Monkey Magic

A little bit of 'me' time this afternoon saw the assembly, quilting and binding getting sorted on this Sock Monkey Quilt:

I just need to hand sew the binding, and that will just take a decent program on the TV!

Here is my embroidered monkey for the centre

And last time there was something decent on TV I got the binding finished on the Five-a-Day bonus quilt:

My Babies have been named - Joey and Zoey (or Joey Sorbet and Zoey Lemon to give their full names!).  One of the cats has discovered them!

Friday Finishes

It's been rubbish weather most of this week: torrential rain and cold enough I've needed my slippers!! In that sort of weather all I've wanted to do is curl up with a quilt and watch TV.

But I'm also aware that my school holiday is rapidly coming to an end, and I'd like to get my UFO list down a bit before next week, so instead of curling up under a finished quilt I've been under an unfinished quilt, finished the binding on . . .

This one: Five a Day

 

And this one: Tessellated Red and Cream Stars

 

And this one: Jilly's Garden Gate

 

There are, of course, plenty more UFOs, but these are now finished, yippee!

 

 

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Five a Day (almost) Finished

This woven quilt builds up quite quickly, so once I had the extra black yardage I could get it done and machine bound. I'll hand sew the binding to the back when it's a bit cooler.

This could be made from FQs, although I had half a yard of each fabric which was far more than necessary!  (this is quilt number 2, and number 3 is also under construction, and there is enough left for a few tote bags too!)

It looks complicated, but I cut 5" strip x width of fabric from each fabric, and added 2.5" x wof to each long edge.

Once I'd pressed seams to the dark side I checked the total height and it was 9" (yay for 1/4" seams). I then sub cut the units into 9" squares so I could arrange them into a woven design

 

Then I did a bit of speed dating to arrange the blocks. I've seen this quilt done with random placement, and that's fine but my slight OCD means mine has to *look* woven, and all the red and orange fruits and vegetables have to go one direction while the others go the other way. Like they say at Subway, I want it done my way!

Because I wanted it on point, some of the blocks had to be cut through 45 degrees - if you are having a go do check TWICE that you are cutting on the right diagonal (no muttering at the back as to how I discovered the importance of this)

These sized blocks fitted perfectly onto an IKEA fleece (51x67") and the left over 5" blocks are being made into this bonus quilt, AND I've shifted a pile of stash fabric - all good!  

Bits and Bobs

I've been off school for a week now, but haven't managed half the sewing I had hoped for!

There have been relatives to collect from one place and take to another, walls to unpaint and then paint (his job, not mine), the shed to de-clutter and tidy, and coursework to be done

Inspired by Pinterest!

 but I have managed to intersperse *some* sewing!

I have finished the Dotty Tumblers

And made some bunting for a friend from her girls' old school uniform

I've done some customer embroidery

And I've made some more Sweet Sixteen blocks: some for me and some for Jackie

I've also made a start on a woven quilt using fruit and veg fabrics I bought, and used half of, at least 4 years ago.  I'm doing pretty much the same thing again, but annoyingly I've run out of black so I cant make the missing blocks

Oh dear - I might have to go fabric shopping!

2011 June

Fabric Fun

I had a lovely day yesterday at the Fire Station Crafts Centre in Windsor. I ran two Fun With Fabric classes for kids- they brought along a T-shirt or used a basic cushion cover and I brought along bags and bags of ribbons, gems, fabric paints, buttons, felt, netting, denim, etc plus an iron and a glue gun.

The first group was mostly Niki and her friends. They went for cushion covers- deciding to make cushions for their cars, LOL

 

The second group brought along T-shirts and decorated every spare inch

They were all really creative, even (especially) the 9 year old, and we had great fun!

Five A Day

You may remember this quilt

which was a birthday present for a friend, Katie, in the village.  She has asked me to make one for her Mother-in-Law, the same but a bit funkier

We emailed back and forth, chatting about designs, colours and fabrics, and ended up with the same design (sort of woven rail fence) but using some fab Farmer John's Market Stall fabrics that I got last year, with black borders.  Funnily enough, it was the design I had planned for these fabrics, and I am L.O.V.I.N.G how it's looking so far.

