WIP Wednesday

I've had a busy few days sewing this week.

Last week Charlotte Hawkes released the cutting instructions for her mystery quilt that begins in January. I got it all cut over the weekend. Its called "Surrounded By Scraps" and you can find details here if you would like to join in.

The 4th clue in En Provence, the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt for 2016 came out on Friday - very late in Australia so I didn't even look at it till Saturday but had no chance to work on it till Monday. I blogged about it here 

Today at Patchwork group, between having a super yummy morning tea and lunch to celebrate Christmas, I worked on the piano key border for Handwork Heritage. I got the borders done - there is oodles of it. I got a bit carried away.

I also worked on "Stringen Em Along", my Bonnie Hunter String X quilt. I got the borders on it - I went with the same fabric I'd used as my background. And then I made the binding. I decided on a scrappy border. I might have gone with a binding in the lavender background fabric if I'd had any of it left but I'd used it all up. Again I went a little crazy and I think I will have enough binding fabric for a couple of quilts!!

Just yesterday I heard that my niece is having another baby, due in May. This will be the 3rd grandbaby in just over a year for my sister and followed on 3 weddings in 6 months - they overlapped somewhat. Given that she only has 4 children that was good going. The single childless sibling is not feeling any pressure to join the club!!

Anyway - my baby quilt choice this year has been the sparkle quilt pattern from Missouri Star quilt company. I had some left over pieces and so this evening I have been working on making a quilt for the expected bub. I have the 9 star blocks made and working on the off setting borders now.

I also worked on the Craftsy BOM quilt that I have been working on - the Amy Gibson one (2012 I think) I didn't start it in 2012 but it has been a long slow cooker one. Anyway. I finished off the quilting on my domestic machine and got the binding on. Still have to do the label but since I haven't come up with a special name for it nor a place for it to go I am not in a hurry to do that. (No photos yet... perhaps for Stash report on Sunday)

Hope you have made some progress on your projects this week if that is what you have wanted to do. But maybe you have been prepping for Christmas not sewing. Whatever you have been doing I hope you have enjoyed it.

Linking up with 

WIP Wednesday

This week I have managed to decorate my house for Christmas. I've got the trees up (a big one, a small one and a number of miniature ones) They are all plastic trees. In the summer heat in Australia real trees don't last too long. 

 We used to get a real one  when I was still living at home but we could only cut it on Christmas Eve and it was dropping all its leaves on Boxing Day. My inlaws were still cutting a real tree when we were first married and I loved it but after a few years they got a plastic one too so it would last longer. I admit to being a tad disappointed but...

Anyway - decorating the house has been a work in progress all week as I have gradually unpacked the boxes of decorations. The only things still to go up are my quilted wall hangings. I can't find any of the rods. I suspect I have taken them up to church over the year to hang quilts up there. I've tried to buy some from Big W but they didn't have any but will check out the hardware shop. 

Besides decorating the house.... I have done some sewing. (surprised you there didn't I!!)

I finished off the 5 Darlek potholders I started to make last Wednesday. I finally got the labels stitched on at Handmade With Love yesterday and posted them off to Allison, who commissioned them from me today. (I didn't get a photo of the finished 5 so here is a cropped photo from last week )

Bonnie Hunter's En Provence Mystery quilt, clue number 2 came out Saturday morning Aussie time and I got the 100 units made that day. They are a long way from perfect but done is done. I still need to trim off the tag end bits from the triangles. 

I have also worked on the 4 patches from last week. We had to make a pinwheel at the joins of the 4 blocks on the back which reduces the bulk at the seams (Check out Bonnie's blog for the explanation of how and why) I hadn't read that instruction when making the blocks.... and also that the blocks needed to spin in the one direction. I sewed some wrong and so whilst they are all now pinwheeled, some are clockwise and some anti clockwise but meh you get that.

I am working on a Christmas present for a friend. I wanted to test the pattern before I used the special fabric I had ordered in for the project (ok asked my daughter to buy and post) so I made it out of some cat fabric. I really love the way it turned out

One of my goals for this month is to finish off my 2012 Amy Gibson BOM. To do that I need to make a backing. I have some fabric that I thought would be good but there wasn't quite enough so I decided to piece a row of orphan blocks down the centre to join the two pieces and make it big enough. Yeah ... well I dived into that basket of left over blocks and before long I was having lots of fun making them into a backing. 

There were too many for just a strip so instead it ended up that I pieced almost the entire back with just wide borders of the fabric that was going to be the backing to make it large enough. 

