"S" is for sewing

Well I've just had 2 lovely "Olive days".......we went to the library, we baked banana cake (with chocolate icing!), we played undressing & dressing granny's old baby doll, we walked, we talked about the early morning fog & autumn coming, we went to Stiener school, we did heaps together!!

And now, I have a few free hours to sew!
First priority was completing my Broken Glass quilt. I sewed like the clappers & made the last 5 blocks. Not sure why I put off doing those last few blocks, but it's all together now & is of a reasonable size. I'm wondering how to quilt it. It's a fairly busy looking pattern so I was thinking maybe something simple ...any suggestions?

I'm enjoying sewing the monthly blocks for the "Classic meets Modern" QAL.
I want to keep my blocks fairly neutral, and am really trying to resist the urge to throw in more of that lovely vibrant eggplant purple! (My plan is to only have a few strategic splashes of it overall). So when April's BOM arrived today - Double Z block, or variation of, which is what I chose to do - I got busy making that too! Fast & simple, and low volume too!

And then, while I was catching up on blogs I enjoy, I spotted this yesterday - Design Your Own Sampler Quilt, which Sarah over @ http://sarahquilts.com/  has put up a great tutorial on.  The idea is to use up orphan blocks or make new ones and, to keep it all simple, choose block sizes that are multiples of each other, e.g. 2-4-6-8-12-16.
I made a quilt along those lines some time ago, a real eclectic mix of leftovers ....

....which is now on Olive's bed & I still love it!
It makes me smile every time I'm over there & make Olive's bed! A bit of time, thought and the addition of black & white fabrics helped make this quilt gel despite such a wild collection of colour! 

But the idea of using up orphan blocks & leftovers in an improvisational style still continues to appeal to me. There are examples everywhere - Kathy from Material Obsession's latest book "Adding Layers" has a lovely stash quilt called "Madness" and it has structure & chaos!  There are of course the quilts from Gees Bend, and Victoria Findlay Wolfe shares ideas of how to mix old blocks with new, and has heaps of ways to use up that stash.   
Sarah's layout for her improv quilt caught my attention! It appears to have some structure, in that it is put together in 4 sections, and I rather like that. So, sidetracked once again, I gathered up some of my old orphan blocks, looked thru' my scrap basket for leftover strips, & studied my selection.
Hm-m--m- I may be some time (sorting this out)..........

So heaps for me to be getting on with, yes?
What are you all busy working on at the moment?
Linking up with Lee @ for WIP Wednesday.

P.S. I'm thinking about going to the Auckland Patchworker's guild meeting this coming saturday - haven't been in years!!  Will let you know how it goes!

diet train wreck!

While not being totally commited to the cause..you know, the online fabric diet thingy (technical term!)...on a more personal level, I have actually been really concentrating lately on using what fabrics I have here at home. Truely, it's the most sensible thing to do, the most economic, not giving into consumer culture, etc.  And, to quote Kristel @  http://wipgirl.wordpress.com/  ..."I have too much stuff. I have too much fabric. I have too many projects in progress. I have too many future projects" (unquote) !!  So for my last 3 projects, I have been quietly fabric fasting, i.e. I have duly gone thru' the baskets hunting for bits & pieces, making adjustments, not getting distracted by newer fabrics,  hey...it's what patchwork is all about, yes?
But, to be honest, I was never any good at dieting! (and I couldn't ignore the current exchange rate any longer!) (and there are always some gaps in one's personal stash).
Last week I went shopping.
Selective shopping you understand!
And yesterday the postie delivered!

A couple of basics... Oval Elements in chocolate & a yummy eggplant.

A few pretty pastel /low volume prints, always handy to have, yes?

Some more AMH... I only had a small scrap left of this lovely deep purple, and am certainly going to need more for my BOM "Classic meets Modern".

And then 2 "vintagey" looking fabrics, Carnaby Street Black Tea (just love the name!) and Lavender Dainty Daisies. 
 

  

I will be back to sewing more,

and finishing a bit more

(and shopping less!)

 next week.

just not enough time!!

