December Friday Night Sew In Session II Results

Overall a very productive evening.  I planned to keep plodding on with my string blocks and maybe deviate to Step 5 of RRCB once it was auto published.

That is until I saw it.  Click the link if you dare but I don't want to talk about it!

I did cut the fabric for this step though:

 

I also made 10 more string blocks which now brings my total to 30.  I'm halfway - 30 more to go!

I would have liked to  pull an all-nighter but my wrists ached and if not for all the metal holding my left one together I'm sure it should have fallen off!

Also DH came home with my yummy Lay-By from Lorraine's Shop. 

Now I'm itching to snap up whatever she has left of her little bundles of Farmer's Market and Mezzanines fabric!!

Lizzy Mae's Medallion Month 3

I had the class at Quilter's Bazaar yesterday.

The great thing about this quilt is that it doesn't have to be assembled as you go so missing month 2 hasn't made any difference.

I have my fabric pack and some extra instructions from Lorraine.

Month 3 was supposed to happen last month and month 4 is in 2 weeks so it's a very busy month classwise!

We made the double X block which came together much more quickly and easily than I first thought due to Lorraine's piecing and cutting shortcuts!

Due to my still fairly fragile wrist I only made one and a bit blocks in class but I'm psyched to get cracking with them.

I can't believe how small they are!  They will be 5" finished so a bit bigger than Dear Jane and a bit smaller than Nearly Insane!  It's good practice for whenever I get around to these quilts I guess!

I'm getting that slightly overwhelmed feeling.  I want to work on Lizzy Mae, I have one Mystery quilt in progress and another to start shortly yet I have 2 quilts tops that REALLY need basting and quilting!!!!

Changing feet on the machine and lugging it to class every few weeks really interrupts my mojo.

I think I'll indulge in my craving for speed piecing at the moment and try to get Lizzy Mae done asap.  I may leave off doing a few clues of the DaChintzy Code and do them all in one go.

Not sure about Bonnie's Mystery.

I'd like to have one quilt basted and quilting underway by the end of the month.  I wonder if it will happen?

I haven't done any sewing today.  I did lots of cutting and pinning last night but the sewing machine is still rolling around in the boot of the car and I have a thumping headache.

On a more positive note, I'm pretty sure I've collected all my fabrics for Bonnie's Roll Roll Cotton Boll Mystery Quilt!

Finished for REAL!

I have two finishes to report...and I mean they're really finished - binding and all!

The first is the table mat/topper.

The class was on saturday at Quilter's Bazaar and Lorraine taught us how to make bias binding and how to use the Easy Scallop tool by Darlene Zimmerman.

I'm not thrilled with the colour of the binding but I didn't want to buy anything for this quilt.  I knew it was all to me made either with my arm in plaster or shortly after it came off (I got it off 2 days before the class) so I didn't want to waste good fabric by sewing plastered.

The other thing is the french braid table runner.  I finished hand sewing the binding last night.  Woohoo!

I have Lizzy Mae Class #3 tomorrow and #4 later in the month and 2 quilts which REALLY need to be finished before the weather gets too hot so I need to get cracking.

In other news...the lovely Mezzanines Fabric for my Sleepover bag arrived today!

Quilting and Other Bits and Pieces

Well after my success in finishing the chocolate and aqua quilt top on saturday I was on a roll!  Sunday afternoon I basted my table topper using spray baste and DH's help.

Spray baste is OK - I definitely wouldn't use it for anything larger.  It still migrates somewhat while quilting and as a consequence I have a few bulgy areas and I re-basted the borders once I had finished all the ditch stitching.

I love quilting - it's my favourite part of the whole process (well maybe a close second to fabric shopping!).  I think part of the reason is because I'm so close to having a finished quilt to enjoy but mainly it's because I love the feel of the 3 layers in my hands and I really love seeing the extra dimension quilting gives.  It's like icing on a cake I think.  I LOVE icing and a cake is never complete without it.

The ditch stitching (which only occasionally ends up in the ditch thanks to my big fat plaster) and straight line quilting came together quickly - to the point where on Monday I was able to start free-motion quilting the flowers in the wide border.

