WIP Wednesday No. 11

My mum was hospitalised on Friday so, between work and running backwards and forwards to the hospital, I haven't had much time for sewing. I was determined to make some progress this week so here's the little I managed to do.

Hexalong
So far, I have been picking out my favourite spots and favourite solids to make the hexagons but I started to worry that I would be left with the yucky colours and no way to brighten them up. The new plan is to take the spots I'm not keen on and find some way to make me fall in love with them.

This was the first challenge. I really didn't like the diarrhoea coloured mustardy brown spots with the violet but, when paired with a brighter yellow, the whole thing looks a lot more palatable to me.

Double Wedding Ring
I pieced another couple of curves which makes enough curves to piece my first full ring. I also traced out the templates for the "melon" (the tutorials term, not mine - I've never seen a melon that shape!) and the centres using template plastic. Using my new templates I cut 4 melons and 1 centre.

That's when the panic set in. Should I piece them together or should I make all the curves and play around with them first. I have a fear of getting the balance of colours wrong. A paralysing fear.

I'm learning that my brain does not do scrappy, it craves order and symmetry. It's an engineering brain and scrappy is hurting it. I will not be defeated! I will, however, chicken out of sewing them together until I have them all pieced and can spend hours and hours rearranging them.

New projects

They're running a competition over at Missouri Star Quilt Company called the iron quilter. Take up to three charm packs and create anything you want. The finished quilts will be judged in January and the winner gets $150 to spend in the shop.

Can I resist the chance to win $150 of fabric loveliness? - nope. Do I have time to design a quilt, make a quilt and post it to America by December 31st? - Do I ****!

I guess I'll have to make time because I've ordered the charm packs so now it would be rude not to.

No progress projects

• Strawberry Patch 
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws
• It's a hoot 
• Antique quilt repair

Finishes

• None :(

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday. It's the one year anniversary of Lee's Linky party and to celebrate she's featuring the original linkers and a giveaway.

WIP Wednesday No. 10

Shabby Wedding Rings
I have pieced 6 of the curved sections for my double wedding ring quilt.

The pattern I am using is made up of 4 rings by 4 rings but I think I'm going to expand it so it's more bed sized. In total I need to piece 60 curves so I'm 10% there. That doesn't seem so bad.

Hexalong

I've made one more hexagon, using fussy cut flowers from a Faffe Fassett fabric.

It took me a couple of evenings but I'm very proud of it. So proud, I think I'm going to order some fat quarters of the floral in a couple of different colourways so I can do some more. I think these three would give a good balance:

No progress projects

• Strawberry Patch 
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws
• It's a hoot 
• Antique quilt repair

Finishes

• None :(

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

Serendipity

Last Wednesday I asked "Is there anything more satisfying than neat piles of freshly cut fabric?". It turns out there is! I have had so much fun sorting my fabrics into colour groups:

and piecing them into perfect wedding ring curves (I am a total foundation convert!). 

Add to that the serendipitous fact that, just as I started piecing a wedding ring quilt, 2 of my best friends announced they will be getting married next August. It must be fate.
So shabby wedding rings is to go to this gorgeous couple.

And now I have a deadline, I better get going...


This post is linked to Quiltstory's Fabric Tuesday. Why not pop over for some gorgeous fabric inspiration.

WIP Wednesday No. 9

Shabby Wedding Rings
Is there anything more satisfying than neat piles of freshly cut fabric?

These are the former Frosted Window Pane fabrics which are now going to be made into a Double Wedding Ring quilt. I adore these fabrics and can't wait to see what they look like. 

I am a little extremely scared about actually starting to piece this top. Scrappy is a step out of my comfort zone and curves make me shake in my shoes.

Hexalong

I don't think I've touched my hexagons in over a month but Tonya over at Hillbilly Handiworks has started a new hexagon project and it's spurred me into action.

So I've cut a pile of new diamond papers and cracked open the handy-hexagon box. Time to tack some new fabrics.

Other Projects

• Strawberry Patch - No progress. The lesson here is that if you tidy something away, you will forget about it all together. It's now back on my desk and making me feel guilty.
• Neutral jelly roll bear paws - waiting to be Long-arm quilted at work. 
• It's a hoot and Antique quilt - No progress. 

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

Wonky rings and frilly rings

Having spent a week contemplating my pile of vintage style fabrics (you can see them here) I decided I needed to make them into a traditional quilt. I have always loved Double Wedding Ring quilts but the urge to make one has always been equally balanced by my fear of curves.

I decided to face my fears this week but I was nervous so I started with some scraps. I copied these templates from a book I own:

and set about cutting out all the little pieces to make one section. It took ages to trace around the templates and cut them out and here's what I ended up with:

As you can probably tell this was not a very successful experiment. no matter how much I press it, my curves are frilly and the squares on the ends don't match up at all.

Undeterred, I went back to the drawing board (otherwise known as google) and found this tutorial on the Frees Spirit Fabric website. It uses foundation piecing for the curves which makes it a lot more accurate.

I'm a lot happier with this version and I learned as I went along. When I was attaching the curves to the central eye shape, I sewed the top seam first and you can see it's a little wibbly. When it came to the second seam I went with a lot more pins and it's come out pretty close to perfect.

Now I'm off to cut up my lovely fabrics and get foundation piecing some curves.