Fab Families, and Friday Finishes

The "Fab Families" refer to the family groups that came along to the second session for the Windsor A-Z project: a patchwork wall handing we are making at school to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  The photos can been seen better on the Fun With Fabric blog, but a taster of the work in progress is here

The Finishes - well I actually finished two quilts today!  I'd been working on the binding just 15 minutes at a time after tea, in front of the TV, but here they are, finished:

This was made from charm squares bought (and hand stitched) in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, bound in a darkish blue, thanks Heather

And this was sitting in the UFO pile for far too long, until both Heather and Jackie suggested a darker orange binding, and I happened to have the perfect colour in my stash.  Thanks ladies!

Wishing Wednesday

I wish my sewing room was a little tidier

And I wish I had the time and the inspiration to make something with this yummy collection of rainbow colours that have been building up

Broom Farm Update

I havn't done much sewing . . . but the Broom Farm Ladies have!

Catherine put the finishing touches to this fab Humpty Dumpty

And three new ladies all started I Spy quilts, while Katie started the binding on her table runner

Didn't they do well

Fabric Friday, (and Saturday, and Sunday)

A fab weekend with Jackie, yummy fabrics brought by her, a visit to a fabric shop, and Hobby Craft, a squishy in the post, then a quilt show and a visit to the Lady Sew and Sew warehouse - bliss! (but what a shame I have to go to work and can't stay home and play!)

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Why I'm sewing, not being a Domestic Goddess

OK, I'm not sure I could do the Domestic Goddess very well anyway, and of course I'd rather be sewing than pretty much anything else . . . but do look at my kitchen

As if that's not bad enough - look at the photos from the same kitchen in 1988 (yes, 24 years ago)

To be fair, the 1988 kitchen was eventually finished, and then in about 2002 it moved to the room at the back of the house, and now it's moving back into the middle, but sewing is a far more attractive activity!

Anyway sewing has been in abundance - and not just me.  The Fun With Fabric blog has the full info, but here are some mosaics to whet your appetite:

Some Finishes at Broom Farm on Monday

(You'll never guess how Catherine managed a perfect zip on the back of her cushion, the secret is revealed on the Fun With Fabric blog)

 The Windsor A-Z project started on Wednesday

And some Mola Magic at the Museum today (top right is an inspiration, not one of our creations, LOL)

Embroidery Extravaganza and a Secret

Today has been mostly embroidery: design and stitch

These first two are for my SIL's nieces, to go on quilts their mum and grandma made for them when they were little

 And this is for my friend Sue - for her first granddaughter who arrived last weekend

(OK, not quite an Extravaganza, but I couldn't think of anything else alliterative!)

This is the Secret . . . this is, finally, one of my Pay It Forward gifts.  Both have now been packaged and are waiting for a trip to the post office.  No pics until they have been received!!!

Finally - If you are following the arrival of the yellow blocks from the Chertsey Fun With Fabric ladies, two more have arived and are on the Fun With Fabric blog

Back to school, and Binding and Hexies

Was that really two weeks off school?  It really didn't feel like it!  For most of the holidays my body clock still woke at 7am, but this morning . . . I did not want to get up!  And then I got a text from the girl who covers Breakfast Club - she wasn't well, could I possibly . . . How long until the next school holiday?

After a day at work, I managed to fit in a little bit of sewing this evening.  Mega thanks to both Jackie and Heather who suggested a darkish binding for the 'warm and cool' log cabin quilt.  I found a dark orange in my stash which is perfect, so that has been machine stitched onto the front.  There is plenty left over and I think it will be perfect for the British Racing Green (Jelly Roll Race) quilt top too, so that's two solutions, thanks girls.

Instead of sewing binding on tonight in front of the TV, I started tacking fabric to the hexagons that arrived earlier in the week - 62 down just 13 more paper hexies left, so I'll start joining them soon, but I have loads more fabric scraps, so this could be a nice size.  I'm going to join them randomly, not as flowers

Straight Line Quilting (Hadley Style)

I have been pondering how to quilt the Stained Down Under (sorry, I still haven't thought of a better name) quilt.

I really like Hadley's approach, but didn't want to start in case it was too hard work.  I decided to use the technique on the Racing Green quilt, and see how I got on with it.  My machine doesn't seem to pull the fabric through at an even rate, so I was pulling it through to help, but it's really made one of my hands ache.

Well, Hadley, I love the effect, and thanks for showing what you did, but it's not for me!!!  (Hadley did 119 lines of quilting - I've done 32, and that was certainly enough for me!)

