Everybody's Doing It !

My version of the great Scrappy-Tripalong

Another addition for you know where :-)

NB - I forgot to mention that I used Bonnie Hunter's free pattern !

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 !

Been Naughty Again!

Carpenter's Star from Mary Johnson at MaryQuilts  and yet one more for you know where :-) 

Not all my fault this time though as its been easier to be piecing than quilting during all the ups and downs the last couple of months, so I'm blaming DH for this one - well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it !

Scrapbusting!

or how to get rid of all those 'mistakes'!!

Another pattern from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville and another for THAT drawer :-)

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 !!

Ooops!

Did you notice today's deliberate mistake?  Well, I managed to post with just this photo.....

 .....instead of saving it as a draft ! Sue spotted it and luckily was kind enough to leave a comment which made me realise what I had done - thank you Sue!  That'll teach me to pay more attention when I am 'clicking' :-)

As you will have guessed, my Pineapple quilt is finished.  I'd just put the last couple of stitches into finishing the binding before the wrist kicked in so at least I have one finish for March, but that's going to be it for the rest of the month.  Getting to the end of this one has been very slow and perhaps not helped by what was building up in my wrist and maybe all the pulling and pushing during the quilting didn't help matters either, who knows!  Whatever the problems though I think its been worth the struggle.

If you have a moment pop along and have a look at Sue's blog and read about the amazing new book she has written - I promise you won't be disappointed !

Slow Progress

 Finally I've got up the courage to make a start on my Pineapple quilt!  It's been backed for a couple of weeks now but I still couldn't make my mind up on how to quilt it but eventually decided that 'less is best' and just follow some of the straight lines.   This turned out to be a good decision as once under my machine it seemed even larger than I originally thought  !

I also decided to use the Janome as its a long time since it's seem the light of day. I just can't seem get as good results  with my FMQ on this machine as with the Bernina but its OK for everything else, and for all Janome users  out there-  I am sure its me not the machine :-)

After two long sessions I have managed to get all the anchoring lines done and have just 2 rows to finish on the white sections, but today it's back to some gentle piecing as both my right arm and shoulder are suffering
from wrestling with this monster!  I think that finishing this quilting is going to a slow process, as little and often seems to be the best way of tackling it without disabling my right arm :-)

My Mug Rugs are finished and ready to go to my partner in ...? and as its a secret swap, this is the best I can do for a sneak peek

 I  don't think I've given too much away do you ?

Slow News Week

There's not been a lot going on here this last week, unless you count a dash to the local hospital when my eyes flared up again!  Not very nice this time and quite frightening I can tell you - but a thorough exam didn't find anything other than the allergy which has calmed down again, so all is well !

More snow arrived in the early hours of Friday morning leaving the road out of the village impassable again, but then yesterday the rain turned up and today no more snow!  I guess we had about 8/9 inches all told, which is nothing compared to other parts of Europe, but more than enough for an area not accustomed to this kind of weather and with limited facilities for keeping the roads clear.  In fact most of the local roads were only open thanks to the number of tractors using them.

I'm not going to bore you with more snow photos, and because of my eyes there are no quiltie photos either, but - I have found a new blog to share with you !

In my web search for all and every reference available on free motion machine quilting I have found a plethora of information and some great blogs, but the one that stands out for me is Wendy over at Ivory Spring  .  This blog alone is worth a visit, but wait until you read her sister blog  Thread Talk!

Wendy's  FMQ  is awesome in my opinion and all done on her Bernina DMS so please go along and check this out - anyone interested in FMQ will not be disappointed !  I am going to show it to my Berni and let her see what can be achieved if she keeps practicing , do you think it'll do the trick  :-)

Confession Time!

When I first caught the quilting bug, several years ago now, no one was more surprised than I  as to how addicted I became in a very short time - after all I hate 'sewing' to the degree that DH has resorted to replacing  all his missing shirt buttons instead of having to beg and plead with me to pick up needle and
thread ,whilst repairs and alterations to clothing can lie in neglected piles for weeks on end.

Now, my sewing machine has become my most treasured possession instead of being left to gather dust in the bottom of a cupboard and I can't wait to get all the mundane daily chores finished so that I can get into my room - but then patchwork & quilting isn't really 'sewing' is it , but rather a form of expression and enjoyment as opposed to a 'chore', well, at least that how I feel about it .

