W.i.P Wednesday

Well that was a slightly unscheduled blogging holiday.  We`re back from a few days at the in-laws where there was an abundance of favourite aunties and cool cousins and so I took full advantage of the childcare and read some books on my kindle! What a luxury that was.

The front path at the in-laws

So now we`re back and I feel quite out of the loop both in terms of sewing and blogging.  If I haven`t been to visit you for a few days I apologize and will try and catch up soon. Promise.

So before we left, I assembled my Drunk in Central Park baby quilt for Kate and Kristie`s QAL and here it is in the beautiful sun we have had today.

One of the things on my Winter Stitching List was to learn to piece curves and while I wouldn`t say it`s quite mastered, I`m pretty pleased with how these blocks came together.

Today I set to work on making a baby boy quilt for my cousin and his partner`s baby, which is due to arrive any minute.  Did I ever mention that I work much better under pressure?  I met Jacqui when she and Daniel visited Marrakech last year.  

While she had visited Marrakech umpteen times it was my cousin`s first visit.  They were here because Jacqui was doing a sponsored trek through the Sahara for Help for Heroes. As a reminder of our fun time together I knew I wanted to use 1001 Peeps but I have been dithering over how to use the fabric to its best.  In the end I went for an `Addition` quilt (well the baby will be a new `addition` to the family) and managed to get the strips pieced.

The pale blue fabric at the bottom of the shot is Terrain

I`m hoping to finish assembling it tomorrow before adding a narrow white border and an outer scrappy border (I love scrappy borders ever since the Across the Seas QAL) as I want the quilt to be a decent size and for the baby to be able to grew in to it.

It`s an anniversary edition of W.i.P Wednesday today as it`s a year since Lee at Freshly Pieced started this great weekly link up - congratulations and thanks Lee!  So why don`t you click on the button below and say `hi` and link up something you are working on?

FMQ Moves Like Jagger

I`ve been a bit afraid of FMQ and particularly stipple quilting. I`ve suffered from stipple-quilting stage fright but today I took a leap of faith and decided to deal with my Red City quilt for the Duo QAL.

I watched a couple of youtube videos on how to stipple quilt, had a quick practice, put some music on...and plunged right in. Here`s the result.

Is the stitching of a consistent length?  No, not really.

The back

Is the tension perfect? Definitely not.

but for a first attempt I `m happy enough.  What would I do next time?

The front

Gloves.  I`d definitely wear gloves and turn this song to full volume!

So with the quilt ready for binding, I`m delighted to be linking up with W.i.P Wednesday - thanks as ever to Lee for hosting. Have a peak and see what much more talented people are doing and no doubt see some proper stipple quilting!