Cutting it a bit Fine

As you know I tend to be a thrifty quilter and like to use the last possible piece of my fabrics.  Well I nearly came a cropper this week.

I've been working on Monkey Business, this was a fun quilt to make and I enjoyed the variety of colours and simple sewing - no seams to match up on this one and as long as you keep trimming the edges it works out just fine.  The kit produced twenty 13.5inch blocks, which when put up on the design wall made the quilt too big for purpose.  It's another PHEW charity quilt.  I took out five and decided they would be used another day.  Bordering the 15 blocks with a silver grey solid and binding it with the navy supplied in the kit finished it off nicely.

Oops Ii should have hung it the other way around - it needs a good press.

........... but what to do with the 5 left over blocks.

I really should be making a start on the 2 baby quilts I have to complete by the end of July, however 5 blocks sitting on the edge of my table - too many to leave unused.  Improvise, Audrey, improvise.  K at class has designed and sewn a beautiful flying geese quilt using colourful batiks for the geese and a lovely black/charcoal version of Moda Grunge.  It's stunning!  This reminded me of my dark blue Grunge fabric sitting in my stash.  

A Solid/Tone on Tone/Marble all mixed together  - I like this range

Let the improvisation begin,.....  I cut out four 15inch squares, slashed into them and inserted a contrasting lime green 1.5in strip in each one.  Then I slashed again and inserted another strip.  How liberating and so much fun to have no idea what the end result was going to be.  Trimmed down to size and voila four more blocks to be added to the orphans and another quilt was born.  I continued on the improvisation theme and added two green borders and two blue, backed it with a lime green fleece and then..........bindings required.  This is where I came off the rails.........my intention was to bind the blue borders with the green and visa versa.  

It's great to improvise but perhaps I should have checked before starting out that I had enough fabrics to complete the project.  I had plenty grunge blue but, aargh! I was about six inches short of the green, and nothing, nothing in my stash would do the job.  Asked at class if anyone had the fabric without success, I even had a browse around the websites but didn't know if it was a Bella or a Kona nor did I know the colour name/number (bought before I started taking notes).  It's only 6inches, get a grip woman, no need to buy more fabric.  The poor quilt was put aside then last night I thought I would check the scrap bin.   There hiding three quarters of the way down was a glimpse of green, would there be enough?  Yep, sorted.  It's now all complete and for some reason I find myself fulfilled at using up the 5 extra blocks and finding that last wee piece of fabric.

Improvised - and that little scrap of binding is on the left hand side

The kit fabric still goes on.  I will get three good sized quilts tops from this kit which cost me no more than $30 US from Connecting Threads. Equivalent to about £20    It has provided a lot of fun and no real hassle. (Except for my shortage of that last 6in of binding). I still have offcuts of the 10 fat quarters which will need to be used up some day but not for now.  I need to get on with the baby quilts.

I hope you are all enjoying the lovely sunshine we are having at the moment.  Its not that great for sewing or housework but its good to get outside and into the garden.  Have a good week!

In Need of a Tidy

My sewing space was a bit of a mess - I couldn't find half of my things in fact I still haven't found one of my thimbles.  My pins were mixed up with my clips, bobbins were in a tangle and reels of thread were in various baskets and not in the box where they should all be stored.  Fabrics were stacking up on the side of my table and in danger again of falling off and the bookcase stash all higgledy piggledy.

Before 

And after a few hours of sorting.

All ready to start afresh - tomorrow.......

Monkey business is now sewn together and will hopefully be sandwiched and quilted this week.  This will be the last of my charity quilts for a few weeks or so. 

I have been asked to make a couple of baby quilts for new arrivals expected June/July so a few pieces have been pulled back out of the tidy stash and my thinking cap is on again for new designs for the little quilts.  Which fabrics will I use - decisions, decisions?

Until next time enjoy whatever makes you happy

Monkeying Around

Since coming back from our week holidaying in the sunshine we have been lucky enough to have lots of sunny days here at home.  The garden has burst into colour and all our lovely acers are showing lots of new growth.  I have even managed a few snatched moments sitting in the garden and have enjoyed the warmth.

We had a little visitor today with his Mummy and Daddy, our little grandson is coming along in leaps and bounds. I can't believe he is 17 months old today he is finding his words and is beginning to mimic everything we say.  He makes me smile at his antics and brings back lots of happy memories when our own two boys were at this stage in their development - what a joy!

Two quilts have been completed this week. Galaxy Party, the Connecting Threads Kit which was on sale.  It is very bright and quite busy, however I know it will make someone happy and cosy.  

Galaxy Party - it even glows in the dark!

The New Wave quilt is a little calmer and was great fun to do too. 

New Wave Quilt - pattern Eliz Hartman

As the title says I'm monkeying around now!  Yet another bargain quilt kit from the aforementioned Connecting Threads. A slightly different technique for me but we will see how it progresses.  Once again there seems to be lots of leftover fabrics so I feel a scrappy quilt will be produced from the offcuts.

