Saturday 17 October 2009

Hope springs...

... eternal.

Today is 3 months since Rich was killed on his bike. I had meant to make this black and white quilt as a symbol of how I feel, and I just couldn't stay in black and white, in came that sunshine yellow! It needs quilting and so forth, but I liked it so much, I had to share!

The pattern came from Patchwork and Quilting.






It's lots of sewing and slashing, but came together really quickly.



Here it is, the top finished on the floor.


Now I just need to back it and quilt it (probably by hand) and then we'll see where we go. But when I went to get more yellow, I accidentally bought 2 more fat quarter packs....

Oops..... :=)

Friday 16 October 2009

More coolness!

I wasn't going to post tonight, I've been sewing all night and I'm tired, but someone has linked to my Canadian Quilt on the other blog, because they really like it!

That's great that is!

Tonight's one is looking good, but bed is calling. I'll finish the top tomorrow.

Thursday 15 October 2009

The inhaler roll


Ok, it's not a quilt, but it's still cool.

The Adorable Child and I made this last night, for his trial of huffer things to see if it helps the coughing.

It's just an odd bit of material - we've already discussed plans for a better version.





Cool and practical. It's a rough version, and the next one, if we have to keep doing this, will be properly finished and decorated and so on.

But we like it.

Wednesday 14 October 2009

The Canadian Quilt

So this is the quilt done. It's only a square baby sized one, and more for lying on than tucking up with, but it's small enough to drag around as a toddler, and big enough to lie over a poorly 6 year old's legs.



Yeah, I'm planning on her liking it a lot lol! I'll never know though, because it's for a friend to take to Canada with her for a child's christening present! It does feel odd just to make it and let it completely go though.


I had to stand on the table to take these pictures, so you can see my little size 3 (uk) feet on here, as well as the most gorgeous butterfly fabric. It's quilted through to a layer of pink, and then the butterfly was put on right sides together, stitched almost all the way around, then turned out the right way and hand stitch the gap closed.

I like doing little people quilts this way, because then a) all my mistakes are hidden lol!, and b) there is no chance of loose threads to catch small fingers and toes.

And I've decided to stick it into the blog festival, because.... why not! The way I'm going, I might even make myself a proper quilting blog! If you came here from the blog festival then *waves* I'm dropping by as many as I can!

Chickenpox2

Fabric shopping

Fabric shopping! I love fabric shopping. I sneaked into town when I had to get my prescription, and bought material.

I'm thinking about this material. It could be ANYTHING!



This material is already sliced. I love the greens. They are all greens. I'll try and take better photos tomorrow in the daylight.




But it's already sliced into strips, then stitched together into bigger strips, then tomorrow it'll be sliced into post and rail blocks and eventually a quilt.




I'd like to have it done for when the AC gets back. He wants a quilt big enough for all three of us to snuggle under!

Night night folks!

Chickenpox 1

Tuesday? Wednesday?


What day is it?

I have no idea! (Ok, I looked at the calendar. It's Wednesday. Who knew?)

I love being at home and we have a sparkly clean kitchen, bathroom, lounge and I'm doing the dining room today. OR maybe upstairs. But I love being at home when I have the choice to walk somewhere else. Right now, I don't.

But shhhh!

I think I am all scabbed up! I'm going to take the child to school. We won't speak to anyone, and we won't touch anyone, and we won't breathe on anyone, and it'll be fine.

Today has been a weird enough day already without the oddness of being stuck inside, completely. I walked about 1,300 steps yesterday, instead of my usual 5,000 ish. Not good lol!

I can't say more about this morning until I have debated the legal ramifications. But I was in a stinking mood for a while, until the sheer ludicrousness of the situation made me laugh. I'm in a much better mood now - in fact, I'm totally chilled.

Yesterday I made.....












It's come out small, but that's ideal for a test piece for machine quilting, which is what I want it for. I love this hobby, and I love the fact that R and AC really liked this. Apparently, it looks like a "real quilt"!

The beginning of Emily's quilt, and Log Cabin Blocks

Here's the photos I said I would post, from a million years ago. Or last week, depending on your view of time.


Emily's quilt has gone from this.....


..... to this. Today I pieced the 9 patches, cut the big blocks, and stitched it all together. The lighting is weird because it's the video camera, not the ordinary camera but you can imagine if you try hard, what the colours from photo 1 look like in photo2!



These are the log cabin blocks I made yesterday at the quilt class, using the stitch and tear stuff. It's good.

And as an example of the lighting issue, these are the blocks in the front room.


These are they in the living room. They are on the arm of the sofa, so you may need to twist your eyes 90 degrees.

Or just look as they are.



And finally, this is the reason I didn't finish marking papers the other night. Fat Cat (who looks incredibly fat in that picture - there's one for the kitty fridge!) sprawled all over them. And then when I moved them, sprawled again. I took the hint and sat on the sofa with him and the man instead.
And the philosophy? Maybe it isn't philosophy, maybe it's just a way of being, but I am calm. So calm.

