Hamtune Quilters 1st Feb 2011

Last night was the Hamtune patchwork and quilting group meeting.

Our speaker was Jamie from www.Colouricious.com she inspired us to "have a go" at block printing on fabric, card and anything else we might find. Her daughter Harriet demonstrated the art of Indian Block printing and we were all provided with a piece of fabric to have a go for ourselves. [ My sample is pictured ]

The story of how the blocks are all hand made in India was fascinating.

www.theindianblockcompany.com

Bag day at Weedon!

Monday at my regular patchwork and quilting meet, I showed the group how to make a pillowcase, in a quick all in one method. Sorry I cannot remember where I saw this method to give the person that thought of it due credit.

The day was a big success and many pillowcases were made.

Fran & Tilly workshop 29/1/2011

Saturday was another Fran and Tilly workshop at Pitsford. There was a choice of two projects, a picture frame or sewing machine mat. I made a mat to go under my Innovis 4000D, which is proving very handy for all the tools I use on a regular basis

2011 UFO Challenge

Patchwork Times, Judy has picked out number 10 as the next UFO challenge.

This is my worse nightmare.. my large wholecloth quilt!

I intend working it by hand [ this is one of my least favorite methods of working] and at the moment I have worked one small piece.

Thinking positively I have bought a new quilting frame, went to a demo of how to hand quilt, so tomorrow I start!

Stash Report for January 2011

I intend to do a monthly stash report again this year.
Starting with a clean slate I have used the following in January:
Backing and binding a red, white & blue quilt 3 1/2 yds
Backing, borders, and joining strips for Baltimore quilt 6 1/2 yds
Making a folder cover 1 yd
Pillow case demo 1 yd
3 mug rugs and some card fronts 1 yd
Sewing machine mat 2 yds
Total used 15 yds

Bought 5 yds [for planned projects] from BSK and 1 yd [flesh] from Poppy Patch

January total Minus 9 yds, a step in the right direction!

Final stages of quilt as you go Baltimore

The final joining together of the QasUgo Baltimore quilt, is a little difficult to explain but here goes..

After attaching the purple border to the original quilt block, a larger piece of batting and the backing, pin and then sew the gold 2 1/2" strip to the front at the same time as a 2 1/2" strip matching the backing to the back. Do not cut off any of the batting.

Next sew only the gold fabric to the next block to form the border between the two blocks, there should now be two pieces of batting overlapping each other. Hand sew the backing strip down to complete the join.

When you have the rows completed, use the same idea to join the rows together.

I am sure someone somewhere must have written these instructions in a better way than I have.. if you find someone blogging about this please let me know.

Viewing Statistics

I was just wondering who was looking at my blog and since I started blogging in 2008
this is the number of Pageviews by Countries... ummm interesting.

United States 5,052
United Kingdom 4,778
Canada 656
Italy 376
Australia 239
Russia 211
Netherlands 196
Germany 193
Brazil 54
Belgium 46

UFO Challenge January #6

Having been given the challenge to finish a UFO each month on the Patchwork Times blog site. #6 was drawn out of the hat for this month, and I have finished my Baltimore quilt, which was #6 on my list.. yippee !!

I had only completed the blocks so there was a lot of work to get sashing, borders, backing, binding etc completed, but I have managed it with a week to spare.

Hamtune Quilters

Having taken on the roll of acting Chairman for Hamtune Quilters, a group that meets twice a month on the first and third Tuesdays, I decided I need to keep the paperwork somewhere safe.

A cheap file costing just 69p from Wilkinsons was transformed with a fancy cover. Inside the back cover I made a holder for a notebook and pen. It's bright enough that I should not loose it in my workroom!

Mug Rug Day

Finding myself with a free day, which seems very rare these days, I signed up for a Rug Mug swap with the quiltinggallery.com.

I really enjoyed making the two I needed for the swap so decided to make an extra one for a member of my church.

Maybe I'll make one for myself tomorrow!

What a week

What a week this has been!

