Cosy printer

I treated myself to a sweet little printer to print photos from my phone this summer. A fun little gadget, but I soon decided that it needed a bit of protection from all the other stuff rattling around in my bag. So a little printer cosy was what I needed...

I grabbed some pieces from my scrap basket and stitched them together into a long strip. I used a piece of batting to measure how big I wanted the piece to be, stitched the fabric pieces on, added a piece of backing fabric, turned it inside out and quilted the finished strip before adding a piece of ribbon before I folded it over, creating a pocket big enough for the printer and stitched a seam along each side, much like I did with my iPad cover, some years ago.

Easy peasy and quite sweet, like a little present waiting to be untied.

Postcard quilt

I was inspired by the Postcard quilt Debbie at A Quilter's Table posted and decided to join the quilt along and make my own version. I used some Tula Pink fabric combined with pink and yellow for brightness. The "backs" of the postcards are made with text fabric and a tiny polka dot for the vertical line.

Keeping to the text theme, the back is from that IKEA duvet cover I have used earlier - amazing how much backing you can get from one duvet cover!

I used a fabric from Sweetwater's "Road 15" for the binding. It has text and little rows of houses and trees. It wasn't until I was hand stitching the binding to the back that I realized that the text was actually addresses - how fitting for a postcard quilt!

I quilted it in loopy horizontal lines, kind of like handwriting (if you use mainly "e"s...). After having the top hanging on my design wall for months, all it took was a few hours at the sewing machine and my little wall quilt was done. Why do I never learn that lesson? - because there's always a new project beckoning, I guess...

Finish-A-Long Q2 report

 

I rather optimistically entered six quilts this time around, and that just didn't happen. I feel I have been working on a lot of stuff these past few months, but not so much on finishing stuff, it seems...

However, lets focus on the good stuff, right? I did finish two of them, almost finish the third and three tops are also ready, one even layered and basted and that all counts as progress, so I'm happy with what I have done. What I haven't done is blog about it all- in fact I just realized that I never blogged about my Numbers quilt at all - I'm such a bad blogger! This is a whole cloth quilt - part of a duvet cover from Ikea quilted with white echo(ish) quilting in the white areas. I must admit that I stole the idea from Malka Dubrawski at Stitch in Dye, only her quilting is much better than mine, so no competition there. But it can still warm a baby at some stage, no doubt.

 

Next is the one that I'm really proud of: my x and + quilt which is heavily quilted with parallel lines - I love the texture this gives, so definitely one for my own wall, this one.

Then there is the garden quilt, top right here - it's quilted and bound, but still needs some embroidery around the stitcheries. Not much left, though. The Italy quilt on the right was basted today, so any day now, I can start quilting there. I also got the backing and batting sorted for the other two, so I have enough quilting to do - enough entries for the next round, it seems!

 

Xs and pluses

I finally finished my xplusquilt and decided to do without borders. This was part of the x and + along on Flickr. When I first came across it in January I was intrigued, but hesitant about joining (I was in the middle of finishing a pile of UFOs after all...). Being able to use all those fabulous text fabrics I had been stashing was what won me over in the end, but I decided to keep it small - 25 blocks  at 7 1/2" makes a nice little wall quilt that I could hope to finish in a not too distant future.

I chose text fabric for the pluses and I finally managed to cut into a stack of Kaffe Fassett polka dot squares. The rest of the fabric is from my scrap pile. I planned the colour combinations and prepared all the fabric before I started sewing assembly line style, as that is the system that works best for me. If I were to do the blocks one by one from start to finish this would have taken forever!

I know I have said before that I would stay away from straight line quilting, as I can't sew I straight line to save my life, but after a lot of mulling over this quilt I decided that straight lines was just what the doctor ordered. I followed the seam lines in the blocks and added lines inbetween later, making a pattern of three lines close together, a sligthly wider gap and then another group of three. At a distance this isn't so noticeable, you just get an impression of lines all over and they even look kind of straight...

