Kate's Arty Bits Blog

Goal review

2012-01-31T18:54:00.000Z

So, now that January is drawing to a close, time to look back and see what I actually got done! Here's what I had as my goals:

5 Farmer's Wife blocks (new ones, using the taupes) -I did three: no 26, Cut Glass Dish, no 43 Garden Path (which I still might yet redo in part) and no 110, Wood Lily
January blocks for block lotto - done
Starter block for Cotton Robin - done, but can't show it!
at least one charity quilt top - one done (a Bright, Scrappy top); I was hoping to do another, using a .5 metre piece from stash, but didn't manage to do that.
red circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge - yes, done.

That's not bad, especially considering that I also got out the Cat Quilt and worked on that - which wasn't on my goals, but which I really needed to do. So, February:

5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!)
February blocks for block lotto
1st Round for Cotton Robin
at least one charity quilt top (this time, using a .5 metre piece from stash)
circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge (not sure of colour yet)
work on Cat Quilt some more

Something different

2012-01-29T23:13:00.001Z

So, being a bit tired of the cat quilt, I have set it aside for a week or two and pulled out something else to work on - this little roll of strips - there are 10 different fabrics in the roll, so I am using them with some plain white to make some of these drop-dead-simple pinwheel blocks (squares and rectangles only - my favourite!). I picked this roll up last time I was in the US - the summer of 2010 - so it really is about time to do something with it.

There will be 20 blocks (8") total and any strips leftover I may use as a floating border. I'm only photographed 4, but I think I've made about 10 so far. Given how busy my weekend has been, that's fairly impressive, frankly.

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: Wood Lily

2012-01-28T22:53:00.000Z

no 110: Wood Lily: So, here's the pieced Wood Lily. I haven't taken off the paper yet, but that can happen some time in the evening - lord knows it's going to take long enough to do the rest of the blocks!

Giveaway Winners

2012-01-27T22:45:00.000Z

OK, finally I've had a chance to draw some names for the various bits and pieces I've been meaning to give away, so here we go:

The Beach Huts pattern goes to Kandi.

The paper piecing pattern goes to Terri.

The Gazebo kit goes to Ms Hennes.

And the Carousel Card goes to Dolores.

So far, no one wants the cat keyring, so if you do, let me know. Those of you whose name I've drawn already, send me your address! (I'll try to email you as well...)

Cross-stitch update

2012-01-25T22:40:00.000Z

Although there's been a fair amount stitched this week, it mostly doesn't show, as it's largely the half crossed background that I've been working on. If you look closely, you can see it at the top. Progress is being made.

Around the World Quilt Bee

2012-01-24T23:38:00.001Z

Finally got around to finishing the binding on this piece, which is the result of a sort of round-robin project a while back. I made the block in the top left, and each subsequent participant added to it as it came to them. Aside from one or two blocks which are a little odd in terms of colour choices, I think it looks great. And it's finished!

Start of the Lily

2012-01-23T23:31:00.000Z

A little over half way there on the Lily Block for the Farmer's Wife Quilt. It's not a lot, but every bit counts!

Evolution of a tail

2012-01-22T23:17:00.002Z

I've been working on the cat quilt again this weekend, but it's not very interesting to show you the same thing time and time again, so I went for a different approach this time, and decided to show you the way the tails are made. I've started with a piece of "magic paper" - aka tea bag paper - which is a nice, soft sort of tissue (only stronger) which is great for paper piecing (you can leave it in) with the tail shape (including seam allowance) drawn on it.

Let the paper piecing begin...

...and carry on...

Here's a tail with all the piecing completed - as you can see, there's rather a large piece of red hanging off the edge of the piece. When I'm piecing like this, with lots of scraps, I don't bother to try to cut them down to close to the size needed - I just let them hang over and trim when it comes to the next round. Then I can put the largest trimmings back in the pile for more piecing!

Here's a tail which has been trimmed, but not folded under and pressed with seam allowance.

And here's a finished tail, though it's not attached to the quilt top, just laid out on my rather dirty ironing board cover. I now have 8 tails fully completed (though only 4 appliqued to the top) and another 3 or 4 partly pieced. I need 20... And I have 5 border rectangles done, with another 5 in progress. Only 18 to go!

Wood Lily

2012-01-21T11:52:00.000Z

So, in preparation for perhaps having a little sewing time next week in the afternoons, I've drawn the next Farmer's Wife Block I need to work on. Anyone who thinks I might be cheating in drawing my blocks - this will prove you wrong. Oh well, even the blocks with small, fiddly pieces have to be made at some point or other. I do think I'll get out my old laptop and draft up a paper-piecing pattern for this one in EQ (doesn't want to install on this computer as I only have EQ5). I'm sure it will be much easier to deal with this one by PP'ing than by cutting trapezoids with the templates... Ho hum.

A few more freebies

2012-01-20T23:48:00.000Z

Before I work out who gets which of the other cross-stitch patterns I recently offered up, I thought I'd offer these as well - I had a little trawl through my cross-stitch patterns and kits (mostly patterns, but a few kits) and pulled out a few I won't ever use. The top one is nice, but it's simply not the sort of thing that appeals to me any more. I think I picked it up in a sale bin somewhere. It's a kit - all you need included.

These two are also little kits - the cat key ring comes with all you need, including the key ring and the carousel horse also a complete kit. Let me know if interested!

Wednesday Cross-stitch

2012-01-18T23:35:00.000Z

This week I moved back over to the left hand side to work - not sure why, but that's what I did. There's not a huge mount stitched, as once again it was a busy week with several evenings not being devoted to stitching, but there's still some visible progress in the window boxes, plants and the door frames on the left hand house. Slowly but surely...

Yikes.

2012-01-17T19:31:00.000Z

Very odd internet problems at the moment, can get to a few sites, but not others, including my email and Facebook - apparently, though, I can get to blogger. We'll see if this message posts. Anyway, if you are wondering where I am, perhaps this message will have posted to Facebook and you'll be able to tell from that!

Backing for tops

2012-01-16T22:02:00.002Z

So I took my idea from yesterday of going through all the finished tops and pairing them with pieces of fabric large enough for backing. An endeavour which has been very successful, if I do say so myself (if only actually quilting the quilts was as easy...). Of the 35 pieces (I know, I know) which are waiting, all but 8 now are paired with a piece of fabric which will suit for a backing. As many of the pieces are small (i.e. needing less than 1 metre of backing fabric) this was perhaps neither as difficult or as impressive as it sounds.