The Double Quilt Bags

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Look what I did make!

The other day I thought I would try some crazy patchwork. It's in the book I got, and it looks great. So I made a square of it that, un-co-incidently enough was the same size as the trial patch I made for Emily's quilt.

Today I made handles, stitched them in, lined it, stitched it all together, and it's done!


Da-dah!
t
The bright side is Emily's quilt, and the pale side is Lilly's quilt, so that appealed to me as well. There's even some spare blocks in Lilly's side.

I love it. I'll take better pictures tomorrow, but I'm tired from last night now lol!

Laters people.

Friday, May 22, 2009

The new bag

The new bag was finished last night. No pattern, just a sketched out plan and some imagination!



The stitching is better than on the last one, so that's an improvement, although there is still plenty of progress to be made. The back is quilted, but not the front. This means it's soft on my hip, but I can feel what's in it without looking!


It's based on a black bag I have that is great, but isn't quite big enough for my Organisedmum Family Life book (the best diary known to man and woman kind btw!). I have been carrying two bags, or a bag inside a bag with the FLB next to it, but this option came up from the generous gift of corduroy fabric I recieved, and I did it! YAY ME!


I made it so that the front flap will tuck over the diary and then down behind it, and the back flap will come forward and over the top. In retrospect, I will be making the back flap longer next time I do one of these (and we know the bag thing is here to stay!) and then that should make it more secure.

However, I love it!

Lily's Quilt

Friday, May 1, 2009

Top done!

From this ....



To these....




To this.....

And then to this.


Yep, I stitched the blocks into rows and the rows into a quilt top last night. It's a little wobbly in places, but then so is the person who made it!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Gorgeous Baby






Lilly is gorgeous.

Utterly, utterly gorgeous.

The quilt was finished on time, and yes, it has a few wobbles, but it has love and prayer in every part. She is a snuggly baby.

I snuggled all afternoon.

R played with the children, chatted with my brother, we had tea, everything was gorgeous and family and the way life should be. For a few hours we could forget the world and everything else.

And apparently, I get to do the same tomorrow, because he's taking me out! I don't know where, or anything else, but we are going out, all three of us, and it's going to be fun!

I'll fill you in, Dear Reader, when I know. But for now, I think it's bed time after a gorgeous day, with a gorgeous family.

The first quilt ever

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Update the second


Well, I got distracted.

It happens. I am my mother's daughter.

And so, in order to refocus myself, I went with the quilting option that I had been putting off for a while. I started this thing in November, from a pile of jeans that I needed to use so that I stopped wearing them.

Some were just old and tired. But still fitted. I could only wear them in the house because the knees had gone, but that was ok.

Some were too big, and left over from my size 16 days. US people, I think that's a size 14. Whatever, it was in my heifer days. As in Size of a Cow by The Wonder Stuff. I loved the Wonder Stuff. Almost as much as, in those days, I liked cake.

I still like cake. But these days I exercise and I get lots of what has been referred to as the mattress mambo (which expression made me laugh!) and I don't eat as much rubbish, nor drink as much alcohol, hence I am back to a trim size 10. US people, I think it's a size 8. If I'm wrong, leave me a note lol!

Size 10 is still overweight apparently, but I'm 34, I'm 5ft 3, and I'm happy, the man thinks I am the most gorgeous creature he has ever seen, and that suits me!

Anyway.

And by the way, that's the way today has been. Distracted.

So (what was I on about?) Oh yes, the quilt.

So I made it from a lot of old jeans, cut into squares, stitched together by hand into strips, and then I had to stop, because I had blisters. Denim is hard stuff.

Now I have a sewing machine, I went with the sewing the strips together option, as opposed to the sorting clothes upstairs option.

Please to observe the results thus far.



It's bigger than this, this is just a photo of about half of it I think. I have an old blanket to go underneath it, and then probably a flannel back on it.

I think it looks quite lovely. We'll ignore the fact that some of the seams don't match up and that there's a couple of squares in the wrong place for the colours to go properly, and focus on the fact it's my first one, and it's functional, and I like it.

I love it.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Ok, well,



... I've done nothing this morning so far but slowly finish the quilt.

I couldn't get the hang of the binding thing, so I've stitched the edges instead, as I also think they will be softer for the small child to snuggle under, as that is the plan for this quilt.

It's not brilliant.

The seams don't always match.
The oversewing meanders slightly.
The colours are slightly in the wrong places.

Professionals may tut-tut at me, but I am absurdly proud of the progression of this, from old jeans to soft and snuggly quilt, stitched with love for the small child, for those nights when just a duvet isn't enough, or when curling up on the sofa requires a cover.

I have a sewing lesson later today, to which I shall take my pictures, and then I might even book myself a quilting class. Depends on the cash, 'cos there isn't a lot of that at the moment lol!



It is in situ now, awaiting his approval......