Having got to the stage where I am reasonably happy with the quality of my work and have even got over the dread of  stipple quilting (let's face it I am NEVER going to hand quilt as it would mean using a needle) I really want to move onto a bigger variety of quilting patterns -  so I armed myself with a whole load of books

which quite frankly scare the pants off me at first :-)  I even invested in the Pajama Quilter  videos which have been great fun to watch, and with the help of the workbook.....

 

........which Dawn was kind enough to sign for me......

 .....and after hours of drawing all kinds of weird shapes on the white board - I still can't quilt!!!  The 4 inch sample squares are fine, but when it comes to a whole quilt everything goes out of the window so its back to a  of scrap batting & fabric and the practice..practice ..practice routine

...and maybe someday my feathers will end up on an heirloom quilt, but in the meantime I'll settle for them looking less of a mess!

Twelve blocks finished for the  'Soot & Ashes' quilt along

Number 13 is available, but rumour has it that the last 2 blocks are appliqué and as that would mean using the dreaded needle - maybe I'll be sticking at 12 :-)

On A Roll!

Managed to get the borders on this one too, not trimmed up yet as you can see, then another one ready for backing!

and a finish!!

My scrappy Irish Chain, which many of you will recognise this as a Quiltville  pattern and a great way to use up lots of tiny scraps!

That's the end of my sewing splurge for the next few days as it's off to the specialist for the next lot of knee treatment tomorrow and the start of another 3 days of boredom :-)

From Beauties to Basics.......

.... and it doesn't get much more basic than 9s & 4s does it?

This latest finish couldn't be more different to yesterday's quilt, but in its own way just as pleasing.  The pattern was one I found on the Web some time ago, but can't remember  exactly where, so  I'm not able to give credit to the original . I think it might have been one of the major fabric companies, possibly Windham , all I do know is that it is very pink in the download pattern but unfortunately no sign of a name anywhere!


Finishing at 58" x 68" it's a reasonable size lap quilt and used up quite a lot of my scrap bag pieces, which is always good :-)  Would you believe that I took it to Spain to finish the binding - maybe not such a brilliant idea to have a quilt draped all over you given that the daytime temperatures were in the mid 30s, but it certainly came in handy later in the evening when it cooled down !!

AWOL ...

....and a change!

Way back when at the end of last year, I booked us a break in a milder part of Europe during February to break up the winter months.Unfortunately, things went a little off course when DH's health took a turn for the worse, but luckily I managed to change our booking without loosing any money, which is always a bonus, and this time we actually made it to Spain!Almost 3 weeks in glorious sunshine with nothing to do but relax, read and a  do little stitching !

.
A sea front apartment complete with balcony where we could watch the world go by when we felt too lazy to walk the 50 yards or so to the beach, and with good restaurants also within a couple of hundred metres - what else could you ask for ?

Naturally there are lots of photos, but just for the moment the washing machine seems to be taking up all my time, but not to post without a single one, just a little taster :-)

View from our balcony - not bad, eh ?

The change - well, it must be a reaction to the lovely Spanish sunshine, but I thought that I would brighten up the Blog with a new template, do you like it ?

Before I forget, Amy is hosting another Blogger's Quilt Festival next week,  it really is good fun with lots of eye candy and prizes too so why not join in !

A Finish

The beautiful weather continues in this part of Brittany - cloudless blue skies and at last no more high winds, in fact there has been barely a breeze over the last few days, so it must be that Spring has arrived this time!

Most of  the last week has been spent trying to get some kind of order back into our very unruly garden after the weeks of neglect . The very cold frosty weather we had in March hasn't helped either as its ruined all the camellia and azalea blooms, so at the moment there's not a great deal of colour around, but  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the very new buds that are just peeping out on the clematis!

One thing that did bring a little colour to brighten the days was my Stacked Coins quilt.  You might remember this post when I talked about joining in the No Strings Attached challenge, well two things happened to make me decide  to drop out.  Firstly,  life got in the way and time became very precious, and secondly having chopped up all my fabric, I was mortified to learn that 'coins' didn't count as 'strings' - another lesson in quilting terms!!

Not  really wanting to start anything else and create yet another UFO(!) I carried on with the Coins quilt and I am so glad I did as it finished up so bright & cheerful!