I don't know about you, but getting time to sew has been a bit difficult lately.
And especially while we are having all these lovely last-of-the-summer evenings, there's just heaps of other things to do. Have you checked out the art sculpture display over at Te Atatu Penisula? And the Sol3 Mio concert? I have also been trying to catch up with book club reading! A "must read" is - "the other hand" by Chris Cleave. This book is indeed a truely special story, captivating & unforgettable! (Won't spoil it for you!)

From a sewing point of view, I now have quite a list of "things-to-finish" at the moment!
This is where I got up to with my Broken Glass quilt a couple of weeks ago -

Back into sewing again today, and I have managed to carefully put it all together. At present it's 4 blocks across by 5 down, but I plan to keep on going & make it larger. It's the kind of pattern that is really visually appealing, and the bigger the better I suspect! (haven't ironed it yet, but here's a pic so far)

I did finish the quilt for Baby Caleb & it's gone off with little Olive to give to his mum today.

 And, I am in the middle of putting together a few more blocks for Alison over @ http://littleislandquilting.blogspot.co.nz/  ... the 'Giving Back - Soy Amado' project.
I added borders onto 4 of the blocks to bring them up to the required size of 12 1/2" and then did some simple straight line quilting. These four are all ready now for posting off Monday morning!

I actually love all this juggling.... you know, having a few different things all on the go at once, all at different stages! My theory is that I can focus on what ever I choose depending on time available, & my mood of course!  And then there's the inevitable sewing "bucket list" too! But the really frustrating part is not having enough time to do it all ! 
Never mind... a little bit of fabric therapy today, and at least I was able to cross a couple more things off the "things-to- finish list"! 
Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced, WIP Wednesday.
And, linking up with Fabric Frenzy Friday for the first time over @ http://fortworthfabricstudio.blogspot.co.nz/ later on. This is a link up where anything goes!! anything to do with fabric that is!

classic meets modern QAL

Having a small design wall has been v. useful to help make choices.
Recently I put together a small collage of fabric scraps & just popped them up on the wall to look at. I had a bit of a colour receipe in mind -peach & creams & teal,  plus just a small hint of purple to create impact. I really wanted to use up some of my scraps of  AMH fabrics and I added in a few low volume fabrics too. It all seemed to work well...at least up on the design wall anyway!   
And so, this past few weeks I have enjoyed just simply looking at these fabrics on the wall.
Just waiting for a reason to use them !!!
But, you know, ultimately, it's do or die!....and it is only a small design wall after all!

Luckily I came across this - a "Classic meets Modern" quilt-along!!!
Each month Erin @ http://www.sewathomemummy.com/2013/12/the-classic-meets-modern-qal-at-sew-at.html shares a classic block, and adds her modern slant on it.
It really caught my eye! And, while baling from the previous BOM/ 40 Shades of Grey, I did find having a monthly deadline to work towards was a great incentive.    
So now I've been busy catching up 'cos, of course, the QAL began back in January!
So far, we have done 1/2 square triangles, Y seams, and curved piecing.
It's been interesting for me to revisit some of these techniques. They are blocks I have made earlier over the years, a real classic sampler quilt, but right now I am focusing on change!
.......can I make the blocks just a wee bit more modern ?
.......just in some small way?

Well quilty friends, what do you think?



it's the "journey" isn't it?....yeah right!!

It began as a vague idea.... I'd seen a photo somewhere of a block that appealed to me, vintage-y & scrapp-y.   So still not too sure about the actual pattern I was going to use, I started sorting out a few fabrics. I wanted to see if I had enough in my stash to get the right feel.  I began to search a bit more selectively, a bit deeper into the baskets, thru' some of my more older fabrics for small scale, faded fabrics, with no set colour scheme in mind.

I looked at this group of fabrics for several days, adding to it & pulling out the odd one.

Then the other day I had a little play drawing up a template.
I wanted a large circle, a Dresden Plate maybe, but how many segments?
I finally decided on 16 wedges, and understood that I needed to make a circle, which is 360 degrees, easy!
But maths is not my strongest point!

Needed mr D's input here!!

I did a test block with 16 wedges, just to check that mr D. had indeed done his maths right! 
H-m-m-m- it wasn't going together so well...see the humps?

So I had another go!  I was under instructions to check my cutting out & 1/4" stitching width!!!  Admitedly, I can be a bit relaxed with my piecing ( he did have a point!), so I v. carefully made the next one....