Hadley, I am in awe!

Jelly Roll Race (Racing Green)

After my failed attempt to make a quick quilt top, I decided to try a new technique - a Jelly Roll Race.

I used this post as my basis, but I joined my strips at 45 degrees rather than at 90 degrees.  Apparently joining the strips results in one strip 1600 inches long - it certainly look up loads of space on the sewing table.  This part took about 35 minutes

I chopped 20 inches from one end, and then picked up the two ends and started sewing them together.  That took about 15 minutes, but was wonderfully monotonous as I didn't have to think about anything.  When I got to the end I cut the fold to make one piece - long and thin.

And then I picked up the two ends and started sewing them together . . . then cut the fold, then pick up the two ends . . . five times altogether  . . . and this, after just over an hour, is the result

Next step is ironing, basting and quilting, but I think this will make a good boy quilt for the Siblings Together (number 2, Hadley!)

Quick Quilt? Not Quite!

I was itching to start something that would grow quickly, and found some red flowery fabric that my Uncle and his wife gave me a while ago.  I cut the flowery fabric into 6 inch blocks, and got the left-over 2.5 inch strips from the cream quilts I'd been making a while ago.  As the blocks were the same fabric, I decided to use a variety of fabrics for the strips, although they are all the same tones.

I added two borders to each block (well, I did until I ran out of cream fabric!!!!)

This is how I will arrange the blocks - but first I need to get some more cream fabrics - so much for a quick quilt!

I've used this block before, but still have no idea what it's called!

Creative Kids, and an ooops

Yesterday was the last Children's Holiday Fun session at Chertsey Museum, and today I have been learning to make computer mosaics over at Big Huge Labs, so here is (hopefully) a mosaic of the customising and accessorising that was going on yesterday (more details on the Fun With Fabric blog)

The reason I needed to learn how to make a mosaic, is a Aurifil competition that Lily is hosting - and I would love to win 12 Aurifil threads of my choice.  I thought the hard part would be the mosaic, but it was actually choosing the colours!

Anyway, I went (surprise surprise) for a rainbow theme, and this is my mosaic:

 (It's one of 178 on Flickr at the moment, so I don't much fancy my chances, but I do love the colours!)

On to ooops - can you please make sure that the door is closed, the phone switched off, and there is no-one hiding under the desk or looking over your shoulder . . .as I have been a bad girl!

It's just SO easy. 

I sit at the computer, follow a link or two, press a button or two, and then postie arrives and that's when I realise what I did...

From Prints to Polka Dots . . .  these yummy fabrics arrived

And I seem to have ordered these from these too

And from Quilt Direct I ordered a felting tool, and some pre-cut paper hexies for these lovely muted greys and purples left over from this project and this project, 

 And I also got an iPhone 4 cover that is prepared so it can have cross stitch embroidery done to it - now I just need to think of a design for it, and that will be part of Niki's birthday pressie

Have I got enough hiding places?

Stained Down Under

Stained Down Under has been pieced and basted - YAY!

Inspired by Sarah's Stained Quilt, but without actually following any of the instructions she worked long and hard over, I LOVE IT!!!

No idea how to quilt it though!

Basted and Quilted

This is a very old flimsy that I found when I was looking for something else - it was so forgotten that wasn't even on the to-do list!  Poor thing!  Anyway, I had planned to piece the Stained Down Under top, but the machine was threaded with white, so lazy whatsit that I am, I decided to do this instead. (Doesn't it look like stained glass in this photo, taken with it hanging in front of a window)

I quilted a big spiral on each quarter, but have now put it to one side again, as I have NO idea what colour to bind it with

The machine was STILL threaded with white, so this top - an I Spy hand pieced in the Blue Mountains in December, was basted and quilted too

 

But I don't have enough cream for binding this one either, so back into another pile



Tomorrow will be the Stained Down Under!

Sewing for Siblings

I had a fun day today - I finished piecing and quilting (with chevrons, or zig zags) a square quilt from extra blocks from block lotto, and made a dozen scrappy log cabin blocks, all destined for the Siblings Together charity

Postie Love

 My lovely postie has been bringing me yummy packages again . . .  first I got these from Victoria who came to the Chertsey Museum Fun With Fabrics last month

 Thank you, Victoria, these are great

 Then I got this little squishy from Ayumi's ETSY shop (Ayumi from the  Pink Penguin blog)

With these yummy fabrics that I had ordered inside

And these extras too - thank you Ayumi :-)

 

Excuse me for a while while I go and fondle my fabrics