2019 Finish Along :: Finish No 1

Oh it feels good to get my first project ticket of my 2019FAL list - a charity quilt for Project Linus.

The jelly roll of fabric was donated quite a while ago and I thought it would be ideal to try piecing on the frame.

This was the first time I have tried this technique and I used the Square Feet from Handi Quilter.  It was brilliant - so quick and easy and very satisfying!

Since moving my machine, I have a lot more space around the back and so I thought I would try pantographs again.  Basically you have a pattern at the back of the machine which you trace with a laser light.  These are called Edge 2 Edge designs.

This is a new one for me and it called Bellflower by Keryn Emmerson.  It stitched out beautifully and gave such great texture.

I have to say that I really enjoyed doing this and, although FMQ is my first love, I would definitely quilt more using pantographs and will shortly be adding it to the services I offer my customers.

The only thing I didn't think about when I decided to quilt it this way, was that you would be able to see the horizontal lines, from piecing on the frame, on the back of the quilt.  

In future that would certainly determine what patterns I would quilt on a quilt that had been pieced this way, but there are still plenty of designs that would work.

Here's hoping for another finish before too long!

A week of finishes - Day 6 :: Heart Quilt

Earlier this year people from a FB group I belong to and people from IG sent me heart blocks which were to be made into a quilt for Project Linus.  It's only taken 9 months but one quilt is now made ....

If anyone is reading and they don't see their heart(s) don't worry they are safe and will be well used!

It's funny how the blocks can sit there for so long and then I pieced the top in one night and quilted it the following afternoon.  It's also on my 2016 Finish Along Quarter 3 list - 6th finish (Number 6 on the list) - which motivated me this week because the quarter finishes tomorrow!!  Where has September gone?

I now have a good pile of quilts to sew the Project Linus labels on to which will keep me busy one evening. x

A week of finishes - Day 5 :: Siblings Together Quilt

Siblings Together Quilt Group is a group that was formed to help the Siblings Together charity achieve their aim of providing every child who attends one of their summer camps with a quilt.  These siblings have been separated through the care system but are able to come together at these summer camps.

Nicky, from Mrs Sew and Sow, asked for people to take part in Mini Bees so 4 of us got together and made blocks for each other.  I asked for simple colour block 16 patches sashed with white or cream on two sides.  Not only did my 3 bees members make me them for me but some other people jumped on the bandwagon aswell - hooray.  I had enough to do 4 across by 6 down which gave a lovely size quilt.

I put it on the frame on Saturday night to join in with the #saturdaynightcraftalong on IG run by Lucy from Charm About You (@charmaboutyou).  I decided to do some organic straight line quilt with the occasional heart here and there.  Some hearts were perfect ..... and some were not!

But more frustrating was that the thread kept shredding.  3 times in 20 minutes and I called it a night and resolved to go back the following morning and figure out why it was happening.

Sometimes stepping away from something works, as if by magic, but not this time. I battled with this quilt.  I rethreaded, changed the bobbin, cleaned and oiled the bobbin area, changed the needle, played with the tension and all to no avail.  I finished it, accompanied by a lot of choice words, but could not figure out what was happening.  I loosened off the frame and walked away .... in disgust with the quilt!!  I was using variegated thread but I had used it on my Polaroid Quilt with no problem so what was going on?  After lunch I decided to load up another quilt straight away and see if I could work it out.  It was just as I was walking to the frame that it came to me .... I think you need to go up a needle size with variegated thread.  I took the thread cone off the machine and sure enough right inside the needle recommendation is #18 and I had been using #16.  Thank goodness I figured that out - for next time!

This quilt came together so well that at various stages of its construction every member of my family asked if we could keep this quilt!  Note to self:  this would be a great Bee block for next year.

This is my 5th finish from my 2016 Finish Along Quarter 3 list (Number 14 on the list).  I am linking up today with Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts for her Let's Bee Social. 

The Bloggers' Quilt Festival is up and running this week.  Entries were made last week and the voting has now commenced.  I have entered for the first time this year and have entered this Rainbow Mini in the Mini Quilt Category:

and Should I Stay or Should I Go in the Original Design Category.

If you like either of these, and if you have a minute, I would really appreciate a vote from you .... there's some lovely prizes to won!!  Just click on the Category links above, find the mini pic of my quilt and click on the heart in the corner - it turns red when you have cast your vote.  Voting closes on Friday 30 September.  Even if you don't want to vote just head over because there are some amazing quilts on show ...... my to do list is growing longer by the day!

