3D Pinwheels

 

At the weekend, I was at a quilting exhibition, and saw a number of blocks and techniques I wanted to experiment with.

This is the 3D Pinwheel. 

A Christmas Tomte Quilt

Ah, it's going to be one of Those Days (tm)!

I started off getting the shop ready to open, and managed to complete that simple task. Next, a delivery of new Christmas fabrics arrived. Nice.

Therefore, it is time to get the new fabrics priced up, tickets written and out on display. I even made it back to the office to start on that, but the new fabrics called. The siren song was "You'll need to use some of the fabric to make a display item." My response, "Better get on to designing something. Oh, an simple single bed Christmas quilt would be good."

Two of the fabrics have lovely little Nordic Tomte. Some Norwegian Christmas music would be good to set the right mood. A design starts to come into my brain.

That's when Kenneth McKeller brings it much closer to home with a song about The Midges. It's a song I have known for a long time, and I want to learn the words, so I start writing down what I remember of the lyrics.

And this is where I pause. I'm now singing of piranhas and bananas. The fabrics haven't been priced. The quilt is only half designed, and it really is the limit.

(a few hours later)

Tis done. The quilt has been designed. And, it is absolutely, beautifully simple. The central panel will be the above fabric. It's 7 squares wide, and I need 11 squares for length. Then there's fabric designated as 'table runner', but I'm going to chop it in half to make each panel into borders for the quilt. I'll need 3 panels, 1 for each side, and the third will be used for the top and bottom. This will leave 4 corner squares, and I have the perfect fabric in my stash. The batting will be a cotton/bamboo fusible. The back will be blue, and the binding red.

The quilting will be incredibly simple. I'll use the walking foot, and a sinusoidal wave. It will be white machine embroidery thread on the top, and white polycotton on the bottom. 

Spring UFO Challenge

I'm taking part in a UFO quarterly quilting challenge.  To join you need to have a minimum of five UFOs. My Ducky Duck Duck Duck quilt was the one I finished last quarter, and I have a couple of quilts I wish to attack. 

Some absolute idiot decided to hand quilt the Christmas tree one!  This person needs their head examining! No more hand quilting projects until this one has been done. I can't see how the quilt will be finished in this quarter, but it can be progressed.

Whilst talking with the Beloved, I said it would be great to have it done by Christmas. "Christmas 2024!" said he.

The chevrons are the start of my Self-Isolaton Quilt.

Ducky Duck Duck Duck

It's finished! IT'S FINISHED! The Duck quilt has been completed! Yippee!

The first time I blogged about this was back in June 2018. It's taken almost 2 years, and it's appeared in the 'Goals' numerous times, but no more. It is done. 

This is the first quilt I have made using applique (ducks), and also using a walking foot (quilted waves). I've learned a few other things. The most notable is 'Don't sew on embellishments until the quilting is done.' I had sewn the button eyes on before I had finished the hand quilting of the clouds. The thread kept getting tangled around the buttons. At one stage I thought of cutting the buttons off, and reattaching them after quilting.

Fabrics Bought for QAL

At work today, I decided to buy the next metre of fabric, and I couldn't remember which ones I had already bought!  I obviously need to keep track of them. The ones with an asterisk have been bought.

Row 1: Dark Red  R64 20 cm
*Row 2: Red  R06 42.5 cm
Row 3: Orange  N47 30 cm
*Row 4: Orange-Yellow Y06 30 cm
Row 5: Yellow  Y05 30 cm
*Row 6: Lime Green  G45 37.5 cm
Row 7: Teal  G46 37.5 cm
*Row 8: Turquoise  T78 32.5 cm
Row 9: Blue  B58 35 cm
Row 10: Indigo  L07 27.5 cm
Row 11: Violet  L65 30 cm
Row 12: Pink  P87 30 cm

Background:  White   5.25 m
*Accent:   Grey  37.5 cm

More Fabric!

I was not totally convinced by the solid grey for the accent fabric. I felt it was a trifle 'flat'.  Instead, I have gone with  'linen look' by Makower, in the colour 'Storm'. 

This was ordered at the weekend, and has arrived already!  Excellent service, Doughty!

Pinterest Wins

While setting up a new Pinterest board for the guest room, I came across this quilt.  It is beautifully simple, and would make a fantastic backing for the Sugaridoo one. I will be able to use up little bits and pieces of fabric leftover from the top.

November Goals

1. have a thankful and grateful month
2. finish the Duck quilt
3. display the Christmas Tree for Refugees
4. make healthier food choices

Christmas Stockings

They are finished! For a second time!

I had not realised when I made them last year there was to be a flap with names embroidered on. But, it's not a problem, and they are truly finished.

Sugaridoo QAL

I'm in. I'm going to take part in my very first Quiltalong!

It doesn't start until later in November, but by that point I will have finished the Christmas Tree for Refugees. The QAL is broken into monthly parts, and will run for a year. There will be new techniques and methods of piecing. I'm so looking forward to it.

Sew MuchTo Do, Sew Little Time

There's a sale of sewing machines, machines suitable for garments and also quilting. A beautiful new shiny toy is now on order for me.

