The Big Reveal

My little Doll Quilt has made it safely across land & sea to Utah and thankfully has met with approval from my swap partner :-)

This month's theme was based on the ever popular 9 Patch, and my partner's tastes are 'country' which I wasn't quite sure of .

Whilst I did start off with 3 x 1 1/2" strips , this is what I ended up with which is a kind of  " 9 Patch-gone Seminole-gone Shabby Chic " which finished at approx. 16" x 21" .  Think maybe I failed on both counts,  which is why I am so relieve she likes it :-)

Minis Month

August is quickly turning into a month of mini quilts, first there was this one that I so enjoyed making I just had to try again

My attempt at a Celtic Knot, and the back is almost as good !

   
Finishing  at 15 inches square, it was another fun personal challenge.


Just a little larger at 29 inches square, another red & white mini

  Both are waiting for binding, and there is a reason for this  -  I'm scheduled to go into hospital mid September for a knee replacement, so I'm trying to organise some sewing whilst my new knee settles down.  Now we all know about my aversion to hand sewing, so I thought stacking up some binding might be one way to keep occupied.

There is actually a third finished mini, but I can only show you a sneak peek of it at the moment as it is on the way to my swap partner in the Doll Quilters Monthly Group,  and I know she follows my Blog :-)

 

As the weather continues to be in the 30s most days, it's been great working on these smaller quilts rather than wrestling under a full size project - and my display wall is filling up nicely ! 

Pink Lemonade

You may have noticed a new-ish button on my side bar linking to Lori at  Humble Quilts, well,  do pop along there today and see all the lovely versions that have been posted of her Pink Lemonade Quilt A Long which has been running thoughout January -  this is my offering

Finishing at approx 19" x 25" there are LOTS of  small pieces, but it was also lots of fun to make !  Thanks  Lori for sharing this little quilt !

If you'd like to join in, the tutorial is still available.

Feathers and Small Quilts

Look  !!  Not only a finish, but my first quilt with free motion feathers !

From this book , it's just 39 inches square, but I am  thrilled with the way it has turned out !  The feathers are from this  DVD  by Patsy Thompson, who's method  I've found the easiest to master.  I am so pleased with myself that I'll even show you the back as long as you promise not to laugh at my 'swirls' - more practice needed there me thinks :-)

Not perfect I know, but not too bad for a first attempt either (even though I says it as shouldn't !)

Moving on, some while ago I joined this Yahoo Group  dedicated to making small quilts and recent I joined their first quilt swap  .  My partner Tricia  (no blog) from Michigan said that her favourites were autumn colours and purple, this is what I made for her

Measuring 16" x 24" , finished block size 4", containing 47 different fabrics not counting the neutrals - I was gutted when I discovered I had duplicated one colour, but by then it was too late to  do anything about it .  This is the  lovely little quilt I received in exchange which  is Tricia's first swap quilt

So to finish, the same Group also issued a Red & White quilt challenge a couple of weeks ago and here's my entry , just 15 inches square.

 ...and look !!  More feathers !

Jinxed July !

July has been a strange kind of month .The weather has been the most unseasonable  we've had since we arrived in Brittany, staying wet and cold for most of the time.  The heating has been going just about every evening as the house has been so cold, and when it hasn't been raining, we've been plagued by those heavy grey skies that seem to be trying to push you into the ground !

On top of this there have been a number of minor domestic hiccups, like the new laptop playing up again and again, DVD recorder/player giving up the ghost and having to be replaced, moles digging up our lawn and mice eating all the roots on the runner beans - the one veggie we love and can't buy in France. The final straw was the oven door falling off in the middle of my cake bake to raise funds for the local Animal Welfare Charity !!  Needless to say I 'm very glad to see August and hope its going to be a better month weatherwise and less expensive !

All is not doom and gloom however,as I have not one but two finishes for July, so I'm still on course for one finish a month during 2011.

Firstly a sofa size Triple 4 Patch quilt,  which I just had to make after seeing several around and about Blogland.

My 'use it up' backing

During my holiday in June I was fortunate enough to meet up with a very talented quilter, Angelika, who doesn't have a Blog but if you're a member of BQL you'll know Angie!  Not only did she have some amazing (prize winning!) quilts to show me but she very generously shared some of her own designs with me and my second finish is one of Angie's beautiful Art Deco mini quilts.

It only measures 8" x 23" but I am very pleased with it as its my first attempt at stained glass quilting- will I use it again, well,  I do have a  second pattern which is a bit more intricate, but maybe I'll wait a little while until the tips of my fingers have recovered from a few close encounters with the iron fixing all that black binding  :-)

Still Here!