Let's Bee Social .... spreading the love!

Well I am having a very social week this week seeing as it was my turn on the Blog Hop for the New Quilt Bloggers group.  If you missed my introduction post then click over here if you fancy learning more about me and a host of other great new bloggers.  Pssst .... there are prizes on offer too!  I also have a little something on offer at the end of this post ... so keep reading!

I appreciate each and every comment I get on this blog and love visiting other people's blogs and reading about their adventure in quilting and life in general.  I think we quilters are quite a unique breed.  We may be separated by many thousands of miles but we still find things in common and we all pull together when needed.

I am sure you have seen the call out from the Orlando MQG for #quiltsforPulse and the Leeds MQG for #quiltsforjo and so it felt only right to get some made .......

For those in the UK Esther Moorey, IG @esthermoorey, at Squeeze Quilts, is collecting blocks for #PulseOrlando, so you can send them to a UK address.

Some of you will know that I am a local co-ordinator for Project Linus and last week saw lots of finishes for them.  Over the weekend I pulled out another quilt for another cause, Siblings Together.  I 'met' Nicky from Mrs Sew and Sow over on instagram and loved the idea of these quilts.  She was recruiting mini bee members earlier in the year so I jumped at the chance,  My Bee mates made me single colour scrappy blocks bordered with white.  I even got a whole load of blocks from people who weren't in my Bee!

I have another example of how lovely quilters are .... at the beginning of the year I signed up to the Bee Hive and so had 11 Hive mates.  Through swapping blocks and various chats on IG you get to know some of your Hive mates quite well.  One of mine headed off to the States for work recently and just before she left she messaged me and asked if there was anything she could bring back for me!!  Of course I could have had her fill a suitcase but I decided to ask for something that I was finding impossible to get in the UK - a printed version of the Fancy Forest pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.   I wasn't holding out much hope but look what arrived yesterday ....

I have never met this lady, although we plan to meet later in the year, but she was kind enough to do this for me.  Like I said, the quilting community is very special.

To celebrate this wonderful community, both online and in real life, and to mark my 150th blog post (this will happen on Friday) I would like to spread some quilty, bloggy love around the place.  Back in February I was lucky enough to be chosen as a recipient in the Pay It Forward Ruth, from Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner, had up on her blog.  As Ruth says, the premise for a Pay It Forward:

was based on a book of the same name about a kid who comes up with a social experiment to make the world a kinder place. He decides on the Pay if Forward principle - I had heard of this before the movie, paying the toll for the next person coming along behind, buying someone a cup of coffee unexpectedly. Giving without the expectation of receiving in return, only asking the next person to do the same at some future date, when they have an opportunity to make someone's day easier! 

Actually I have just realised the book is by my bedside but I haven't started it yet!  It is now my turn to Pay It Forward.  I want to offer something to people in my quilting community and so will be picking someone who reads my blog, someone who follows me on IG and someone from a Facebook group that I am part of.  It's called UK Quilters United, if you're interested, and it is a really active, friendly and supportive group.  So three people will receive something from me at some stage before the end of the year ..... hopefully it will be a lovely surprise for those people.  In turn they will offer a Pay It Forward into their quilting community.

If you would like to receive something from me, then please just leave a comment below and a person will be picked at random at the end of the week.  If you are on instagram you have another chance by commenting on my IG post!  If you are going to leave a comment please state your favourite colour/s and also just for fun what do you think the collective noun for quilts should be?!

Linking up to Let's Bee Social with Lorna today. x

The House Quilt ....

Last year at the Festival of Quilts I picked up some of the house blocks that were donated to the Project Linus stand.  They have been on my FAL list a fair few times but I was determined that this quarter they were going to be finished.

 

 

I pieced them together with some other donated star blocks and broke it up with some plain green squares.  It finished at approx. 36" x 36".

 

I had my second attempt using a pantograph on my longarm machine and I have to say it didn't feel quite so strange this time!  Further to comments from my last post about pantographs, a friends is sending me 3 pantos in designs that I actually like, which will make the process more enjoyable!  I have a couple of tops which I will try them out on and of course I will report back my findings here!

 The quilting is definitely smoother this time and I am quite pleased with the result.

So I am finally managing to tick items of my list this quarter - 12 done from 25.  In fact it's been a finish a day this week over here - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thrusday - phew!  I think that qualifies me to link up to Finish it up Friday this week!

