Mission Impossible?

I can't believe my last post was 16th February. I won't bore you with the tales of illness, injury, madness and mayhem that have plagued this house over the past month and a half. I'm just going to jump right in. I haven't done any sewing at home since I last posted and I'm going to try and make up for that this evening.

Here's a question... What's the fastest time you've ever made a quilt in?

Kim at The Fat Quarters has been collecting quilts for a charity all week.

Tiny Lives is a local charity, based in the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, that raises funds for all sorts of things to help premature and special needs babies in the area. From research into new medical techniques to helping families with travel costs to and from the hospital, they provide an invaluable service in the North East area.

Kim has been trying to collect as many incubator sized quilts as possible for Tiny Lives and I really want to help out but, due to the aforementioned illness, injury, madness and mayhem, it just hasn't been possible until now.

Here comes the crunch. The deadline is tomorrow and it's now 9.45pm. The quilts only need to be 16" x 20" so I don't think I'm entirely insane. Maybe just a little.

I've pulled out every bright and fun piece of fabric I could find and I'm going to dive in. Wish me luck!

WIP Wednesday No. 15

Finishes this week
Mum's quilt is all finished. See more details here.

Progress this week
So far, so good when it comes to sticking to the list. I've chosen to finish the Pear Tree Quilt next because I really want to get it sent over to New York to help out somebody in need.

I cut out all the fabrics on Sunday:

Then I played around with the squares to get a good balance on Monday night:

I started piecing on Tuesday but then had to rip it all out because nothing was lining up. When I tried again this evening I had the same problem and after a quick tantrum discovered that all my squares are 8 3/8" instead of 8 1/2"!

No idea how that happened but after a bit of bodging I managed to get 2 rows pieced together:

I think it will be really cute when it's done.

Still to go

1. Strawberry patch
2. Wedding ring
3. Echino baby quilt
4. Vintage quilt
5. Block of the month
6. Hex-a-long
7. Bear Paw

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday. 

First finish of the year

Can you believe I actually forgot some things off that humongous list last week?!? The first is a quick and easy project. My boss (from Woolaballoo) bought these lovely echino fabrics when she was at a show in October and asked me to make a baby quilt.

Thankfully, the baby isn't due until July so I have a little time. Plus there's no piecing; she would just like the print on the front, the blue on the back and a green binding. Should be super quick.

The second FIB (forgotten in a bag) project is my solid jelly bear paws. It had completely slipped my mind even though its progress is over there on the right and it quite clearly has not been quilted. 

On to happier news.... I have a finish!!! The Melrose quilt for mum has been bound in a diagonal stripe. I quilted it on the long-arm at work with a leaf pattern to match the fabrics.

The back is a grey version of the main print on the front and I think it may be my favourite print of the lot. 

It is now in place on the sofa and has been claimed by the incredibly lazy Tiger as a new favourite basking spot.

WIP Wednesday No. 14

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the number of unfinished projects lying around the house? It's hard to write a blog when you feel like you're making absolutely no progress.

I had limited myself by saying that I'm not allowed to start a new project until I've finished all the ones in progress but there are so many there that I'm still making very little inroads. The new vow is that I will pick one project and work on it until it is complete. No mixing it up, no taking a break and doing something else, just a concerted effort to finish up this pile of WIPs.

I'm going to bring the projects out of the closet so I can see exactly what there is to do:


Mum's Sofa Quilt

This quilt has been finished, quilted on the Gammill, trimmed and waiting to be bound for weeks. Time to pull my finger out and get it done!


Strawberry Patch Quilt

I started quilting this quilt in August! August! It won't take much to get it finished and I can't wait to see it done. Hopefully it will be done before next summer!


Pear Tree Quilt

My Pear Tree fabrics by Thomas Knauer arrived and they are absolutely gorgeous! Although this isn't, technically, a WIP because it isn't yet started, it is high on the list of priorities. To enter the competition you had to promise to make a quilt for the charity Bumble Beans Basics.

I quickly drew up this design with a woven foreground. I didn't want to distract from the fabrics and some of them are quite large prints so I thought this would showcase them well. I'd like to get it done by the end of March so it's high on the list.


Block of the Month

The only odd-one-out on the list is my Block of the Month project. I won't be doing all of these at once but I will make sure to get them done at the beginning of every month.


