WIP Wednesday

As usual it has been a busy and varied week of sewing.

My Sister in Law Christine (from the blog Bluebirds and Bumblebees) designed a block of the month set of embroideries several years ago. I have spoken about them before.  (She is now putting them one month at a time on Etsy).  My mother completed several sets of them including 2 for me. One I made into a quilt for my daughter Fangirl and one I made into a quilt for myself.

 My sister Joy also completed a set of the blocks but never did anything with them. Earlier this year she offered them to me  and of course I said "Yes please". I decided to make them into a quilt for my niece, Joy's daughter. I was sure she would really appreciate them and enjoy having something special with links not just to her mum but 2 of her aunties as well.

This week I got them out and trimmed them back. I meant to trim them to 8.5" so they would be 8" finished but somewhere along the line I had a brain explosion and trimmed them to 8" instead. Ho hum. I then calculated the size of the triangles I would need to make (I used this tutorial from Pieceful Living  to work out the size) I'd asked my niece what colours she liked and if she liked brights or pastels. She said blues and brights :) If I only used the 12 blocks themselves the quilt would have been rather small, unless I put a huge border on them so I decided instead to alternate other blocks with the embroidered blocks. I cut 8" squares from a variety of blue picture fabrics. The triangles for all the blocks I cut from a variety of mostly bright blues. All the triangles have now been attached. I am still tweaking the arrangement of these blcks but hope to settle on something suitable soon.

Next I have to trim the blocks to a uniform size before I stitch them together. Then I will work on the border. I could just do a simple border but knowing me I will probably end up making flying geese.... or checker board.... or piano key... cause I love scrappy borders so much. We will see.

I made another banner for church this week. Its another banner for lent so its lots of purples. It was inspired by a banner I saw on pinterest whilst looking for banner ideas. Its from PlayfulStitching

My banner was substantially different in the end but this was my initial inspiration.

I made it basically as big as I could with the fabric I had. I used scraps I had already cut in my scrap stash. Some I had to cut down to 2.5" as they were wider than that. I did cut a few strips from my yardage but only a very few... maybe 3.

For the backing I used some fairly thick fabric... not sure what it was exactly or where it came from. I suspect from fabric I inherited from my elderly aunt. She died a little over 2 years ago at 99yrs and 9 months. I didn't use any wadding in it but did quilt it.

 I echo quilted around the cross and then went out from it about 1" for 10 rows then went to 1.5" then 2" then 2.5" and finally 3". I have declared it finished although am thinking of doing a little trapunto type work on it and stuffing the cross to give it a 3 dimensional look. We shall see. If I do that I will have to go back and stitch another row on the cross as at the moment the first row of stitching is 1/4" outside the cross.

At Patchwork this week I continued to work on the blue block donation quilt that our group is putting together.  Its all random - asymmetrical and its challenging to me cause I keep wanting to make things all matchy matchy. I got 2 sides just about put together. I might have to take off the sashing from the previous border as its a bit wavy. I have been trying to ignore it but.... its annoying me so might as well give in and redo it.

I have completed the week 8 block for POD . I followed the lead of some of the other participants in this challenge and chose some more adventurous fabrics for the book's spines. A new one was released today so hope to make a move on it soon.

 I am one week behind with the Elephant Parade blocks but I have got eyes on the frog block

The fabric is all cut for the next two blocks I have to make - the turtle and the bird. Hopefully I will get them both done this weekend too.

Fixit Guy is going away this weekend so I will have a clear run at my sewing. Not that he ever stops me sewing but sometimes he does suggest alternate activities like going for walks or doing other jobs. In fact he is a great enabler getting me lunch and delivering it to the sewing room if I don't emerge and often cooking tea etc. I really need to get stuck into some small projects for the sewing stall Hand Made love is having at the Afternoon tea on the 28th March. I haven't made anything for a couple of weeks now. Better get some of those pouches sewn.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, WIPs on Wednesday and Lets Bee Social.