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!

August FNSI Report

Well I'm pleased to say I actually did something!  I was certain I'd have to pull out due to the Nemesis.  Unfortunately DH's potholders had to wait.  Maybe next month!

My FNSI actually sort of started late in the afternoon!

I popped into Lorraine's shop today to pick up my pack for month 1 of Lizzie Mae's Medallion!

On the left is the original pattern sheet and on the right is Lorraine's applique so we know which bits of fabric go where. (click for a close up)

I'm really excited to be starting and now that my health issues seem to be under control I'm confident it will proceed well.

I love that Lorraine has pre-cut the bias stems!  Yippee!  All the little bits will be a challenge to pre-wash though.  I think I'm just going to swish them around in a pot of boiling water to reduce the fraying.

As soon as I got home I did what any control freak would do - scrutinize the colours, dive into my repro stash and pull out extra ones to tweak it.  The following pics include the fabric from the kit and FQs and F1/8s from my repro stash.  Not sure exactly what I'll use and where though.

I'm not really good when it comes to lack of symmetry which is one reason samplers bother me somewhat.  Anyway, any bits from the kit I don't end up using will go into my Dear Jane.

DH wanted to make stew for dinner.  I was too washed out to argue and as long as I didn't have to do it then fine...but I knew we'd be eating late (which we did).  Kidlet wasn't at all sleepy even after a week of school (what's new?) so he bounced around til almost 10pm (Yikes!).

The official portion of FNSI started around 9pm I think.  It doesn't seem like much but for me it was a huge achievement given how awful the pain has been lately. 

 First I cut out the A4 pattern sheets and taping them together to make the 20" by 20" pattern sheet for the central applique.  Sticky tape was MIA but due to my dodgy wrist we have lots of Micropore around.  It actually worked better than tape being soft and flexible and goopy holding the sheets together only on the back!

Then I numbered all the individual applique components and wrote down the ammended colours then traced them all onto freezer paper.

I still need to cut out all the individual shapes and wash my fabrics but I have til Tuesday morning.

I'm also feeling better!  Around the 24-36 hour mark after starting the antibiotics I'm pretty sure the pain is reduced!  Granted I'm still taking fairly heavy painkillers but they're actually working which they were not before and I take them less often. 

I'm really hoping we've found the problem but the downside to all this is to figure how to get rid of the infection permanently.  It's not going to be easy and the success rate isn't 100% (but neither is anything) so we wait and see.

Gisborne Quilters Meeting

Last night I went along to my first (hopefully of many!!) evenings with the Gisborne Quilters.

After the obligatory bargaining with DH he agreed to letting me go.  He is concerned (understandably) about me taking the car out alone especially at night in the cold and wet when my wrist is still definitely worse for wear.

His other concern was his pants! The button fell off (again!!) and since I'm a quilter I apparently do repairs!

I came up with what I felt was a very generous compromise - I offered to take his pants and sew on the button as my first order of business.

He had 2 objections - the first was that he didn't trust me (totally understandable given what happened last time I mended his pants! )

I was so furious at having been asked to do mending that I appliqued little dogs all over his pants including a very strategically placed fire hydrant

His other concern was that bringing mending would not be a good first impression (bless his heart!) I couldn't care less and promised him faithfully I wouldn't desecrate his pants but off I went leaving his pants at home! woohoo!

Upon arriving and being welcomed by fellow patchworker Sue we waited for Tania to open the room and Donna arrived shortly after.  We were quickly overcome by gas fumes from the faulty heater so Donna very kindly offered to host the evening at her house.

We bumped into Lorraine and Rosie who followed us while poor Tania went home as she wasn't well but she did present us with a fantastic newsletter first.  Thank you, Tania!

At Donna's house we got comfy and Donna kindly make us all hot cups of tea and we got down to business.  I pulled out some of the applique blocks from my Aster Manor Sampler to see how I'd go.  I hadn't touched hand-piecing or applique since I was in plaster and really hadn't sewn at all since my altercation with the soap dispenser .  It took me a while to get into the rhythm and remember how it all went but things progressed quickly.  I was shocked to discover my stitches were a lot better than before - pretty much invisible and a perfect straight line on the back!    I can confidently say that a plaster cast up to the armpit is NOT conducive to hand piecing and being without it was almost certainly the key to my new found success!

At around 9:30pm we headed home.  Usually on the homefront we're lucky to have our Energiser Bunny alseep by then (and true to form he was still awake when I returned!) so any evening sewing I do at home usually doesn't even start before 9:30 it does mean I can come to the meetings and be home at a reasonable time so the 6am starts on school mornings can still happen.

Once I got home I finished off the evening with a few hours of unpicking the Handbag quilt.  It was pieced and quilted while in plaster (LAST year!).  It seems like I've been in plaster for almost 6 months together between April 2009 and May 2010. 

Anyways my progress is definitely not worth photographing (yet!) and my successful stitching was balanced with dodgy placement so some of the tulips will be lop-sided but my excuse is the stems were stitched in place while I was still in plaster (yes that old excuse again!

Hopefully I'll come along again next week!