Anyone still there?

Despite all my best intentions, I seem to have developed a very strong streak of procrastination.  And guess what?  I'm really good at it. 

I have managed to get my quilting done on my girl quilt, and have one more short side to handstitch on the binding... but really, this should have been finished last week.

I do love the way the simple straight line quilting echoing either side of the seam lines gives it so much texture.

It's also been time for a new quilt on the bed.  Remember my Playground quilt using Sweetwaters Reunion fabric line?  Amazingly, even though this one has been finished for ages... it's never actually made it onto the bed! 

Although I say that everyone is my favourite, there is just something I love about the simple patterns and shapes in this quilt - both the fabric and block design.  I also love the simple petal shape quilted through the centre of each square, which has no relation to the arrangement of the blocks. 

And even though I angsted (shh, I don't think that's a word) over the charm squares that blended into the background and wondered whether to leave them out of the mix... I love the way those shapes blend into the background and give the quilt just that much more interest.

 Now, back to that pesky binding...

A bit of randomness

It's been a funny kind of week.  I celebrated a birthday... got my eyes checked... had a little girl home from school with sick bugs... and was the host to a (random) couple in the middle of a domestic dispute who turned up on our doorstep (which we contacted the police about).  Whew!

Thankfully I also got some sewing done!

First up, the beginning of a new month means a new quilt on the bed.  This was last months quilt, Buggy Barn Cats.

And just out of interest, this was the photo with the curtains pulled, and the flash on.  Look how yellow it is!

This was with no flash, and the curtains pulled back.  A bit washed out.

And the first photo had the curtains pulled, but the sunshade roller blind down... and the colours are almost perfect.

OK, the new quilt on the bed.  Bullseye II, made with a Comma charm pack.  While the cats are nice and cosy... I love how this quilt is modern and colourful... and the white squares just pop.

And if you've ever wondered what happens to quilts in between showings?  They get biffed to the top of the pile on my freestanding wardrobe.

I finished off the Reunion Playground quilt - deciding to machine stitch down the binding, even though this isn't my preferred method.  Normally I would do like many others do when applying binding by machine; I'd sew the binding onto the back first, then turn the binding to the front to run the final line of stitching.  But, as I hadn't decided to finish this by machine until I'd already attached the first stage of the binding - I had to modify the technique.  I thought I'd try glue basting down the binding instead of using pins - and it worked out not too bad.  It's not a quilt I'd ever put in a show... or look at under a microscope... but it's now finished, and finished is good, and I love it!

Unfortunately our weather is not conducive to outdoor shots... so an indoor draped over the sofa and beanbag shot...

Right, what else have I been up to?  The last few There's a Square in There blocks disappeared under the needle, and I'm now contemplating block placement.

Fabric Diet... what diet?

The end of the month and time to link up with the other fabriholics at our monthly support group.

April hasn't been exactly the greatest of months... the "necessity" fabric package from Fabricworm here, the "need it to finish" fabric for the butterfly quilt... and the "look we're driving past" fabric from the weekend.

But on a positive note, I've just finished the machine part of the binding of TWO quilts!  Woot!

First up, The Butterfly Baby Quilt.  Free pattern from Cloud 9 fabrics.  Fabric mostly almost entirely from stash... but a bit of additional white was required for the wonky sashing - 48" x 36".  This is the same binding fabric that I used for Dylan's bed quilt, made 2007 - so it does pay to put the leftover fabrics into the stash - you never know when it is going to be exactly the right colour and size, there was only 2" left over of my binding strip!  This quilt wasn't on the WIP list... but was requested by the husband for an acquaintance... so what's a girl to do?  Plus, I desperately wanted to make this quilt block!

The meander quilting was done with a white Aurifil 50wt thread.  The meander pattern helps to hide all those pesky seams and perfect for a quilt that will get lots of washing and love - I won't ever have to worry about any seams coming apart on this one.

Second up, The Reunion Playground quilt... pattern by Camille Roskelley, with additional blocks to make it queen sized.  Grey background Spotlight Homespun, Red binding fabric... Moda Bella Solids.

And once again, Aurifil thread comes to the rescue... mid grey this time in an orange peel pattern across the blocks.  I absolutely love the secondary pattern, and even though it's not a tiny pattern... you still get lots of quilty texture.  This quilt was on the WIP list... and I think that makes 4 quilts hitting the finished** list so far this year.

 Now about that fabric.  We headed down to Auckland on Saturday without our children!  It was bliss... so quiet.  As we whizzed through Kaiwaka, The Apple Basket patchwork shop just happened to have it's open sign out, and these fabrics just happened to jump into my bag (well, after paying for them of course).

