More HST's!!!

I really am going to have to get my head around using a different pattern. But this really is just my absolute fave at the moment and definitely a "go to" present quilt. This one is for someone very special and I really hope she likes it - time will tell!

The fabrics are another Fabricworm fat quarter bundle - Patty Young "Sanctuary" and they remind me of the sea, which is just perfect for the recipient.

Please excuse the pants pictures - the weather has been attrocious today. Hailstone showers like I have never known. I had to change ALL of my clothes this morning after walking the kids to school. Nice!

Still - NYC here we come on Thursday - Lianne & I are having our Christmas shoppping weekend there and I cannot wait!

Lots more making to do & a poorly machine with "issues" I am hoping my fabulous local sewing shop can sort for me whilst I am away. Pfaff is off to the mending shop!!

xxx

A Bit of Lou Lou Thi

*Picture heavy post coming!*

I am still here - it's been a mamouth month with my 39th birthday (eek! Too close to 40 now!!) and our 3rd Sarah's Cards Ltd retreat at the beginning of the month followed by monthly kit packing, grab boxes and then a nasty cold to contend with. But I have still managed a little sewing

I bought a half yard set of Anna Maria Horner's Lou Lou Thi range from Fabricworm a little earlier this year and have been pondering what to do with it. In the end, I made 3 quilts! It's surprising just how far 5 yards (10 x half yards of print) will stretch when teamed with solids - in fact, I still have enough scraps for a few pots or pencil cases if patchworked together. We'll see. I am trying to build my scraps a little to make a string quilt eventually.

So, for the first, I purchased some Kona Ash from Mandy and set to making another HST Quilt. I had slightly miscalculated, so had to order more for the back, but really like how it came out.

I used the same fabric to make a scrappy binding for this one and quilted on the grey Kona, around 1/4 inch away from the coloured fabric. It makes the colours pop more somehow

The next one I made using Bleach White Kona (almost ivory white - it suited these prints - I think white may just have been a little too stark)

I had intended to make a zig zag quilt using these HST's when I first started but really wanted to see how it would look in this pattern (which is my absolute fave right now!).

I do want to make a zig zag quilt at some point but when you've gone to all the effort of 130 HST's (to include the zig zag on the back) I somehow feel that zig zag is the "easy looking" option. I may try Crazy Mom's Quilts zig zag without the HST's - we'll see!

Finally, I made another stacked coin quilt

I just love this and love love love the colours of these fabrics together. I always lean towards blues, aquas, greens, browns & greys so it was great fun using these brighter prints.

The top grey sashing quilt is finished - the other two have backs but need to be basted & bound - a job for the coming week. All three quilts are destined as presents - I wonder if the recipients can guess which is for them??!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Up Friday, week 5 (yes I know that technically it is Saturday here but, hey! It's still Friday somewhere in the world!)

xxx

When it's VAT (Tax) returns time.....................

..............what better to do than sew?

Ross was out Friday night having pre-40th birthday celebrations with work so I had some time to myself. I had promised that I would sit and do paperwork with the VAT returns due again. But no. My fabric pile (which is ever increasing) called & so I started

Trimming

pressing & trimming some  more.....

I chain stitched & pieced & ironed & trimmed until finally on Sunday afternoon I had this:

This is the first time I have used Kona Ash from Mandy's fabulous shop and will definitely not be the last. I am about to order again - I didn't think to order for the back *d'oh* so this will stay as a quilt top until that arrives

So, this quilt is destined as a gift for someone special. I think it may just be called the procrastination quilt or the Tax Return quilt. Isn't it amazing just how much you can get done when there's paperwork calling? I've always been the same. Still, at least I was productive!

Sarahbobsquarepants Quilt!

Too long ago, I started making LynneBobSquarePants squares for this quilt. I have never taken on a challenge quite this big before (each HST ends at 3 1/2" before being stitched together and this quilt has 16 blocks of 36 squares in it ( 576 squares in total). Doesn't sound like a lot but it was, believe me! I cut, I stitched, I trimmed, I stitched, I pressed & stitched & pressed some more...............you get the picture! I have really enjoyed making this quilt and absolutely love everything about it - the colours, the design, the fact that it's MINE and that I will be hand quilting it once I've decided on a backing design. BUT. I think it will be a while before I make another!

Measures approx. 72" square. I did consider adding another row of blocks to the bottom to make it into a twin size, but decided I do like square quilts for snuggling on the sofa on Winter days.

These are the best shots I could get on this blustery, grey Autumn day. Hard to believe we were in sun dresses on 1st October - how it all changes in less than 2 weeks!

The sewing continues (I'm on a roll!) - more to show later this week, once pressing work issues have been dealt with. Juggling a kit club, busy shop and retreat planning is never an easy job! Oh and the blasted VAT returns are due again *humph*

Joel Dewberry HST is finished!

I finally finished! I quilted 1/2" around each of the squares (the outside and inside of each) and then spent an evening or two tying off and burying the loose threads. I think it was worth it, though. I used the Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow navy herringbone fabric for the binding again and am pleased I did - it seems to be the perfect frame for this quilt.