I used part of a duvet cover from Ikea for the back as you can't get enough letters on a quilt ;-) It works fairly well for a wall quilt, but as a duvet cover or backing for a lap quilt it seems rather loosely woven, I think. The binding is a Dear Stella stripe with little blocks of black inbetween the stripes here and there. It helps bring the whole thing together nicely, I think.

Finish-A-Long Q2

I managed to finish three things on my list during the first quarter, and start some new things, of course... While uploading pictures for this post I started thinking I might be overly ambitious, but why not? It's not as if I'll be punished if I don't finish them all, is it? I've been on a roll these last couple of days, so let's see if I can keep it up!

I've cut all the pieces for my Dreaming og Italy quilt and stitched all the fourpatches so now it's time to get it up on the design wall and start playing with the placement.

My xplus quilt top is finished and I've got the back and batting sorted. I should be able to finish the quilting during Q2.

I have all the pieces cut out for this one as well, so it will be next on the design wall.

Next in line - although it should have been first, since it has been ready for stitching the longest, but I will get there!

This one and the next one are both layered and ready for quilting.

Six quilts. That's doable, isn't it? Some of them are quite large, and I know I tend to procrastinate between finished top and quilting, but the promise of spring has made me quite motivated, so I believe I can do it. Let's get started!

See the rest of the entries here!

2013 Finish-a-long Q1

I joined the Finish-A-Long with quite an optimistic attitude, and listed 8 different projects. So how did I do? Well I finished 3 of them. I must add that I also started some other projects and even finished some of them, so I have not been completely idle, LOL.

 Number 1 is my Christmas table runner, blogged about here.

 Number 2 is my Hometown Ripple bag, blogged about here.

And finally number 3, finished last night: my Bella X quilt, blogged about here.
I am well on the way with the quilting on the Numbers quilt and the Garden quilt is also ready for quilting, so I might just have something to enter for the next round!

Crossing off my list

With so many ideas about what to make and so many projects on the go, it's all a question of keeping up the good work. A little bit here, a little bit there, and eventually it will all be finished. Now that's really beside the point, because I enjoy the process so much that the finished product isn't always the most important thing here. Today is a good excample - I started out working on the blocks for my BellaX quilt, slicing nine-patches apart and inserting strips of grey. Fun for a while, but once I got the hang of it, my mind was off working on a new project.

So of course, I had to give the xplus-block a go. I tried to stick to my scrap basket, but had to find something bigger for the large squares, and ended up picking a great text fabric for it. That made me start thinking about fabric choices. More text, I think. And some polka dots.

Back to the stash. What have I got in the way of polka dots? - there's this layer cake of Kaffe Fasset I haven't been able to cut into - no time like the present! Well, that's a start at least. By the time I had finished cutting it was about time to get dinner sorted. I'll get back to the fabric selection later.

After dinner the sofa and my knitting beckoned. I'm making progress there as well. Yes, little by little I'm making progress on several things and eventually they will be crossed off my list. But the main thing is to have fun along the way, right? And the list keeps growing, so I have lots to look forward to...

2013 Finish-A-Long Q1

Since I have quite a few UFOs lying around, and plenty of ideas for new quilts, I had better keep my motivation up. Being invited to join Leanne at She Can Quilt's  2013 Finish-A-Long seemed a too good opportunity to pass  - so I'm in!

I wrote about these in my UFOpost. The three first are hidden away and realistically won't be finished during the first months of 2013, and the first in the last row is finished (yay!), but the rest I should be able to finish during the first quarter of 2013:

• The garden quilt
• Amy's Daisies
• Numbers
• The Hometown Ripple bag 
• The nostalgia tote bag
• The Tuscany Quilt
• Bella X
• The Christmas runner