Another quilt for Linus ....

This finish is another one to tick of my 2016 FAL list - get the feeling that I know the end of quarter is just around the corner?!!

Again, this was made by a child for a child at a local Home Ed co-op I am part of.  Whilst I had cut various size squares prior to the session, the children had free rein choosing their fabric and putting it together.  This was made by a 9 year old boy and I think he did admirably seeing as he'd never used a sewing machine up until a few months ago.

 

 

This quilt finished at 30" x 30".

 

I freehand quilted it with a geometric design of straight line boxes and rectangles of varying sizes.  It was the first time I have quilted this design and I really like how it has turned out.

 

The backing was cotton from IKEA and the scrappy binding was made up of binding leftover from all my recent quilts!

 

I am going to the group again tomorrow and will take all the finished quilts to show the show the children.  I am very proud of their work and hope they will be too. x

 

Let's Bee Social ....

This week I am all about finishes - more specifically trying to get some items ticked off my 2016 FAL list before the end of the month!  Currently I have ticked 10 projects off the list - but there's still 15 remaining!

 

On Monday there were two pairs of pyjamas trousers, yesterday was a small quilt for Project Linus and today we have another quilt for Project Linus.

 

Not only is this a FAL finish, it is also my #BraveQuilter challenge for June.  I got my longarm machine last July and I have never attempted to use a pantograph with it so that's what I did yesterday.

 

 

This was the pattern that came with the machine and 11 months on it was still wrapped in plastic!

 

I didn't get any progress shots because I was too busy concentrating.  Basically you use a laser light to follow the lines on the paper which in turn quilts the pattern on your loaded quilt.

 

My thoughts on the process:

 

1.  It felt very strange to stand behind the machine and operate it from there.  The handles are at a different height, there's not that much room for moving around there but the biggest thing was that you can't see the quilt .... it felt very weird to be quilting blind as it were.

 

2.  I don't like the pattern on this pantograph very much which meant I didn't really enjoy doing it.

 

3.  There is no point in using pantographs for small quilts.  I could have quilted this size quilt freehand with just one advance of the rollers but using the pantograph I had to advance every row - so 5 advances in all!

 

4.  Always advance with the needle in the correct position - it takes a lot longer to figure out where to start quilting the next row if you don't.

 

4.  I think I would get far smoother curves and points by doing this freehand.

 

Ok, so here's the results ... visually!

 

The texture is gorgeous and I admit I quite the uniformity of the design.  In fact I think I like the back more than the front!

 

I applied the binding in the same way I did yesterday, by joining the binding with an angled join.  Perfect again - and this time I didn't even need the tutorial up.

 

 

Would I do it again?  I think it would be a good skill to master, especially if you are going to do customer quilts.  Some people like to see exactly what design is going on the quilts and pantographs give this option very well.  However, I don't think it will become my thing - I love freehand guiding the machine and seeing where it takes me!  Although I do remember saying something similar about ruler work and I now quite enjoy it!

 

Linking up with Lorna at Let's Bee Social today.

 

I will be linking up to Pink Doxies when the link opens at the end of the month.

A little finish ......

but a finish nonetheless!  This was No 13 on my 2016 FAL list and just needed a little quilting and then binding.

 

I recently ran a small class for Home Educated children and this was one made by a girl there.  It's another quilt for Project Linus -  I love that it's a quilt for a child made by a child.

 

The backing looks like it is pieced aswell but it is just a print and was a large piece that was donated to me so will do for a few more girls quilts yet.

 

I read a binding tutorial over at mmm! quilts the other day and made sure I bookmarked it.  I have never joined binding on an angle, instead I have always overlapped the ends which has worked just fine.  It means there's a few more extra stitches to do when hand stitching the binding but that was never a biggie.  However, I am now starting to fully machine my binding and the little pocket that the overlapping method left was annoying me.  Sandra had made it seem so easy I thought it was a worth a try. 

 

Voila!  I know the picture is nothing dramatic but it worked ... perfectly .... first time .... with no unpicking and, more importantly, no cursing!  It is so neat and so lovely and why did it take me so long to try it?!

 

Do you have any tips or techniques that you have recently found that you wish you had tried sooner?  I would love to hear them if you did.

