Saturday, June 30, 2012

Sofa time

20120701-P1210526.jpg So finally I have finished hand quilting the massive Swoon quilt. I just need to trim it and attach the borders. Pictures after that's done. We have an imminent house move so it might get put away for a while in the move. In the meantime I thought I shouldn't neglect the Swoon offcut quilt which also needs quilting. I did pretty big stitched just over 1/4" away on the Swoon and now I wanted to do something tinier and more intricate so I am a lot closer in to the seams now. I'd say 1/8".

20120701-P1210527.jpg I've got two quite bright red and green mercerised fine cotton threads going on here. Green for the centres of the white stars and the red for everything else. I am pretty pleased with how it is coming together and with how soft the backing is. It will be good to get it done. I finally feel like I am making headway through the quilt backup!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Fabric stash

20120701-P1210541.jpg Some new fabric arrived today! I realise that sometimes I want to restock a fabric but I have cut all the salve edge information off it and can't remember a thing about it. I think it's time I had some kind of catalogue. I do have a scrap book I stick samples in but I've started to think it would just be easier to go digital and take pictures of everything as it comes in. So here I go!

I have to make a cushion. I have never made one before. It has to fit in with a nice studio setting so I decided to buy this "Zig Zag" Fabric in Corn Yellow, Chevron Fabric from Moderncloth on Etsy. I also got some matching Yellow Chevron Twill Ribbon, 3/4 inch, Herringbone Ribbon just in case I needed to do ties. I have never made a cushion, it's not really my thing. All I know is that it has to be a manly cushion. I need to think about this. I might go to IKEA and buy some cheap innards. It needs to be quite thick so I might put two together.

This could all go horribly wrong, but the fabric is so cool!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Stash Splurge

20120701-P1210548.jpg It's terrible. The last thing I need is more fabric, but sometimes I just get carried away. I look in the fabric shops around me and I see nothing I like. Nothing I want, particularly when it comes to modern, bright fabrics. I am a huge fan of spot. I always have loads of spotty fabric. I've been slowly working through some of my favourites and I panicked. I wanted to make some mini bunting with spots but suddenly it was all too precious and in short supply. Suddenly I had to top up my stash and behold kimberly at Fat Quarter Shop has replenished me!

We have:
Stella Dot Orange on Pink Stella Dot
Stella Dot Pink on Orange Stella Dot
California Girl Sprout Sprouts Yardage
Santa's Workshop Blue Mini Dot - I got two blue dots but I think I prefer the other one
Crazy For Dots & Stripes II Pumpkin Orange Mini Dots on White
Crazy For Dots & Stripes II White Mini Dots on Pumpkin Orange
Crazy For Dots & Stripes II White Mini Dots on Sunflower Yellow
Crazy For Dots & Stripes II Yellow Mini Dots on White Yardage
McCall's Green Dots 
McCall's Light Blue Dots


I feel guilty
But much better about my stash!
So much for cutting back

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Sawtooth test

20120609-P1210013.jpg So today I tried to work out all my measurements properly. I decided to use the four flying geese method (instructions here), but I kept getting my numbers mixed up, fractions really confuse me. In the end it was third time lucky.

20120609-P1210019.jpg I love this fabric. It was a shame I wasted so much of it getting it wrong. The geese didn't come out 100% perfect. I always wish I could work out how to make them a bit bigger so I can trim them down accurately. My block is slightly off but I guess it makes it more homemade and the 4 at once technique saves all the wastage I was getting.

20120609-P1210016.jpg First block done. I am not sure the size it right, maybe it should have been a bigger block after all. Oh well, I've started now. I'm going to start cutting all my fabric tomorrow starting with the white blocks so I can make sure I have enough of my lovely soft sheet left, such a bargain for a fiver.

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Sawtooth Start

Sawtooth_mag.jpg I always like the start of a new project. This one has been in the pipeline for years. I knew I wanted to make a proper Little House on the Prairie flowery quilt with pale florals and lots of white. I saw this quilt in an interiors magazine and I thought it would be perfect. I started saving bits of fabric for it a long long time a go. I think after the Swoon quilt, making something old fashioned is called for, so I got all the bits out today and had a look at them.

20120605-P1200910.jpg It's the first time I've laid them out next to each other and I can't really see them all working together, but then I imagine all the white separating them and I think it might just work. I can't really tell, but I have loved these fabrics over such a long time that I feel loathe to change my plan now.

20120605-P1200912.jpg Here are my favourites. all collected at different times or leftovers from other projects.

20120605-P1200913.jpg Some of them were expensive Japanese fabrics with textures running through them. They were all the rage at Birmingham a few years a go but I haven't seen any new ones since then.

Sawtooth.jpg So here is the basic layout based on the photo. I've tried to work it out to have exactly the same number of blocls. I had always wanted to do huge 16" blocks. Just big and simple sawtooth ones showing off the fabric. My mum warned me that often big blocks don't look that great and after looking at the Swoon and the offcut Swoon, I am beginning to see what she means. Don't get me wrong, i like the big Swoon blocks but they are immense. They're 25"; a lot bigger. But in general, I have now come round to the idea of making them smaller. I think I've settled on 10" blocks because if I make the exact number of blocks as the picture then I will have an 100" quilt ready for a kingsize. It might be too big though so I have the option to drop out some of the blocks and make it smaller. I'll see how I get on. Big quilts are a bit of a pain in my small space.

Sawtooth_FQ.jpg Sawtooth_10.jpg
In an effort to be a bit organised, I have tried to work out how much material I will need. I only have fat quarters so I need it to work well in the given yardage. So I did a little diagram based on a 10" block. I worked out the sizes of the pieces:
A: 5 1/2" x 3
B: 3"
C: 5 1/2
D: 3"

Then I worked out I could get enough for 4 blocks out of a fat quarter. It's a bit of a squeeze on the width though, plus I need to factor in the half blocks round the edges so the planning continues. I might make up a sample block and check the measurements.

Monday, June 04, 2012

Swoon Binding

I only have three more blocks to quilt ao I thought I should get the binding all ready. There was quite a lot to make but it's all done now. 20120604-P1200906.jpg 20120604-P1200903.jpg