Flower Power

So here we are at last. This Quiltalong seemed to take me forever compared to the rest of the gang, but I kind of knew that it would when I joined, because I have had a lot going on workwise. And knowing me, I can't just stick to one thing at a time, but always have several projects going at the same time. But then it doesn't really matter, does it? It wasn't a competition anyway and I'm really pleased with the result
I was thinking of giving this one away, but maybe not just yet... I have used some of my favourite fabrics from Sandy Henderson and Amy Butler among others, and I'd hate to see them go. But I can't be all stingy with it now, can I? Half the fun is in sharing. I have a lovely girl in mind for this one, and her big day is still a few months away, so I can get to enjoy looking at it for a while. And actually having a finished quilt all lined up for somebody's birthday must be a first - usually there is nighttime sewing in the week leading up to the event or worse, a half-finished quilt that I take back to finish... I decided to be a bit thrifty and only use what I had in my stash for the backing, so I had to be a bit more creative than planned. It seemed like a good idea at the time to use that red and pink Sandy Henderson fabric on the back, the only problem: that was my last piece and I don't feel that I'm ready with it yet, so I might have to buy some more... Well, any excuse to go shopping, right?
Now go have a look at all the other lovely quilts in the Mod Sampler Quilt-Along Pool!

Stitching along, singing a song...

All done! All my 36 blocks for the quilt-along, that is. I'm waiting for the postman to bring me some sashing fabric (little does he know...), so I might have to wait until after Easter, but I have plenty to do while I waiting, so no problem there ;-) This is probably the neatest, most organized quilt project I have ever worked on, and I have tried out several methods that were new to me. I decided in the beginning that if I was going to take part in this, I would do it properly, follow instructions and read everything carefully and I'm glad I did! My slap dash ways have worked fine for me in the past, and while I don't see myself getting everything quite so sorted out on any project anytime soon, I have learned a lot.

As I mentioned, opening up the seams was one new revelation. It does take more time (for me, anyway...) than pressing the seam allowances to one side, and there was quite a good discussion on the pros and cons along the way. I found that while I was doing these court house step blocks that I would get the previous seam allowances messed up on the next round, and have to go back and try to get them to lie down again (probably doing it wrong...), but the final pressing from the front made everything OK, and as a result I have ended up with a stack of very neat and flat blocks. I'm not sure I will do that on my next quilt - it depends on how much in a hurry I am, but I do get the point! How about you? Press to one side or open up?

Here are some more of my blocks. To see the rest, have a look in my Flickr album and to see all the other lovely quilts being made, in the Mod Sampler pool. And do have a look at the tutorials! Elisabeth has put so much information in there, with very clear photos and instructions - I'd recommend this to any novice quilters out there!

I do get there eventually...

I announced a while ago that I was taking part in the Mod Sampler Quilt-Along at Oh Fransson! and at last I have got around to cutting my fabric and stitching the first blocks. It's not so much of a Quilt-Along as a Lag-Behind in my case, but that was part of the plan...

I really liked the design of this quilt when I first saw it, and thought it would be a good way to use some of those lovely Amy Butler and Sandy Henderson fabrics in my stash. I knew when I signed up that there would be little time to follow up in real time, as I was going away for a while. Now I'm back, however, and I spent a while on Saturday cutting all my fabric and putting the pieces on their assigned boards. Elisabeth's approach to keeping things sorted throughout the project is new to me, as are several of the techniques described. I think of myself as an experienced quilter, but I see that I have quite a bit to learn here. New ways of doing things can be interesting to try out, so I'm working my way through this, post by post. This quilt-along is a great reference, and is somewhere I would definitely direct new quilters to, because of the thorough descriptions of all the steps in making a successful quilt.
One of the things I've never (!) tried before is pressing the seams open. When I started out we were told that in quilting you were to press both seams in one direction so that the batting wouldn't migrate between your stitches and show up on top of the quilt. Batting qualities are much better now, though, and this shouldn't be an issue. I can see already that my four-patches are nice and flat, but I have to take more care with matching my seams when I cant butt the bulk of those folded seam allowances into each other. I suppose that's all going to improve with practise and pinning, though!

I haven't quite decided on the sashing yet. White has been suggested, and although I can see that it would look very crisp and bright, I'm not really sure that white is "me". I was thinking of using faded blue denim, but that would make the quilt much heavier than I would like, so I have ordered some denim blue chambray - a light cotton with the look of denim, if my memory serves me right... so we'll see how that works before I decide.