Linus quilt bound

Boyish quilt for Project Linus UK finally bound and ready! 

Orphan blocks, Bonnies Garlic Knots variation.  

I intended to make a quilt for me, but I didn't like the bright white, too much contrast for my taste. 

The colours are brighter in sunny weather, it has been dull here for days, sewing weather.

Decluttering and mending

I started another ten stitch blanket this week for Project Linus UK (well, 20 really-it grows quicker!)

I have a lot of random green yarn scraps, they may as well go to make someone warm rather than be binned. It will be my YouTube  watching project for cold winter nights. 

Sewing this week has been clothing repairs and a few 3" finished leader-ender broken dishes blocks...

...and a LOT of draw cleaning and reorganisation! I have five empty drawers now that I must not fill up with NEW projects! 

I found lots of  half made four patches left over from Perkiomen Daydreams-this was intended to be a large quilt, however I wasn't happy with the accuracy, so it ended up as a cot size flimsy. 

I need to find something to do with several hundred navy four patches that finish at 2". 

Project Linus

Another Linus finish. 

Not the best picture, the colours are brighter in real life! 

These orphan blocks have been languishing for over 10 years, they were a first try for background fabric. I felt the seagull fabric was too busy and too dark for a big quilt. 

I recently had a sort through and decided they had to be used or go, so now they will cheer up a poorly child, hopefully. 

I like the seagulls and their dinosaur relatives in juxtaposition. 

The border blues came from my scrap users system stash, the binding is scrappy. 

It was quilted with gifted polyester thread. 

Busy year, but still sewing!

Thank goodness for sewing, its got me through a tough year! 

 I have logged my finishes on the 'finish' tab.

This is a little of what's been happening in the last couple of weeks: 

I have so much scrap yarn-this is my busy bag project, blanket squares for Project Linus

There are about 200 done, clipped into sets of 10, not enough to start making blankets yet as the colours are too varied. 

The next batch  of scraps  is ready for use. I have my mums yarn stash that was used for Linus blankets now, I have to use it somehow. It is impossible for me to sit and watch TV with nothing in my hands so it will be knitted up eventually. I even took my bag to an open air theatre event: there were some strange looks, mostly as I was watching the play, not my knitting!  I would have been too self conscious to knit in public a few years ago, now it has to be done. Idle hands and all that...…... 

***

I made 64 railroad tracks blocks from my 2 1/2" strip stash. I had lots of muddy neutrals that were not moving from the stash, which I paired with darker shades. the blocks came out really well,, I will be keeping this one for me! 

There are lots of other blocks made with the leftover cuts from this project, more of that in the next post. 

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Leader~ender blocks are coming along, broken dishes made from the 2" string bin.

I cut  up a lot of fabric that would never go into a design of mine normally, use it or bin it! 

Also some four patches from 2" strings. I have enough of these for a queen sized quilt now.

I need to browse some designs that include random four patches for inspiration.

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This is the second sandwich I have quilted this week.  The pattern is Bonnies Garlic Knots, from 2" strips. I loved the pattern, but using the white sheeting for a background was too stark for my taste with the dark 'knots', so this is one for Project Linus, boy themed with rhinos. I find that many of the Linus quilts I make end up a bit girly, so I went with these little grey tough guys for a border. 

The binding wont be sewn down for a bit, I like to do that in batches in the cooler weather. 

***

This little darling came into the family on Valentines Day

I am going to be looking after Ellen one or two days a week. 

She already has too may blankets! 

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Noah with his new quilt

All tucked up! I made this with the leftover blocks from his parents wedding quilt: this one was machine quilted, his parents king took nearly three years to do by hand, way overdue!

Roundup without curves

I have been working on hexies for the last month. Piccies later. 

 ***

I gave up on Perkiomen Daydreams as I wasn't happy with my accuracy on earlier blocks. I have pieced the finished  blocks into a cot sized flimsy, as cot sized people are no the quilt police! I will quilt this when I need a baby quilt in a hurry. 

