december

is not so far away?

Have had to slow down on sewing for a couple of weeks due to a very stiff neck. No sewing, no reading, no computer, seeing the chiropractor and getting some more exercise has been the recipe around here. I am feeling better, and have dusted off the sewing machine, try to take it slow and easy with lots of breaks.

The scrappy christmas swap got me started thinking about christmas, and then a new quilt has been brewing in my mind:

This jolly family has been fussy cut and framed, waiting to be part of a bigger family portrait or advent calendar if you like.

As I said, slow and easy on the sewing. I am taking breaks. Next step, they will all be framed in white, and I can start playing with the layout.

This sweetie has been out, playing in the rain. It seems like summer is over for now. More time indoors, more sewing. (Or not - must not get too carried away, or I will be back to no sewing at all ; ( that would be a shame)

So, wish you all a nice weekend. Take care and enjoy sewing if you can!

12.5"

These are for Wendy, the first of the Eurovision Bee to send out her fabrics and instructions. The blocks are supposed to be 12.5". Not easy. Practice makes perfect? She chose these pretty Denyse Schmidt fabrics from the Kathie Jump Rope line. There is a peek of DS soon to be released line here. Love these!

Next is a 12.5"and a 9.5" Double X for the Winter Wonderland stitchery / quilt I am working on. These are my first "snowflakes". I made them without paper-piecing, practicing my seem allowance. The dark half square triangles for the 9.5 block came as "bonus" squares from the bigger block. Thank you Bonnie, for good tips on how to do things.

Here are two of the 12.5" scrappy christmas blocks for this swap. The trick is to make the last row of strings a bit wider, and square the block up to a perfect 12.5".

These blocks are also 12.5" for the same swap, but in other colors. The last of my 12.5 block is a charity block for the lovely lady who organizes this swap.

So, I have had a bit of practice on the 12.5" blocks. And there will be more to come. We are 18 ladies in the Bee, so I am in for a new challenge or two each month for the next year! I look forward to see a lot of pretty quilts being made!

busy bee...

The improv blocks inspired from the colors in my garden are put together into little table-toppers and mini-quilts.

On purpose I experimented a bit with a variety in fabrics to achieve different textures:

The top one is 14" * 14", machine quilted with diagonal straight lines 1" apart, has cotton batting and the rest of the coarse and heavy linen from the book-bag as a backing. It makes a sturdy little quilt to put under a vase of flowers on our dining table.

This next one is 18" * 19" with crosshatch straight line quilting 1.5" apart, thin polyester batting and cotton sheet backing. The block is framed with 100% linen. This one has a very soft and nice drape. The linen is a bit more challenging to sew with. It makes a nice little quilt for a table, too.

The third quilt is 18.5" * 19" machine quilted with straight lines 1" apart, cotton batting and cotton sheet backing. The sashing is the same white linen. This can be a little wall or table quilt. The difference between the second and third is the batting. I like to use these as a reference for the softness and drape of these two different battings. There is nothing like feeling both of them to compare and decide which qualities you are looking for in a particular quilt. So, in a way it is a start of building small sample quilts....

This last one is 20" * 38.5", machine quilted with straight diagonal lines 2" apart, cotton batting and quilters cotton backing. The sashing is a soft cotton/ linen mix from Pink Chalk, lovely and soft. (Look like she is sold out?) This table-topper also has a nice soft drape. I like the contrast of the bright colors in the natural cotton / linen sashing.

This is my second attempt to use a different quality fabric (linen or cotton/linen) for sashing. I admit it is a bit more challenging than using 100% cotton, but the contrast in texture adds a different quality to the quilt.

This is my first attempt at using a tool to space out the lines evenly without marking the top. It comes with the machine and is easily attached with a screw. I don't know why I have never done this before, it is easy and saves the trouble of marking, except for a first reference line!

I am thinking of adding to this small collection of reference quilts with more samples of different machine and hand-quilting. It makes sense to try things out in a small scale. Even if I have been known to do the very opposite! At least this is an ambition...

So this finishes my long post of basic "experiments". Happy stitching everyone...

lost and found

I am so happy, finding "The Lost Quilter", the newest book in the Elm Creek series at the public library! The first 12 is sitting in my bookshelves. And the bag I made did a good job carrying a heavy weight, 5 nice and thick volumes. So, all I need is a cup of tea and some hours of easy reading.

Wish you all a nice weekend with time to enjoy your favorite activities.