Work in Progress Wednesday

My mother-in-law's quilt.  Almost done. (You can see the completed top here.)

Ahh, the ugly duckling phase.  It's all quilted but there are threads hanging off it every which way that I have to tie off and bury and there is fluff everywhere from the cotton batting.  (I could have cropped out the mess in the background, but hey, what's another sword or two?!)

The backing was also another challenge in my 'not buying any new fabric in 2010' journey.  I didn't have any large pieces in the right colours so I had to piece one.  A nifty trick to centre the backing and the top when you are basting is to tape a cross of matchsticks or kebab sticks to your basting surface, then you can feel them through the layers to make sure you are all lined up.

I marked a big swirling pattern on the back in chalk and quilted it from the back. 

Just the binding and labelling to go! 

Wet, whiney, work-in-progress Wednesday.

I'm officially blurk.  No mojo.  Rain, rain and just a little bit more rain.  Oh, and a good dose of wind.  Toddler has been home all week with snotty nose and cough, so no kid-free sanity time for me.  Got lots that I should be thankful for, heaps actually, just haven't got the spark to appreciate it all.

Okay, I'm kicking my own butt!  Ouch!

Right: 

I'm thankful that I got my daughter's quilt finished.  And I'm thankful that she is now 3, which makes daycare cheaper!  I'm glad the birthday party was a success ie no black eyes or broken bones, and the only sulk was from big brother not birthday girl.

I'm grateful it's raining, because that means there is no drought.

I'm glad the dam's full now, in fact it's overflowing, so we will head into spring and summer with plenty of water.

And I'm really grateful I live in a house right now and not a tent!

But I just can't work up any gratefulness knowing that I have to get out in this weather and pick up my boy from school in a little while.  Hmmm, finger's crossed I CAN get out and there is no flooding!  (And I'm trying not to think about having to feed the animals later, slosh, slosh.)

Right, onto Work in Progress Wednesday.

I've got a few quilts that I want to do this year for certain dates.  My little girl's one was the first.  Tick. 

Now I'm working on my MIL's.  I'm up to laying it out and stitching blocks together. 

After that comes a dragon one for my boy.  I've designed the dragon block, now I'm picking fabric for the applique. 

And last but not least, I'm planning a quilt for my FIL for Christmas.  He is currently having six weeks of chemo and radiotherapy so I reckon he deserves something special.  I'm thinking positive/negative applique again - with a stag head, boar, native trees, birds, fish - he's a hunter, can you tell?  I'll keep you posted on how I go.

(And did anyone pick the typo?  Copy writer's block!)

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

This is a little bassinet quilt made out of leftovers.  I'm making it for the local Maternity Unit at our small rural hospital.  They use them on the bassinets to provide some warmth and colour to the postnatal rooms.

An I'm going to put the binding on using this no-snit binding tutorial.  I've used it before and it was great, but I need practice.

And look!!  It didn't take long at all and it's just about perfect!  I'm sold!  I have to finish the project that these scraps came from quickly and I'm guessing I'll be using no-snit machine binding to do it. 

I have a friend who has an old hand injury and she machine binds her quilts because all the hand-sewing hurts her - so this might be a really useful tutorial to pass on to anyone you know with arthritis or similar.

So now I guess it's Work-Finished Wednesday!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Medallion Swap

This is sort of an 'epic' work in progress.  More than a year ago (I know that because I remember making the centre when I was in our old house), my sister and I decided to do a swap/challenge kind of thingey.

She lives in Australia and I don't get to see her all that much so it seemed like a nice way to keep connected.  And she quilts too of course!

We both started off making a centre medallion however we liked, using whatever techniques appealed at the time.  Then we sent our medallion to the other person to put the next border on.  Once that border is done, we swap again for the next border.  And we take turns at picking a theme for each border too.

Apologies for my cropping efforts!

So this is the centre medallion that I made.  It's done using a papercut method of folding the fabric then cutting it so the designs are symmetrical.  Then I heat bonded the shapes down and machine appliqued them down.

The next theme was 'curves' and this is what my sister sent me back.  Fun to see what you get back - totally different from anything I would have done and so it makes you really think for the next border.