 ***

I have started another postage stamp quilt, from the 1 1/2"  bin. I am not using this size, so I sewed some strip sets together and will sub-cut a few at a time- blocks of colour when I need a quick fix. Teenny bits help me with my accuracy. 

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I have done a few of these flying geese strips, from 2" scraps in sets 1-8, again, to work on my accuracy. They will probably make a scrappy border for something. 

***

 

These two charity quilts are pinned and ready for quilting, all orphan blocks. I have several filmsies of the moth blocks in this size, I am practicing with the fancy stitches on my Bernina before I quilt the king size version! 

This one is part quilted. 

Much more to do to shape the moths.

 ***

A charity quilt finish today, about 1m square.

This one was frugal:

• Backing was a new gifted polycotton duvet cover
• Many shirts were harmed in the making of the blocks
• All the thread was gifted polyester from my dressmaker mum's stash
• The stripy border was a charity shop cotton duvet cover
• The white border is recycled cotton sheeting
• The scrappy binding is made from off-cuts from previous quilt backings 

=happy!

Bow tie surplus (understatement!)

Well. I had started to sew some of the bow ties together for my quilt. I just powered away, as you do.

I had thought I had too many for one quilt. I was right. I have made strips enough for 2  quilts at 60 x 72". 560 bow ties in each.  One of these is for me, another a gift.  Here are the strips hanging over the door.






I sewed a few pairs the wrong way round: I have a baby quilt to do in the summer, problem solved, I sewed a few more, now all I have to do is add a plain border to bring it up to cot size.  I don't know the sex of the baby yet, so I threw everything in there!





Leftovers: enough for another 5' x 6', or a fancy border for another quilt. I knew I had overdone it, but really!

A flimsy and a finish

Another flimsy-I have had these string/crumb blocks pieced for five years!  I sewed them onto squares of old cotton sheeting and quilt covers, so this will be very heavy.  I will probably tie it with buttons as the seams are so thick in places. I have about a  kilo of old buttons, so I may as well use them!

A finish: baby quilt for Alexander, who arrived two weeks ago, I had a cuddle today and feel all warm and fuzzy!

The pile of flimsies to be quilted has been growing in the corner of the spare room, how do they KNOW!?????  They are going to have to be moved or be covered in black fur!  She has her own quilt, one of my trial free motion pieces, on the largest chair in the living room, I hoovered the layer of fur off it this morning and its just not right now! Miaw, psft!

More bow ties with spun centres.....

700......

800 and counting this month!

Which fabric for the sashing for Sisters Choice?   the cotton reels have all the right colours, perfect, but however narrow I cut it there isn't enough!  I am not buying more fabric, it has to come from the stash, so I have gone with the burgundy bamboo instead.  Probably a better option really, although the reels have all the colours it would end up very 'busy'.  I'm going to set these 'dancing' like the baby quilt.

Linking up for

patchworktimes.com design-wall-september-23-2013
quilterinthecloset building-blocks-tuesday
www.freshlypieced.com wip-wednesday 
lizofdandeliondaydreams Brit linky Thursday 

So may bow ties!

Here is the first  batch of bow ties  waiting to have the seams spun, a TV job this weekend.

I like the odd mismatched ones the best, can't wait to see them in the quilt-there aren't many of them but they will add interest-here, orange bows, black knots. Sore fingers form all the smoothing!

I have kept the bow ties on the machine all week for spare moments-this is the second huge batch!  There are a lot left to do: I have had my fill of 'just sewing' this week, so the project will go back to the standard leaders and enders status for a bit when this batch is done.  Nice to have one of these projects ready to go when the 'just sew' bug catches you.

The next leaders and enders project will be Bonnie's Perkiomen Daydreams. This should keep me going for a bit. Years, in fact!

Later this weekend I'll be putting the sashings on 'orange and blue' which is still laid out in the spare room (link to previous post).  I'm going to set the blocks in the same way as the blue and red baby quilt, sashed with the orange highlight fabric.  I'll also be finishing the binding on the baby quilt-Baby Alexander has arrived!



