...what's the time?

Because I save most of my sewing for the weekend I can sometimes get stuck into things and lose track of time - and not least because until tonight I didn't have a way to tell the time in the sewing room. 

But last weekend - when 6:30pm arrived without due warning I decided enough was enough and I pulled out my Trimmings pack. 

I traced numbers the numbers onto visoflix, fused them to the 'trimmimgs' and then I cut them out and fused them on to a piece of cotton/hemp fabric I had in my stash.

 I sewed a running stitch just inside the number to secure it to the background and then again just outside to define them slightly more.

I also added a small spool of thread to the centre of the clock face. The print offered a number of thin lines in one direction and I back-stitched lines perpendicular to make the 'thread'.

All done! I'm pretty happy with it!

...a finished top - entierly by hand!

I almost can't believe that I had the patience and persistance to finish this quilt top - and that I still am enjoying it so much that I am already planning the quilting to be done soon - and by hand as well.

There are 32 'star' units in the quilt as well as 6 half 'stars' at the edges, 62 hexagons, 16 half hexagons and 10 half diamonds to form the edges. Each one was basted by hand and hand sewn into the top and then all 304 paper shapes removed. Well almost all, I have left the edge ones in for now and remove them at basting time.

All that adds up to 1592.5" of whip stitched seam. I was glad of a thimble.

The top measures 45" x 56" so it it pretty firmly a baby-lap sized quilt - and leaves me with nothing but admiration for people that can made a full sized quilt in this way - and using much smaller shapes!

I've started on the backing - ready for basting soon. There are 'spare' hexies (basted when I was going to make a multicoloured bacground) joined and then hand appliqued to the backing to hide the seam joining the two backing pieces together. There is a random spare star to be appliqued on the back as well - but I need to wait for after basting for placement. Confused - I'll explain in pictures later!

 

The next job will be to prepare the batting - as this quilt is part of the Scrap Attack Quilt Along I thought I would continue with the scrap theme. I have an (overflowing) box of reasonably decent sized batting scraps and will piece two of these together to get the batting for this quilt!

A doll quilt...done.

I started this quilt early in the swap period. Just as well too because although it is only a small quilt, at about 20" square it has taken me a long time. A lot longer than I thought it would that is for sure.


But I am really happy with how it has turned out....and I hope my partner is too when it arrives on his or her doorstep.


It started with this design idea.

And tracing and resizing and drawing some templates


I paper pieced and trimmed the 'petals'.

And appliqued them down. I really wanted to piece them but I just was not confident in getting the petals to meet neatly in the middle and I really wanted them to.

The backing stumped me for awhile, I considered an AMH print but couldn't find any of the designs locally in the quilting weight and didn't think the voile would be strong enough. In the end I pieced a contrast back and actually really like the striking contrast to the print, and the front.

The quilting was one of the things that took me longer than expected. There are 16 petals in this quilt and 7 triangles in each petal. If you are better at maths than me you will know right away that that is 112 triangles that were quilted in one of 7 different coloured threads.

I broke 2 needles in the fist 6 petals quilting these. I usually use a chenille needle and No. 8 perle cotton when quilting. This one was done in proper hand quilting tread and with a betweens needle - apparently they don't bend as much as the chenille.

I also really love the way the quilting stitches show up on the back.

In the end I bound it with some voile - and only because I didn't think the quilt would face a lot of punishment and it was the best colour I had to do it. I'd never use it for a 'to be used' quilt. It beautiful and soft but just doesn't seem that strong.

The label was printed on fabric paper and included the flickr group logo.

Now it is labelled, packaged with some small extras and on the way to a new home.

Stats
Fabric:    Anna Maria Horner Voile (mostly Good Folks)
               Kona Ash
              Kona Coal
Binding: Anna Maris Horner Voile - Pastry Stripe -Blue

Size: 20"x20"

Construction: The triangles to form the petals and the backing was machine pieced as well as the front of the binding. Petals were hand appliqued with a needle turn method. Quilting was by hand.

Label: Printed on fabric and appliqued on. Image taken from the Flickr group button designed by Badskirt.

Progress on a UFO - The Seasons Quilt

I started this quilt more than a year ago, and had been thinking about making it for a few months before that but, almost as soon as I had started piecing it a hit some stumbling blocks and all work seemed to cease.


My quilt is based on this pattern in the second book from Material Obsession. Material Obsession: Shared Inspiration is filled with two quilts made around each theme, with one being made by both ladies from Material Obsession the store.

In the beginning the quilt seemed meant to be. I bought the book on the basis of this pattern, mostly. While I already had their first book, and really found it inspiring, I saw this one at just the right time. I had spent the afternoon at a professional development session (I am a psychologist and work exclusively in schools) learning about a program that I was to implement based on seasons.  A lot of time was spent talking about developing environment in which the group was to be run. When I saw this pattern I thought {insert light bulb picture here}. I had this lovely idea of using the quilt to set the scene and having the participants from each of the groups over the years writing or embroidering their names on the back.

I knew I would have to alter some of the colours chosen to reflect the seasonal colours represented in the program and not to use so much purple but I thought those differences were easily accommodated and it was an achievable project.
[incidentally there is so much feature purple fabric in this quilt because it is the theme of this pair of quilts in the book. It is a Kaffe Fassett print, he handed it to the girls and challenged them to come up with a design around the feature fabric, or so it says in the book]

And so I bought the fabric, choosing browns to go with all the colours was not easy but I did it. And I sewed the 'leaves' of the trees and cut out the templates for the trunks.

And then I started the applique. I didn't think it would be a problem. I already knew I generally don't enjoy hand sewing but I can do it, it is fiddly and takes time but I find if I take the time I need and don't cut the thread too long in principle it isn't that difficult. But I don't enjoy it. I really didn't enjoy sewing the trunk I have already done. The trunks have a lot of sewing in them and a lot of really narrow branches and lots of corners and curves.

And I'm stuck as to what I'll use in the wedge sashing (between the brown that I have cut out but am not that attached to) and as the border.


For the backing I'd still like to use the signature idea, maybe having a pieced back and having a strip down one side of signature blocks without signatures in them, a sash and then the rest of the back in a solid piece. But what solid piece?


I still really want to finish this quilt. The idea of how it can be used when finished is still appealing and the techniques needed to finish are within my grasp. It is the motivation to get over the mental block about the hand sewing that I need to overcome.

My plan at the moment is to finish the applique when I am stuck in the hotel in Melbourne while we are looking for a new house and I'm without my sewing machine. But then again it was my plan to finish the hand sewing when we were in Perth for a few weeks last Christmas visiting family as well.


Hopefully, inspiration will strike in the meantime about the wedges and the backing, unless any of you have any ideas....