A quandry

Have you ever got to the end of a major project, one that you have invested so much time and effort into not to mention money and realised that ... Nope, you just don't like it.

This happened to me today. Last year I worked hard on a hand pieced hexagon quilt. It took ages. Its all hand done. It was a huge undertaking. 

Its massive. Last week I was going to set it up on our club's long arm and get it quilted cause no, I wasn't going to hand quilt it as well. I miscalculated the batting and hadn't taken enough up with me so instead I quilted another quilt that I did have the required batting for but in spreading it out I started getting an inkling as to why perhaps I hadn't finished this special undertaking. I didn't really like it.

Its really special... I know that. Its scrappy and I designed it as a picture of a flower garden. I used up heaps of my scrap fabrics and when I look at the fabrics in it I recall lots of projects I have worked on over the years. It truly is a memory quilt. And its HUGE... did I mention that? I made it to resemble, supposedly a flower garden. There is sky and clouds up the top and grass at the bottom. Its big enough for a queen bed.

BUT... I just don't really like it. I don't know what I will do with it. I will finish it. That is for sure but then what.... I could put it in my spare room. I already have a quilt on the bed there but I could alternate them.

Fangirl has told me I'm not to give it to her. Her opinion of it resembles mine... I told her the quilt looked like clown vomit.... or perhaps that should be clown in a blender. Its a riot of colour. If it were smaller I could have used it as a wall hanging ... somewhere.... maybe. Fangirl has also told me I can't give it to her brother. She likes his girlfriend too much to inflict it on her.

Her (Fangirl) suggestion was that I give it to someone special, who I don't really like. Cheeky wretch. To be fair, she didn't say anything about the quilt till I made a number of derogatory comments about it first. I told her the clown comparison before I opened it up.

Its disappointing to not like something. I designed it myself so that makes it even worse somehow.

I like it from the back with the light coming through it better

Sunday Stash Report and Goal update

There was some purchases made this week! But to offset it just slightly there was also a completion - just one small thing but at least it used some of the fabric that was purchased.

The purchase was some fabric from Vinnies (St Vincent De Paul shop - 2nd hand charity shop) I saw some that would enable me to complete a project I had with me so it was a necessary purchase although if I had planned properly I could have brought some suitable fabric with me from home. I bought some tan/gold star patterned fabric (1.5m cause that was the chunk), a bundle of 49cm square calico pieces, and a chunk of ivory coloured fabric. A total of 3.59m)

My finish was a casserole carrier for me. I used up some orphan blocks I had been given at some stage - a total of 5. They must have been from a block swap as they were all creams and maroon and the same pattern. I suspect they weren't used in the quilt that was made as they might have been a bit small (and wonky) They ended up 12" unfinished and probably should have been 12.5". I used 3 blocks for one piece of the carrier and 2 and some of the calico for the other. For the lining I used the star fabric. Its not quite finished as I need to add the velcro closers and buy the dowel for the handles. But its near enough and so I counted it.

So

Stats from Weeks 17

                 Fabric used            1.63m

                 Fabric added          3.59m

Year to Date                 

                 Fabric used           35.00m                 

                 Fabric added       32.37m

Net Used                                  2.64m  

Linking up with Patchwork Times

Now for an update on my monthly goals

We are 3/4 of the way through this month.

Goals

• work on handmade with love projects No further progress on these. I have some casserole carriers cut out with me but haven't sewn them
• sew left over hexies into strip for backing This is complete. All the left over hexies that I could I have made into either a strip or a block that I will use in the backing of the quilt
• cut fabric for Square with in a square (now called My Cat Likes to hide in Boxes) The project is all cut up and is in a project box ready to go when I next get a chance to sew
• cut fabric for T Intersection quilt The centre of the T Intersection quilt now called Onya Bike is sewn. I am now working on the piano key border... well I have sorted the fabric for it... haven't started sewing it
• Complete A to Z blogging challenge This has been going pretty well. All the posts have gone up on time as per schedule. The remaining posts are written and scheduled (some photos only remain to go on the last one). I have been keeping up pretty well with visiting other blogs as well and commenting as much as possible. I could say this one was done.

WIP Wednesday but its Thursday

This isn't my A to Z blogging post. Visit my previous post for my R post... or read this one anyway. 

Oops running late again with my WIP post. This being on holidays lark means I lose track of what day it is so easily. When I am home my regular commitments helps me track the days... Tuesday is Handmade With Love, Wednesday is Patchwork group, Thursday Avalon, Friday bible study Sunday church. Anyway..... its still Wednesday somewhere in the world.

