Scrappy Dresden Plate: A quilt in progress

My aim to finish a quilt last Friday just didn't happen.  The quilting is done, the binding is on but I just didn't manage to sew in all those thread ends!  It does look lovely, and I could have posted a blog post with photos, but I would prefer to show this quilt off when it is completely finished and at its most beautiful.  Hopefully it will be finished soon.

At the weekend I attended a sewing class and I worked on a scrappy Dresden plate.  I have seen a few of these on other blogs and love the effect that is created but also the opportunity to use up scraps and fabrics from stash.

I purchased a template ruler, which was a good buy because it is straightforward to use and you cannot get your angles very wrong as a result.  I love the fact that in quilting someone has created all the gadgets to make your sewing easier.  I have not been sewing and quilting that long but I do appreciate that people must have been making complicated patterns previously without such tools.  I'm just grateful that I can enjoy my hobby with a little more ease.

You can either make the ends pointed or keep them circular.  I like the pointed effect.  Though, as you can see from the photos, I forgot to sew the ends into the point on one of them.  (What a bird brain!)  I'll have to rectify that but at least you get to compare the two options. 

I love the colours and fabrics I have put together in this.  It has a spring feel to it, but I think it could be lovely for a boy's quilt and I have deliberately avoided including distinctly feminine fabrics.

My intention is to make another Dresden plate and then sew these to a white background.

 

Thanks for visiting!

Back to my bestie

Anyone who reads my blog or spends time sewing and quilting with me will find out pretty quickly that my all time favourite fabric range is Wee Wander by Sarah Jane Studios.  I truly adore it!  It might be approaching two years since it was first introduced, but I still think it is as fresh as ever and I use my stash of these fabrics selectively.

In March I finished a quilt top which uses each of the fabrics in the range alongside white, and then I put it away for a while so that I could look forward to spending time with the fabrics again.  I know this sounds crazy, but think of me like Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who nibbles a bit of his precious (and limited) chocolate in order to savour it.  This weekend I decided it was time to savour more time with this fabric and begin the quilting.

 As ever I am using my walking foot for the quilting.  Usually I use the seams to keep the quilting lines straight and this usually ends up being about a quarter inch from the seam.  This time I decided to quilt in that way but also close up to the seams as well.  I love the tram tracks look I created on the squares which are making up the sashing.

For the foundation pieced stars I wanted to emphasise the star shapes.  I have done this by quilting just inside and outside the seams.  I love the way in which this makes the shapes stand out and it also creates a nice texture.  As ever, I am quilting with Aurifil thread.  I opted for white throughout to add to the crisp feel of this quilt.

The backing is a fabric I've only recently discovered, Holly Hobbie by Spectrix in Pretty Flowers White.  I think it is ideal and has the right blues and a touch of green to match the front.

There is still plenty of quilting to be done, binding to add, ends to sew in.  But surely I can manage a Friday finish!

Today I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts.

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.

Long time no blog

It really has been too long since I posted a blog.  I've not fallen out with sewing or blogging, just time seems to be such a precious commodity at the moment and I've not had enough time for either.  As April ends and May approaches I was determined to write a post and I have some nice things to show off.

As I've been short on time small projects have been just the ticket.  I've made three zipped bags recently.  The first is for a friend who loves the colour blue.  We met up on Friday and she was pleased with her gift.

The second is for a cool and kooky friend who wears amazing clothes.  She has a dress made from this fabric with a black background.  I need to put it in the post tomorrow.  She has just started work at a new school and I think she will appreciate having a pencil case to match one of her outfits.

Next up we have another patchwork pouch made from mainly blue prints.  This was made for a Liberty fan.  She didn't get it for any particular reason other than I wanted to make it for her.  She was thrilled with it and I loved making it.

I have had a fantastic weekend in London as my husband was running the Marathon.  I enjoyed watching the race and looking for him on Sunday but Saturday was very much "my day" and I got to visit some really cool shops.  I'm a big fan of The Village Haberdashery's website and their blog.  I've had two tutorials on their blog and am about to have another on soon, but I had never visited the shop in person.  On Saturday this was put right and I feel it will be a pilgrimage whenever I go to London!  The shop is amazing - all (and I am not exaggerating here) the fabric is amazing.  It is just so cool, modern and fresh and it was just so lovely to meet Annie and Caroline.

My stashbusting went right out of the window on Saturday as I made a few purchases.  I think I showed incredible self-restraint as there was just so much temptation there.

First up are some fabrics from Lighthearted by Kokka.  I've long loved this range and was relieved that some of the food print was still left in the shop.  They had only 3 fat quarters of it so I snapped them all up.  The shop carries all the Kona Cotton Solids and I had such fun matching the colours to the prints.  I don't know what these are going to be, but I expect it will be for the dining room and I am sure to enjoy myself!

I picked out my favourite fabrics from Jessica Hogarth's Street Life, though the whole range is adorable and I might end up adding to it later.  I think being in London affected my choice here because I went for the fabrics which were so identifiably British and London.

I ummed and ahhed about these next fabrics.  I think these are the start of a rainbow style quilt, but I will add more prints and colours to them later.  I picked out three fabrics from Riley Blake's Mini Quatrefoil and three from Alison Glass' Sun Print Mercury.  I think they go wonderfully together, so bright and happy.

My favourite (and most unexpected) purchase is this corduroy Oh my darling Clementine by Rae Hoekstra.  I've never sewn with cord before and I have no idea what I will make, but there was no way I was going home without a metre of this amazing fabric.  I'll have to get looking for something but this fabric has to be for me.

I hope you approve of my purchases.  Not much really...