Where does the time fly to ? Maybe the reason the last couple of weeks passed in a blur had something to do with getting ready for an invasion of grandchildren followed by a great visit, followed by a not so great couple of days listening to the washing machine chuntering away getting all the extra linen washed ready for the next invasion - whew!!

These visits are very precious to us and it always takes a little while to get back into our routine again - 4 extra bodies around the place certainly calls for changes, but although peace has once again descended on Chez Nous,  I am not too sure that we like it very much at the moment. 

Not a great deal of time to spend stitching, as you can imagine, but I did manage 2 finishes

Scrappy Tumblers all finished and already claimed and on its way back to the UK with its new owner :-)

Soot & Ashes - at last something done with these blocks!  In the end I only used 9 blocks to make my own Red & White mini !

Although you can't see them I actually quilted mini feathers in the 4 plain blocks - they turned out to be 'acceptable' in the end, but - a lot more practice needed .  One day I might be brave enough to use a contrast colour instead of a blender :-)

That's it for June I'm afraid, as we are off on holiday the end of the week, so see you in July !!

February Update

Being away from home means not a great deal has been done on the sewing side of life.

Quilting the Pineapple top has taken a great deal longer than I thought it would, not only because of my wanderings, but it also because it has become a battle of wills between me and the quilt top!!  Until now I seem to have been the loser, but finally I can see an end to it all!  The sheer size of the quilt has made it almost impossible to feed through the throat of my machine as most of the quilting has been on the diagonal, and all the pulling and tugging causes the arthritis in my hands to flare up, so it's been a very slow process!

I think that perhaps 'straight lines' was not the most intellegent choice of quilting for something this size as I've ended up with quite a lot of  rather wonky lines , but they are my wonky lines and.......they are all finished ! Just the borders left to do so hopefully it'll be done in next couple of days and then there'll only be a trillion or so threads to bury and the binding to get on with!

All things considered, my target of one finish a month was disappearing fast,so I took some time out and finished another  UFO -  small yes, but at least I have a finish for February :-)

My mini quilt version of  Kelly's Flower Garden Pillow.

You can find the tutorial on Kelly's blog if you're interested.Can't remember how long this one has been hiding in the cupboard, but the date on the tute will give you some idea:-)

I'm also adding a couple more items to Myra's PhD Challenge as I need to tackle something smaller and easier to finish in March after  all the push and shove lately, so, remember this post ?  Well, not long after, DGD decided that the bedroom was not to her liking and it changed it to pink!  D9P really did  disappear into the cupboard and there it has stayed. I'm hoping to finish it in the next couple of weeks as its on a promise to Project Linus! 

Next it's to do something with these - Soot & Ashes by Cheri

I did finish all 15 blocks, put them together as per the instructions, didn't like it, so I took them apart - as one does!  Time they went back together again I think!!

Flying Start

I'm off to a flying start for February with 3 finishes already!

Number 1 - Tessellation doll quilt  quilted and binding done

In case you're wondering, the chair was made for DH when he was 2,  and ,  like him, it's  getting on a bit now :-)

Number 2 - DGD got herself a   RED  'beginner's sewing machine' for her  8th birthday on Christmas Eve ,  and is all ready to make her dollies some new clothes.We are due to see her and her new sewing machine on Sunday, so as well as a parcel of  goodies for her to play with, I made this mini Charmer tote bag  (Penny Sturgess pattern) to pack them in and maybe double as a work basket too.

Number 3 is another mug rug, which I can't show you yet, but I can show you this one which is the one that stayed at home!  I wasn't too happy with it in the end so decided to make an alternative to swap and keep the reject for myself :-)

Don't know why Blogger has turned the photo again!

Quilting on the Pineapples is on stop for the moment as my wrists have been aching so badly, but  I have finished all the white 'stars' and  5 of the coloured ones too, so another 7 to go plus the borders. If  I get the quilt totally finished by the end of the month I'll be more than  happy as we've a couple of busy weeks ahead and can't see much more getting done :-)

Been Playing Again

I've often looked at Tessellation quilts and wondered at the way they go together and how difficult it would be, so over the weekend I decided to have a try and see if I could work it out from a photo - Voila!

Another little quilt just under 12" x 16" and in need of a good press. (it does lie flat in real life - honest!) It took me a little while to work out the angles etc but it went together OK in the end.

I must say this about quilting, tackling  projects like this certainly keeps the old brain ticking over, and it looks like Lucy Doll has another quilt in the pipeline !

What A Week!