And check out this button!  No idea what I'm going to do with it... but I love it!

Won't it be interesting to see what May brings?
Also linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

** Finished in the broad sense of the word... hand stitching of the binding still required :0)

Quilt, Bind, Handstitch... Repeat!

I have finished quilting the Japanese Ladies!  Huston, We have a problem :0(

Can you see the difference between the first quarter that was quilted...

And the last quarter?

Yup!  Density!  I was doing really well with my "quilting direction plan", but somewhere between the second quarter, and the fourth quarter, it all turned to custard, and my little hill/valley/element quilt pattern became long gentle swoop/element.  I'm not sure how to fix it.  Any ideas?  And don't anyone say unpick... that's a dirty word in my household!

Quilting must continue...

The Butterfly Baby Quilt was the next destined for the needle, and from the beginning I kinda had the idea of quilting three petal shapes through each of the wing areas.  After doing the top wings... I just started doing something different in the bottom section.  Sometimes quilting is like that.

Remember this quilting pattern from last time, where I used the double leaf element as part of the Japanese Ladies vine?  This time I used the tear drop shape with the scallop echo to fill the lower wing area.

Why no, it's not exactly the same, but in the general vicinity.  The one thing I don't like about this particular quilt book is that although the designs are described as continuous... sometimes it's hard to work out exactly how you continue the design.

40wt Madeira Polyneon 1606 - I have had this thread forever!  It's pretty without being too pastel.

I've done 6 of the 12 butterflies now, so tomorrow I should be able to finish the rest of the butterflies and work on a filler for the background.  After putting off getting comfortable with meandering for almost 10 whole years of quilting, I'm finding that it is just so suitable for these utility type of quilts.  

In other news...

I've cut the binding strips for the Japanese ladies...

I've cut the strips, sewed and pressed the binding for the Reunion Playground quilt...

Visual reminder!

AND I bought a couple of dress patterns... and fabric... and interfacing... and knit needles...

This is SERIOUS!  Now which comes first?  The binding or the clothes?  My holidays are rapidly disappearing...

And so it continues...

... as promised, I did get some sewing done too.

The Modern Sampler blocks were not ignored:

And this one belongs to this current weeks lineup.   Not so modern... a good old nine patch!

The little ladies are all lined up in a row several rows... and completely sewn together.

I've cut the sashing for the outer perimeter... and sewn the short ends together.  Just need to cut the correct lengths, add a final border and get this one done and dusted.

Just exactly how many quilts can you overlap on your design wall?

Looks like four!

And photo bombing this one are some new little Tillies Lane units.  Currently sitting at 3.5" (it doesn't really count as a new project when it's a leader/ender project does it?) it just takes a smidgen of scrap fabric to cut the pieces.  They are so cute.

AND the Giant Chevron is all one piece and ready for backing and quilting decisions.  I cannot recommend this pattern enough... simply terrific.  Jess is onto a winner with this one, it can be purchased on  Craftsy or Etsy

I had quite a bit of fun with the fabric selections...

Choosing one black for the bottom section... tiny flowers

And another for the top section...

 And no I haven't forgotten that I was discussing possible options for the binding on the Reunion Playground quilt.  This red is pretty close.  And probably the only thing in my stash that looks even half way decent.  Of course, it is a moot point, as I only have 13" when I really need 18.  The hunt continues...

The week that was and the week ahead

Sunday is organising day.

First up lay out the last Tokyo Subway block for November (block 25). 

Next is choose the fabrics for the three Modern Sampler blocks for this week.

I've found this is a vital step, and makes the rest of the week a breeze

Lay out and attach a bit of sashing for the ladies...

We have three pairs of eyes complete, and two smiles so far...

I decided to frame all the ladies with the same beige dot, I think it helps to calm down the whole arrangement

I like that I'm at that stage in my quilting career where I can approach a pattern, read the instructions, and then do what I want.  I'm not a fan of sashing with the big long strips between rows... I like to do mine short.  Sashing just two sides makes it heaps easier to keep things aligned at the next stage...

And this is exactly how I will put together the Modern Sampler... four blocks down... 96 to go :0)

OK so focus projects for the week... finish off my eyes and mouths... I can't do much more on this project until they are complete, and I want need to free up the floor space if I want to get any basting done.  Once that embroider is done, I can get these sashed blocks all joined up and look at border treatments.

Obviously, the Tokyo Subway and Modern Sampler blocks are ready and waiting... and I should check the stash and see if there is any binding fabric suitable for this one...

Another busy week ahead...