These four pieces I bought yesterday all now have assigned companion tops - the blue and green at the back will go with the Splash of Lime top; the black and white batik will work with the Scottie Dog top; the green oriental will nicely back the green rectangle top; the brown metallic piece will go well with the Courthouse steps top.

And of these three pieces, two of them have been set aside for backing - the red one, which was purchased with that intent, and the taupe coloured piece with the writing on it, which will go with the HST sampler top.

If you are interested, all the pending tops can be seen by clicking on the Quilt Tops tab at the top of the blog...

Farnham Maltings

2012-01-15T22:58:00.001Z

Went to Farnham Maltings today, which is a combination of a fabric sale, quilt show and various other things. We looked at some quilts, played around with some lacemaking, admired some beading and of course, bought some fabric.

I was very good and only bought fabric for backings - the top photo is two 5 metre (approx) pieces, and two 3-metre pieces, all of which were £4/metre (great price for proper quilt fabric - over here, that runs anywhere from £10 to £15, when not on sale). The photo above is two pieces somewhere between 2 and 3 metres - can't remember exactly, but they were bolt ends - and the red piece is a 5 metre piece - these were all grabbed for the bargain price of £3/metre.

The only other things I bought were two cross-stitch kits for Alex and Olivia, who both came with me - from the £1 bin - and one £1 FQ with writing about birds on it. OK, I did spend some money, but it's all backing stuff, which is great - that's the area where my stash suffers. I'm not totally sure what fabric will be used for what, except the red will go as backing for the red and white top from the blocks I won in the block lotto back in March. And the blue and green in the top photo is for the blue and white Splash of Lime quilt.

What I need to do next is go through all my quilt tops and actually pair them up with backings. I have done this with some of the tops, but not all of them, and I really need to do it with all of them, so at least I know whether I need more backing fabric or not - and perhaps whether I can use any of the medium sized pieces I have in stash to pair with the tops. Perhaps that's a project I'll work on this week, in my lack of free time!

A few cats with tails

2012-01-14T23:31:00.000Z

I've now finished 5 tails and 3 or 4 of the border strips - I decided that I'd better turn, press and applique the tails as I went along so the process didn't drive me bonkers... Here's the quilt top with the tails turned, pressed and pinned - later in the evening I did stitch 4 of the 5 down before I got tired of doing it.

Slowly but surely!

Free to a good home

2012-01-13T23:28:00.000Z

A couple of freebies - the cross-stitch pattern for the beach huts I completed earlier this year...

and a paper-piecing pattern for the Christmas candles. This pattern came with two copies of the pattern, one to keep and one to cut. I cut one of them up, but the other is still there, as are the instructions. You could either cut this one or photocopy first...

As usual, leave a comment if interested, and in a week or so I'll (if necessary) draw the winners.

Winter cross-stitch

2012-01-11T23:50:00.000Z

Making good progress on this - I think it's because the background is just half crosses and so stitches very quickly. Also, it's a nice design to work on. If I hadn't lost one night to removing paper from a pp-ed project and one night to going to Les Miserables (not really a loss, per se), I might have got even further with it!

Can you tell what it is yet?

2012-01-10T23:59:00.000Z

As promised to myself, I have started working on the cat quilt again - this is two tails (I have to make 20) and 1 complete and 3 partial border segments (28 needed in total). The border segments are fine; the tails are easy to piece, but then they have to have the seam allowances folded in and pressed and be appliqued onto the top. That part is going to be less easy, I feel!

Block Lotto

2012-01-09T23:14:00.003Z

These are my blocks for the January block lotto (we took a break in December, but are back for 2012...). All the blocks for 2012 will finish at 9", to allow for those who wish to, to make an extra block each month and end up with a sampler quilt. I considered doing this, but decided I had too much going on to commit (even mentally) to it. But I intend to play most months (always allowing for unforeseen circumstances and heavy doses of applique...)

Farmer's Wife, Take 2

2012-01-08T23:46:00.000Z

So, using my new system of drawing a slip randomly to choose which block to make first, and using the new colour scheme of Japanese taupe (and similar style) prints and unbleached calico, I went ahead and tackled the Farmer's Wife project again today.

No 26, Cut Glass Dish, was actually one I had done before, and though there are lots of small triangles, it's not too hard a block to do.

No 43, Garden Path, however was another story - inset seams - yikes! I may yet take this apart and put the red border on using a different technique as this really annoys me that the corners don't quite meet up perfectly. We'll see. At least it's a start...

Flying Geese Circle

2012-01-07T23:59:00.000Z

Here's one of the things I worked on today - a block for my nod at 2012's Rainbow Scrap Challenge... While I am not out of scraps, per se (who ever is?) I don't have nearly such a problem with them as I did last year, so I am not taking part as fully in the challenge as last year. However, I do still intend to make one block a month in the chosen colour scheme, which at the end of the year, will give me 12 blocks for a quilt, which will be fun. Or it's possible I will only use 9 blocks - I may stick to single colours and avoid any combos; that's a decision I'll take when I need to! I also dug out my small red scraps and am piecing them together as enders and leaders as I did recently with the green scraps. There aren't that many (fewer than the green, certainly), but I'm sure there will be enough to do something with!

More sorting

2012-01-06T22:30:00.002Z

So, I showed this a few days ago - the boxes (some of them) which have my smaller pieces of stash in them. In theory, these are supposed to have nothing larger than a half metre in them (and nothing smaller than about an 8" square, though I'm not exact about either end). Lately, there seem to be quite a few larger pieces in the boxes, which mainly means, they are getting too full, so I wanted to clear them out a bit. Some of the boxes have fabrics with a specific theme in them, like African, Civil War Repro, Christmas - with those, I don't worry about the sizes, just group all those fabrics together. But the others, which are mainly colours or more general themes (floral, metallic, stripes), I wanted the larger pieces out.

Doesn't look too different here, but this is a before (top) and after shot - I had two boxes in this colour, so the "after" probably has fabrics from both "before" boxes.

Between the 20 boxes I have, I managed to remove about fifteen half-metre (or larger) pieces, and actually empty two boxes. And quite a few of them aren't crammed totally full, unlike this box of neutrals. (I have since filled the two empty ones back up with "fabric sets" - a couple of groups of co-ordinated FQs, some charm packs, a small jelly roll, etc).