Hexie Quilt
I finished off my handwork in the car on our drive from Brisbane to Sydney. I now have two pieced bits that I will incorporate into the backing of the Hexie quilt - one long thin piece and another that is square. I have also managed to use up just about all the hexies.... think I might have one left.

On Monday whilst we were on the Gold Coast looking into buying a car for Boyo I visited a Vinnies shop (St Vincent de Paul second hand shop) and found some fabric that was a good fit for a project I had in mind. We had been delayed an extra day in Brisbane due to the car so when we got back to our boy's home I unpacked the machine and set to work on this project.

I had been given 5 12" blocks - cream and maroon. I wanted a casserole carrier for me - I've made 5 for donations to stalls but never made one for me. I had to tweak my usual pattern to fit in with the size of the blocks but over the course of the evening I got the carrier made. The fabric I'd bought at Vinnie's formed the lining and base of the carrier. I didn't bring the velcro with me so it isn't quite finished but close enough. I had one major oopsie whilst making it. I found, as I was putting the two pieces of the casserole carrier together that I had stitched one lining piece back to front. By this time I had done the top stitching and couldn't be bothered to unpick everything so

I have been working on my bike quilt named "Onya Bike" (On yah bike or on your bike) I had pieced the centre on Sunday and Monday evening I put the first border on. I bought some blue toned fabric that I had thought would be good for the second 5" border but now I am not so sure - well actually I am sure. It won't do at all. Instead I am going to make a 5" piano key border instead using up the scraps of the fabric from the centre. I won't have enough and I don't have my scrap collection with me but I will make up what I can and finish it off when I get home... or buy some bits and pieces along the way (what a problem NOT). I would like to get it finished before I get home.

I have more casserole covers cut out with me that I can work on and also have another project prepped and ready to go. Its another one featuring cat fabric that I am calling "My Cat Likes to Hide i Boxes" The pattern is an adaption of a Square in a Square block that I found.

My sister in law, Christine from Bluebirds and Bumblebees has had a pattern published in the Australian magazine Homespun.  I bought the pattern and will move onto it when I get my other projects completed.

WIP Wednesday

If you are visiting for the A to Z blogging challenge, this is one of my regular blogs not my alphabet post. Go back one and you will find E. You are most welcome to read anyway LOL


Currently I am not at home. I'm staying with my friend Suzy in Yeppoon, a beachside town on the Capricorn Coast in Central Queensland. Suzy is getting married on Saturday and I'm one of her bridal attendants. I've come down a few days early to help with all the last minute things that need to get done.

So the biggest work in progress for me this week has been wedding prep!

We had a mani pedi this afternoon... and a coffee. Good times

I gave them their wedding quilt when I arrived Monday and Suzy put it straight onto her bed. It looks great.

Fixit Guy and I are heading off for 7 weeks holiday a few days after we get back from Yeppoon (read about what we are doing  here) I will be taking my sewing machine with me and some projects. 

The two projects that I have prepared are theT or Intersection quilt , and a modified Squares within a Square block quilt. I'm also hoping to get the back made for my hexie quilt. 

Since I have been here with Suzy I have managed a bit of sewing. Whilst we have sat and chatted in the evening I have done some  hand stitching. I am using up the left over hexagons by piecing a strip that I will insert into the back of the quilt hexie. Suzy also asked me to take up 2 sets of curtains that were too long. I brought my sewing machine with me by accident. It was in the car already but I didn't bring my sewing box so had no pins, tape measure, scissors, bobbins etc. Suzy had some stuff (tape measure, pins and rather dodgy scissors) We bought some bobbins, thread and a decent pair of scissors. I got the curtains done this morning whilst Suzy is at work (Her last morning before she starts holidays.)

And that is it.

So what have you been working on this week?

Linking up with 

E is for English Paper Piecing

Creativeglossary.com defines English paper piecing as

A technique that involves hand piecing shapes of fabric that are basted onto paper templates and then combined with a whipstitch on the fabric edges.

This is a direct quote and I think its a little confusing... the fabric is shaped around the paper template. You can trim the fabric to the approximate shape (allowing 1/4-1/2" all around) and it is more affective at times if you do but you don't have to.

The definition also leaves out the fact that after the pieces are whipstipped together first the basting stitches are removed and then the paper.

I have only completed one English paper piecing project. Not that's not right... its not finished yet although the top of the quilt is. (that is to say I haven't as yet made the backing, basted it, quilted it or bound it...so its a long way from finished) ANYWAY..my so far only English paper piecing project is my hexie quilt... that is hexagon quilt.

