Crazy squares patchwork quilt: A finished quilt

It has been so long since I finished a quilt and it is so satisfying that this one has been made in a week.  Well done me and thank goodness for half term!  

There really is a lot going on with this quilt - there are 546 squares in total and by my reckoning I have used over 135 different fabrics.  Unfortunately this project has made no dent in the stash, but it has awakened my eyes to the beauty of such scrappy quilts and to the satisfaction of combining so many different fabrics.

The quilting is not my finest.  I could not find nearly enough quilter's safety pins and I think this explains some of the folds I just had to overlook.  (I've deliberately not taken photos of the worst parts.)

The binding is perfectly neutral - grey features on both the back and the front and it is such a great blender.  I particularly like the irregular stripe pattern because it mimics the zebra's hide on the back.



Let's hope I am showing off another quilt soon!

Happy Half Term

I'm off work this week for half term and I am enjoying every minute of it.  Half term means three things to me: lie ins, catching up with friends, plenty of sewing.  All three make me a happier person.

The mad patchwork quilt with lots of small squares is getting close to completion.  I have used 546 squares in total and there are very many different fabrics included.  Somehow I think it works.

I have loved pulling so many different fabrics from stash and putting them together in this crazy way.  I think these sorts of quilts are such a good way to use up bits of fabric, but are also rich for the recipient because you can play games with them; I spy, pairs, same but different, how many?  I now know who will end up with this quilt and I am sure they would use the quilt in that way and not only to keep their little one warm.

For the quilting I am doing tram tracks to create a lovely chequered look on the back.  This is going to take a while to quilt, and some bits are better than others because of my piecing.  But overall it seems to be alright and I know all that quilting will give it a lovely texture.

I raided my stash for the backing and found this fabric I bought at the NEC last August.  It's a lovely fabric by Creative Thursday.  There is a lot of white on the front so I am glad this has plenty of white but also has a saturated green background for contrast.

I now just have to choose the binding and the quilt will be soon finished.  I am sure I can see a Friday Finish coming on.

Happy stitching!

Oops!...I did it again!

Another blog post and another couple of zipped pouches.  I just cannot help myself at the moment.  I just love making these quick and cute gifts for people.  And as people love to receive them, I'm sure I will be making more in the future.

First up we have eight year old Clara's rainbow pencil case.  I loved picking the rainbow colours for this pencil case and I am pleased with my choice of zip which matches the interior perfectly.

In return Clara made me a gorgeous thank you card and a rainbow loom band bracelet.  I was thrilled!  She'll definitely be receiving more stitch gifts in the future!

Next up we have Elena's Russian pencil case.  Elena is a Russian work colleague, who's had a tough week.  I was stitching this last night at about eleven o'clock because I was desperate to complete it.  She was really pleased with it this morning and it was nice to see her smile.

The interior is a fabric I purchased at the weekend.  It was bad of me to buy it when I am meant to be stash-busting, but I just had to buy two fat quarters (one in the white, one in the blue) of these Holly Hobbie fabrics.  I think I can already justify these purchases as I've already used them in two projects and have made a big dent into them both.

It's been a while since I worked on a quilt.  This week I decided that had to change and that I would work on a crazy quilt which uses lots of different fabrics.  Some of these fabrics I've had for a while, some are recent purchases.  I'm not being precious about what I use and how they are put together.  The aim is just to get a quilt made using lots of different fabrics and to see how it looks at the end!

My stash has plenty of "critter" fabrics and I am pleased to have included many of them here.  All the squares are 2½" and I've been working hard to get good piecing.  The piece is 21 squares across, but I haven't decided upon the final length yet.

It has been great to use up plenty of scraps in this quilt.  I always feel virtuous doing that.  I have a nice backing fabric in stash and enough wadding, so this does feel like a stash-busting project.  So many novelty fabrics make it a great quilt for playing "I spy".  I don't know who will receive this quilt in the end but I am certainly having fun stitching it together.

Have a lovely stitching weekend!

Happy scrappy projects

Whenever I buy fabric I find myself going to my existing stash and using that before touching the new fabric.  I think I must be subconsciously justifying my new purchases by using up stash.  Or maybe it's so I can make space for the new stuff.  Whichever it is, since my visit to The Village Haberdashery I have used nothing but stash and scraps.  It makes me feel angelic (yeah right!)

Guess what?  I made another zippy pouch, and this one is for me.  I love it!  Turquoise is one of my favourite colours and I put the fabrics together beautifully.  I haven't decided what to use it for yet, but in the meantime I am happy just to let it stay on my chest of drawers where I can admire it.

In last month's Love Patchwork and Quilting there were some lovely quilt as you go cushions which I wanted to have a go at.  I've seen a few people making them on Instagram which inspired me to hit my stash and make my own.

I had never tried quilt as you go before but it was a lot of fun and very satisfying.  This is a good pattern for using up scraps.  This is only the front but it won't take me long to sew the back of the cushion.  I hope to make a couple more to match this one.

You may have noticed that the two previous projects include cat fabrics.  I love cats!  But at the moment I am remembering this time last year when my beloved ginger boy, Granby, became ill and we had to say goodbye to him.  I still miss him, though I do love the new boys we have adopted since.  In homage to Granby and now Brutus and Jackson I have made some patchwork cats which are on the wall of my sewing room.  I am pleased with this project, though I wonder if I need to remake Jackson because the dark purple doesn't show up his tabby fur.  

I am especially pleased with how Brutus turned out because I think I managed to capture his look quite accurately.  Wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for visiting.