sewn down until after Nadia was on the scene so this Nana has learnt something over the past 19 odd years - basically that binding is my arch nemesis.

Anyway... isn't she a cute wee dot?

The other major news is the addition of a new sewing shed!  After much looking and comparing sizes and prices we bought a flat pack shed 6 x 4m and hubby is well on the way to getting it erected.  It does have the doors installed now... and he is working on the floor, before the roof is started.  To say that I cannot wait until the shed is completed is somewhat of an understatement - I CANNOT WAIT!!  The whole back wall is going to be covered in cotton batting for a design wall (come on Spotlight, give me a batting sale of at least 40% off) and cupboards are going to cover the left-hand short wall.  My sewing desk will sit under the window at the front, and a mobile (yet to be built) cutting/worktable will probably act like an island bench in the middle and be moved to the side for activities such as basting and floor layouts.

Having a new space will allow my old space to be utilised as family storage - excess linens, clothes and all the other things that families seem to collect can be stored safely and neatly.  This is something that I also can't wait to happen.

I managed to get most of my sample BOM project completed - just a border treatment to design and it will be ready for quilting.  I am really happy with the way it turned out with a creative sashing giving a lot of movement to the basic nine patch block layout.  I know that I need to repeat the little triangles and plus blocks in the outer sashing but this resulted in the mojo indicator moving to zero so no progress has been made on this in recent history.

Another short and simple but unfinished project was this jelly roll quilt...

Some blocks done but I found this was one of those things I needed to layout and distribute the colours evenly as I was making blocks - and once my previous design wall became unusable and Dylan took over my design floor when he moved into the sleepout, well... this project also hit the wall.

Did I mention how much I can't wait until my new shed is finished?

I feel like this was the year of not getting much done, I completed a baby quilt right at the beginning of the year, the Tiger Plant quilt which is a free pattern.  While the recipient was extra happy to receive it - and I receive semi regular photos of the little person it was for on it - I can't help but notice that the quilt is always upside down.  Oh well, at least it is being used.

Using the #apqresolution challenge I worked on many of my WIPs throughout the first half of the year, and although there weren't many finished I did manage to get something achieved.  My Patchwork City quilt (started as part of a sew along in 2018) finally had it's binding sewn down.

I finished piecing my scrappy Brightly Quilt.  I absolutely love this pattern and all those scraps.  Note, it is not written as a scrappy pattern but easy enough to adjust.

A second baby quilt was finished for my husbands 5th grandchild in Australia.  I don't seem to have a photo of the finished item.

Hmmm... and that seems to be it in the finishing department.  I have lots of plans for 2023 - just need to work out how to get more time to sew.

All the best for New Years wherever you might be... and we'll catch you in 2023. 

 

More ideas and WIPs than you can shake a stick at

Of course it's not fair to be working full time and not have the time to sew and create as much as I want to.  Although this has not stopped me from starting new projects.  Sometimes I am just too easily lead astray 😂.  

First up is a new monthly project I am involved with at my local quilt shop - The Country Yard.  It is a small skillbuilding project that focuses on new piecing techniques (triangle rulers) and putting together fabric combinations.

There is a secondary block pattern going on with the feature fabric forming the large central unit.

On the other design wall I have the It's A Lot Quilt in the second colour way.  This one has been a bit slower coming together but focusing on one block at a time means it does grow rather quickly once you start sewing.

My #apqresolution for August is to piece together my The Scrappy Star Quilt Adventure blocks.  I laid them all out then needed to convert the design floor back into guest bedroom facilities... Watch this space 😂.

I joined the Astra Quilt sew-along and made one block for the first week, part of block 2 for the second week then run out of background.  Some more arrived in the mail this week so there is hope this project will continue - the blocks are large and have simple piecing so there is no reason for it not to plod along in the background of life (well, maybe the hundred other projects might be a hindrance).

My #apqresolution for July was to quilt my Ray Quilt from a sew-along a couple of years ago.  Was this during lockdown 2020?  Anyway I finished the simple straight quilting and got the binding machined on, just need the time to stitch by hand.  One day I might add some more quilting but it is perfectly serviceable as it is.  Love the colours in this 💙🧡.

My monthly rainbow challenge is coming together nicely.  I still need to do the August block.  I decided to use this layout and use a multicolour print in the center.

I just have one block left to piece in the original colour way of the It's A Lot Quilt then I can start on the applique elements.

This will really add another layer of scrappiness as well as depth of design and explains some of the areas that look a bit pale and unexciting.  Just wait for the exciting to arrive 🥰.

I started and finished a new cot quilt for a new grandbaby due in Australia later in the year.  These purple blue and soft teal fabrics are so delicate and pretty.

I did finish the last applique block in my variation of Flea Market Flowers.

And got the center of the quilt pieced.  I am going to use the aqua butterfly fabric as a border but need to finalize inner border decisions first - like which fabrics have enough left of them to make it work??

 And that's caught me up to date with the last few months of crafting.

In a nutshell

 Seems the last post was way back in March!  My April APQ challenge was to sew the backing and baste my Orbiter quilt.

My batting was about 1/2" short on one end so I added an extra strip with a few more pins.

My rainbow challenge has been plugging along with April being the red month.

And progress to date.  I haven't done the May block yet so next month I will need to double up.

I changed my quilting plans for my Amsterdam star quilt, and started some stipple in the background and some freeform feathers and spirals in the border.

I think this highlights the quilt better.

Mays APQ challenge was to add two more applique blocks to my Flea Market Flowers project.

Yes!

Then I got two more blocks fused and finished blanket stitch on all but one of the blocks.

So happy to just have one block left to create.

This is the pattern that I loosely based the quilt on.

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.

February catch up

 I attacked all the smaller projects at the start of February - leaving a good chunk of the month free to work on the backing and basting of Amsterdam Stars.  Piecing large backings is not my favourite thing, but is a necessary evil.  So I pulled out my fabric pile and laid it all out.  Turned out some of the pieces were not quite big enough so I added the brown floral print.  #apqresolution for February achieved ✅

I even had a few days spare so I started the walking foot quilting edge stitching through the sashing and out into the outer borders.

I didn't have any problems with the top moving (like I normally do) so no puckers on the intersections!  I think my new Janome M7 Continental might just be magic.  Maybe I should call it Mike 🤔🤪😂.

I managed a tiny bit of hand quilting - rather crooked and not the tidiest but I'll wait and see how it looks once there is a bit more going on to disguise it. 

I managed another star in the #suzandmonikarainbowchallenge - 

I'm planning a plain alternate square layout so fingers crossed for a decent sized baby quilt.

Month 2 of this project was finished on time...

And joined onto month 1.

And I completed another row in the #cutitupwithmollisparkles challenge - the Sidewalk Chalk pattern.

My secret project is working on the It's A Lot Quilt by Sew Be where I have assisted my local quilt shop The Country Yard with putting together three fabric selections for their BOM programme.

This is the Vintage/Retro colour scheme.  Block 1:

Block 2:

Blocks 1 & 3:

I have started sewing block 1 in the Soft & Subtle colourway...

And here is the fabric selection for month 1.  It has been a wonderful opportunity to play with fabrics - my favourite activity.

And now it is March already.  I will have to check what the new challenge project is going to be.