Wedding Ring Quilt

Another quilt with a deadline. I received my save the date card (well, it was actually a save the date Facebook message - they're on a budget) so it needs to be done by August. At the moment I have 8 curves pieced. That's not good progress.

Hex-a-long Quilt

Eeek. I'm not sure my willpower will last out this long. If I get all the other projects done I might allow myself to do this in tandem with other things. I may get sewing machine withdrawal symptoms if I can only hand piece for months on end.


Vinatge Quilt Restoration

This is a silk heirloom quilt handed over by a friend of my mum's. There are patches where her naughty husband left a biro with the lid off. When the ink was cleaned off, the colour came out the silk so I've been commissioned to appliqué something on the top to hide the bleached patches.


And finally....

Here's the pile of pre-cuts I have to make pretty things out of. I'm not allowed to touch them until everything above is done. If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is!


Phew! That's a long list and it doesn't even include all the many knitted items I've started since I started at Woolaballoo. At least I can work on those at work. Hopefully I can post soon with some real progress.

Mum's home!

Sewing has been put on the back-burner for a couple of days because we've moved mum home from the hospital. Queue hectic tidying of house and desperate stuffing of projects into bags so that the place looks fit to live in.

It's lovely to have her home but there's going to be a period of adjustment so we'll see how much I can get done.

Over at the forum the girls were wondering about doing a Block of the Month. After seeing the beautiful quilts made using the Skill Builder Sampler last year, I started thinking about skills that I'd like to learn or practice. There are so many techniques that I've always wanted to try so I came up with a sampler of my own.

If you'd like to join in we'll be helping each other out over at the MSQC forum. It's free to sign up and the ladies are lovely.

Iron Quilter finished just in time

I haven't been well recently so this is a little delayed. I managed to finish a quilt for the Iron Quilter competition. It isn't what I hoped to make but that's what I get for leaving things to the last minute.

I only used 5 of the 9 blocks because I ran out of time to piece together the final 4. I have all the subsections made up, so I'm thinking I'll make some matching cushions. 

I alternated the pieced bocks with some plain white-on-white blocks, quilted a motif in the centre of each one and echo quilted the Missouri stars. I think I managed to escape the 80s Laura Ashley look a little bit.

The finalists will be announced on the Missouri Star Quilt Company's blog sometime in the next couple of days. So fingers crossed...

With that complete my mind has turned back to tea cosies. I'm thinking squirrels!

Note to self...

If I ever decide to enter a quilt competition again, can somebody remind me not to leave it until 3 days before the deadline...

And if I am stupid enough to leave it to the last minute, please can somebody remind me not to pick a pattern that requires the trimming of 108 half square triangles.

I only had 5" squares to work with and I needed 3.5" squares which means that my pile of trimmings is actually larger than the finished squares - what a waste!

Add those 108 HSTs to 36 nine-patches, 72 3.5" squares, and 36 rails and hopefully you will get a quilt. Hopefully.

Bloggers' Choice Competition

You may have seen the Bloggers' Choice bundles popping up on the internet; Fat Quarter Shop ask famous bloggers to choose 12 prints and 3 coordinating solids and then they bundle a fat quarter of each of them for you to buy. Perfect for people who can't make decisions.

Quokka Quilts are running a fantastic competition. Make your own bundle up and link it to their blog and one super lucky person will win a half yard of each of the fabrics they chose!

I have spent hours trying to pick a collection and there is just too much choice. I snuck some of my favourite designers in there but there are also some ranges I'd never seen before.

First row
Domestic Bliss Teal Lattice
Palladium Gray Tear Drop
Palladium Clay Paisley
Bohemian Soul Pearl Lace
Free Spirit Designer Solids Light Jade

Second row
Prince Charming Honey Snail Scallop
Michael Miller Beige Dumb Dot
Bespoken Aqua Stitchery
Palladium Gray Peacock
Pure Elements Verve Violet Solid

Third Row
Michael Miller Baby Charcoal Feeling Groovy
Sophie Blue Fiesta Houndstooth
Palladium Sterling Cobblestone
Prince Charming Aqua Snail Scallop
Pure Elements Ash Solid

What do you think? Have a go yourself - it's much harder than you think.