The benefit of doing this is not just that it will be tidier, but that it reminds you of fabrics you had forgotten that you have! Which you can then use during the year to make things with. Or that's the idea, anyway.

Goal review

2012-01-05T22:31:00.004Z

As I suspected, there wasn't a vast amount of free time in December, but I did still manage to get some things done... Here's a review of my goals:

5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - I have to say, I'm a little disillusioned with the blocks for this - should have perhaps chosen one fabric which would feature or something, and then incorporated it into each of the blocks. Perhaps might start again, doing just that! Not like I've made that many blocks, anyway. - As discussed on my blog, I decided to drop this and start over. Which I will do, in January. Hopefully!
~~October block for Oh My Stars BOM~~ - done.
~~Piece BOM together~~ - done. Woo hoo!
at least one scrappy charity quilt top. - didn't get one made in December (although I might end up giving this one away, when I decide if it's finished or not). But I have already made one in January, so there's a good chance I'll get more than one done for this month!.
~~Baby quilt for my SIL~~- done.

So, what's on the cards for January?

5 Farmer's Wife blocks (new ones, using the taupes)
January blocks for block lotto
~~Starter block for Cotton Robin~~ - done, but can't show it!
~~at least one charity quilt top~~ - one done, but want to try to do another one, using a .5 metre piece from stash
red circular flying geese block for Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Ambitious, perhaps, but you gotta have something to aim for, right? And I've managed to cross off two items already and it's only the 5th, so it's not all bad...

Cross-stitch Wednesday

2012-01-04T00:01:00.000Z

You can probably tell that there's been a fair amount of progress on the right hand house - as well as a bit of backstitching in the middle house, to add definition. The top of the right hand house looks somewhat unfinished, but that's essentially how it is - it kind of fades away to nothing - same with the left - so the piece is perhaps more done than it appears. Considering I lost several evenings this week when I might otherwise have been stitching (binding on the baby quilt one night, out to the Panto another), it's not coming along badly...

Thoughts for 2012

2012-01-03T23:53:00.000Z

I've talked a bit about some of the plans I have for 2012, but I thought I'd solidify them a bit here. I've mentioned wanting to continue if not precisely reducing my stash, at least rationalising it - that is, using up some of the fabrics I've accumulated which just sit around to no purpose, and so forth.

Last year, I did a pretty good job of reducing my scraps, and while I'd certainly not say I was scrap free, it's all a lot more manageable than it was. I will continue to use them up in projects, but let's face it, you can never be truly scrap free unless you stop sewing!

So the plan is to focus on reducing the larger pieces of stash - especially those in these two photos - the shelf of pieces which are 1/2 metre or larger. The first step was to sort, refold and in some cases, label those fabrics, which I have done. I now have a stack of largish pieces (2-4 metres)

A few two metre pieces

and a large stack of one metre pieces.

Then, there's a pile of odd sized pieces and some 1/2 metre pieces, which I think will grow quite a bit when I sort out my "smaller bits" boxes.

These shelves (below) are full of Ikea CD storage boxes. There are 22 of them, three or four of which have very specifically themed fabrics in them (Christmas, Civil War Repros, African fabrics, maybe something else), but the rest of are sorted by colour (more or less - also stripes, metallics, etc). In theory, nothing in these boxes is more than 1/2 metre of fabric, but of course, sometimes I slip. So I want to go through each box and tidy it up and take out any larger pieces (or any very small pieces) and put them somewhere more appropriate.

This also gives me the chance to refold some of the pieces (ironing where necessary) that have got squished, etc and also, just to see what's there. Sometimes you forget about stuff. Especially if it's stuff which was given you, you picked up in a sale or which was part of a packet of fabric, so you might not have paid as much attention to it as you would have otherwise. Some of these pieces might get used in the process, but that's not really the main aim, just a bit of organisation. It's the larger pieces I want to do a few things with.

I also mentioned wanting to reduce my batik stash a bit - that's still true, but I'm not sure precisely what I'm going to do there. I was considering doing a circular flying geese block each month with the batiks, but I think I'm going to use that block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge instead - I don't need to do a lot of stuff with scraps, but this will be something fun to do each month to carry on with the scrap reduction. So, I'm still thinking about batiks.

I also plan to start anew with the Farmer's Wife Quilt, this time in Japanese taupes (and similar fabrics), which will use the fabrics in this drawer - not that I mind having these, mind you.

A couple of other plans for 2012 include carrying on with the two private swaps I am in theory participating in - we are in a bit of a slowdown at the moment - a taupe Lady of the Lake swap with Cathi and an African block swap with Karol-Ann. Luckily, Cathi is busy doing excellent scrapbooking at the moment and Karol-Ann has a 10 week old baby, so neither of them is putting too much pressure on me to produce blocks for these swaps.

And finally, I have promised my mother to get back to this quilt, which I abandoned some time ago - it only (and here I use only in a somewhat ironic sense) needs a sawtooth border all the way around it and tiny sawtooth, appliqued tails for all the cats. I may not finish it in 2012, but there will be progress, at the very least!

Bright scrappy

2012-01-02T23:57:00.000Z

I promise this is not as gawpingly bright as it seems in the photo - the colours are very garish in this picture, but although they are bright in real life, it's nothing quite as in-your-face as this...

This top is made from the green enders and leaders I've been using for the past month or so, cut into either 4 or 5 inch blocks and surrounded with either yellow or orange batik fabric. A good dent maker, both in my two handfuls of small green scraps and in the two pieces of bright batik fabric, one of which is now small enough to go in my "small pieces" boxes rather than in the mid- to large-sized stack.

This is another top for the charity quilt pile - hopefully it will find its way to someone in need of something bright and cheerful.

Batik baby quilt, finished

2012-01-01T00:15:00.000Z

Put the binding on the quilt today so it's all ready to go... It's ironic that when I am working and busy I'm always wishing for more sewing time, but when I have time to sew (though not much today, as I also took down all the Christmas decorations) I just feel like lazing around doing nothing... Good thing I have a stash of baby quilt tops waiting to be finished....

Batik baby quilt, again

2011-12-31T23:32:00.002Z

Amidst the house-cleaning today, I managed to quilt the little batik baby quilt - just a simple large meander with suns thrown in. I used a variegated thread, which doesn't show much in the photo but adds a nice touch to the actual quilt.