Monday I went to my regular quilt meeting at Weedon and managed to finish sewing the binding on a UFO quilt.

Tuesday it was off to Poppy Patch at Gt.Doddington to attend a workshop with Helen Spence making the fuchsia cushion in Thai silk with black tape.. still have a lot to do on this to finish it.

Tuesday evening I went to Hamtune Quilt group committee meeting [ my first as a new member of the committee, determined to only take on a small roll, I left as Chairman! HOW did that happen!!

Wednesday I had visitors,

Today Thursday I attended a great day at Threads and Patches Fenny Stratford. Sally the owner arranged a day for a group of us, we had three demo's, Sally is showing how to make circles on the sewing machine, then a nice buffet lunch followed by shopping in her wonderful patchwork and quilting shop. This is a wonderful place to visit either alone or with a group. http://www.threadsandpatches.co.uk/

Stash report 2011

This is the start of a New Year and the start of a clean slate for doing my Stash Report.

I have been busy since Christmas and managed to use:

7 1/2 yds used
00000 yds added

The UFO challenge [ see previous posting] has helped reduce my stash as I had only made the blocks and have used 4 yds for backing and borders, so far. I also backed and put the binding on another quilt using 3 1/2yds.

UFO challenge NUMBER SIX

Today is the start of the UFO challenge with Judy Laquidara.

Number SIX has been drawn, which means my Baltimore Blocks, all 9 of them have come out from their hiding place.
These blocks were made in 2008, and I could not think of a way to put them together. Since then I have attended a number of workshops and today I am putting into practice a method I learnt.

1. Ruler was marked up with tape to 15 1/2" square and the middle marked, this made cutting the blocks, which all have thin batting, all the same size very ease.
2. For the block borders I have cut 18 of 1 1/2" x 15 1/2, and 18 of 1 1/2" x 17 1/2.
3. I have cut 9 pieces of backing 18" square.
4. From thin batting cut 9 pieces 22" square.

Finding the centre of the backing, batting and block pin them together, then attach the top border and then the sides. Do not cut off the excess batting.

The next step will follow shortly!!

Design wall Monday

This was going to be one of my UFO projects, but I have decided to get it off the wall and put the binding on it this afternoon.. One UFO project less for 2011.

UFO Challenge 2011

These are photos of my 12 challenge UFO projects, see previous post!

Looks like I have a years worth of sewing without adding anything else!

Yo Ho Ho

A Very happy Healthy Christmas. These are the views of my back garden and Abigail about to make a snowman in the front garden..

UFO 2011 Challenge

UFO 2011 Challenge is an idea from Judy Laquidara [ see side bar button] so I have been compiling a list of things I would like to finish next year. I will add photos when I get time!
1 Little Miss quilt top, need quilting and binding
2 Red white and Blue, needs batting, backing quilting and binding
3 Cowboy Icon wall hanging.. needs lots of work
4 Stars of the USA.. a few more to paper piece and then make into a quilt
5 Sun Bonnet Sue of the months.. an on-going BOM I would like to finish
6 Baltimore blocks made, needs making into a quilt
7 Fairy blocks made, need making into a quilt
8 Bento Box quilt needs the binding sewing down
9 Amish quilt jacket needs finishing
10 Wholecloth quilt needs putting into new quilting frame and working on
11 Under the Sea, painting and quilting blocks need finishing
12 Wee Birds BOM need starting, as all 12 months have been delivered and I have not even opened the packets!

The Santa Train

On the way to a family gathering we stopped at a garden centre to enjoy the Christmas decorations. Abigail and Grandad liked the train and Eleanor just wishes she was a few inches taller!

Bento Box quilting

A last minute catch up trying to finish some UFO's.

I made this Bento Box quilt ages ago [ do not remember how many "ages ago!"] but decided this morning to have a go at quilting it on my embroidery machine. I choose a feathery pattern and it has worked well, even though I was a bit hesitant handling such bulk of fabric/batting and backing. All I need to do now is put on the binding.. yippee another UFO bites the dust.