A little reminder for you that the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop got underway yesterday.  I went and visited all the ladies from Miss-Bee Hivin', which I am part of, but also took a nosey over at those belonging to The Sewcial Network and Hive Sewciety.  There are lots of great posts to read and some great giveaways too.  Why not head on over and show these bloggers a little bit of blog love?  My stop on the Blog Hop is next week so I hope you'll join me then aswell. x

No 12 on my Finish Along list - tick

 Another project completed from my 2016 FAL List.  The quilt top was pieced by a local Young Quilter and her teacher gave it to me for Project Linus.

 

 

Finished dimensions:  25" x 34"

No 11 of my Finish Along List - tick

One quilt became two .....

 

Another project completed from my 2016 FAL List.  The quilt top was pieced by a local Young Quilter and her teacher gave it to me for Project Linus.

 

 

Finished dimensions:  19.5" x 33.5"

 

Finished dimensions:  19" x 32"

No 10 of my Finish Along List - tick

Another project completed from my 2016 FAL List.  The quilt top was pieced by a local Young Quilter and her teacher gave it to me for Project Linus.

 

Finished dimensions:  18.5" x 26"

No 9 of my Finish Along List - tick



Another project completed from my 2016 FAL List.  The quilt top was pieced by a local Young Quilter and her teacher gave it to me for Project Linus.

 

Dimensions:  24.5" x 36.5"

A bundle of quilts .....

Exactly what is the collective noun for quilts?!

 

I have now completed another few projects from my 2016 FAL list.  Shown below are several quilts which were made by a local Young Quilter and her teacher gave them to me at the beginning of the year for Project Linus.

 

With a little bit of judicious cutting and re-joining I was able to get useable slabs to make these quilts. (The one on the right was from a different child - more on that later.)

 

 

As you can see they are all different sizes and truly are patchworked.  But they are all acceptable for Project Linus and will hopefully shortly go to some child who can be comforted by a quilt.

For the sake of linking up these projects, at the end of the quarter, I am going to have to do a separate post showing each quilt - bear with me on that!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday today over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

April in review ....

A third of the year gone already - how can that be?  I remember as a child a year was forever, in fact from Monday to Friday was a long time but my daughters were talking with friends the other day about how the year has gone so quickly.  Is this the speeded up world we live in?  Or is it just Home Ed children that think this?   Does time still go slowly for children in school?  I've no idea just rambling now!

 

So at the beginning of the month I signed up for Quarter 2 of the Finish-Along.  Sadly I have nothing yet completed of that long list!

 

Onto Bee news - I continued to receive some more blocks from my hive in the Bee Hive.  I laid them all out last night and love the way this quilt is going to come together.

 

 

For April's queen bee in the same Bee there were Wanta Fanta blocks - just slipped in under the month deadline and these will be posted on Tuesday, as we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK tomorrow.

 

The queen in the Stash Bee hive I am in requested a block in a combination of mustard, grey, navy and chartreuse.  I have no navy in my stash but she was happy with the other colours.

I liked how this made up so made an extra one for me.  I decided at the start of the year to make an extra block each time I made a bee block and by the end of the year I will have some lovely blocks to play with.  I still have a couple to play catch up with but that's OK!

For the Siblings Together mini bee I was queen and asked for 16 patch single colour blocks, which I will sash with white to make up a lovely colourful quilt.  The two I made below as an example were quick and easy to make.  I haven't received any yet because most of the members had holidays booked this month.

I learnt some new things like removing a square from a complete quilt top and replacing it so that no-one would ever know ....

 

 

and foundation paper piecing tiny little scraps of fabric into stars ....

 

 

The majority of the month was spent without my husband who returned to New Zealand to oversee the winding up of our life over there.  That has bought up so many emotions that I'm not sure I have fully dealt with yet ......  We tracked his flight over there ....

 

 

and we'll be welcoming him home in two more sleeps!

 

I spent a lot of time interlocking seams ....

 

 

making up these ....

 

 

and writing a pattern for them.  Watch this space for a release in the very near future!

 

On the Home Ed front there have been the regular activities, an end to ice skating lessons for now, the start of athletics and netball, a visit to nearby Coughton Court where the lambs and bluebells were doing their best to tell us it was spring, although the snow, sleet, hail and freezing rain told us a different story!

 

 

And, of course, there has been reading, although not as much as usual I see now ....

 

 

 

And welcome May!!  The hawthorn is in full bloom, although I didn't wash my face in its dew this morning, we may get to make elderflower cordial early this year and with luck the weather will soon get warmer and sunnier.  Can't wait for some lovely days spent outside and exploring!