A Christmas Present from Kim at The Fat Quarters

Do you need some motivation to finish up all those WIPs? If you book in any quilt to be long-arm quilted between now and the end of January, you will get 10% off. You also get 10% off the backing and wadding.

Take a look at some of the patterns we have available here. There are lots of others in the shop so give us a call or drop us an email to have a chat about how we can finish your quilt.

Have you met Thomas Knauer?

Thomas is a designer for Andover Fabrics and his first line is called Pear Tree.

It is bright, bold and graphical and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I particularly like the loopy prints.

Thomas ran a give-away with a difference at the beginning of the month. He didn't want you to follow him or like his facebook page or answer a silly question. All he asked was that you pledge to make a quilt for Bumble Beans Basics. 

It was such a lovely idea that I signed up at once and I won!!!!! I am so excited. I get to play with these lovely fabrics and do something nice for somebody who really needs the warm hug of a home made quilt. So now I have another quilt to add to the list. I may even use one of Thomas' patterns because I think they're as awesome as his fabrics.

If you get a chance, pop on over to ThomasKnauerSews to see what he's up to next. There are also some photos of his super cute daughter that are adorable.

Put down the mouse and step away from the computer

I decided to use one of the Missouri puzzle blocks for my competition quilt:

It seems simple enough and eye catching. I thought I would use an unusual setting to give it a bit of a twist but I'm not sure if it might be a little bit too complicated.

There comes a time, however, when you just need to stop faffing on the computer and actually pick up the fabric. I hope it turns out ok.

Just between us, if somebody asked my to describe my taste in quilts I'd find it really difficult. I like traditional and modern, new and old, bold and subdued. The one thing I can definitively say is that I do not like this range. It reminds me of bed and breakfast dust ruffles - yuk!

Iron Quilter research

I've been brainstorming ideas for the Iron Quilter competition. I'm still not sure if I have the time to join in but it's always best to be prepared just in case. 

I have 3 charm packs of Moda's Summer breeze line and the rules state that I have to use at least one entire pack and any other fabric that I want.

I'm not really a fan of blue and yellow florals, they remind me too much of 1980s Laura Ashley interiors. I needed to be inspired so got out my giant book of 5500 Quilt Blocks and searched for Missouri. Since the competition is run by The Missouri Star Quilt Company, I thought that would be the best place to start. Here are the blocks I found:

Missouri Morning Star

Missouri Puzzle

Missouri Daisy

Missouri Star

Missouri Gateway Star

 Missouri Windmills

Missouri Wonder

A lot of those can be ruled out because I either have no idea how to make them or it's not practical to make them with 5" squares.

Hmmm.... food for thought. I'm leaning towards one of the Missouri Puzzle blocks but I need to make a decision by Thursday evening so I can hit the late night opening of The Fat Quarters and buy up any supplies I need.

Quilt Aid

Have you heard of Quilt Aid? 12 quilt designers from Australia have designed 12 blocks that go together to make a fabulous quilt. The blocks are available from 6 shops around Europe and each shop has a different finishing kit so you have 6 different finished quilts to choose from.

The blocks range from beautiful to adorable and, having seen them in person, I really want to give them a go.

Available from Paprika Cotton Store in Belgium:

 Designed by Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly and Natalie Ross of In Stitches

Available from The Fat Quarters in the UK:

Designed by Janelle Wind and Janet Rowe of Wildcraft 

Available from Den Haan & Wagenmakers in The Netherlands:

Designed by Helen Stubbings of Hugs 'n' Kisses and Catherine Baynes of Willow Valley Store

Available from The Log Cabin in Germany:

Designed by Brenda Ryan of Thimble Stitch and Gail Pan of Gail Pan Designs

Available from The Stitch Cottage in The Netherlands:

Designed by Liz Stanway of Teddlywinks and Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches

Available from Aztec Rose in The Netherlands:

Designed by Lynette Anderson and Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse

A substantial amount from each sale goes to the Quilt Aid charity that funds The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. The hospital treats women who have had complications during childbirth and need long term care. They also promote maternal health and help to improve infant mortality. You can read more about the hospital on the Quilt Aid website.

The quilt is made in Bonnie and Camille's Ruby line which is one of my favourites so how can you resist a beautiful quilt for a fantastic cause.