It's being donated to the local Sainte Croix Animal Welfare Group to be raffled to help raise funds,  and I am sure the animals that benefit won't worry if it's technically not a 'string' quilt - but lets hope it the 'coins' multiple to great numbers!!

Cure for the Blues

Wandering around Blogland I keep coming across the saying ' when life throws you scraps, make a quilt' which is indeed very sound advice. However, one of my best cures when I feel down in the dumps is a good read, so here's a few of the books that kept me company and helped keep my spirits up over the last couple of months

 Now these books have some lovely quilts that are 'do-able' projects for me and  I've already started bookmarking pages ........

........most of these though fall into to 'maybe someday' category, but then a girl can dream of something beyond stippling can't she ??

'Inter'National Quilt Day

This*  is  is how I spent my afternoon

What did you do ?

* Moda Bake Shop Recipe

At last - a 'quiltie' post!!  My Blog seems to have changed from being sewing related  to a travelogue lately, but although I am sure you'd rather be looking at scenes from Brittany (!!) today you have to suffer my latest (finished!) quilting project :-)

I actually got a quilt finished for October, but it hasn't stopped raining over the last few days,  so the photo had to wait for the next 'dry' day - today!!

The Nine Patch Sampler is from the book 'Strip Delight' by Suzanne McNeill,  and the fabric collection is Moda's 'Wild Rose'.  I've changed the pattern slightly to accommodate my fabric ,and  though I was a bit doubtful about it all whilst making the blocks, it' s turned out OK and  the lovely rich colours , which are much better in real life, have made it the kind of quilt you want to curl up under!  It's certainly a quick quilt to piece if you want something in a hurry.

I have to own up to having some help in backing it though !!

Two more 'small' finishes for October, both of which are going to the Cat Rescue fund raising Christmas Fayre

 

Original pattern for this tote is on the  Moda Bakeshop site, and the Black & White mini tote is a Penny Sturgess design

Now all I have to do is decide on a finish for November !!

Something Quilty!

Just for a changed, a couple of quilty photos :-)

I first saw this sewing machine mat on Jane's blog and ordered the pattern from Tazzie
straight away! Then the pattern turned up again on Jenny's blog a couple of posts ago as part of her September challenge - make a sewing machine mat to match the cover from last month - and although I am very pleased with my mat I don't think I'll be joining the challenge, but do go along to have a look at the other colourways being shown !

My colours look very wishy washy in the photo because of the sunlight and are a lot brighter in real life BUT I am NOT going to complain about the sun as we are enjoying the most lovely Indian summer at the moment (albeit a little breezey !) with temperatures in the high 20s and long may it continue I say !



Next up is my Little Bouquet Quilt Along piece finally finished! I had a lot of fun(and frustration!!) making this but not sure if it's something I would try again. Once I thought I'd got the hang of the roses they didn't turn out too bad but what a lot of 'snipping' to even get them to look this good - I really don't know how Cherri managed to get hers so perfect, she must have infinite patience!!!



Finally, a finish from Susan Brittingham's Upside Down Appliqué class that I took with QU some time back




Had I realised how much free motion satin stitching would be used, I don't know if I'd have been so keen to join! It certainly gave me a LOT of practice and a lovely wall hanging at the end of it all!! The shading beneath the wings , tail and on the breast was done using tulle and/or organza and the difference it has made is quite pronounced ! Another fun course and one I would certainly recommend !

Branching Out!

It's is ages since I blogged (!) and it certainly hasn't been a case of 'doesn't time fly when you're having fun' as the days seem to have been filled with constant telephone calls, form filling, insurance assessment on the damage to our car....and so it goes on!! Today hopefully has seen the end to it now that we have sorted our final replacement document - driving licences!!! As I said previously, most officials have been very helpful, but I have to mention the Gendarme dealing with our case, who has been an absolute gem in helping us get all the necessary reports etc dealt with, and it just goes to proove that you mustn't believe everything the neighbours tell you about 'Les Flics'!!


The only place there has been a little sanity is in my sewing room, but even there I've not been able to settle and have been switching from one thing to another and achieving nothing, then I remembered a couple of weeks ago I thought I'd try something a little different and enrolled on a course with Quilt University .