Christmas Tree Festival

Weedon Church in Northamptonshire have a Christmas Tree Festival, and one of the quilt groups I belong to [we meet in the Church rooms] displayed a tree with stockings we had all made.

I understand the first weekend the festival was open it made over £1000 for the Church.

Three more cushions finished

As I struggle to get in the "black" with my stash report for the year, I have managed to finish three more cushions. I hope to find time [ goodness knows from where!] to at least end the year having used as much fabric as I bought in 2010.

See my side bar for the actual amounts in and out!

The cushions were all made with machine embroidery in the small hoop. Each cushion has 25 pieces embroidered.

The cousin's celebrate Christmas

Today we had a family Christmas lunch.
Luckily the weather held good after an awful week of snow and ice. Mum now age 96years [ 3rd from the left in the photo] really enjoys having her family around her.
Many miles were travelled as the cousins travelled to Northampton from Bristol, Derby, The Cotswolds, London and Leicester, especially the ones that travelled from Leicester as they got lost for over an hour!! Hope Santa brings Mike a SatNav!!

IAM Christmas Party

December 2nd our IAM group had our Christmas Party. A workshop making angels and robins started the day, this was followed by lunch, show and tell and then the best part of the event.. Christmas gifts. With a £2 limit we each buy 7 small gifts for the rest of the group, one of our members, Ann, is in Australia and I am behind the camera!

It is amazing the gifts we all seem to find and no two were the same.

After present giving we had a game of Left / Right, where seven wrapped FQ's are passed left and right while a story is being read.. this always causes much laughter!

One more sleep to Advent!

One more sleep to Advent, so the Advent calenders I made for my two granddaughters were delivered to them last night.

Made from panels the pockets each contain a small item to hang on the

little trees, plus a few chocolates.

Richard fixed them to the wall in their dining room, and small star shaped battery operated lights were wound around the trees to start off the decorating.

Both girls cannot wait until December 1st to start putting on the ornaments each day. Thanks Penny for the brilliant idea.

Answering a few questions

I have had a number of questions about things I do and say, so here are a few answers.

Creative 9000 sewing machine is sold by BSK Bedford England under their own name and with a load of free accessories does everything I could wish for in a lightweight sewing machine. Lots of fancy stitches, needle up / down, alphabets, needle threader, adjustable width and length etc etc . Cost £229 in their sale at the moment. Called Denis because that is the name of the person that sold me it! Bought mainly to use at workshops.

I drive a red Mazda MX5 sports car [ mid-life crisis!] she is 20 years old in December. I have a soft top and hard top for her, and called Lucy because.. yes you guessed it the last owner was named Lucy.

My bargain of the year was "Brenda" my Brother 4000D sewing machine, and I am thrilled with all the things she will do. Only slight hiccup is the very large frame which I have trouble using, but I have been told I can use the largest frame from the 1500 with the same result but it holds the fabric firmer.. so I'm off to buy myself a Christmas present!

Lacemaking.. I am afraid making lace has taken a back seat to sewing and quilting, after 20 years of making lace and 15 years of teaching it. I still have enough bobbins to fill a drawer in my cupboard so hope to teach my grandchildren [ the eldest has already started] and pass them on.

Stash does up and down!

Saturday 27th was another great day with Fran and Tilly at Pitsford Northampton, not forgetting Jane in the kitchen! The workshop was to make a wavy cut Christmas Tree with lots of fancy stitch embroidery OR a Santa hanging OR a coaster by hand. I chose to make the wavy Tree. Not having many greens in my stash I was forced [ ha ha] to buy a selection of green 1/2 metre fabrics which has pushed my stash busting up AGAIN! [see side bar]

The day was wonderful with home made biscuits in the morning a lovely cooked lunch, complete with little gifts and tree decorations, followed in the afternoon by Christmas cake. Looking forward to the January workshop where we will be making a sewing machine mat and tool holder, similar to the one Tilly is holding up.