Solid bear paws

I thought that using a solid jelly roll would make the bear paws look more modern but now it's done I think it has a traditional look about it too.

We had a fluke window of gorgeous sunshine this week so I took the time to get some outside pictures.

The subtle differences in the creams show up a lot better in natural light. 

I made a quick trip to The Fat Quarters to buy some batting and have a natter with Kim so now I just need to decide how to quilt this one. I think I might try free motion for the first time but I think I'll need to practice on something smaller first!

Chain piecing production line

I think I got a bit carried away with my chain piecing. There I was laying out my pieces and then wizzing them through the machine ...

... when I suddenly realised there was a pile-up. Turns out sewing 320 squares onto 320 rectangles make a large tangle of fabric

Still, you've got to love how quickly you can get through those blocks. A bit of slicing, a lot of pressing, a little bit more sewing and voilà!  The first 5 blocks of my second bear paw quilt:

It's quite hard to tell in the photo but they are 5 different shades of cream and beige from the oatmeal jelly roll.  They pick out the bits of confetti in the background fabric perfectly. Here's a close up of the lightest and darkest so you can see better

Hope it turns out as well as I think it will. I'm off to meet my mum for lunch. Happy Mother's Day to all those mums out there x

I must focus!

I never seem to manage to focus on one thing at a time. My Verna blocks are still in a pile waiting to be sewn together, my Rural Jardin bear paws are draped over the kitchen table in mid quilt, I have a ton of coursework I should be doing but I'm still starting new projects!

I was so pleased with how my bear paws were turning out that I started slicing up my solid jelly roll to make the second version.

This version will have solid paws on a patterned background. The piles of neutral solids kind of look like tasty layered pastries - yummy! I also cut 240 of the 400 squares needed to go with them but got rotary fatigue at that point.

When I was rooting around in the box for the solid jelly roll I found my It's a Hoot jelly roll (I think I may have a jelly addiction). I'd completely forgotten about that and it's discovery led to a couple of hours of fun messing around on the computer.

This quilt is going to be a lot busier than my normal quilts but I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone. It took me a while to get here because this range has some large prints which you can't really see in a jelly roll. I may try and get one of them for the back so I can showcase the fabrics properly.

Now if I can focus and get some real work done I will have had a very productive day.

A Quilting Conundrum

I started quilting my bear paw quilt 3 months ago but I put it on pause because I wasn't happy with the way it was turning out. I started by quilting on every vertical and horizontal 2" strip but once I'd done them all (which was no easy feat on my little machine!) I didn't like the way it was looking.

I like the grid effect itself, which looks great from a distance, but when you look closer I'm not happy with the cream coloured thread that I've used.

I ordered some darker thread which has finally arrived but now I can't decide whether to unpick it all and try again with the new thread or just go with it and see how it turns out.

There are 14 lines which are 78" long and 18 lines which are 62" long giving a grand total of 2208" or 61 feet of quilting to be unpicked!!!

When you put it that way I think I'll just grit my teeth and go with it.

Getting close to the end

It's taken a really long time to squeeze in these blocks between lectures, coursework and the general craziness of university life but I finally have a finished pile!

I hadn't realised how large this quilt was going to be until I saw the finished pile of blocks. I couldn't find the space to lay them out until I moved all the furniture in the kitchen to the outside of the room and started playing around on the floor. This attracted the attention of my flatmates so we spent a fun afternoon bonding over arrangements. It took a while, there is a lot of blue and green to disperse throughout the top but we go there in the end.

Look how excited Maria was:

I also found out that my maths isn't as good as it should be or, alternatively, I thought there were 40 squares in a layer cake instead of 42. Either way it turns out I made 4 too many blocks which worked out well because I didn't really like these ones, a little to 70s for my liking.

Now to find the time to zip them together and then I can move on to something else. As much as I love this top it seems to have been going on for ages!

The first cut is always the hardest

I've been hanging on to this Verna Layer Cake for a while now. I love the colours and the patterns, they really make me smile just to look at them. Sometimes when I buy a fabric I get scared of cutting into it in case I ruin it!