My ditch stitching looks fabulous in comparison :-/ but it's just a class sample and it's not a gift or anything so I'm not stressing about it and that in itself adds to my enjoyment of the process.  It's not too bad considering I'm in plaster so I am proud of it anyway.

By Tuesday morning my arms ached and I started to think of the lovely toned muscles I'd be getting (bye bye tuckshop arms!!) but poor DS came down with the flu so no quilting yesterday.

He's much better today but still home from school so I doubt I'll get to quilt today either.

My scallop class isn't until 6 Nov so I should get it finished in time.  I'm dreading all the bias binding I'll need to make and sew for this topper.  It's about 46" square which is a bit bigger than I intended.  I wont have enough red for the binding which is a shame but I'll have had a dig through my stash and find something big enough.   No buying for this topper!


Lorraine rang on Monday to postpone Lizzy Mae #3.  Just as well since DS was sick.  It'll be put off for 2 weeks so it'll be on 9 Nov.  What a busy month for quilt classes!

The best bit is my plaster comes off on 4th Nov so I'll be able to sew better.  The only down side to all this is that I haven't been into her shop since before my surgery and I have some shopping to do and gifts to buy which DH isn't able to do for me.  He has been doing a bit of shopping-by-proxy and performed quite well but there are some things I just have to do myself.

No sign of my fabric order from Hawthorne Threads so I'm starting to get a little concerned.  Hurry up already - I want to fondle my fabric!!!

Lizzy Mae's Medallion Class 1

The class went really well!

There were 2 other ladies doing Lizzy Mae and a third working on a different quilt.

I'm not sure what amused Lorraine more - my copious use of Micropore or the bias stems disaster!

Anyway the first thing I learned was how to use one of those bias tape makers!  It was a somewhat hairy experience but it worked!  I've always wanted to learn how to do that!  It made perfect stems that could be fused in place!

I love how Lorraine uses modern quilting aids to achieve the look of traditional quilts in a fast and simple way!

The next thing I learned was how to use freezer paper for needleturn applique.  I must say it does give much nicer sweeping curves than when I do it without paper buuuut...slashing the back of the block to get the paper out is slightly nervewracking!!

The best news is that I got to enjoy the class because my wrist hardly hurt at all!  The down side is the antibiotics make me feel sick and dizzy.

As always I left Lorraine's shop with some supplies in tow.  Yesterday's haul consisted of Thread Heaven, cuuute pink embroidery scissors and some long, thin applique needles with tiny eyes.  These come recommended by Lorraine and despite the teeny eye, they were lovely to work with.

I like the length and they're very sharp so I didn't need to use brute force to get them through the fabric which is also a blessing for dodgy hands.  The only downside to the sharpness, length and thinness is that one of these babies can disappear into the fleshy part of your hand at least to the halfway mark before you even notice!

That could be because of the lack of sensation in many areas of my "poor hand" as DS calls it but it did mean I have something to gross the boys out with rather than the other way around!

Last night for "homework" I ironed on and cut out all the applique pieces.  Here is what they look like laid out - a little messy and shapeless because the seam allowance hasn't been folded over yet!

Aug Quilt Block Swap II Arrived!

My second August Block Swap block has arrived!!!

Linden has sent me a magnificent block and fantastic quilty card.  I LOVE historical quilts and more importantly her block is stunning with 2 gorgeous fabrics.

Thank you for your sweet words in the card, Linden!  And don't worry about the sewline pencil - I've used biro on mine when hand piecing (not on anything to give away tho!)!  I think I even used it on the front of a needleturn applique! (gulp).  I'm sure it'll wash out!

Your points are perfect.  It's only mine I have issue with!  I honestly don't mind less than perfect piecing since I regard all blocks received as a gift and I don't look a quilt horse in the mouth so I don't want any future swap partners out there to panic!!

In other news:
I've actually been doing some quilty stuff this afternoon!  I can't remember the last time I felt well enough! Admittedly I have my first Lizzy Mae class tomorrow at Quilters Bazaar.

I've cut out all my freezer paper bits and washed my fabrics.  I learned two things:

1.  Small bits of fabric that accidentally end up in the washing maching with FQs fare surprisingly well!

2.  When this process is repeated with all remaining small applique pieces the above outcome does not apply to bias strips!!!!