On the Design Wall

I hope you have all had a lovely week and have been able to enjoy the sunshine hopefully it will continue, but I hear there is frost forecast for tonight.  Oh Oh!  Cover up those tender plants.

AWOL Again

This might just explain why...........

                                      

4 fab friends sunning ourselves in the Canary Islands while our other halves played golf. this lovely villa was situated right on the edge of the golf course and had stunning views over the lovely little village below.  Clear blue skies, mid 20s in the sun, lying by the pool, great company and fabulous food.  Do you blame me for not blogging?

Sadly that all came to an abrupt end on Thursday evening when we returned home after a wonderful week in the sun, to -2 degrees and a blizzard which accumulated to 2 inches of snowfall overnight!  What a shock to the system.  Fortunately it disappeared very quickly but it's still so cold.

No sewing other than a few stitches in a redwork stitchery I took on holiday, just in case I was bored......no I wasn't bored or fed up who could be when the sun is shining for 12 hours a day? I just wanted to be able to say I had done a bit of sewing.

Hopefully this week I will get back into the swing of things and now my machine has had a rest too she should be stitching a few things on my list.....I have two baby quilts to make by the end of July, I have my circle quilt to sandwich and quilt and I have at lease two others waiting to be sandwiched.  So no shortage of things to do.

I hope you are all enjoying the first of the May holiday weekends.  Perhaps some of you managed to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Edinburgh.  Sadly I didn't make it this time but hope it will return in the future if the footfall was good enough to satisfy the vendors.  

Have a good week - hopefully the temperatures will rise a little and get a wee bit warmer soon.

Halfway Through April Already

What a strange day - the sun is shining we have blue skies, but it's very cold, we have had a shower of rain, then some sprinkles of snow and now there's been hailstones.  I wish it would just get a little warmer.

I've had another busy week doing things for family so no great progress with sewing.  All I have managed is a few more strips of the new wave project and that's about all. 

Elizabeth Hartman's New Wave Pattern

Oh and I suppose I could count cutting and piecing some blocks for another charity quilt which I worked on at our class on Tuesday.  

A Connecting Threads Sale Kit

I have also done a little preparation for some handstitching and made a small A4 quilt sandwich for some freemotion practise at class this week.

Hexis and Embriodery

Following the trend of last week I had my Molly Mop hat on and also spent a day babysitting our little grandson who was pleased (I think) with his new Aran jacket with all the buttons in place!  I can't believe he's 16months old already and enjoying playing outdoors and watching all our birds in the garden.

Waving to the birds on the feeders

I have some wool left over from his cardigan so have decided to knit a hat rather than have yet more bits lying around.  It's been much easier this week to pick up my knitting which requires no real concentration than trying to concentrate on my quilting.

To clarify a question I received re the difference between the two battings I used in the little quilts - I did not and have never prewashed any batting, nor do I prewash my fabrics!

I hope you have all had a more productive sewing week than I've had.   

And the Verdict Is ......

Not Proven!  The two little quilts have been washed in a cool wash, hung out in the fresh air to dry naturally on the line, then finished off in the tumble dryer.  They have been measured and guess what - no shrinkage, exactly the same as before laundering.  

The ladies at the class did a comparison test and all in all couldn't really tell which one was the warm and natural and which one was the vilene 80/20.  Although I did have them marked so I would know which one was which I did actually tell the ladies the wrong thing by mistake.  When I checked my notes quilt No1 was the Vilene and quilt no 2 was the Warm and Natural.  So ladies if you are reading this I got it wrong!  I told you my head was not in the right place last week!!  

Thank you K for trying out some hand quilting on both - once again no significant difference.  The only factor and a considerable one is the cost per metre.  I buy a full roll for the class to share and the difference in price is £3 per metre. The Vilene being the cheaper of the two and it's also 97"wide in comparison to the 90" of the warm and natural.  As always the choice is a personal one depending on the quilt you are making.  It was a good and informative exercise though.

Our son and his little family were moving house and I had my Molly Mop cleaner's and helper's hat on last week.  A very busy week but delighted that the move went well and they are now settling into their house in the country where our little grandson will have a lovely big garden to play in as he grows up.  

So I'm afraid there was not a lot of stitching done.  The Circle still waits for backing, however this is what is on the design wall at the moment.  

'New Wave' designed by Elizabeth Hartman with alternative fabrics of course.  Sorry I missed a post last week, I hope you are all still managing some sewing progress.  I'm off to spend an hour in front of my sewing machine.

Where Does the Time Go

Not a lot to report.  Quilting started of the Mountain Majesties,

Easter cardigan finished - but a button short!

Circle progressing - enjoying the hand stitching although just a wee bit tricky trying to keep it flat!

Happy Easter weekend everyone!