I suddenly realised that it would be so much nicer to snuggle under a quilt made out of them than to just get them out and flick through them. I had a play around with Photoshop and came up with a couple layouts. I like the Bento Box but I think it'll be a bit busy with all the different prints (or that might be the migraine talking).

I muddled the blocks around and came up with this second layout. I think it showcases the prints better and doesn't hurt my eyes as much. 

Since they're both made out of the same blocks I thought I would just go for it and I can decide when the blocks are all made. I'm using two layer cakes - the Verna and a Bella solid in snow. A 10" square of each makes two blocks, one with a coloured outside and one with a solid.

A little bit of cutting, some essay avoidance and here are my first blocks:

I'm glad I took the plunge, these are giving me an even bigger grin than the fabrics on their own.

Back to school

I moved back to Durham this weekend to get some work done before term starts next week. Being a university town means that it's eerily quiet around here out of term time but the peace does mean that you end up getting a lot done (the peace and the fact that the bar isn't open!).

I've redesigned my banner (do you like it?) and I've managed to make a start on the quilting of my bear paw quilt.

It's larger than I'm used to (86"x70") and it takes a lot of effort to get it through my little machine but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. 

I'm the only one in the flat so I've commandeered the kitchen for sewing purposes.

The positives are that I have more space, there's wifi, it's festively decorated with a mixture of Alice in Wonderland and Halloween bunting and the tea and biscuits are only a couple of steps away. On the downside, we live on the ground floor so I have the bored porter lurking outside my window giving me "helpful" advice.

Just before I came back I went to The Fat Quarters and they had 20% off everything! I picked up a jelly roll in Bella neutral colours and started wondering what this quilt would look like with plain paws and a patterned background. It was just too tempting so I bought the jelly roll and some coordinating fabric to have a go.

The fabric is from the Zippity Doo Dah range by Sandy Gervais. Two of the neutrals match the cream and tan confetti pieces perfectly so I can't wait to see how it comes together.

Decisions, decisions...

I think I may have been a little too optimistic in thinking that I could get this top finished in 2 days. The sashing is taking a lot longer than I expected.

I've been stitching away like a maniac but have completely neglected to do any laundry, organizing or packing for my move this weekend.  Now the question is do I carry on sewing and throw all my dirty washing into bin bags to move or do I do the sensible thing and pack up the machine?

But I love my little machine so much .....

The last leg of a sewing marathon

I'm determined to get this quilt layered up before I have to move back into the university accommodation on Saturday.  I won't have the space to do any layering there unless I sweet talk the staff into letting me use the dining room tables.

So, marathon sewing sessions it is.  I've been sewing non stop every night after work and I've turned my lovely pile of dog eared strips into 80 beautiful bear paws.  Here's a selection of them:

Whites and reds

Reds

Blues

Light blues

I'm not sure which group I like best but they've all exceeded my expectations. The background colour is Moda's Bella Solid in Stone and it seems to be doing a fantastic job of setting off the Rural Jardin fabrics.  Sashing tomorrow night and then I'm getting close to the finish line.

USPS excitement

I came home from work to a big pile of USPS flat rate envelopes.  They're fairly hefty when they're stuffed to the gills - I could barely get through the door!

After some frantic ripping and excited bobbing around (I can't sit still when I'm excited) I discovered my lovely fabric purchases from Missouri Star Quilt Company and Fat Quarter Shop.

This is what happens when you're bored at work and have an active internet connection!  First up is the lovely yardage from Fat Quarter Shop.

The top two are from the Rural Jardin range by French General and the bottom is a Bella Solid in Stone (both from Moda).  I bought the jelly roll at my LQS a couple of weeks ago but I was too late to get enough yardage for backing and she doesn't stock any of the plains which is why I went on an internet spree.  

I came up with an idea and - with some fancy photoshop jiggery pokery - this is what my quilt will look like:

Well, at least this is what it SHOULD look like.  There's no way my points will line up that cleanly!  Next was the package from the Missouri Star girls.  I love their packages because they always have handwritten notes in them.

It's a layer cake of Bella solid in Snow which is going to be put with a Verna layer cake that I've had sitting around for ages.  I'll wave my photoshop wand and try and give you a preview of that quilt too.