I guess this means I'm making new bias strips before tomorrow!  I'm not too upset since I'd prefer brown ones anyway.

I have also traced the applique pattern onto the background fabric (more or less straight - hopefully it will square up OK) with he aid of a large north-facing window and of course micropore tape!

The Table Runner Class

...happened without me!

This morning I woke up thinking maybe I felt well enough to go.  I had washed my fabrics but not pre-cut them and not packed any of my stuff.

I figured I'd try to do some - just in case I went but I could barely bend my fingers without doubling over in pain.  I'm talking about me good hand here!  I've had a few issues with finger pain lately and this particular lurgy seems to affect the most vulnerable parts of the body which of course is my dodgy wrist and fingers on the good hand.

I had to ring and cancel. I'm hoping I can make up the class in some way as I was really looking forward to it.

At least this gives me a bit of extra time to tweak my fabric selections since I'm not 100% happy with them.

This is what everyone else got up to without me:

Quilter's Bazaar QAYG Table Runner Class

The blue one is talking to me - can anyone else hear it??

ETA - All is well!  Lorraine said she's running another class this term and my name is on the list!  Yippee!  Just waiting on the date so I'm letting my life know it has to be accommodating!

Mmmm...Quilty Goodness...

Today I was "forced" to stop by Lorraine's shop and pick out some browns for my table runner class...and pick up the class list that DH never thought to get when he paid for it!

The F1/8 bundle is from the Hot for Chocolate range!  I wont be using the pinks in the runner, but hopefully I'll get the browns I need from that.

I also picked up one of my online orders from the post office!  The one from OzQuilts arrived so fast!  They're fantastic!  The 7F1/4s from them are also to go towards the runner and a yummy stencil for my Choc aqua quilt.  They sent the wrong one but I liked it so much that I rang them and bought the correct one as well!

Here are my goodies:

Shopping!

This weekend has turned out pretty well considering the Nemesis has been in top form!

Saturday involved a trip to Spotlight for batting, backing and quilting thread for Chocolate and Aqua plus a few browns which may or may not go with the table runner for my class.

I hoped for a chocolate brown backing but there was nothing remotely close so I got a light blue one instead.  Not exactly aqua but at least any dodgy quilting wont show up on the back!

The cute birdie fabric was on the clearance wrack (yes I still have bird phobia) so it'll make a cute charity quilt for a little girl.

Today was even better.  I love online shopping!!  I placed one US order at The Quilted Castle for my Aster Manor yardage and an Australian one at Oz Quilts for a quilting stencil and a FQ pack of browns.

Here are my Aster Manor borders - red for the wide outer border and pink for the narrower inner one.  The sashing is cream with tiny brown spots.

I'm hoping the Aussie order arrives this week so I can pre-wash and work out whether I have a good selection of colours.  I suspect I'll still need to pop into Quilters Bazaar this week for the final selection!

Andrew will drop in on monday to pay for my Table runner class but I'm hoping to be able to drive by Tuesday to get the rest!

What a nice hubby!  I'm stocking up now while it lasts! *lol*

I'm also plodding on with Chocolate and Aqua - 12 sections complete and only 3 to go!!!

ETA - On closer examination I discovered a grave piecing error which required not only unpicking but re-matching colours as well. 

I blame those boys entirely.  It's very difficult to sew with "light sabres" crashing around you.  DS aka Darth Vader graciously allows his father to be Luke Skywalker and...well I'm so mortified I can hardly say it...was called...Jar Jar Binks.

The indignity!  The injustice!  EVERYONE knows I'm the Yoda of the house.  OK so I don't have hairy ears but I'm about the same height and right at least as often.  UGH BOYS!!

Gisborne Quilters 28/7

Last night was my second meeting with the Gisborne Quilters.

Things started in the early afternoon while I was driving home from the hospital.  DH asked me whether I was planning to go that night and while I was trying to recover from the shock that he remembered on his own I managed to spit out that I was hoping to go and waiting for all the usual objections.  There were none so I was told to drive safely and he'd cook dinner for himself and the kidlet.

Now I was scared.  Who are you and what have you done with my husband????

