Less UFO Sightings Reported

You wouldn't believe the mayhem going on behind this quilt as I was taking photos.   Short of a responsible adult to hold the quilt, I enlisted the help of Zaki (age 4) and his cousin Salma (7 years old).  Behind the quilt, one of Zaki's 'big' cousins was restraining another 'small' cousin from jeopardising the photo shoot.  Light was going and I had to be quick.  Hence the wonky tilt to the quilt!

I have definitely made a big old dent in the UFOs lying around since I joined Leanne's Finishalong 2013. This is my third finish of 2013.

Last October, it was my second turn as quilter in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches.  I asked the lovely members to make bright scrappy patchwork wheel blocks. The blocks look so pretty when assembled together - there is just the right mix of dark and light in this quilt.

When you look at the quilt sometimes you see hugs...

...and sometimes you see kisses...

I made a backing using white cotton and some of Tula Pink's Birds & Bees, and used some for the binding too. I bought some half yards last year and never did work out quite how to use them... 

...especially these squirrels...so it makes me happy to see them off the spare bed and in a quilt.

When I returned from England at the beginning of the month, I was uncharacteristically slack when I gathered up my sewing kit and caboodle and left behind fabric (*gasp*) and my hera marker at my mum's.  So I chose simple straight line quilting again and as this is a smallish quilt (48" x 48"), it was done in a flash.

Thank you to all the wonderful women who contributed to this quilt.  I am sure it will give lots of quilty hugs and kisses to a sick child when I hand it over to  Project Linus UK.

Things will be a bit slower on the quilt making front but it has made me realize that if I lived somewhere where I could buy batting or thread at a local quilt store or online and have it in a couple of days then I would probably be much more productive.  I bought 4 kilometers of thread (4 x Gutermann's 1000m spools) back with me along with 3 lots of batting - the batting has gone as has over 1 kilometer of thread but I'm looking forward to finishing bee blocks and working on some quilt tops - after all my favourite part of the process...

Linking up with TGIFF being hosted by Laura this week!

The One that Sneaked Under the Wire

We're in England!  Well we've been here almost 2 weeks actually and it's rained here almost every second. It was raining when we arrived, Christmas came and went and it's still raining. I understand now how difficult it is to take pictures in natural light as ... uhmmm, there is very little!

Converging Corners quilt

A belated but very Merry Christmas to everyone.

The first thing I did after arriving was to take my machine back to the shop I bought it from.  It's under warranty and they have promised they will fix it before we leave.

After sporadic periods of quilting, interspersed with shopping for presents and a trip to the local panto, I finished sewing down the binding on my mum's quilt on Christmas Eve.

I waited to share it with you as I wanted to wash it and show it to you in all its crinkly loveliness on some glamourous country location but the incessant rain have put a stop to that one.

You may remember this was secret sewing for my mum. With some Kaffe Fasset fabrics, I used Film in the Fridge's tutorial for her Converging Corner's block - when I showed a teaser here - most of you guessed right. These blocks are super easy to make but more time consuming than you might think.  With no sashing, you also have to make quite a few of them to get a decent sized quilt.  After 20 blocks, I called it a day and added a 6 " border.

For the backing, I used Amy Butler's Harriet's Kitchen from her beautiful Cameo line.

The binding is also from the Cameo line - Folly in zinc. I would love to make a shirt from this fabric.

I'm really happy with how the Cameo fabrics work with the Kaffe Fasset fabrics.

For the quilting, I did organic straight lines - while I like the effect, it took a long time to quilt!

So this is a very late birthday early Christmas present for my mum, and a satisfying late finish for 2012.

Quilt Statistics

Quilt Top Assorted Kaffe Fasset and Kona White
Backing Amy Butler's Harriet's Kitchen from the Cameo Line
Binding Folly in Zinc also Cameo
Batting Quilter's Dream 100% cotton
Measures 72" x 60"

Like a lot of people, I have tried to stay away from the computer over Christmas so that I can enjoy my time with family. After New Year, I am looking forward to getting my machine back and resuming some kind of normal service...

WIP Wednesday

When does a work in progress become a UFO I frequently ask myself as I stare at the growing pile of quilt tops on the spare bed (or granny's bed as it is affectionately known in our house).



For example, do you remember my Lark quilt top, which I made one afternoon back in.... January? No, I don't expect you do.  I know it's very simple but I really wanted to show off Amy Butler's fabrics, most of which are large scale.

While I was in England I picked up some batting and my mum bought me this Amy Butler fabric for the backing as part of my birthday present. So guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?  Yes - I'll be on all fours basting.

So my question for you this fine evening is: what do you think about the quilting?  I would like to do some straight line quilting and any suggestions would be very gratefully received.

So in honour of resuscitating this UFO and Lee's return from her summer break,  I'm linking up for the first time in a very long time with WIP Wednesday here. Head over and see what more productive people are up to.