The next theme was 'traditional' - pretty broad.  To be honest it stumped me for a while.  Then rummaging through my projects a month or so ago, I pulled it out and was hit by instant inspiration (love those moments). 

I decided to turn it on point and add setting triangles as the next border.  I added a slim brown border first, then drew a design for the triangles and blocks out on brown paper to get my measurements.  Then I searched for traditional blocks at Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache that would fit a five grid, as my blocks needed to be 10 inches finished.  This block was called Broken Dishes Variation and I love how it's turned out.

Now I'm debating as to whether I put another slim border on it before sending it off.  What do you think?

(And if we all nag ask my dear sis, she might post pics of her one on her blog - shhh, don't tell her I said that!)

One Handsome Man & WIP Wednesday

I mean, if I were a hen, I'd want him for my rooster - wouldn't you?

As for Work-In-Progress Wednesday...well, I have lots of little piles of sewing, all waiting for my machine to come back.  She's still off on her adventure.

Lots of little batik half-square triangles left over from snowball blocks I made for another quilt ages ago.  I thought I'd sew them together into a cushion cover or something.

I'm making an I spy quilt for my daughter (you have to make one of them in a lifetime don't you?!).  I discovered what to do with all the leftovers of the prints - make the backing!  So they are patiently waiting to be pieced in some fashion or another.

Can't show too much of this one as the intended recipient's parents read this blog ;)  It's waiting to be quilted.  You can see the old blanket I've used as batting.

And a bag, just for me, just for fun.

A rainy work-in-progress Wednesday.

It's raining outside and a howling gale.  It blew my rooster pen gate (a sheet of corrugated iron with a slab of wood against it - sophisticated, I know) open and four of them got out and are literally blowing around the lawn.  Hopefully they'll have had enough by this evening and be happy to go back into the pen!

Perfect weather for staying inside and quilting.  Except I still don't have a machine.  The service man rang me yesterday and she has to be sent away for a new electricky-sockety-board-plug-thingey and, of course, she is three months out of her electrical warranty. 

So I'm sifting through my projects and working on bits that don't need sewing.  I don't have a design wall so I lay my quilts out on the floor.  I needed to lay out this one to see how big it's getting, how many more blocks I need to do, how the colours are working - basically an overall critique.  I take photos because it gets me further away from it and picks up things I don't see with the naked eye.  Like the red albatross - stands out like a sore thumb!

Here's another angle, I decided I definitely need more red in it, so I went to my stash to see what I had in the way of red batiks.  I also decided I need a few 6 x 12 inch blocks to break it up a bit so I also pulled out a few other batiks.  Then I turned around and....

Ah well, they say never work with animals or children!  Little Miss Mischievous!

Now for all you quilters out there, if you haven't done it in a while, go put a new blade in your rotary cutter.  It's absolute bliss!

This might be expensive.....

I was going to show you my work in progress for Wednesday.

I was.....until my sewing machine broke down.

Sob!

I guess you can still see my bits and pieces, all lined up waiting to be joined into blocks, but I wanted to show you the blocks NOT the bits and pieces.

Maybe she is trying to tell me something.

Have I been neglecting her? Have I not been using her enough? Is it that she still doesn't have a name after ummmm four years?

Anyway, she made a high pitched squealing noise and turned herself on and off and on and off. I fiddled with her plug, it got worse. I tried to sew anyway (you know: ignore it and it will go away), it got worse. Her screen went blank, I got scared so I turned her off for good and off she goes to the shop.

That's it!

She just wanted a holiday!

(She could have just told me, no need for theatrics.)

Work in Progress Wednesday AND Wordless Wednesday (or I'm too lazy to write much today so you just get a pretty picture)

Work in Progress Wednesday

It's a little scary looking - but I'm actually really pleased with how it's turning out!


My quilting buddy and I gave each other a challenge. A self-portrait, A4 size, using whatever techniques you like but we must each use something that we bought from a quilting show that we both visited. I splashed out on luscious hanks of embroidery threads, some sari silks, a little bag of animal stamps and some silk rods.

So far I have layered scraps of my favorite materials over a light piece of fabric and sewn them, grid style, in place.

Then I layered chiffon over the top and free-motioned quilted different patterns (good chance to practice) heavily over the top.

I then put a wash of white textile paint over the top to try and even the tone a little.

