...same, but different

Towards the end of last year I found out that some friends were expecting a baby and naturally my thoughts turned to quilt. The baby was still very new and so the thoughts were put aside while I started to plan Christmas gifts. A few days later a got a call from a mutual friend hoping to commission a quilt for the same child and we hatched a plan for a joint gift. Then I got another call a little later…could the order be upped to two quilts? It seems there was not one baby, but two.

When we got to the planning stages of the quilt we went through various options - same quilt, same colours/fabrics; different quilt, same colours/fabrics; Same quilt, different fabrics colours. There were positives and drawbacks to them all - the babies will share a bedroom so they had to look OK together, we wanted them different enough to be easily identified different and I, at least, didn't want one to be 'better' than the other - they needed to be equal, but unique as the babies will be.

In the end we decided to use the same prints with variation, different by complementary background colours and the same blocks but in different sizes while making the same size finished quilt. I used a variation of block 1932 on page 244-245 of the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.

I sent a whole bunch of images to be co-gifter (did I mention that this was a cross border exercise) and then we skyped the fabric purchase (did you know it is easier to turn your webcam to the screen and show and image of a fabric rather than sending a link? I do, now). 

And then I waited for the fabric packages to arrive. One did and then I waited, and waited and waited for the second. It was caught up in the Christmas mail and as each day went by I saw my chance at taking one to Perth for the Christmas break to be hand quilted slipping out of my grasp. In the end I sewed the tops up after I had got home and based and had and machine quilted them in the week before the shower. I machine sewed the binding on both of them on the morning I caught the flight for a weekend away - that included the shower.

The hand sewing of the binding of one was finished, in the recipients house, on her couch with the quilt hidden under another blanket while I was chatting with her and another friend. The second was done on the morning of the shower.

  

In the end I did end up with a favourite, but so did the co-gifter and they were different quilts so I think I met my brief. Especially as mum and dad to be seem to like them both!

...finishing

This week I have been working on a couple of quilts to be gifted this weekend.

A strange thing has happened.

Early this week I finished the piecing and this was left on the spool....

...then last night I did the machine quilting on quilt one and this was all that was left on the bobbin when I was done....

.....then today I bought the backing for Quilt Two, the last on the bolt....Then tonight when I pieced the back together this was left on thw spool when I was done.

Spooky!

...a happenstance and a plan

While I don't think I am in the league of the people that are featured in hoarders my fabric scraps are out of control. 

The 'problem' I have is that while I can still think of something I could do with them, and there are no shortage of ideas in that department, I have no real desire to re-house them. 

That said, I am happy to use them - and really enjoy putting them to use in the do. Good Stitches blocks for the Cherish circle (in fact the chance to use these small gems was one of he reason I joined this bee). But still the boxes keep bulging and the scraps keep spilling out. 

And I refuse to solve the issue by buying more boxes. 

And them comes the happenstance. I was mindlessly wandering around the Fresh Modern Quilts group on Flickr recently and came across this quilt, described in more detail here. And then I wandered over to Craftsy and looked in on the free 2013 block of the month. And I signed up. 

My plan is to use stash for this quilt. with a focus on all the little bits and pieces in the scrap boxes. With bits and pieces of my text fabrics as the background. 

Tonight, after I finished the second of a couple of quilt tops to be revealed later in the week I sewed up the first four blocks. I'm looking forward to the next 11 installments!

...Monte Carlo icecream sandwich

I have this week off work - a holiday.

Although I have just got back from Perth trips there are busy, a trip more than a holiday. Fun, but not restful.

This week is all about rest, sewing and cooking.

Tonight's dessert, Monte Carlo ice-cream sandwiches from the current issue of Feast magazine.

...joining in and hoping to Finish-a-long

Making things, and quilts especially is not usually a quick process. But it seems that when it comes to being inspired and starting something new I frequently forget that.

And all those unfinished projects sure can spread all over your house! In the grand scheme of things this is not such a big problem to have but the number of things I have on the go was sure bought home to me when I was packing and cleaning  the house before we went to Perth at Christmas. I swear there was a half sewn something in almost every room of the house, and they weren't things I was no longer interested in finishing either.

I made a mental note to try to get them sorted in some kind of order (and mostly stored in the sewing room) and then went on holiday.

Then last week, via Nicolette, I came across the Finish-A-Long and I made a list. To me, it is frightening. There is a whole lot of time, energy and money invested in that list with not a whole lot to show for it.

I've updated that WIP and plans list on the right hand side and set myself some goals to get some things finished. I have really tried to make this achievable without falling into my familiar trap of underestimating the time it will take to finish things, and without rushing. I want to enjoy finishing these things, not looking at them like they are a chore. And I'm not limiting myself to only these projects but I would like not to start anything else (except a couple of special quilts that need to be done soon and maybe some garments).

1. Quilt and bind the Scrappy Stars Quilt (hand quilting currently in progress)

2. Quilt and bind my Bee a Little Bit Japanese Quilt (hand quilting in progress)

 

3. Baste, quilt and bind the Valentines Swoon

4. Finish the Weekender Bags

5. Finish quilting the baby pinwheel quilt

6. Finish the DS Quilts FMQ sample quilt.

7. Baste, quilt and bind the 'Spring, Just Because' quilt

...doing good stitches in January

It feels like ages since I last made a bee block, and I guess in a way it is. In the Cherish circle we take December off so I last made a block in November and I made it the first weekend of the month so it has bee about 10 weeks. Ages!

This month Kim asked for star blocks in blue and white.

I chose to make Another Star by Beth Gutcheson using the tutorial from Fresh Lemons Quilts. I constructed mine a little differently by sewing the first strip on the center square using a partial seam and the finishing it off after the other three strips were sewn.

I also chose to make the Evening Star block using the tutorial by Swim, Bike, Quilt published as part of the Summer Sampler series. I also changed this one up a bit by using a single piece to make the star points.

I can't wait to see how this quilt turns out!

...holidaying

N and I are just back from our pretty much annual trip to WA visiting our families for the Christmas and New Year period. It also gives us a chance to catch up with friends that live here and others that have also moved away and are back for the same holiday period to visit their families.

All in all that makes for a really enjoyable but busy time. Those of you that follow me on instagram may have noticed #PerthBingo posts popping up. Basically it is a very informal activity that those of us returning to Perth play (with no winners or prizes and little to no rules) and involves visiting or doing things we miss from Perth. There are quite a few overlapping activities and some unique to the player (I know my friend J has no interest at all in Calico & Ivy!)

Home now though and back to work tomorrow. But be on then lookout for some posts that I have had written in my head for a few weeks!

Happy New Year!