It's been one of those weeks when I haven't time to catch my breathe, but I've got very little to show for it! Most of the time has been taken up with visits to the vet both planned and not planned!

First off it was time for William's annual jabs and a follow up x-ray after the scare we had following his last stay at the cattery.  Don't think I blogged  about it, but he was a very poorly cat having contracted a virus there which affected his lungs.  This has now cleared up, but two days later my poor little cat was attacked by one of these

Coypus ,  which are in the stream at the bottom of the village - well, I think that's what they are and they are HUGE!  The local farmers lay traps for them because they are very destructive, but there are still plenty around , I saw 2 just the other day when I was crossing the  bridge.

After all the rain we've had lately  the drainage ditches,  which abound around the fields and roads in Brittany, are full to brimming and I think Will must have fallen into the ditch at the bottom of the garden and was very unlucky that Mr Nasty was around too!  This is the only explanation we can come up with as he was very, very wet and covered in mud when he came home and there are no other cats in the vicinity that might have attacked him.  Thankfully,  his rabies injections are up to date, but he still had a huge abscess and nasty cuts on his rear end which have needed treatment consisting of several visits to the vet.

I do have one (small) finish to show - one of my Christmas presents was this book

and I used some of my scraps to make this little quilt

which is just right for Lucy !

There is a story about  Lucy, but that'll have to wait for another time :-)

Today's Plan!

Right!  Decision's made for today's quilt-a-long!

We're going to practice a bit more of this

on this

Now, this was supposed to  be a sample block  for this quilt, but after one block , no way was I ever going to achive 20 so -  Voila!  One mini!   I think my FMQ is getting better, but a bit more practice will certainly help :-)

With the torrential rain and high winds that we have at the moment, and more forecast for the rest of the weekend, I should be able to carry on the good work tomorrow and make a start on a pinwheel baby quilt out of this

  So all in all rather a full couple of days - and yes Sue, I 've given in and dug out the  Christmas CD  not only to set the mood but also to drown out DH's cries of agony as Wales take on the Springboks at rugby later today  Little bit of a clash of loyalties here for me  having lived in South Africa for 10 years, but I'm sure that  the Land of my Fathers is going have the biggest pull.

Keeping Up

4  more blocks from quiltsbycheri

All 8 looking good together, I think this is going to be a nice little quilt in the end .

Quick Fix

Part of the grand plan in my new room was to 'sink' my machine down to table level  so that, hopefully, my arms and shoulders wouldn't ache so much particularly when attempting FMQ.  Well, I am now the proud owner of a table with a hole in it complete with sunken machine courtesy of DH and his trusty tool box! We re-designed my extension table to cover the gaps and this is a real help with the 'slide-abillity' factor as well  keeping the table in use.

 

 
I know there are all sorts of posh quilting tables available and also some super swish hydraulic systems for raising and lowering the carrying platform , but I am afraid that none of these are available locally and if they were the cost would be at least twice the price they are in the UK or USA, so this lifting device is worked by Ann Power.  Having said that, now that it's in place there seems to be no need to move it at all - an instant benefit from having more room, the machine can stay put.

Before attempting the dreaded FMQ though, I thought a small project would be just the thing for a trial run, and I found just the one here on quiltsbycheri .  A lovely little mystery sampler Quilt A Long called Soot &  Ashes and these are the first 4 blocks  

The blocks work out at 5 1/2 inches unfinished, but I have changed the  colour scheme as I've been wanting to use this fabric for ages so maybe I should call this one Strawberries & Cream, what do you think? 

Is the low level stitching easier ?  Well, the first half hour was a bit strange as my whole perspective had changed, but I think once my mind accepts this it should be OK.

Did you know.....

..how difficult it is to become 'Liberated'?  Some months ago I treated myself to Gwen Marston's book 'Liberated Quiltmaking ll',

and out of all the woderful projects in the book, I fell in love with this

It's based on Kathy's Block and even without the lovely story behind the 'birth' of the block, this quilt speaks to me.  I love the colours,the funky tulips,  the layout - well,  I love just all of it !  Before trying a full size quilt, I thought it would be wise to try a mini, and am I glad I did so.  It was really difficult for me to forget everything that I've learn over the last few years and even though my piecing may not always be perfect, I do try to match things up.  Obviously I have been well indoctrinated about accuracy, as I had to force myself to
'liberate' my points but in the end it turned out quite well..

Ending up 17.5 x 20.5 inches, a nice size mini ready for the new wall.   I  managed to catch another of my 'plays' taking the original uncropped photo, which shows my little Union Jack cushion that I made from this tutorial on Lily's Quilts.