Just as well I finally got around to quilting this piece, as my SIL did finally manage to have her baby (a girl, Celia) yesterday... (I confess, as they live in the US, I had always intended for my mother, who is visiting at the moment, to take the quilt home with her and mail it from there, so actually, I would have finished it whether or not Celia had chosen to make an appearance yet.)

Someone posted a comment asking about the backing - I used this lovely oriental print, partly because it sort of went with the front and partly because, I confess, I had enough of it in the house. I think this was a gift from my friend LisaJo. I'm sure she'll correct me if I'm wrong...

Batik baby quilt

2011-12-30T00:25:00.000Z

Today I pinned together this baby quilt top, which I hope to quilt tomorrow. It's for my sister-in-law, who is having a baby (or perhaps already had one - as of this morning East Coast Time US she was still waiting, but she's over a week overdue, so we have high hopes of good news very soon!) and is the last of the slew of baby quilts I had to make for 2011 (this one only barely counts in 2011!). Of course, I already know at least two people having babies in 2012, so I'll be starting a new list soon...

Seasonal Cross-stitches

2011-12-29T00:13:00.000Z

You've all put up with my progress (or lack-thereof) updates on the Christmas angels, so I thought at this point, it was important to show that I do actually finish some seasonal cross-stitch projects - some Christmasy, some simply wintery... The snow scene above is one of my favourites - I like the border a lot.

This one, I'm fond of as well, and I'll tell you, there was a LOT of snow to be stitched in this one, especially considering that it's actually quite a small piece.

Not as much as in this "Noel" piece, though. When I picked this one to buy, I really debated over one which said "Christmas" which I also really liked, but in the end, I just couldn't face all that snow.

This one, which I did last year, was very quick to stitch - it's just a few words and some baubles - but very effective, nonetheless, I think.

And this alphabet with the word "Snow" highlighted is a little older, but again, a quick one to stitch. These days, I tend to go for this sort of piece more than the older, more indepth, detailed pieces like the dratted angels.

And this one was even quicker as it was stitched by a friend and given to me as a Christmas present last year...

Next year, I may not be able to add the angels to the list, but the winter piece I am working on at the moment should be good for hanging!

Cross stitch Wednesday

2011-12-28T23:54:00.003Z

Made good progress on this, this week. Partly because I had quite a few evenings where I could stitch a bit, partly because many of the background stitches are just half crosses, so they don't take as long, and partly because I think it's such a relief to work on after the angels...

Candles, pieced

2011-12-27T23:10:00.002Z

Finished the piecing on the candle design - though I just noticed the bottom of the left hand candle is a little off - I will fix that next time I sew - it was the last seam, anyway, so should be easy enough to adjust. Funny how you sometimes see things in a photo that you don't see when you jus tlook at the piece! Then it's just a matter of removing the paper and turning it into a quilted piece. Not sure if I will just leave it as a small piece or make it into the centre of something larger. My inclination at the moment is toward the former...

edited to say: I've looked at the pattern again and there's no error in my stitching, that's just the way the bottom of the candle is on the left side. Which means I don't have to take it apart and adjust it, which is nice.

The ones left behind

2011-12-26T23:17:00.001Z

These are the four "extra" advent calendar pictures - each year, different ones don't get chosen (we obviously have more than we strictly need, but it's more fun that way). This year, it's a sled (given how much snow we had last year, this one was definitely used!), an ornament (there are two different ones), a bell and a house. I'm sure they'll get a chance next year...

Advent Calendar: Christmas Day

2011-12-25T21:06:00.002Z

And the final choice for the advent calendar...

Postcards from Christmas

2011-12-25T21:04:00.000Z

The postcard hanging with the Christmas selection... In the new year, we will remove the most Christmassy of these and replace them with more generic winter ones - a lot of them are snowmen and trees and things anyway, so they can stay...

Advent Calendar: Day 24

2011-12-24T14:45:00.002Z

Today's choice - the church - for no particular reason other than I liked it best of the ones which were left at this stage.

Christmas placemats

2011-12-24T14:41:00.004Z

I've actually done a little sewing today, but only a little on the candles, so I thought that I'd show these instead, as they are more interesting!

This is a set of six appliqued & quilted placemats that I received in a Secret Santa swap with a small group I used to belong to (it's kind of faded away a bit now).

I actually know who made them, even though it's a secret - and I have to say I love them.

We bring them out every year, though we don't actually eat off them, and it never ceases to amaze me the detail she put into them.

Half of them are secular and half sacred, which is a nice combination.

And because I am not an applique person at all myself, they are an even more appropriate gift for me!

Advent Calendar: Day 23

2011-12-23T23:26:00.000Z

This one is pure wishful thinking, I think!

Candles, halfway

2011-12-23T23:16:00.002Z

This is the top half of the candle piece; the bottom has more leaves and the three baubles. It's not quite as big as the top, but I think it has more pieces, so it will probably take just as long to do. It's coming along nicely, though.

Advent Calendar: Day 22

2011-12-22T01:27:00.000Z

Today's choice was the stocking - we had a group by the fire before, now it's just the one, closeup. Only a few more to go!

Candles again

2011-12-22T01:24:00.000Z

More of the candles done today. This is the piece I sewed the other day, plus about 6 other sections. Looking good so far! It's a nice pattern to sew - some very tiny pieces, but well laid out and good matching for joining the sections.

Advent Calendar: Day 21

2011-12-21T22:56:00.001Z

Today's choice - a shiny star. Ok, not so shiny as yellowy, but close enough - just four more to go!

Cross-stitch non-update

2011-12-21T22:48:00.000Z

Didn't get any stitching done this week - several nights we were out one place or another - and other nights, I was just too tired to focus on the angel cross-stitch, which was what was up for being worked on this week. I'm finding it hard at the moment to focus on that piece - it's just too detailed for my tired brain - so I've decided to pull out something else to work on - this Four Seasons "Winter" piece - which is a lot less of a strain on the brain. As you can see, it's something I've worked on a bit in the past, but not finished (I have fewer of those piecs in my life now, though, which is a good thing...). Here's what it should look like when finished.