Having no ambition to do any quilting, I thought it might be useful to print out the lessons instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself ,and at least have a look at what I'd let myself in for, as I'd choosen ' Miniature Landscapes' with Sue Brittingham and anything further from my comfort zone is hard to imagine ! After getting over the initial feeling of 'what have I done this time???' there was nothing to loose by having a go, so here's my first attempt at a mountain scene.

At this stage is was only fused ready to start quilting- and that's where it all went
wrong and ended up in the bin, which was a shame really as it did look quite good !! Not to worry, I had also started a beach scene - and this one made it to the finishing line !!!



Not the best pic in the world, but it does look quite good in real life! No where near perfect, even I can see the mistakes (!) but overall I'm very pleased with it and am determined to redo the mountains and get that finished too - who knows I might even be tempted to try some 'original' scenes !! I've had so much fun making these little quilts, I found the lessons from Susan very clear and well laid out and all her comments constructive and helpful - certainly money well spent!



Something else I've always wanted to try and have been playing with







Haven't been able to find a Dresden Plate ruler locally, but what I did find was Eleanor Burn's pattern from her book 'Egg Money Quilts' in the form of a (free) PDF complete with templates!
Another fun project which is now a cushion cover ready and waiting for my new sewing room to be finished , but who knows when that will be as it is well on the back burner at present - shame !!!

Just in Time !

Here we are at the end of another month and another race to keep up with my own challenge of a ' finish a month'. This month though I have been naughty and finished a new-ish top rather than one of the UFOs that are hibernating in the cupboard!

Don't know if you remember this post and the very last quilt photo - well here's my version of it!

No pattern, just the photo and a couple of measurements provided by the very obliging exhibitor, but it has turned out as a nice quilt and quite a handy size at 4' 6" x 5' 4"! A change from my usual comfort zone , but so quick and easy it was a pleasure to make!

I was a little bit brave (!) and used a varigated orange/yellow thread to quilt it with a large stipple pattern and that turned out a lot better than I expected! I was a little worried how the yellows would be against the blues, but the overall effect is good, and I am really pleased with it!

I am still having some trouble 'turning corners' every now and then with a large stipple pattern, I either end up with a 'pointy' turn or manage to get a 'knot' on the back - ah well, practice, practice and more practice!!!!

I know I showed the clematis yesterday, but this morning there are even more flowers and they are huge!

There is a story behind this plant actually - it had been planted for a couple of years and

showed no signs whasoever of 'doing' anything - in fact, I thought it was dead, and had it in mind to dig it out and replace it ! Luckily it got overlooked & forgotten about when it came to clearing up time because for the last 4 years it has produced masses of these wonderful deep purple/blue flowers !!Just to finish, this morning's view from the bottom of the garden - just look how that maize is growing !!!

Birthday Blues - Part 1

Not quite the birthday I had planned for today - it was to have been a day at the coast, but , unfortunately, it hasn't happened!! Our weather the last week or so has been rather changeable but in the main dry, and the last couple of days have been virtually summery with temperatures in the low 20s. Today however we are back in winter with howling winds and very heavy showers, so a day on the beach didn't seem like a good idea somehow !!


All is not lost however, there's a bottle of champagne cooling for this evening and tomorrow evening we'll be having a dozen or so friends over to help me celebrate again!


No pictures of the lovely Brittany coast I'm afraid, but I can show you my birthday present !




I have been considering a back-up machine for sometime now , as when the Bernina goes in for a service etc I am lost, so I took advantage of being in the UK last month and convinced DH he should buy this for me as an early birthday present !



It is a different animal to my Bernina, but I 've had lots of fun getting to know it and it has played nicely with me (so far!) . I decided that, instead of just trying it out on 'scraps' I would make a small quilt from scratch, reasoning that this way I would probably cover all the things I'd need to know before tackling anything bigger so, remember this book ? Well this is what I made from it






A small replica of the Pembroke chintz quilt c1820 and currently in the private collection of Jen Jones. You can see the original here in the bottom right hand corner! Mine is a lot smaller at only 26 inches square, but I think it is lovely ! I also got to be very brave and tried some motif quilting for the first time !

Now all I have to do is learn to do the same thing on my bigger quilts ! The hanging sleeve wasn't stitched down when this was taken, but it is finished now!!

Just in case you are wondering about the post title, watch this space as I have certainly got a Birthday Blues Part 2 to share very soon !