               
Really fun to make, the only problem is that I now have orders for 3 more from DGDs!!



But, not matter how hard I found liberated quilting to start with, I must be a quick learner as I managed to loose points on this 16 inch Selvage mini without even trying :-) 

Bloomin' Roses !!

Well, the trip to the scrap bag was worthwhile, and look what I've got - 4 blocks and my first 6 'roses'!




The floor of my sewing room looks like a demented scissors has been let loose in there with all the ' snipping' that's been going on trying to get the shape reasonably like a flower (!) , and my working surface has disappeared under a growing mound of scraps, but on the whole worthwhile as they're not too bad for my first attempts!

I am going to stick to a 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 mini for the moment, reason one I don't have much green in my modest stash, not a colour I'm that fond of to be honest, and reason 2 another busy week looming!

If you'd like to see Cherri's finished quiltlet this size, it's here , the last photo on the page. Whether mine will ever look anything like that, I don't know, but I do know I'm having a lot of fun trying - 6 down only another 14 to go !!

More Fun!

I found this during my wanderings in blogland(!!) and as I've really enjoyed making the mini landscapes, it seems like a good idea to join in and learn something new, so... I'm off to raid the 'scrap bag' and see what is lurking there ! Thank you Cherri !!

Another (mini) Finish!

Don't know if you remember seeing this picture of the lap size Tumbler quilt I finished October of last year which was inspired by Kathie's ?




Well, I've turned into a ' Kathie Kopy Kat' again (see her post of 13 February!). Measuring 21" x 16.5" and using reproduction fabrics,unfortunately mine is not hand quilted (I wish!!) but I love it just the same !




Sorry the photo is a bit dark, I think the battery needs a boost !

Thanks Kathie, for your help in getting this one started!

Christmas Treasure !

My Holiday Booty Swap quilt arrived today from Kathy , and it is another little treasure!

I 'borrowed' the photo off Kathy's blog ( I hope she doesn't mind!) as I've just not had the chance to take one of my own during daylight and now it is dark and anyway, my photos are always squiffy!!! I must tell you that it looks even better in real life and the black stitching around the applique gives its a sort of 3D look - beautiful!!

There were other goodies in the parcel hidden among the pretty polka dot tissue!

Some note paper, a scissors pin, a quilty nail file, a rotary cutter case and an ornament from Luckenbach, Texas - what a haul ! Whilst I've been waiting for my quilt to arrive from ?? I did tell myself that I wouldn't open it until Christmas - I am just so glad that the wrappings weren't all taped down as it gave me the excuse to peep and once I'd seen the quilt - well I just have to have it on show as soon as possible!!!

Thank You again Kathy for this little gem and another big Thank You to Toni for taking the time and the trouble for arranging the swap during what must be the busiest period of the whole year !!

Oops! Just realised I forgot to put something in the photo - there was a quilting magazine also!! Sorry Kathy (!) but that's still in the lounge waiting to be devoured from cover to cover as it is such a luxury to have a new English language quilting mag!!!!

I 've been very lucky to receive such lovely quilts for my first year taking of part in these swaps, and I only hope that my offerings gave as much pleasure to those they were sent to as I 've had being on the receiving end!!!

Slow News Week

It's been a very quiet week here in Brittany mainly due to a bit of a bad start after having my anti 'flu jab .

This is only the second time I've had the jab and as I reacted badly the first time, I said never again, but given the kind of year I've had healthwise, I listened to the Dr's advice and put myself right back in the frame for several nasty 'flu type days as a result!! DH has it every year as he is one of these 'at risk' people ( cardiac disease) and never has a problem - just goes to show doesn't it !!!

One thing accomplished though is that my Holiday Booty Swap quilt is finally finished, packed and ready to go on Tuesday when the Post Office opens . I've only just made the deadline, which is silly as it's been finished for an age except for sewing down the binding - anyone else hate this job?? A little peek but before the binding went on !!

I have a question for all Log Cabin fans - how do you quilt your tops ? I have one almost ready but can't decide how to machine quilt over all these seams - any advice anyone ???

I shouldn't really mention the Wales v New Zealand rugby match last night (!!) DH is still in a state of shock especially as he thought Wales was on a roll at half time - isn't it sad to see a grown man cry (LOL!!!) Having said that England didn't do any better against South Africa and it was left to Ireland & Scotland to salvage a little British pride in their matches against Argentina & Canada !! France & Italy also lost to Australia and the Pacific Islanders respectively - doesn't say a great deal for the Northern Hemisphere teams does it - perhaps its lots of sunshine that equates to better (!) rugby players !!!!