Playing in Sunshine

I finally got this quilted on the weekend and the label stitched on it today. I hope to post it off to its new home on Wednesday.

The pattern was Charlotte from Scrapitudequilts.com "Playing with Nine-Patches" one she offered free to her followers on facebook but which she now has for sale on her website.

Initially I was just sewing ninepatches using blocks from my 2.5" drawer of squares of that size. However I then decided that I would try have one block with yellow in it in each trio of blocks I sewed together.

 Some squares were all yellow but as I was getting low on them I allowed that any yellow would qualify. 

I didn't cut any blocks for the centre of this quilt - using just what I had in my drawer. I tried not to use any white or cream blocks, nor any black ones, at least not in the centre of the quilt. 

When I did the border I did use some of the black blocks. I did cut a few squares for the corner blocks on the border to get a bit of variety. By the time I got to there the selection was getting very limited and there were very few bright ones left. Now I have just some cream, white and a few black ones left!! I worked out that I used almost 1000 2.5" squares in the quilt.

I chose a tan kona solid for the background - a fabric that I had in my stash. I bought it  using a coupon I won in an online competition. It went well with the yellows in the quilt. I wanted a light for the background - more restful with the busyness of the scrappy ninepatches.

I got the quilt top together relatively quickly. I started it around 20th June and by the 1st July I had the centre of the quilt and the first yellow border on. It took me 2 weeks to get the next border on

And once that was on I got it pinned out, choosing a golden browny orange for the backing. And then I let it sit... and sit for a few weeks. Finally, having bought fabric whilst I was away during last week I was keen to get a big finish in to balance out my stash numbers... I am not kidding. I don't like going backwards with my stash usage. I was also going away for 10 days and I really wanted to get it done. I am planning on giving it to a friend who has had a tough time lately so needed to get it done.

So....finally late Saturday morning I got started. I had some new quilting tools, purchased from Massdrop.com that I was keen to try out including Supreme Slider, Little Magic Bobbin Genies, Quilt Halo and Machinger gloves. I haven't used any of these before, although I have used a slider of another brand. I chose to do an all over stipple.

I loved all the items and I am glad that I got to use them... but I had a really frustrating time of it. My sewing machine's tension was playing up. The sulky thread, a lovely variegated yellow I was using for the top thread kept snapping so I swapped it for the plain yellow Rassant that I had in the bobbin. I had cobbles at times and other times I had great patches of eyelashing. One time the slider shifted and I stitched it. Then another time a piece of fabric I had on the table stuck to the quilt and got stitched in. And then there was the broken needle. Oh and the full bobbin of thread that became cobbled and had to be carefully cut out to get it out. Then I realised that I was running low on thread. By this time the sewing shops in town were closed and so when I pulled out the cobbles I did so very carefully so I could wind up the top thread again and reuse it. I wound each piece onto its own bobbin (so there was less chance of knots etc). Later I had to carefully unwind the wrecked bobbin I'd cut out... In the end I wound the sulky thread onto bobbins and found that this worked better and didn't snap as often when I used it on the spooler. 

It was all very painful and the results weren't perfect but I got it done. I trimmed it down, made the binding from the same fabric as the backing and got it sewn on. I machined it to the back and then folded it over and machined it down again with a wavy stitch. I got it finished last night rather late and was delighted to get the stash report written (with that lovely 10.36m of fabric used)

This was the biggest quilt that I have quilted on my own domestic machine for a good while - I think that I had forgotten what a job it was to do. It was 200cm x 227cm (approx 80" x 90") It is a shame that I had so much hassle with it. It took away a lot of the joy I felt using my new gadgets which I am sure made the difficult job that much easier.

Sunday Stash Report

I made 10 more little zipper bag this week. Yup 10 of the little suckers. I used the pattern I linked to last week. Well I based it on that pattern but made them a bit bigger so as to use as much of the 5" charm square as I could. Problem with that was that I didn't have enough left over for the little tab so made it out of either another charm square of the same or coordinating fabric. (I only had charm squares with me. Otherwise I could have used some of my 2.5" bits and pieces) Used .60m


I also made a zipper pouch using some cat fabric. I used some plastic backed curtain fabric for the lining. It worked pretty well and I didn't need any batting or stiffening to give the bag structure. Problem I had was the dimensions I used for the bag. The initial pieces were square and so the bag is a bit of an odd shape for a bag. Still hope someone likes it enough to buy from our stall this weekend. I didn't take a photo of it ... oops. Used .2m  

Playing In Sunshine. I finally got this finished today. It was quite an effort. Everything went wrong that could go wrong. I think my machine needs a service. I had all sorts of tension issues and it was one of my most frustrating experiences but I finally got it finished.


To make it that much more frustrating I was running low on thread so when unpicking the messes such as this I had to carefully roll up the top thread and put it onto bobbins so I could use it again. I did  have some sulky thread that I had started using which kept breaking so I had stopped using it but in the end had to resort to it again. I found that winding it from the spool to bobbins and then using the wound bobbins in the top gave a much better result with almost no breakages. As well as thread breaking and the eyelashing and the running low on thread  I also broke a needle AND stitched on my super slider.  

 The quilting isn't all that great BUT it is done. I haven't quilted a big quilt myself for quite some time (2mx2.27 or approx 80"x90") and maybe I have just forgotten what it is like. I did get to use my new quilting gear -  machinger gloves,  supreme slider, bobbin washer and quilting ring... from a Massdrop bundle I bought a few months ago. They were all great ... although added to my frustration a bit when I had to keep checking my bobbin etc... taking off the gloves and then having to remove the slider to get to the bobbin case.
 