It was a bit better, but still not right.
We got out the graph paper again & suddenly mr D. shouted "no, no, no"  and quickly got to work drawing up a brand new template for me.  We had the tools, just needed to concentrate a bit more!!!

So, once again I did a trial run.....

I must confess - it was a bit of work for both of us, and quite a bit of unpicking for me!!!
It'll all go together in the end!!!   I can't waste the earlier fabrics - they are so perfect for this! - I'm sure I can be a bit creative in making them fit!


And then, a few days later, guess what?
Glenys popped in for a wine & showed me her new book....
"Adding Layers" by Kathy Doughty/ Material Obsession.

And there inside was the perfect pattern, and the template for 20 wedges, and some excellent advice re fabric choices.  Pattern, template & advice - all the hard work already done for me right there in black & white, & colour !!

 



There's a also good read, including the comments, which I actually found later on too over here @
http://www.stitchedincolor.com/2014/02/what-makes-it-vintage.html   where Rachel shares her thoughts on what makes a quilt look vintage.

Still. I'm glad we went thru' the processes. 
It's all fun ........ teamwork, choosing the fabrics, working out the maths, rethinking when you find you don't have enough of one particular fabric, revisiting the starting point, etc!!  I did find that cutting & sewing really did need to be v. accurate! A consistant 1/4" seam essential!  And a plastic template would have definitely helped!
Now I need to clock up some sewing miles!  
And, mr D. really did enjoy coming along this journey with me too!!!

P.S.  and for a bit of light relief after all that, and it was such a wet weekend here in Auckland, I made a Drunkard's Path block! 
Linking up with "Classic meets Modern" QAL and WIP Wednesday later in the week. 
Off now to do some baking for Olive's 3rd Birthday party tomorrow!

almost finished!

Just taking a break from my Broken Glass blocks today because I'm a bit overdue with a gift! 
A friend of the family had a wee baby boy a couple of weeks ago & what does every newborn need? a little quilt of course!   I like to have a couple of small quilts here in the " almost finished" pile, just needing the quilting done and/or binding put on. She had popped in to visit a few weeks before baby came & picked out a quilt she liked, one I made ages ago & was almost, almost finished!!   So today I've sewn on the binding & will sit tonight & handsew the back of it down.

And remember these scarves ?

Well one easter rabbit has been made & went straight away to it's new home! 
I had an "Olive" day yesterday & we set about making a rabbit together! 
Olive chose the red scarf...lovely! 
I sewed & she stuffed!! 
(you can imagine the mess....small bits of white pillow stuffing all around the sewing room!!!)  But we had a lot of fun & I just managed to get a pic before she & rabbit went home!

Linking up with Lee @ WIP Wednesday later on today. 

works in progress

I do like having a "work- in- progress" on the go.
And thanks to the fresh scrappy low volume input from fellow quilters, I've been busy working steadily away at my Broken Glass quilt.  I find that by cutting blunt points on the triangle tips eliminates those "ears" and certainly helps when joining all the triangles together. I have also found it easier if I do four at a time, and the pile of blocks is growing quite quickly now!

But I must admit I've hit a brick wall with my other "work-in-progress", the BOM "40 shades of Grey" blocks! Here was the master plan -

I am not enjoying making the blocks at all, lots of reasons why, and really don't want to make any more! So I have spent the last couple of weeks wondering which way to go with them.  After playing with them for ages today trying to work out some way to get them to gel together, and not succeeding, I had a "lightbulb moment" !!!
I have now decided that I will make all the nine blocks up to the same size. Then layer them up, do some quilting, and send them off to Alison, Little Island Quilts. She is asking for  "quilt-as-you-go" blocks which she is assembling together into quilts to send to street children living in Mexico City.
If you are interested check it out here @  http://littleislandquilting.blogspot.co.nz/p/giving-back.html  

Last "work-in-progress" is the Slab Sewing -take 2  .... just to finish up today I quickly made another block for our Monday Modern group monthly Block Lotto. This one went alot easier after studying what others had done!! Check out more here @  our flickr pool.  I think the trick is not to start with your white square anywhere near the middle! .....yep I'm alot happier with this one!  

and here they both are...