Advent Calendar: Day 20

2011-12-20T09:40:00.000Z

Blogger seems to be absolutely obsessed today with turning my photos the wrong way up while uploading, but as this one doesn't really matter, I'm going to leave it as is. Today's advent calendar choice was the Christmas crackers. This is one of the patterns which wasn't in the original kit, but which I made up myself to reflect one of the more English aspects of Christmas. Look at this now - only 5 more to go (and given the shape of the calendar, one of those is Christmas day itself!).

More Christmas goodies

2011-12-20T09:18:00.000Z

A few more Christmassy quilt things - this is a small wallhanging - maybe six inches across, which I received as a gift one year when we swapped Christmas decorations in my quilt group.

This (the bunting) is a bit hard to see given all the other stuff in the room, like my laundry! But I received this as a Secret Santa gift last year in the BQL (British Quilting List) Secret Santa. I really like it - it has tiny bells at the bottom of each triangle of the bunting...

And this is another Secret Santa gift - a Christmas cushion. I've not taken part in the Secret Santa this year, as I didn't really think I'd have time to make anything, as I've been incredibly busy this year and I didn't want to stress over it...

Advent Calendar: Day 19

2011-12-19T23:54:00.003Z

Olivia's choice today - this is another of my favourites - it's just really sweet, plus I think the fabric choices work very well here (if I do say so myself!).

Can't believe it's nearly full up!

Christmas Quiltie Goodies

2011-12-19T23:33:00.001Z

A while back I showed off most of the quilts I'd received in swaps, etc, but perhaps not all the Christmas ones (as some were packed away). Now, of course, they aren't packed away, so it's a good time to show them off... Today's selection is actual small quilts - the one above is from the Four Seasons Quilt Swap (Holiday Edition) and was made by Cecilia.

This one wasn't actually made as a quilt, but rather as a block for a birthday block swap I did - I turned it into a miniquilt and have it with the Christmas stuff because it seems Christmassy to me. It was made by Helen, and what perhaps doesn't show in the photo is that it's made with lots of folds and flaps, so it has really interesting texture to it. You can see some of that texture here, where I originally posted about it.

And finally (for today) this miniquilt, which was made for the Miniature Booty Swap (Holiday Edition), and made by Toni, the host, herself.

I do have some other holiday quiltie goodies, but if I show them now, what will I show tomorrow?

Advent Calendar: Day 18

2011-12-18T23:21:00.003Z

As predicted yesterday, today's choice is the gingerbread man, in honour of our Christmas baking. Yum!

Art Nouveau Woven Ribbons

2011-12-18T23:03:00.001Z

No more to show on the paper piecing, though I did manage to get these blocks together. My original plan to make a few more (I had 28) was scuppered by the fact that I didn't have any more of one of the fabrics, so instead, I put four of the blocks aside and sewed the other 24 together in a 4x6 arrangement. It's still a bit long and thin, though, so I'm thinking I might take the bottom row off and make it 5x5 - I have enough blocks for that. Maybe. If I feel like it.

Advent Calendar: Day 17

2011-12-17T18:00:00.000Z

Today's choice was by Olivia - she decided to go with the heart. It's a nice block. I'm sure tomorrow will be the gingerbread man, as we are doing our Christmas baking tomorrow. Not that we make gingerbread, mind you, but it's the idea that counts.

Candles

2011-12-17T17:30:00.000Z

Made a start on the paper-pieced candles today. There are about 8 sections or so - not sure how many I'll get done this week as it's quite busy, but I have hopes of finishing it before the end of the Christmas holidays. Or at least, finishing the piecing part.

Advent Calendar: Day 16

2011-12-16T22:39:00.002Z

Today's choice - the red-nosed reindeer - thank to Grandma Kathy (aka my mother) for picking what to have!

Cotton Robin

2011-12-16T22:26:00.002Z

One of the things I'm doing in 2012 is participating in Julie's Round Robin, The Cotton Robin. I won't be able to show a photo of my centre block on my blog (it's one of the rules of the game) but if you want to see all the centre blocks, they'll be posted by Julie on the RR blog some time after 15th January.

The challenge for me will be not so much working on other people's projects (I feel fairly confident about that these days) but deciding what type of centre I want on my own project. Guess I'll have to do some stash digging at some point and see what floats to the surface!

Advent Calendar: Day 15

2011-12-15T21:36:00.002Z

This piece is one of my favourites - I love all the tiny pieces to it (don't forget, the entire piece is only about 3.25" square, including the border). The fireplace is really effective!

More on snowflakes

2011-12-15T20:56:00.003Z

Thanks to a link from my friend Jennie, I was able to make this amazing Yoda snowflake - there are other Star Wars ones, which I really must have a go at, at some point. You can print out the design as a guide, then fold in the usual 6 fold symmetry way, and cut along the lines - easy peasy!

Here it is, just folded up and cut, ready to unfurl.

Another friend, Angelina, shared a link to these amazing snowflakes you can make if you are lucky enough to own an embroidery machine.

Advent Calendar: Day 14

2011-12-14T23:54:00.002Z

Santa Hat. Lots of Santa hats being worn here there and everywhere. Seemed apt - Sarah chose it. While wearing a Santa hat!

Cross stitch update

2011-12-14T23:47:00.004Z

A fair bit of progress this week - filling in the right-hand house and windows, some greenery in the middle and some backstitching on the central house. If only the Christmas angels would progress as rapidly!

Advent Calendar: Day 13

2011-12-13T17:33:00.000Z

Today's choice - the apple. Another one where Alex always asks what it has to do with Christmas. So far this year, he hasn't asked. Which is good, as I don't really know the answer!

Paper piecing patterns...

2011-12-13T17:27:00.000Z

I ordered a couple of seasonal paper piecing patterns from Paper Panache recently - and am looking forward to working on them during the holiday season - they are both quite small pieces - 12x12" and 12x15" or so. Both are really lovely, I think, though. Looking forward to something a bit different and small and do-able.

Advent Calendar: Day 12

2011-12-12T23:48:00.000Z

Father Christmas today - he was visiting in school, so I decided this was appropriate...

Oh My (Scrappy) Stars

2011-12-12T23:45:00.000Z

Well, here it is all put together. Very scrappy Christmas quilt - but I think it's kind of fun and it certainly has reduced my stash of Christmas fabric (not a big stash to start with), so I guess it served its purpose. Perhaps it will get quilted in time for next Christmas!