I've been working on it since September last year so in terms of a hand pieced quilt top it has actually come together pretty quickly.

The making of this quilt top in brief
1. I found a web page (that I have since lost... sigh) that allowed me to calculate how many hexies I would need to make based on the size of the hexie and the size of the quilt. You might think that obvious but because of the layout of the hexies it involves complicated maths.

2. I found another website that had hexagon templates on it that I could print off. I was able to choose from a variety of sizes. I chose 1.5" sides, 3" across) There were only about 8 to an A4 page which annoyed me as I could have fitted more than that on the sheet. To save printing ink and time (mostly time) I put one printed page on top and several sheets of scrap A4 and cut multiple pieces at a time. I'd worked out I would need 1500 hexies to make the size of quilt I wanted.

3 I used my scrap fabrics. To start with I cut out hexie shapes but rapidly (as in after about 3) I decided that cutting out 1500 of them was going to take way too long. I worked out that I could just fold my precut 3.5" squares around the shape and that would work just fine. I had a heap of 3.5" squares already in my scrap drawers. I started sewing hexagons.

4. I started sewing the flowers together as soon as I had 7 similarly coloured hexies. I worked on making "flowers - a centre hexie with one hexie sewn on each side making a flower with a centre and 6 petals. I put the lightest in the centre and darker ones around the outside. 

However then I decided that I wanted to make the flowers from the same or very similar fabric if possible. At this point I went to my non scrap stash and chose some bigger chunks of fabric to cut up into 3.5" squares to use.

 I also decided I wanted to do some sort of design but I wasn't sure what so instead I made hexies and figured I would work out a design later. (I did a Joen Wolfrom workshop and I had dreams of making a landscape picture) So for several months I just sewed hexies and sorted them into colours

5. SO..... when I had made my 1536ish hexies I started to sew them into flowers, using same or similar coloured flowers.

my daughter's cats always supervised me carefuly

6 I knew I had to work out a design. I printed off several sheets of hexie graph paper, taped them together to approximate the size of the quilt I would make (well not the actual size but the design would be.... ) 

I got my coloured pencils and set to work to design the quilt. I decided to have it as a flower garden with sky and clouds up the top, a mass of flowers in the middle and grass at the bottom. 

No stems for the flowers... that was going to be way to hard to work in. I worked it so some of the flowers were peaking out behind others so weren't going to be full flowers. Also the design ran off the paper so again some of the flowers would be halves

7 Time to sew the flowers together, working in sky behind some flowers... I chunked the design - sewed batches of flowers together then sewed those chunks together. My design wall was invaluable for working out how to put them together. 

(The first photo is on an improvised design wall from when I was away)

Home again I had to extend my design wall with a sheet in order to be able to plan it out properly

When I had the centre piece - the main part of the flower garden complete for the width of the quilt I worked on the grass section- sewed it for the full width and then attached it and finally the sky and cloud section.

 When I completed a chunk I would remove the basting stitches and the papers for all the hexies except for the ones on the edge. This made the quilt easier to scrunch up as I did the top stitching. 

8. The edges of the quilt had to have half hexies stitched in to make them straight. I had planned to make half hexies specifically but in the end I had so many hexies (I miscalculated... or made the final quilt smaller ...) that I was able to use full ones and fold them over (sides) or cut in half (top and bottom)

My design changed as I went but the design on the graph paper was a great starting point.

Now the top is done and I have to work out what to do for the back.

Mind you I think that the back looks rather nice anyway with the sun shining through (and when you can't see the raggy edges and messy bits too well)


I plan to piece together all the left over hexies together and then appliqué them onto a backing piece. I do NOT intend to hand quilt it as I want the all over stipple I am planning to reinforce the had stitching on the front. That is the plan.... stay tuned!!

(If you want more photos and progress shots just search hexies on the blog and it should show you a heap of posts that this quilt gets mentioned)

Sunday Stash - More finishes

So excited. I am on a roll. I got another quilt finished. Dash That Cat is now done, even labelled and ready to go to its new home . It is great to have another finish under my belt. The finished quilt is 265 cm x 232 cms (91"x 104") and used 13.91m of fabric. It might even have been more since both the binding and backing were pieced but I will let it sit at just under 14m of fabric. I occasionally use a bit of fabric I have acquired and no add into the spread sheet so it evens out in the end.