I cut the fruit and veg fabrics into 5 inch strips, width of fabric, and the black at 2.5" x width of fabric.  It will be slightly bigger flimsy than Katie's, but will still be applied to an Ikea fleece, so the final size will be the same.  All the black strips have been stitched on, and the blocks have been cut to size and arranged, and they have now been pinned in columns, waiting for the time to stitch them

Don't panic Katie - (they look a bit wobbly, but once they are stitched they will lay flat!)

I had real spacial awareness issues with the triangular cut blocks, but I got there in the end without any seam ripping.  I hope you agree the name of Five A Day is appropriate!

where did that week go?

I cant believe I haven't posted for over a week, although we've been so busy that maybe I can believe it!

We had a weekend in Weymouth with husband's family followed by a week which included Niki getting into a tangle with another driver (totally his 'bad', luckily no one hurt at all, but very scary, ) and time out to get quotes and arrange the insurance claim, and the old furniture being collected by a charity (who refused the sofa bed due to a tiny coffee stain on the mattress!).

Saturday's Library class saw us making paper pieced hexagons, and the Church class involved starting to copy a handbag, and putting a new ribbon on a hat!

 I managed to squeeze in a visit to my local quilting shop  on Friday (I had to take one of my church ladies to get fabric for her bag!) and today we took a trip to Portsmouth to see mum, and while Brian drove, I stitched running stitches onto some gingham for the museum class on Friday where we are going to tackle smocking

The Five A Day quilt has has a black border added, and scrappy binding has been machine stitched to the front and pinned to the back: I just need a little time to finish it!

(Photos are from my fancy new phone - any distortion will be my fault for not driving it properly!!)

Now I'm off to bed!

Quilting = happiness

I found this quote and link on Lis's blog,

Emily L. Burt, Postgraduate Student and Jacqueline Atkinson, Professor of Mental Health Policy, have looked into the connections between health and craft hobbies and report:

"Results: Cognitive, emotional and social processes were uncovered, which participants identified as important for their wellbeing. Participants found quilting to be a productive use of time and an accessible means of engaging in free creativity. Colour was psychologically uplifting. Quilting was challenging, demanded concentration and participants maintained and learned new skills. Participants experienced ‘flow’ while quilting. A strong social network fostered the formation of strong friendships. Affirmation from others boosted self-esteem and increased motivation for skill development. Quilts were often given altruistically and gave quilting added purpose." 


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/8573211/Unravelling-secrets-in-crafty-stitchwork.html

Which is all great to know!

Museum Session

 I had a great afternoon at Chertsey Museum today - 8 ladies all having a go at smocking!  Luckily I had prepared 8 sections of fabric ready to be gathered and smocked, and they all got stuck in.

 Most managed to get two lines stitched, generally top and bottom of the gathered area

 some started on a third row

 while others just worked from the top

I confess I completed very little, but largely because I didn't have a spare piece stitched ready to be gathered, so I thought that was a jolly good excuse!

I have, however managed some embroidery - machine embroidery on another block for Hilary's texture quilt.  This is four squares filled with a programmed fill stitch, so nothing technically impressive, but it feels lovely!

 

and this block is an embroidery of a Labrador puppy - must be Dixie!!!

Happy Shopping

I went to Sandown for the National Quilt exhibition last weekend.  I forgot the camera so no inspirational photos, but i did remember the wallet . . . so did manage some shopping!

I thought this panel would be great for teaching foundation piecing (it is sold with the idea of making a wall hanging, but I reckon it can be chopped up and used by lots of people)

This is some scrummy fabrics from the Pure range from Moda (by Sweetwater I think) which I HAD to have, and some super French linen fabrics, which not so much called my name as shouted it!

and then a few jelly rolls fell into my bag (I've seen a few 1600" quilts on blogs and I'd like to make one), together with some night sky and stained glass bias binding for the Museum and Library classes, and a few odd bits that will be used one day

This is a block for the texture block I am making. The four squares have been embroidered on my embroidery machine, and each has a very different feel to it.

This next one was also done on the embroidery machine, it hopefully looks, and will feel, like Dixie the guide dog when she was a puppy

And Dixie as an adult dog

and some pretty textured buttons

and some rikrak