Advent Calendar: Day 11

2011-12-11T23:16:00.002Z

Today, we put up our Christmas tree - hence the picture of the Christmas tree for the advent calendar. Not perhaps very creative, but fitting!

Oh my stars - last piece!

2011-12-11T23:07:00.002Z

Finally finished the final section of the Oh My Stars block of the month - only a little behind. Now it's simply a matter of joining the top together and then quilting it. Notice the ironic use of the word "simply" in that sentence.... The joining won't be hard, but it may take a while to quilt it!

Advent Calendar: Day 10

2011-12-10T23:34:00.000Z

Today's choice was the candy cane. As far as I know, there's no signficance to this, other than someone liked it. Which is fine! I know what tomorrow will bring (as we are putting up the Christmas tree tomorrow), but that's ok, too - it's nice to have some traditions...

Geese Circles

2011-12-10T23:30:00.000Z

After some more thought, I think I will redo the Farmer's Wife blocks in the taupes - I know I won't regret that, so it's better than trying to find some other piece of fabric in my stash which might work but I might get frustrated with partway through.

I do, however, have a plan for some of the batik stash - I'd like to make some of these blocks. I think I will do them with batik geese and either black or white backgrounds. Or perhaps some of each. Over here, there are links to the pattern, both using foundation piecing (which I will be doing) and templates, depending on what you like...

And as for the larger pieces of fabric I'd like to destash, well, there's always quilt backings!

Advent Calendar: Day 9

2011-12-09T22:41:00.000Z

Sarah's choice today was the mitten - in honour of it being cold outside (temps have really dropped in the past few days).

Farmer's Wife, redux

2011-12-09T20:24:00.000Z

As those of you who read along here regularly know, I am stuck on this project.

Partly, this is because I have been short of time, which is fine - that happens.

Partly, it's because I am second guessing myself, which is less fine.

I had originally intended to try to avoid being too organised, and making all the blocks match, and worrying about them going together, etc...

So I had decided to just take fabrics from my stash, which I liked and work with them with a neutral background, like a true scrap sampler quilt.

But to be honest, I don't really like it like that! I do like most of the individual blocks, but not the whole effect.

So, after a lot of thought, I've decided that I am going to scrap these blocks and start again, but making the blocks coordinated in some way.

I intend tomorrow to have good look through my collection of larger pieces of fabric to see if there's anything there which would work well as a feature fabric, and it's possible I will find something.

Otherwise, I might combine this project with my intention to clear out some of my batik stash - batiks do tend to all go together, so it would work in terms of colour and style.

I could either use a black background (predictable, but effective), or I could keep using the unbleached cotton background I have been using so far (which would also work). Or, I suppose, white or white on white.

Maybe I'll show some options here tomorrow and ask for opinions!

I did also consider using some of my Japanese taupes for the project - and I might end up doing that. I think they would look really good with these blocks, but I wonder if I should focus on using up something I'd like to get out of my stash instead.

Then again, I wouldn't want to second guess myself again halfway through the remake and end up starting a third time!

One thing I think I might do this time around is what Julie is doing with her FWSQ - instead of working through the book in order (or doing all the easy ones first) she printed out all the numbers and is drawing them out of a hat (probably not literally a hat) to determine what order to make them in. This would be a fun way of doing the project, and also, would mean I wouldn't (probably) have to make the same 14 blocks first that I did the first time around.

Anyway. As they say, watch this space!

Advent Calendar: Day 8

2011-12-08T22:54:00.002Z

My turn again to choose an advent calendar picture. This is one which is not in the original pattern - can't remember what year I made it, but I think I adapted it from a pattern I found online.

Autumn postcards

2011-12-08T22:50:00.002Z

Just about to change the postcards in the wallhanging from autumnal ones to Christmas ones - so I thought I'd show a photo of the autumn ones first. These are some of my favourites - I love trees and leaves, so I guess that's not surprising. In this selection, I also particularly like the squash near the bottom right.

Advent Calendar: Day 7

2011-12-08T07:27:00.001Z

Well, Alex's dilemma about when to post the train will be resolved in a way he probably didn't imagine - Olivia chose it to put up yesterday!

Wednesday Cross-stitch update

2011-12-07T22:24:00.000Z

Not a lot to show this week (again), though I have done some work on the border down the left hand side and on the arm of the blue angel. I also did a little more outline stitching on the hair of the central angel, but that's under the clip, so you can't see it! What I really need to do is the missing bits of the dress of the red angel, but I don't have the right colours of red - need to order them!

Advent Calendar: Day 6

2011-12-06T23:37:00.002Z

There are several Christmas ornaments to choose from for the advent calendar - today, Alex decided on this one - the train was in the running once again, but for some reason I'm not sure of, the ornament won out - maybe it was a hint to put up the Christmas tree (we are doing that this weekend - no time for it before that). Anyway, the poor calendar is beginning to look a little less barren now...

Snowflakes

2011-12-06T23:29:00.002Z

Not real snowflakes, mind you, but paper ones. I love paper snowflakes. We have a number of them, made over the years, which are covered in sticky-back plastic and which we put up in the front window during the Christmas season (and beyond a little - they are generic winter decorations, after all) - some years I add a few new ones. Tonight, I was in the mood for cutting a few out... These are not particularly intricate ones - they are made from an A4 piece of paper (squared off, of course) folded, so they are about 8" across. I'm sure I could cut a lot more detail into them if I could be bothered! If you can't be bothered to cut one out of paper yourself, there's always this website for hours of amusement...

Advent Calendar: Day 5

2011-12-05T23:37:00.002Z

Sarah's choice again - I think in honour of the fact that we did lots of present wrapping in the past day or two. Doesn't really matter why, of course!

Goal review

2011-12-05T23:28:00.002Z

So, goals for November - how did they go?

5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - well, no. It would be surprising, wouldn't it!
~~Blocks for November block lotto~~ - done in the sneak peak period!
October block for Oh My Stars BOM - partly done. Though it was technically December when I did it...
Assemble pieces for Oh My Stars BOM - again, partly done
~~birthday ATCs~~ - finished, mailed. That's the end of that, as there are no December birthdays...
~~at least one charity baby quilt~~ yes, accomplished. Made two blue and brown tops for PL, plus a brown scrappy top.
~~Lynne's quilt (needs quilting and binding)~~ done.

Will December be better? Do I have more time in December? Almost certainly not! But here goes anyway...