I assumed he was being nice to me because I was worried about Dad.  Not so!

When he got home he said he was approached by Annette at work and she asked him whether I was his wife and a member of Gisborne Quilters!

Now I'd never met Annette but remembered her name off the list and it turned out that she and a number of other Gisborne Quilters are all teachers at work where Andrew also works in the IT department!

He seemed pretty traumatized by his meeting with Annette so naturally I couldn't wait to meet my saviour.

Upon arriving I discovered that FIVE of our members all work there plus Lorraine who used to work there before she opened Quilter's Bazaar.

I was thrilled and knew I'd never have a problem getting there again!  With 7 people knowing who he is, he became (quite literally) the butt of all our jokes!

I did reattach the button on his pants (yes I know I said I'd do this many posts ago) as well as kidlet's school jumper but I thought I'd give him another reminder about quilters and mending.

This pic is off the Gisborne Quilters blog:

It was only lightly tacked on since they are his work pants!

All the work ladies promised to have him bending over all day at work! Muhahahahahahaha!

The Dinos are back!

I finally did some more work today.

It was frustratingly slow going - for every 5-10 mins of cutting I had to rest for at least twice that!

I couldn't be bothered dealing with borders today so I cut out all the squares for the backing of the dino quilt!


To my relief I had enough fabric (with some left over!) and enough variety to make it look OK.


It's strange fabric - supposedly cotton but with a funny texture so I'd prefer not to use it on the front of a quilt but the back is nice and bright and DS is happy with it!


The worst part was having to use my dodgy scissors! My good sewing scissors have vanished in very mysterious circumstances.  I strongly suspect foul play.

The piecing of the back had to wait til DS went to bed.  I didn't dare interrupt Top Gear with the whirr of the sewing machine.  I got about 1/3 done until I was too sore to continue.

I'll see how I go tomorrow.  Maybe I can get the whole back done AND attach the inner borders??

On a more exciting note, I rang Quilter's Bazaar this morning to book into my classes and thank goodness I didn't wait til tomorrow!  The table runner class was full and Lorraine is running another!

I know which feature fabric to use but I'm in two minds on whether or not to buy a bali pop for the braids or buy the fabric separately.  Not much is needed but I would like to make matching placemats which would make good use of the bali pop.  Decisions Decisions.  I only have until 7 Aug to work it out!

More Quilt Classes!

OK I need help!  Lorraine has just posted the Term 3 Classlist for her shop Quilter's Bazaar and I want to sign up for at least 2 of them!

One is a gorgeous fench braid table runner.  I've always wanted to try french braids and this is a nice way to start with something small.  Will make lovely presents!  I've been looking for a pattern for a runner for my sis and BIL's new house.  I this this might be The One!

The other is a 5 month BOM type thing called Lizzie Mae's Medallion.  It's gorgeous!  Thank goodness they're monthly classes and don't start til late August.

I need more projects like a hole in the head buuuut...I'm ringing on Monday and securing my place!

I suppose I should stop blogging and get on with my UFOs if I'm going to treat myself to some new classes!

Lorna's 12 FQ Quilt Class

I attended this class at Quilter's Bazaar.

It was run by Andrea and the thing I really loved (apart from how quick and easy it was to get finished!!)  was that I basically recycled one UFO along with some additional Stash-Busting and transformed it (OK still in progress!) into 3 charity quilts!

I have one completed top using Lorna's pattern (with borders), A second top with 3 out of 4 borders attached and the third quilt will be done using another pattern but there is plenty of fabric left!

I'm not intending to quilt these anytime soon.  I'm too sore still to wrestle quilt tops around the machine but finished tops are better than a pile of chopped up fabric in the too-hard pile!!

Here's the link to Lorraine's blog entry about the class:


Lorna's 12 FQ Class

I'm yet to photograph my version of the quilt but will get around to it...eventually!!

I NEED more fabric!!

OK so I've spent the weekend planning the colours and layout of my DJ.  It means I'll need a few more FQs in certain colours!

I popped into Quilters Bazaar today and picked up my remaining colours.  There will be a DJ class starting late March so it's a bit earlier than I planned.  I need to think more about it!