I want it now! I want to make so many things!

More Fabric for Lilo and Stitch's Quilt

I saw these fabric in Hobbycraft and just had to buy them to add into the mix of fabrics that will be used in Lilo and Stitch's quilt.

Muppets Baby Quilt

I dragged this UFO out from the naughty corner. One very blurry photograph was taken. It isn't possible to see the rainbow straight line quilting I had already stitched in place. It soon isn't going to be possible to see the quilting as I am ripping it out. 

My plan is to free motion quilt long, random rainbow wiggles on the white section, and then a design in the solid squares. The back of the quilt is black, and this means the quilting will be extremely visible there.

The fussy cut squares have individual Muppets on them and there's Muppet sashing at the sides. The binding will be black.

Quilting Course

Yesterday was the second part of the "Introduction to Free Motion Quilting" course put on by the Quilters Guild. I felt a great deal more confident this week than last, and comparing the output of both, I'm a great deal happier.

It is very much an activity requiring daily practise until the muscle movements are learned (much like writing), and then regular practise to ensure the skills are kept polished.

We were asked to bring along some patchwork to put into practise what we have learned. The image above is the front of the mat I made. This is the reverse.

Yes, still a great of the P word to be done, but for such a new skill, I'm happy with my progress. There's a couple of loops snags - I forgot to lower the foot, and it screwed up the tension.

This morning, I have been trying to improve the Cathedral window pattern.

There has been an improvement since yesterday. There are two places where the curves cross exactly! But overall, it's fine.

My plan is to quilt a 6.5" square each day, and then I shall stitch each block together to make a quilt.

A Full Day!

There's quite a lot to fit into today. It's half past nine, and so far, dinner has been started, laundry has been hung on the line, and second load is in the washing machine, breakfast has been made for the dog, and lunch for The Beloved...

The dining room has been reconfigured for sewing and quilting. The plan is to make six pinwheels for the Quilters Guild raffle quilt. I'll also practise quilting, and then round off the crafting with a light spot of knitting.

Free Motion Quilting Workshop

For ages, I have wanted to learn how to free motion quilt. I was incredibly sad when I learned the Quilting Guild was organising a pair of workshops, but it was all booked up. Then, such joy was mine when I was informed someone had dropped out and a place was available!

Three hours (including breaks) of quilting later, and I have made significant improvement on my first attempts at home. I learned big stitches means you're going too slowly, and tiny stitches you aren't going quickly enough. This really is a "practise, practise, practise" thing. The time must be spent learning the skills, and the muscle coordination.

At the end of the session, it felt like I had been in the gym for three hours! My plan is to practise every day, and work on my skills.  I can see so many ways I want to use it, but a great deal of practise is required. It would be great to be able to show the tutor the improvement I'm hopping to make by next Saturday.

What To Do Today?

Yesterday was a 'doing day', and I'm still delighted with the results of the decluttering and organising. Neat, tidy, organised spaces make me smile.

What do I need to do today? Well, there's a pinwheel block for Quilters, another hat to be made for the hatathon, dishes to be washed, dried and put away, the same for some laundry, dinner needs to be decided upon, soups needs to be made, and Italian homework has yet to be done. Yup, there's a few things in there to keep me busy. 

I think the first order of business is making the pinwheel block for Quilters. One of the founding members of the Quilters Guild died recently. A large display of her quilts happened over the summer, and many of the quilts were sold for charity. She left behind a stash of fabric. The quilters are each going to make a pinwheel block. These will then be cut into a different design and stitched. The completed blocks with be sewn together and quilted. The finished quilt will be raffled off at the next quilting exhibition. 

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I am delighted. The points of my pinwheel are perfect!

Mug-Rug

Back in 2017, I made the Pre-Quilt. Today, I used some leftovers from the quilt to make a little mug rug.

A Rainbow of Fat Quarters

Why did this not occur to me before!  This is a brilliant way of storing fat quarters. It's almost how the shops display their fat quarters. With a little re-folding, I can get two lines of fabric in one box. 

It's neat. It's tidy. I can get a general impression of the fabric at a glance. If the fabric is wibbled slightly see more of the pattern can be seen. There will be space for 40 fat quarters per box. 

I'm feeling inspired already.

Now, I just have to work out what to do with the pieces that have already been cut. How should they be stored?!

December Craftings

Toddler Hat
Started: 15th December 2018
Finished: 17th December 2018

Scissors and Needle Cases
Started: 18th November 2018
Finished: 17th December 2018

Blue and Grey Chunky Hat
Started: 18th December 2018
Finished: 18th December 2018

Hot Water Bottle Cover
Started: 19th December 2018
Finished: 19th December 2018

Christmas Stockings
Started: 22nd December 2018
Finished: 22nd December 2018

Brioche Scarf

Started: 23rd December 2018 

Finished:  27th December 2018

Doggy Day Bed
Started: 26th December 2018
Finished: 26th December 2018

Wine Flip Top Mittens
Started: 3rd December 2018
Finished: 29th December 2018

Wine in the Mist Hat
Started: 29th December 2019

Finished: 29th December 2019