...thinking about it

I've been sick, the kind of sick where I spent a day lying down and not even being able to think about sewing through the pain in my head, the pain in my throat and the stuffiness in my ears followed by far too many days of being well enough for work (although at times during the day I questioned the accuracy of that belief) but so tired at the end of the day TV was really all I could face.

Somewhere in the middle of all that I came across a post about a quilt-along for Katy's Hexy MF quilt. The hand quilting is progressing on my star quilt and it appears I felt well enough for a moment to contemplate a bigger hand pieced project because I have and email confirmation for an order of the papers.

While I wait a couple of weeks for them to arrive I have been thinking about the fabric to use, I'd like to use a bundle I've put together but when I've tried in the past here and here I've liked them but they still seem a little flat.

I want something a little Japanese and vintagy - I love this and this and this.

This morning I had a go in Spotlight with some DS quilts fabric and again, while I like it I don't love it.

Any suggestions on some rules for putting together bundles, how many colourways should I use, should they all have a roughly equal number of prints, what ratio of large, medium, small prints? I'm wondering if there is a formula or some guidelines - it would sure help me.

Tips and Tricks....clean your machine

A few weekends ago I went away with some stitchy friends with big plans first for some quilting on Lorraine's frame and then some piecing and hand quilting.

On Saturday morning I was up bright and early for a walk and then settled into loading the quilt and  starting up my machine. All went well for the first few passes. And then my machine stopped. I re-threaded, fitted a different bobbin, oiled and it still kept beeping and flashing an E6 error message at me. Google told me that meant a tangled thread. I couldn't find it.

To cut a long story short the quilt was unloaded and I took to the couch with some hand quilting.

On Sunday morning I attacked the problem with renewed vigour. I wasn't having much luck up top so I decided to unscrew the plate and this is what I saw....5 years worth of lint.

In my defence my machine tells me not to oil it and a screwdriver the correct size to remove the plate did not  come with the machine. To sing the machines praises this accumulation of muck didn't affect performance until a few weeks ago.

It's  been to the doctor and has returned but I've not yet unpacked it - the Contessa and I have been becoming reaquainted. She isn't as loud, as tempremental  as I remember her but she is a tough old bird!

...have you pinned the trimming entry of your choice?

Have you visited the Trimmings Competition Pinterest board to vote for the People Choice Award? You can vote for your favourite by repinning from the Competition Board (as I understand it 'likes' and comments don't count).

There is so many wonderful entries - I am always so interested in to how many different kinds of things people can come up with - even with a similar bundle of fabric.  

...in a bind

In most cases I decide on the backing and binding I am going to use for a quilt at the time I choose the rest of the fabric - at the very latest these decisions are almost always made at the time the top is completed.

When I am feeling organised I make the binding at this point so I have it ready when I finish the quilting. My problem is that I often get stalled at the idea of the basting phase and right now I have a pile of binding waiting for a finished quilt.

From left to right there are the bindings for the quilted quilts - the basted quilts - the finished tops - a not yet pieced top.

...cutting it fine - Another Trimmings entry

All the entries in the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition entries will be pinned today on the Pinterest board for voting. So after making and submitting my first entry several weeks ago I needed to break out the second packet last night to meet the deadline.

I sat down with a vague idea in my mind for a notebook cover with an included pencil case that I can take with me in the car for when inspiration strikes. I worked it out as I went along, adding some Trimmings to the notebook front and pencil case as I went.

The zipper was bound and extended with some more Trimmings and a tie to wrap it all up was the trimmings from the Trimmings.

Getting some good pictures this morning before work when it is still dark outside was a little challenging but I introduce my Elephant Friend Inspiration Book.

...its been a little quiet around here

Which means that I have been sewing and thinking about sewing but not machine sewing (hence the quiet). I will have a cautionary tale that will explain the no machine, soon hopefully, but I need to be home in the daylight to get some pictures before I can post that post.

But one of the thinking tasks I have been working on is the design for the quilt I will be making that is inspired by a crochet blanket and first mentioned in this post.

I did get a kind volunteer to crochet a sample of the units and I have been catching some small moments here and there for the last few months to draw up a plan for the quilt and re-size the motifs to a size that can be sewn and will fit together well. It was a true test of my maths ability.

I spent an hour or two finishing that step last night and then got to thinking about some of the construction methods. It will end up being a bit of a skills sampler I think with some normal piecing, some foundation paper piecing and some appliqué (in one case this might be present in one motif/block).

Which brings me to the point of this post actually - does anyone know how I can draw, on the computer, a shape to a specific size - where it will finish in an 1/8" inch increment.

This one will finish at 2.5" but I got thinking about it because I need one of the blocks to have four quarters that finish at 1 6/8" plus the 1/4" seam allowance (see the maths workout) and then be able to draw a specific size shape inside it. I've tried in Word because that has worked for me before but even when I change the unit of measurements to inches the best I can do is two decimal places (.25 = 1/4") and .125 is automatically changed to .13.

I could draw it, scan it, hope it stays the same size and copy it but there must be a way - cause I've seen the foundations other blogger's do.

Help! Please!

Cog + Wheel - the Blogger's Quilt Festival Edition

I have mean't to link up with Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival the last few times and kept missing the cut-off. This time round I am just sneeking in!

I stared making this quilt at the first Sit and Sew day I attended with the Melbourne Modern Quilt   Guild in April last year. I had lived in Melbourne only about 6 months at the time and it was great   to start making some friends in my new city who share my stitchy interests!

I made this quilt from my partner N - although he sort of knew it was coming I worked on it mainly at the Sit ans Sew days in an attempt to keep it a bit special. The fabric choices, Cogsmo by Cosmo Cricket from a few years ago, seemed to match the pattern, Cog + Wheel by Denyse Schmidt and N perfectly. 

Although had various opinions about the quilting during the piecing phase I decided to quilt the design as written in the pattern, but use my walking foot to stitch along the marker curved lines. Although I am generally happy with the result I'm coming more and more to realise there are limits to what I can achieve with my machine. 

As we head into winter here in Victoria it is folded up in the corner of the lounge and has been snuggled under on a few occasions. You can't as for more than that!