Anyway despite all the frustrations I finally got it done and its big size meant 10.36m of fabric used.

My cat Pippin showed lots of interest in this quilt. He hasn't been as interested in my quilting for a long time


I shot a video of him demanding lots of petting at one point. I even put it on facebook but the quality is pretty crap and some how I changed to slow mo during the shooting... no idea how so its pretty crumby... but cute at the time.

I have also been super busy making birthday gifts for a friend. I can't reveal what they are just yet. I don't think she reads my blog at all but she is my facebook friend and my blog alerts go on facebook and twitter so she might decide to take a peak. There were a number of items and together they used 3.21m of fabric

I have had a few purchases this week whilst in Rocky. I visited a new LQS - well new for me although I think its been there a while. They had a great deal on some batik fat quarters and I ended up with 6 - it was 6 for $20 and in Australia that is a good bargain. I bought 4 dark ones - navy blue for a swap at PnP next year. I got 2 for the projects I made for the birthday. I got some more special fabric for these projects at Spotlight too... a metre of it. I am pleased to say that I used just about all of it up. I have a few little bits left over of the 3 fabrics and if I can think of something suitable I will try to use them up in the next few days too.

So this weeks stats are

Week 31

         Fabric Used                     14.37m
         Fabric Added                     2.57 m

Year To Date
         Fabric Used                    112.11m
         Fabric Added                  39.21m         Net Used/Added             72.91m   

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times

WIP Wednesday

I thought we had a big stall for Handmade Love at the end of the month but the powers that be within the group decided we wouldn't go to that particular market. I had made a big effort to get  all the hand towels I had sitting in my box made into hanging kitchen towels but now it turns out I need not have worried. Still they will go into the suitcase of goodies we are making for the next market stall they are having. I haven't finished them quite... still sewing on press studs and decorative buttons but that doesn't take long. The photo isn't all that flash... but the finished ones that I could have hung up to show are in the suitcase with the co-ordinator!!n(I've finished 6 of 12)

I also finished off a clutch bag for Handmade Love as well. It too was just waiting on a press stud and a decorative button. I forgot to photograph it. Oops

I have been working on my Playing with Nine Patches quilt as well. I made a border for it using more 2.5" squares from my scraps and from the background fabric. I think its called a checker board border. For the corner stones I used nine patches in all bright colours. The only 2.5" squares in this entire quilt that I had to cut, besides the ones from the background fabric, was a few bright ones for these corner stones. The rest of them I pulled from my stash of cut 2.5" squares - all 1000 of them!! I can't believe I had that many of them in the shoebox but... I've even got some left!!

I was thinking about what I would piece for a backing of the quilt but I found that I had a piece of backing fabric that is big enough so I don't have to piece one. That is quite a relief. I do like a pieced backing but sometimes they take me as long to make as the top. I fiddle around fitting various bits and pieces in. 

This quilt is probably going to be given to a friend who lost much of her home to a fire a month or so ago. I do want to get it finished sooner rather than later. I got it pinned out at Patchwork today and will stipple it myself soon. I've decided to call it "Playing in Sunshine".

Today at Patchwork I also made a backing for Newspaper Mama. I had forgotten to measure it, and I had left it up on the board at our patchwork rooms as it is a group quilt.  I sorted through my stash and found several pieces that would work in for a backing. In the end I used one large piece of black and white checker board in a checker board which I joined down the middle to make it wide enough and then cut through the other way to insert a piece of solid black to make it long enough. We off centred the black strip so that it won't be noticeable if the quilt backing isn't quite centred when it goes together. I didn't take a photo of it either. Its a backing so not that exciting.

Speaking of Newspaper Mama... its name came from the fact that its Black and White and Red all over... newspaper That brings the song Newspaper Mama to mind. This song was written and performed by the Australian Children's singer Peter Coombs. My kids had several of his tapes when they were little and loved him. His Christmas CD is still a favourite of ours. I found this clip on You Tube and thought I would share it with you.

I've been working on the 2 POD blocks that I need to get done. I got the tea cup one finished yesterday. I love it. (Block 27)



For block 28 we had a range of choices for the 5" pieced block but I went with Trevor the Toad. I have Trevor together as I write this but still have to make the books in the block and put it together. The next one should be released tomorrow and after that there will only be one more official block. Like many others doing this block though I intend to make the broom stick to lean against the book case and perhaps something else to go on top. Fangirl has laid claim to this quilt and I am thinking it will be her Christmas present.

The other thing I have worked on this week has been another Sarah's Choice block so we will have 9 of those to make into another donation quilt for our group. I am hoping this one will come together more quickly than the last two group ones I have put together. We have some left over half square triangles from this as well that have been made into pinwheels to go into the border. I don't think I will even sash the blocks, just sew them together in 3 rows of 3 and then do the border with the pinwheel and perhaps another narrow border. Its all pink and white and I am hoping that we will give it to the someone who is having a fundraiser for breast cancer and they can raffle it.

I forgot to take a photo of my block and the quilt as a work in progress today but this is how it was looking before today's efforts. I was able to make extra pinwheels from some more hst leftover from other blocks. There is enough for one more pinwheel in the centre of each row and one for the back. Pieced  back coming up obviously!

The link  to this block on Quilters Cache is here

Linking up with