5 Farmer's Wife blocks (hope springs eternal!) - I have to say, I'm a little disillusioned with the blocks for this - should have perhaps chosen one fabric which would feature or something, and then incorporated it into each of the blocks. Perhaps might start again, doing just that! Not like I've made that many blocks, anyway.
October block for Oh My Stars BOM
Piece BOM together
at least one scrappy charity quilt top.

Advent Calendar: Day 4

2011-12-04T23:12:00.002Z

My choice today, and I've picked this cardinal. Cardinals aren't a bird we actually have in the UK - which is a shame, especially on the rare occasions we have snow in the London area, as they are really beautiful against all the white. But I like them anyway, and decided to have this chap on the calendar today. The English robin (which doesn't really look like a US robin, except the red breast) is often featured on UK Christmas cards and other Christmas paraphenalia, the way the cardinal is in the US. I suppose I could make a robin...

Oh My...

2011-12-04T23:06:00.002Z

Well, it's not finished yet, but it's a start on the final section of the Oh My Stars block of the month. There are a few more pieces to put together for this section, but I have hopes of finishing it soon. Ish.

Advent Calendar: Day 3

2011-12-03T23:59:00.000Z

Olivia's choice today - not sure if there was a reason for this one or whether she just likes it (it's one of my favourites - I particularly like the batik fabric in the flames). I might well have chosen this one tomorrow when it's my turn to pick - wonder what I'll choose now that this one is gone?

A little sorting

2011-12-03T23:57:00.002Z

Didn't do much sewing today, though I had originally intended to - first, I spent more time than I had planned fixing some open seams in a parachute for school (the nylon kind you play playground games with, not the silk kind you jump out of airplanes with), and then there was homework help and various other things.

I also had intended to do some cross-stitch while watching telly, but as we were watching the film Inception, I ended up having to switch to something a little more mindless as I actually had to pay quite a lot of attention to the film - not something which happens all the time. It was good, though, I thought, if somewhat confusing at times.

Anyway, I decided to sort out the scrap basket instead of cross-stitch and as you can see, it's much emptier. I did remove a few things - some larger scraps and a pile of strips to be filed elsewhere, and this rather small pile of diddy scraps which are too small to bother with - they'll go in a box for a friend who childminds - she'll use them for collage, etc, with her kids.

Advent Calendar: Day 2

2011-12-02T23:58:00.001Z

Alex's turn to choose today. He narrowed it down to what might be considered a typically "boy" choice - the drum, the train, the snowman and the candycane. Although this is the first year he's actually wondered what the connection between the train and Christmas is - he's always taken it for granted before!

Still looks a bit lonely, though...

Stash reduction plans

2011-12-02T23:51:00.003Z

This is a drawer of batik fabric - it's emptier than it was, but there are still way too many of them.

The middle drawer in this unit has Lonni Rossi fabrics - the problem with these fabrics, which I love, is that they don't really work that well in small pieces, so they are hard to use (perhaps a simple quilt with large blocks is called for).

And the top drawer is my collection of Japanese taupes (and similar fabrics) - these are actually fairly well under control and I'm not that worried about using them up.

What I'd like to do, though is use up either enough batiks or enough Lonni Rossi fabrics (or both) to move those collections into a smaller box and be able to use one or both drawers to store this fabric in:

This is two views of the same two piles of fabric - one from the top, one from the bottom. These are the fabrics I have larger pieces of - over a metre. Some of it is stuff I intend for backings, some of it is stuff I bought on sale, and some, well, who knows. But it's completely inconvenient on that shelf - hard to get at, hard to see what's there - and to use it I usually have to take the whole stack off the shelf, which is a pain. So I'd like to get it into a drawer... Perhaps in 2012, I will achieve that goal. I sense a flotilla of batik tops coming!

Advent Calendar: Day 1

2011-12-01T23:45:00.003Z

First up, the wreath. This frequently features as the first square in the calendar, because the 1st of December is often the day we put a wreath on our door (which, coincidentally, is also red!) - the wreath this year, at the moment, is actually a wooden heart with twigs and berries, rather than a proper wreath, but I will probably change it to something more elaborate closer to Christmas... The wreath is not the only square which tends to be put up on the same day every year - the square with the Christmas tree inevitably goes up the day we actually put our tree up, and the square with the Baby Jesus in a manger usually (always?) goes up on the 25th. Othwerise, things do vary...

Poor lonely square! Oh well, I'm sure December will rush by before we know it...

Scrap basket

2011-12-01T23:38:00.002Z

Been ages since I updated the state of my scrap basket, and yes, it's nearly full again - but lots of these pieces could be "filed" elsewhere, I'm sure. And I do have a shoebox of small scraps which are sorted by colour from earlier in the year. This might be a good watching telly project, though - sorting the scraps - particularly if I am watching something with subtitles (when I can't do cross-stitch)...

Advent Calendar: Day 0

2011-11-30T23:42:00.002Z

It's been a few years (3, apparently) since I blogged my quilted advent calendar, so I thought I'd do it again this year. Each day, another little picture is added to the calendar - it has slip in pockets, a bit like an old-fashioned photo album with those black corners... I actually have about 30 different little (about 3" square) pictures to choose from, so it's always a production - and sometimes and argument - between the kids which one to put up. Watch, as they say, this space!

Cross stitch Wednesday

2011-11-30T23:39:00.003Z

Better progress this week than last - and not just because I'm more fond of this project than the angels (though it's easier to read & count, so it does go a little faster) - mostly, it's just that I was actually home, not entertaining company on more nights... It's a bit hard to see the really pale colours on the right, but there is quite a bit more done than when I last picked it up - not just the plants growing between the two buildings, but quite a bit of pale wall as well. Next week, back to the angels...

Little yellow house

2011-11-29T22:18:00.002Z

A little house in a black background which I am sending off to a new home as part of a project. I actually made this yesterday - I didn't get any sewing done today even though I'd hoped to work on the Oh My Stars BOM piece, as I was asked to work this afternoon at the last minute, to cover someone who was ill. Maybe Thursday...

Oh My Stars

2011-11-28T22:09:00.000Z

Ok, so I still haven't done section 12, but one of the things I did do, in my limited sewing time today, was to join together the pieces I've made so far, as much as I could. There are now three sections - the large, bottom on, the little piece at the top left and the right hand corner. When I do get the last section done, I'll have very little joining to do, which is nice.