 I don't know if I will get this done in time for a Christmas present, as there is so much else to take priority, but at least the top will be ready to go.

Linking up for the .maybushstudio brit-thursday-sewing-linky

This week: free motion

This week has been filled with finishing off projects: by the end of next week I will have four finishes, once the binding is sewn down!   I have been free motion quilting into the wee hours.

VE1 series table mat quilting detail

VE1 series table mat quilting detail

Cot quilt detail, lollipop trees and border

Now its hand sewing binding for a week (I like doing this, strangely!)

Linking up for FMQ Friday 
and WIP Wednesday

Which quilting design?

Dancing nine patch baby quilt

I'm fairly sure my college won't be looking to see what's going on so here is a pic of the baby quilt ready for sewing-I can't decide on  a design to sew!  Any suggestions?   

I want to sew in the blue squares fairly densely, leave the red and the yellow, and densely quilt the border. Even after looking at Leahs site I can decide!

Gingko leaves

 I was playing around trying things out last night.  I realised my travel stitching needs mere work!  Then I came up with this design for gingko leaves that I quite like (wibbly borders, no smooth curves, I can manage that!). 


I may use this as a background filler for the cream areas on 'Moth in a Window', another one that looks to be done by the end of the year.

Moth In the Window layout trial

Off topic

Not much sewing done in the last two weeks. Life has conspired.   I have been taking stock of where I am and where I'm headed. I am Rubenesque girl, I have been for along while now anyway, since I stopped competitive sport.  My dad was a big  chap, I take after him in a lot of ways. These days, a lot of my interests are sedentary, which isn't doing me any favours  as I approach middle age, I can see me having similar health issues in 20 years. A lot of things have come together recently to make a reality check necessary in all areas of my life.  I have listened to other peoples life experiences, taken advice on board.   Time to stop struggling and change my health status along with a lot of other things.   I have a week off work this week, to look at jobs that need doing and put a different regime in place-literally getting my house in order!     

Happy to say that lots of quilty projects will have come together by the end of the year, as I have overcome my doubts about free motion quilting and stopped striving for immediate perfection (a character fault that often stops me trying something as I know I can't achieve it immediately!)  

This week I have to finish the baby quilt, before Master Gurr is actually here in the middle of next month! I can show you that once its completed and handed over. 

Then  this charity quilt to be bound, along with two more VE1 series table mats.  Then, four more charity quilts that are already pieced are ready for my free motion practice.  Lets face it, children aren't the quilt police!  

I have been reading a lot: losing myself in a book separates me from reality a little and gives my mind a space to ponder. I struggled getting through Moby Dick by Herman Melville for a month- it was a fascinating historical document of life on board a whaling ship, so I'm not sure why I found it so much hard work!

This weeks read is a RABCK (random act of Bookcrossing kindness)  for fellow Bookcrosser 3vie, My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurrier.  I have a lot of books bought form charity shops to read. Literally hundreds!  As a way of choosing my next read I ask Bookcrossers to pick one for me, I read it and send it to them.  On the 'to be read and sent' pile are Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Difference Engine by William Gibson, Creatures of the Earth by John McGahern, Treasure Island by RL Stevenson and The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  That will keep me busy for the next 6 weeks or so!  Sadly, I can only send within the UK now s its often more expensive to post a book abroad than it is to buy a new one!
 

I had a couple of days on Brighton this weekend house sitting for my son. Saturday was rainy and dreary, no one about at all in the morning,  sad to see my home town like that on a bank holiday weekend.  There were eldery ladies out for the day on the pier prepared with wooly blankets!  In August! I took lots of photos for the Flickr 'empty seats' group-thankfully Sunday and Monday were warm, otherwise it could have been another financial disaster for local businesses, on the tail of last years bank holiday washouts.


Off to move furniture, I need a third coat of white on my bedroom walls, the streakiness is disturbing me!