The next step was to print out a large photo of myself in grey scale and use this to help me layer up pieces of tulle for shading.

Then I traced the outlines of my face onto wash away and used this to help me free-motion stitch the lines of my face over the tulle.

Getting there - except I still haven't used any of my yummy purchases!!

What little works have you got in progress?

Work Finished Thursday

On my Wednesday quilting night I finished the binding on this little quilt. Yay! Now just a label, a wash, and off it can go in the post to the wee baby of a friend.

I was able to use some leftover binding I had from the last quilt I made too, I just had to add another couple of pieces from my scrap stash - very frugal.

I think I'll name it 'Sunshine and Icecreams'.

Hmmm, I really need to practice taking phtos of quilts. They are tricky things.

Now, on to the next W.I.P.

Work in Progress Wednesday

My best quilting budding has been whipping her WIP's lately. It's making me feel a little jealous, but kinda proud too - we've been quilting together for five years. We started together and we've continued together. She's a great mate. She was even at the births of my children...well, she IS a midwife too!

So once again it's Wednesday and I'm off to her place to quilt and chat and drink tea. And maybe even whip some WIP's butts.

We have a little challenge running. Over a month we are to make an A4 size self-portrait quilt. Any techniques go, but you must use some of the yummies we bought when we went to Whangarei Quilter's annual (or maybe bi-annual?) show.

Yummies have a habit of sitting around, being admired and then put away for 'good'.

Which is no good.

So out they come and I have free licence to play and experiment. I think I'll do some embroidery (not one of my finer skills), and try out those silk rods.

Oh, and those funny things I'm wearing on my fingers? Called Finger Gloves. I bought them from The PowerQuilter, our little local quilting store. They are the best thing I've found so far for free-motion quilting. Better than floppy old gloves where the thumb is too long (I've sewed the thumb to my quilt before). I can even thread a needle while I'm wearing them!

Happy Whipping everyone!

xx

Work in Progress Wednesday

My little batik charm squares are slowing morphing into something else. Little by little I hope they will transform into a quilt worthy of my Mother-in-Law. She is a wonderful, wonderful person, she deserves a decent gift!

I particularly like the feather design.

Wednesday night is my night I go quilting at a friend's house, so I'll be working some more on these. They are great little portable projects because there is lots of tracing and cutting to do before you get to the stitching bit.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Like little prayer flags flapping in the wind, these batik charm squares look so beautiful dancing on the clothes line. They are destined to become a quilt for my mother in law.

And is this not a beautiful work in progress? You can see the progression of developing courgettes in a spiral, from almost-picking size right down to little-green-nub size. From two plants, we are picking one or two a day, just perfect for our little family of four.

Work in Progress Wednesday

I was working on this yesterday (wednesday) so it fits in the catergory of WIP Wednesday even it is officially Thursday.

I my bid to be extremely organised this year - an idea borrowed from my sister (such a great idea, I wonder why I didn't think of it?!) - I'm going to do lots of little projects so I can just dip into them when I need a gift for someone.

This project will be a set of reusable grocery bags. Thrifted fabric, probably old curtains, with some of my cottons from my stash. The orangey red and green were bought by my sister in law in Japan, so they've travelled a fair way.

WIP Wednesday with a no-snit machine binding.

I am so freakin' excited about his it's not funny. No snit machine binding! Hand binding is a pain. It takes literally hours and for small projects, you wonder if it's worth it. But I tried machine binding once and wondered how on earth people ever got it to work (yes, many small snits were had). But then I found this tute on this blog and now I am one happy woman!

You can see I missed the corner just a teeny bit, but considering this is the very first one, I'm still a very happy woman! I might just go sew another one..... BECAUSE I CAN!

Work in Progress Wednesday

I know that it's Friday, I do, I'm just annoyed that yet again I've missed WIP Wednesday. I always have good intentions. I think about it, sometimes I even snap what I'm doing, and then before I know it, it's Friday and I've missed WIPW again.

So here is a terrible photo on a Friday instead. This is a little quilt I'm working on for a new baby who I haven't met. Last night I sewed all the blocks together so it's even further on its way to completion.

The other things I'm working on can't be shown here because they are Christmas gifts or swaps for fellow bloggers - can't spoil a surprise!