Woven ribbons

2011-11-27T22:49:00.003Z

These are just the blocks - they aren't sewn together - and actually, for some reason I ended up with 28 rather than the 24 I thought I was going to get. I don't really like this long and skinny, so I think I will either make 2 more for a 5x6 layout or use 25 of them for a 5x5 layout. I have enough fabric for more blocks, so I might just make a couple as it will improve the layout. I also have enough of the fabric I used in the centres of the blocks to use as a border.

This is a start on my 2012 effort to use some more of my stash (not just the scraps, but some of the slightly larger pieces) - I'm looking forward to that, actually - it will be good to get into the stash and actually use some of it!

Blue and brown four patch

2011-11-26T22:36:00.000Z

Here's the second one of the two brown and blue four patch quilts - with the alternative layout. I do like this better, I think. Anyway, I don't suppose it matters too much as they will both be charity donations...

More found poetry

2011-11-25T22:32:00.000Z

Again, a few just for fun - not for a specific swap.

More altered cards

2011-11-24T22:29:00.002Z

These are just for fun - not for a specific swap.

Barely any cross-stitch...

2011-11-23T17:49:00.000Z

Didn't stitch much at all this week, due mainly to either being out or having guests three nights in the week, which is unusually high. Usually, it's more like none - or possibly one! But I did manage to do some outline stitching on the left-hand bell rope, hands and face of the red angel. Perhaps next week there will be a bit more time for stitching...

Altered Playing Cards

2011-11-22T17:34:00.001Z

Another ATC swap - these ones for altered playing cards (yes, just playing cards which have been altered to be art pieces).

This one had an animal theme to it.

It didn't matter what animal, so long as there was some kind of animal.

I decided not to let myself think too much about it, and just got out an envelope of little bits and pieces to see what sorts of animal things were in it. And it went from there...

Found Poetry

2011-11-21T17:24:00.001Z

For a found poetry swap with a seasonal theme. Found poetry, for those not familar with it, is when you take a page from a book, magazine, newspaper and look for words or phrases, which you then assemble into little poems. I used an old book, but admit that I only found one or occasionally two phrases per page, and then mixed and matched rather than taking a single poem from a single page...

Better!

2011-11-20T23:05:00.000Z

This definitely works better - stitching the blocks together so that the browns cross the blocks rather than the scrappy blue. Wish I'd done the other one this was as well...

Blue and brown four patch

2011-11-19T16:58:00.000Z

I put together some of the blocks I've been making into a small top - problem is, I don't really like the effect. I will keep it this way and donate it to Project Linus, as I'm sure it will come in handy, and I don't hate it, but ideally, because the blues are all scrappy, the browns need to be the blocks which form the diagonals, rather than the blues (in the smaller blocks) - the other half of the blocks, I will put together the other way, which I think will be far more effective.

Planning ahead

2011-11-18T17:53:00.000Z

Because it's the kind of person I am, I've been thinking about what I might do next once the blue and brown double four patches are done, and although I know I have blocks to make for other things (like the Farmer's Wife quilt and the Christmas Oh My Stars mystery) I don't really want to (well, I might do the Oh My Stars) so I am planning something else. I decided to take a little break from totally scrappy and clear out something from my stash of larger pieces - the Art Nouveau fabric, which I got cheaply on sale somewhere and actually find quite hard to use (large pattern). I'm going to use it, with some FQ size (or so) pieces to make a pattern in M'liss Rae Hawley's Fat Quarter book (can't rememeber which one), so that will be a nice stashbuster in the run up to the new year. Whether I keep it, or whether it goes in the charity pile will depend on how much I like it when it's done...

One more to show...

2011-11-17T12:48:00.000Z

One more quilt I have received in a swap - a private one this time - which I forgot to show before - I can't remember what I swapped for this - maybe some unfinished tops or orphan blocks - but I'm very fond of it. It's a Mongolian Knot, and was made by Ann in France.

Cross stitch update

2011-11-16T22:05:00.004Z

I didn't have a huge amount of time to cross-stitch this week (two evenings I spent doing binding on various projects), but I did manage to make a start on the right hand house, which is all in creams and neutrals, so it doesn't show much yet - hence the close up. Back to the angels for next week, which I imagine will be another week of little progress, considering how busy I am likely to be, but you never know, I could surprise myself...

Thoughts for next year...

2011-11-15T22:38:00.003Z

This year, I've spent a fair amount of time trying to rid myself of scraps, organise a bit, and declutter. With a fair measure of success, I think! However, I still have loads of scraps, as well as a decent sized collection of smaller pieces of fabric (up to FQ size, say), many of which I'm not crazy about and might not tend to use in works for myself. Especially as I am doing fewer large ones of those these days.

So, I think 2012 will be another year of de-scrapping and de-stashing. And I will probably tackle some of the (slightly) larger pieces, rather than just the little scraps.

I enjoy the entire process of building a quilt - I like choosing the fabrics, I like cutting, I like piecing, joining blocks together, quilting, binding - there's none of it I really hate. However, what I do to relax - the bit I find the most soothing - is piecing blocks.

Which is, of course, why I have so many tops hanging around waiting to be made into quilts. This past year, I have sent many baby quilt tops to Project Linus through my friend Karol-Ann and her local Linus contact, and I will continue to do that next year as well. However, I am also looking for other worthy causes - either other Linus groups, other charities which use quilts or just quilt groups or ministries which make quilts for charitable causes - to send quilt tops to.

If you are involved with such a group and would like a quilt top or two in 2012, please leave a comment - and make sure you are not set to no-reply, so I can contact you in return...

Here's the catch(es):

I don't intend to make big tops - baby quilt size, or lap size only. Or I would consider some smaller ones, for instance if you work with a charity that does tops for neonatal units or stillborn babies.
I'd prefer you were in the UK, due to postage costs. Alternatively, I can mail anywhere if you want to reimburse me for postage. (Sarah, if you are reading this, I'll happily donate a top for your ministry when my mother visits at Christmas - she can mail it when she goes back to the US in January, as we've done before.)
Tops only. These aren't finished quilts, so you or your group need to be willing to finish them yourselves!

I can't promise a quilt top to everyone straight away (some will depend on how much interest there is) but last year, I made at least 2 most months, and sometimes even more, so I think there's space for lots of people to receive, even allowing for a good chunk of them to go to my established place!