That of course took way longer than just piecing a back but... it was fun. And I used up heaps of orphan blocks and left over bits. I decided that this was appropriate to have a sort of sampler on the back given it was a sampler on the front. I think it looks great!

How have you gone with your WIPs this week/Month?

WIP Wednesday written on Wednesday but posted Friday

What a busy week of sewing I have had working on lots of different projects.

Being at a Patchwork retreat for 5 days gave me lots of sewing opportunities and also walks with views!

Sparkle Quilts. I made 27 blocks for 3 baby quilts. Since I got home I have put the centre of one of them together. This quilt is based on the Sparkle Quilt by Missouri Star Quilt Company pattern. In instead of 5 coordinating coloured squares I put a picture fabric in the centre. Some of these were embroidered teddy bears that my mother stitched. At 94 she no longer embroiders so the squares I have left have to be used sparingly. 2 of these quilts are for her great grandchildren so they will have some of the special stars.

I used a smaller sashing than recommended. At Patchwork today I laid out the next one with the wider sashing and feel it looks better. I'm not planning on unpicking the one that is done but will make the next 2 as per directions (I reduced it cause I felt I was running out of the fabric. I have since found the rest of it so have enough to do the wider sashing.) I deliberately put the embroideries facing into the centre and the other centre pictures going different ways so the baby quilts wouldn't have a right or wrong way.

 

 

Amy Gibson 2012 BOM Craftsy Class Quilt. At the retreat I got the last 2 blocks for this quilt made and today at patchwork I got the blocks put together. I sashed them in grey and put white corner stones. 

Summer Reading QAL. I got all 16 blocks for this made and put together. I was on a roll. I really only needed to make 5 to get up to date. The QAL is being run Pam and Lynn from The Stitch TV Show 

Today I had planned to pin out "Onya Bike" up at Patchwork, taking advantage of the great pinning out table and the assistance of some of the women up there. (My friend Lindy is usually willing to help me and some of the others also help out too on occasions) I was just getting my stuff together to take up - checked I had enough batting (I am down to the last of my roll) picked up my tin of pins and thought... that's a bit light. And then I remembered I have 2 quilts pinned ready to be quilted so wouldn't have anywhere near enough pins to pin out this monster quilt. Sigh. However at our group meeting today I was reminded that our group has recently received a grant to cover the cost of a long arm machine. It is already ordered and should be here in a few weeks and I will have time (I hope) to get it quilted on that before the special birthday it is a gift for. 

Monday Musing - Goal Review

I saw a meme on facebook once which of course I now can't find but it went something along the lines of my house is never so tidy as when I am avoiding something else. It was certainly true of both Fangirl and Boyo when they were or are supposed to be studying for their university exam they have very tidy bedrooms.

Well I am supposed to be writing a talk to give on Saturday at an Emmaus Forth Day event. If you don't know what Emmaus is look it up here. Our theme is Being Refreshed. I am one of 3 speakers. I have ideas. I have stories. I have bible verses but am still working on getting it into a cohesive talk of sufficient length that is understandable.

Soooo.... in avoiding that today I thought I would do an update on my goals for this month.

• Make some pot mitts, hanging towels etc as gifts

I haven't looked at making any pot mitts etc as gifts but have worked on the wall hangings. I hope to be able to give some of them to family and friends this Christmas. I have 4 sets of squares together. Have to work on the borders and then sandwiching them. Have a few not put together yet

• prepare for Bonnie Hunter Mystery

Haven't looked at the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt yet. Must order the rulers - think I will suggest them to the family for Christmas or get them for my stocking. I buy most of the stuff for the stockings so ensure I get lots of special little treats.

• start Droid quilt

This quilt hasn't been started... soon

• Put Amy Gibson blocks together

Amy Gibson quilt hasn't been looked at. I think I have one block not made... the curved pieced one. Contemplating whether to make it or not but really think I should so as to have done the full thing.

Work on POD Quilt

I have actually made a bit of progress. Not only have I sewn all the bookshelf rows together, putting in the bookshelves between them as I went as well as the top and bottom of the bookshelf but I have removed all the paper (well lot of the paper... some bits still there.... ) I have also completed the Fez, the flying keys, the Cornish Pixie, Dobby and 2 of the photo frame blocks.

    

Today I got on Spoonflower and took advantage of their half price sale on Fat Quarters. I've ordered some labels for bottles of Potions, (chose 2 lots of that) the folded Marauders map and Ravenclaw panel. Not exactly sure how I am going to use them. I think the map will go under the bookshelf and perhaps a bottle of potion.