Look at that dark sky!!! It's supposed to be our summer

Close up of the quilting stitches

The back

Shows off the quilting pattern a little better

We're off to North West Wales tomorrow for a week with the family - my sister & her three are going, as are mum & dad and we have a lovely house on the coast booked. Can't wait! Let's just hope our British Summer improves somewhat.............

I have packed my "Boy's Story" stitcheries to keep me occupied during the evening. I am hoping to get quite a bit more done - this quilt has gone stale and needs to get back on track!

4 Plus 4...............

Progress is being made on my LynneBobSquarePants quilt - 4 blocks down making me 1/4 of the way through................why oh why does it seem like a good idea at the time, but once you get down to the nitty gritty, it's an awful lot of work. One block wasn't so bad...............but 16??? What was I thinking?!! Should've stuck to the original idea of a cushion!! Still, it will be a pretty awesome quilt once it's finished. I am loving the colours in it and it will be a nice size once done (72" x 72")

I shall persevere!

Happy Wednesday!

S x

HST Quilt - Joel Dewberry

As promised I managed to hurridly baste the quilt to the back so that I could show it off here - I had 25 minutes before going to collect the twins from pre-school and thought I would challenge myself to get it done...............and I did! Just! I use spray baste 505 in a can (by ODIF) and it is absolutely the best thing to use for basting quilts (my good friend Julie, who taught me everything about quilting, told me this and she is so right!) After all, why spend hrs pushing pins through and taking pins out, when a spray will do the job just as well?

So once I had the kids, we quickly went out into the garden to take some pics. James was so excited to see another quilt being pinned to the line and immediately knew he had to go and get his camera "wait for me mummy" he squealed. He kept saying "it looks gorgeous". He's such a character!

You can just see the edge of Amelia's dress, who was trying to get in on the photographing action too

And here is the back of the quilt - just a simple zig zag which I carefully matched up to the front when basting. It was only when I took it outside that I realised I have used different whites for between the zig zags and the body of the quilt. Hopefully once quilted it won't notice as much. I hadn't noticed it inside - it must just be in the cold light of day. Hey ho - I like to use my scraps up

 I still can't decide whether to hand quilt or machine quilt - any ideas?

It's a Modern Affair

Chicago last week was amazing. The show seemed a little smaller than usual but the products did not disappoint and the plastic has been well and truly flexed! The weather was almost unbearable as they see a huge heatwave over there - the temperature was around 100 every day and the humidity almost unbearable. However, we survived and have returned batteries recharged & ready to go!

I was itching to stitch when I came back, so after the jetlag calmed down, I found time yesterday evening to pull out some of my "put away for best" fabrics from Pat Bravo's "Modern Affair" range (I've gone with the oranges, greens & greys, leaving the blues for another day) and made a start cutting out 3 1/2" squares to make a quilt using Lily's fabulous LynneBobSquarepants block (quite an apt block to start making, seeing as my two have just "discovered" Spongebob and are mildly obsessed

This is where I was at last night - further progress has been made today with the first block having been stitched & further HST's stitched ready for the next couple of blocks. It was only when I started to trim the HST's ready to do the layout below, I seemed to vaguely recall how much I hated HST's at the end of the Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow quilt. Hey ho - I love the finished result so am sure it will be the same again this time (although last time I was working with larger squares on a smaller quilt - go figure!)

The trimming shards - boy, how time consuming is that?

The layout of the finished block (which is now together)

I have also pieced a back for the Joel Dewberry quilt - once it's sandwiched I shall take a pic (if I remember & the weather holds!). Which reminds me - we had a wasps nest in the back garden under the decking of the kids' playhouse just before I went away. A fabulous pest guy came & injected it but it looks like he didn't get the lot as I saw quite a few wasps scurrying down there again today - must call tomorrow to see if he can come back. What a pain!

A Tale of Two Halves

The half square triangles have finally been stitched together into a top

Of course James has again requested this as his. We'll see. I mean, how many quilts does a 3 yr old need?

Fabrics are Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow and the fabulous tutorial I used for this (they used this range of fabrics too - it just works so well!) can be found here

I am hoping I don't leave this top languishing and inspiration strikes for the back............I have a few ideas up my sleeves - does anyone else find the back almost as challenging as the front???

HST's

I fell in love with a Half Square Triangle quilt a few months ago and have been dying to try it out. First I cut the squares a month or more ago and left them to one side. Then at the weekend I found time to draw the pencil lines along the white squares and left them to one side. Sunday evening I stitched along either side of the pencil lines *which took forever* and set them to one side. I then cut along the pencil line of each one (as shown above), set up the iron and steamed them all open away from the white *which took forever*

 This evening, I have spent the entire night trimming these HST's to 5 1/2" square *which is taking forever*. I have a rather neat pile of 5 1/2" square HST's plus an ever growing pile of trimmings and an ever bluntening rotary blade. These quilts are not "quick wins" but I am hoping it will be worth it! I certainly do like the design of it. I will need another few hours tomorrow evening of trimming before I can lay them out and start sewing them together.........perseverence!

In other news, this cold appears to be turning into a nasty ear infection (I had a perforated ear drum a few years ago - not nice - and this feels like it is going the same way) so I may well be seeing my GP tomorrow for some anti-b's. Fingers crossed sleep & ibuprofen do the job, though

With the UK getting battered by high winds, I hope you are keeping safe & warm xx