I'm sorry I don't have a decent photo of it but its so huge its hard to get one, especially since my rotary hoist clothes line broke a few years back

I have also been making some cute little baskets for Handmade with Love. 

Anyway back to the fabric baskets I made. We put Easter Eggs in them for a little but it was so hot they were getting soft so we had to put them into the cold box to firm up. Some of the fabric in them was from Handmade Love but I supplied all the linings. 55cms in all. 

The pattern for the baskets was based on this link which came from an email from All People Quilt with links to Easter projects. I adapted it to make some slightly larger baskets and also to account for one way fabric.

We had a stall for Handmade Love on Saturday at the markets associated with our town Sunflower Festival. We didn't make a heap of money but $200 is a welcome addition to our coffers and it is encouraging to see stuff we make going on out into the community. 

It helps us recognise what sells and what doesn't. So far my zipper pouches for the ear buds haven't been a big hit but I love them and so does everyone I've given them to. I made another rectangular casserole carrier to go with one I'd made earlier in the week and 3 sets of pot mitts to match. The fabric used in the carrier and pot mitts came from Zambia, bought back by our project director on one of her trips to the school (Our Rainbow House in Chainda, Lusaka Zambia) 

I also made a little zipper purse for the stall. None of the fabric for these things came from my stash - all was from Handmade Love stocks. 

No purchases this week.

Stats from Weeks 13

                 Fabric used            14.46m

                 Fabric added           0.00m

Year to Date

                 Fabric used         29.38m

                 Fabric added       19.17m

Net Used                              +10.20m  

Yes I am finally into the black for the first time this year. Those two fat quarter bundles at the beginning of the year have taken a lot to pare back. But we are there at last. I have another quilt pinned and ready to be quilted - My Twilters Hashtag quilt, a quilt top finished that I am working on the backing for (Diamond Dash 2), and another top finished this week (My Hexie Quilt - still no name - maybe that is going to be it). If I became uber productive in this next week I could get all 3 finished (or not) They will make a giant leap in my fabric used stats.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times

WIP Wednesday

I am really excited. I have made fantastic progress on 2 projects this week.

Hexie quilt: The top is completed - as far as stitching goes. I put the last stitch in it at the conclusion of our church council meeting last night. It was a long meeting and I was able to get the "Sky" connected to the rest of the quilt.

This morning at Patchwork I took out the basting stitches and removed all the papers apart from around the edge. I am leaving them in till I have it pinned ready to quilt. The hand stitching is a little too fragile to take the dragging around. The seams unravel easily even though I double knotted them as much as possible.

 Now to work out the backing! I have left over hexies and I am wondering about incorporating them but think I might leave them for another project and do a non pieced backing

I am so thrilled to have it done. People ask me what I am going to do with it and honestly I don't know. I have no plans for it... no particular place for it to go. But I am sure I will find somewhere special for it.

Dash That Cat (that I have called Drat that Cat a few times....) The quilting is completed. Yes. under the needle was tricky although made easier by the fact I quilted in rows... along each row of blocks. Still restling that mammoth quilt (91"x 104") was awkward 

 Just the binding to go. I am a pretty slack quilter compared to some of the quilting I see others do. But... I don't get excited by it, quilting I mean. I do a pretty good meander and other times I do a lovely loose free motion free form quilting pattern and that is what I have done on DTC. 

I tried out a variety of different patterns on the blocks going across the quilt... spirals, meander and this loose swirl and dip thing... which I also did on the sashing and  the top and bottom borders. I did a chain of hearts on the side borders and they were all different sizes and free form. I enjoyed doing them. I used an Aurifil thread from Tula Pink's collection - choosing a varigated peachy pink. 

I made the binding at Patchwork group this morning. I needed 400 inches. I used some of the bits I trimmed off the backing after I had quilted it plus other bits of left over fabric and cut up one more fat quarter from the Japanese fabric bundle - Uki. There seems to be oodles of it but I can use leftovers in the binding for  Diamond Dash 2 quilt

At Handmade Love this week I was able to do some fun sewing. I made a little zipper bag to go on a key fob using a pattern called Teeny Tiny Mini Zipper Pouch keyring by So Sew Easy found here (the title is bigger than the pouch)

I also made a casserole carrier using some African fabric the director of Our Rainbow House Alison bought back with her on trip to our school in Zambia

It was good to get a couple of finishes under the belt. I cut out the fabric for a 2nd casserole carrier which will be the reverse of this one (green on the outside, blue inside) and there are scraps to make pot mitts to match. 

What have you been sewing this week?

Linking up with