Tag Archives: quilt

A cautionary tale

12 Sunday May 2013

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Do you remember this quilt?

That purple fabric is quilter’s lamé. I sewed it with a 1/4″ seam as we quilters usually do and after a few washes this is the result…

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Looks to me like 5/8″ seams would have been in order here. Sigh…

The ideal sewing machine

I was really interested to get all of your comments and Annette I agree that your bobbin arrangement sounds exactly what I’m after, consider it included as an explanatory note to the list. Kate has added a knee presser foot lifter when she commented on Facebook too.  I wonder if Singer or Janome or Juki or Bernina is listening. It’d be nice wouldn’t it?

My week in photos

11 Saturday May 2013

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Last weekend I went to a local quilt exhibition. Unfortunately I can’t show you photos of the quilts as I think there are permission issues. However, I bought some goodies. Here’s what I bought…

a cute pincushion

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a lovely hand made card and some lavender pouches

P1050987some Japanese fabric

P1050990and some funky fabric

P1050989From the quilt show I went to a store with a sale and got some gorgeous fabrics for $5 per metre.

P1050980Later in the week I washed an old quilt but seeing it on the line in the sunshine made me realise that it still is one of my favourites even though (or perhaps because) it’s not perfect.

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I also had a go at making a New York Beauty block from scraps and while there is certainly room for improvement I’m quite pleased  with it.

P1050975Then yesterday the postie brought a large box to my door.

P1050977And here’s what was inside

P1050978an early Mother’s Day present! Aren’t I lucky?

I hope all you mothers out there enjoy your day on Sunday and are remembered by your offspring no matter where in the world they are. Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of this and a bit of that…

08 Wednesday May 2013

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I’ve been taking some photos of little domestic pleasures. A warm, flourless orange cake, a new fruit bowl full of lemons and home-grown mandarins, a baby quilt made from scraps, a couple of zippered pouches I made thanks to Kristen Link’s (of Sew Mama Sew) free Craftsy course – Bag making basics, a pile of ironed, quilted goodies etc. Anyway here they are and I hope you enjoy them too.

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Still here, still plodding…

06 Monday May 2013

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I’ve started hand quilting my daughter’s quilt again but can only do an hour or so at a time as my wrists get sore. Has any of you any experience with those wrist supports I see from time to time on quilting sites? I did buy one once but I was allergic to whatever they used to stitch the seams and had to give it away.

I’ve also been making a baby quilt from the fabric leftovers and a quilted, reversible tote bag. I haven’t finished the baby quilt quite yet – just sewing on the binding at the moment and I’ll share pics when it’s finished.

Here are a couple of less than flattering photos of the bag – both sides.

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Plodding on

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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I haven’t posted in a while but I have been sewing. I’ve started one of the projects for my Andalusian tile template set and am in the process of cutting and sewing and writing.

I’ve also completed 2 of the 3 cushions I’m making to go with the bed of Roses quilt. The third just needs the back sewing on. I English Paper-Pieced the bows, then appliqued them by hand onto the background. I got the pattern for the bow from my Japanese quilt block book – My Favorite Patterns 163 Quilt Patchwork Block Squares. Then I sandwiched them using my favourite batting – Vilene/Freudenborg Quiltlite – and machine quilted them.

Here are the two I’ve already completed.

photo1 photo2Fortunately my wrists have recovered now and so I hope to be able to finish the hand quilting on the quilt soon too.

 

Fabric delivery

28 Thursday Feb 2013

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I’ve been quite good recently but the last few weeks I have splashed out and bought a bit of fabric. First I saw Malka Dubrawsky’s Simple Marks and I was really taken with the possibilites for this range so I bought a fat quarter bundle in the Summer colourway. (See above and below).

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I also found the Earth colourway yesterday on Fifi’s fabricology for 30% off Moda and free shipping on orders over $50 so I’m looking forward to that arriving soon.

Then my daughter asked me to make her a quilt and said she liked Cath Kidston fabrics! Look I know lots of you out there like her stuff but it really isn’t my cup of tea at all. The saving grace was that I couldn’t buy them here and in England they are hideously expensive (to me anyway). So I suggested French Hatbox. Also not my cup of tea but liveable with. Here’s the quilt I have designed for it and below are the actual fabrics. The colours didn’t turn out great in the photo – sorry.

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Layout madness!

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

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I have tried 18 different layouts today and my head is spinning. The problem is that each one is just a little altered from the previous one but I think I have a winner. I hope you think so too. I won’t bore you with all 18 photos but I’ll show you a representative sample and then the winning one and you can tell me what you think. Here goes…

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Is your head spinning yet?
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And this is the one I’ve chosen. At least I think it is…P1050581

Now to decide on the corner triangles.

The fourth four

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Well I’ve finally finished piecing the background fabric. Now I have to decide what corners to put on each block and how to lay them out. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying all the various combinations. I’ll show you some photos of the layouts in another post. For now here’s a photo of the final four.

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The second four blocks and a tired model

22 Friday Feb 2013

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Here are the second four blocks with their background. I am so fed up with this pattern and its inaccurate measurements. There’s going to be a lot of steaming, pinning and blocking and possibly some unpicking and re-sewing before this is all finished.
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It’s tiring being a decorative object

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