• Make 100 hexagons 

And I have made 65 hexies all done in meetings. So will get to that 100 without trouble... have a full day of meetings on Saturday which (apart from when I am giving my talk) will be ample time to stitch hexies... will have to make sure I have heaps of them prepped and ready to go. I need to make around 400 more to have enough for the quilt. (including the half ones to finish off the ends)

 

 So that is pretty good progress when you consider we are only one week in. Go me.

WIP Wednesday - a little bit of everything

I've had a go at quite a few projects this week.

Got stuck into my Amy Gibson 2012 Craftsy BOM blocks. I made 2 dresden plate blocks,

 2 paper pieced blocks

 I had an issue with one of the paper pieced blocks... didn't realise that there were 2 circle of geese patterns... one going clockwise and one counter clockwise. Needless to say I made 2 from one and 1 from the other and it was only when I was trying to put them together so as to work out the order of the colour of geese I wanted to sew on my last block that I realised what I had done... and even then it took me a while.. couldn't work out why the geese weren't lining up. Yes the patterns were labelled. No I hadn't taken any notice of the labels. Eventually figured out what I had done wrong and made the other 2 blocks I needed going the right way and am contemplating making another 3 going the other way now... but we will see.

And 2 hexagon blocks

Speaking of hexagons... I plan to write a separate blog post about them... but I have started a hand project and am currently sewing away madly on English paper pieced hexagons. Haven't quite worked out what the heck I am doing... but so far have about 70 basted

 and started to stitch my first 7 piece "flower" together. 

I have another 110 cut out and pinned to their papers so am making great progress. 

I have been doing them whilst sitting in my seat and doing my job as prompt at rehearsals for our Little Theatre play. I won't be able to do them any more as we are into our final week of rehearsal and so I shall have to go up on stage and be in my prompters box... in the dark with my torch reading my script. 

Speaking of the play... that brings me to my most unusual sewing project for this week. I had to repair the horse costume... not a costume for a horse but the costume that is a horse. The one they had was falling apart... the fabric had perished. It was made for a panto the Little Theatre put on when The Beast was about 12. He's now almost 28. Funny thing... when it was made he got to play the front end of the horse. This time his father is playing the back end.....For part of the play anyway. The costume was getting more and more wrecked and at Tuesday's rehearsal one of the legs came off so I bought it home with me and basically remade it for rehearsal tonight. I gave up my day at patchwork to do it. Its no great work of art and basically I just followed the pattern that old one had been. I even reused the legs. 

 

Its not particularly realistic but then... horse costumes usually aren't are they? I didn't get a photo of the guys in it tonight but will try to on Sunday at our next rehearsal

The other project I have been working on this week has been the borders for Going Green. 

I decided to add one more border, using the green fabric I purchased in Rockhampton on Friday. Initially I was going to just do plain green all around... then I got to thinking and decided to add some nine patches in the corners... and then one in the middle of the side borders... no 2 nine patches spread out on the side borders... and one strip of blocks in the very centre (to make them long enough) and perhaps one more nine patch centred on both ends. 

So far I have the side borders on but the horse costume took over today.

And then tonight I put the bow tie needed in the play on elastic to make it easier to get on and off....and that's been my week

How have you gone this week? What projects have you been working on?

Mid month Goal review

Its half way through the month so time to review my goals that I set for August.

POD Quilt. I haven't worked on this at all. I have to make the last block (block 30) and remake block 10 as well as make several extra blocks. I have printed out the block patterns so that is a start. I had thought that I would take this project away with me but I realised that I would need to take too much fabric with me so I didn't take it.

Amy Gibson Block of the Month blocks - I've made huge progress on this one. I made 5 different blocks (one twice) and I did take this project with me when we went away for 10 days and I got 5 made including 2 using hexagons and 2 using dresden plate. I was thinking I wouldn't make these particular blocks but in the end I did and I really enjoyed making them. In fact I have cut out a heap more papers and am planning on having it as an on the go project.

 

Going Green. I have put on the first two borders and have bought some more fabric to add a third plain border.

Pink Pizzazz. I have started to put the backing together. I've made a strip to insert in the fabric I am using to make it wider, using a variety of hearts and pinwheels. The pieced hearts were made using "Made" fabric from another project and the other two hearts were ones made for a raggy hearts swap our group is having next month but which were made the wrong size


Make a Bag for my friend. I have made two bags for two friends :) A watermelon bag for my friend Sam and a green bag for another friend.