Discount Vouchers - NEC Festival of Quilts 2013

Red and White Pinwheel Quilt - NEC Festival of Quilts 2013

I took a trip up to the NEC Festival of Quilts today, mainly to see my Red and White Pinwheel Quilt and all the other lovely quilts on display, but also to get my regular summer fabric fix.

If you still have plans to go before Sunday, I thought I would highlight some stands that have discount vouchers available, click on the links to download the vouchers!

The Quilt Room - 10% discount voucher on purchases made on their stand
Antique Angel - VIP 10% Discount Voucher if you make your purchase before 11am in the morning
Creative Grids - £2.00 Cuttings Mats and £3.00 of Rotary Blades
Simply Solids - 10% off your purchase

Enjoy!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 63

Block 63 - Nearly Insane Quilt

I gained some unexpected sewing time the other day, and it meant I could get Block 63 of my Nearly Insane Quilt done in one single session.  That was a bonus, after the protracted  time recent blocks have taken.

For a bit of variety, here is a picture of the reverse of the block, with all the paper still in it.  As usual, you can see all the green basting thread, and that I label each piece of paper, so that I know what shapes belongs to which fabric.

Block 63 Reverse - English Paper Piecing

After my trip to The Sewing Studio in Redruth, it was going to be hard not to include my *new* red and white fabric, 'Red Packed Peppermints', into one of the next Nearly Insane blocks.  By their definition, novelty prints come in all shapes and sizes, and taste - there is pretty much something out there for everyone.  I don't have many, but when one comes along that I really like, I rarely pass it by.  I usually go for the food / fruit related ones.  Which novelty prints do you usually go for?

NUMBER OF PIECES: 37
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 1/2" (12.5mm) x 1/2" (12.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 2" (49mm) x 2" (49mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
"Days Gone By" Exclusively Quilters
"Christmas Past" (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
"Holiday Treats Red Packed Peppermints'"by Timeless Treasures

Joining Up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Whoop Whoop Friday!

Nearly Insane Edge Block 88 - Basket Block

Block 88 - Basket Block, Nearly Insane Quilt

You may remember that one of the first blocks that I did for my Nearly Insane Quilt was a whole Basket Block, Block 41.  That was an Apple Basket, this one is a Flower Basket, well, at least half of one. On that post, I showed you how I put it together, and how I made the bias strip for the handle. 

There is the other half of this block yet to do in the future, please remind me that I need to do the reverse of this one, as it will be on the opposite edge of the quilt ....

NUMBER OF PIECES:  19
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 5"  (126mm) x  3 1/2" (90mm) x 3 1/2" (90mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle, 1"  (25mm) x  11/16" (18mm) x 11/16" (18mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Somerset Shirtings c 1890 by Julie Hendrickson and Nancy Gere, Windham Fabrics # 35205
Memories (Hearts), Stof 
Red Sprig on Cream (Unidentified)

BIG FINISH - Red and White Pinwheel Quilt, Hand Pieced, Hand Quilted

Red and White Pinwheel Quilt - Hand Pieced, Hand Quilted

Well, here at Fabadashery it is not often you get to see a BIG FINISH like you will today.  Usually you have to satisfy yourself with the little 6 inch Nearly Insane blocks that I am working through.  But my efforts of recent weeks have paid off, and I have completed my Red and White Pinwheel Quilt, in spite of the little trauma of washing it. 


Completed - Red and White Pinwheel Patchwork Quilt

It is a single bed quilt, hand pieced and hand quilted. I devised the design myself, with the assistance of my Electric Quilt software, and inspiration from antique quilts on the internet.  I love the look of red and white quilts like this, and would have loved to have seen the American Folk Art Museum exhibition: Infinite Variety, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts, but it was just too far away, but I have downloaded the App onto my iPAD, and now I have my very own.


Back - Red and White Pinwheel Quilt

The backing is a piece of red spotty Laura Ashley fabric which has been in my stash for years.  I started the quilting at the beginning of this year, and it was completed 26th July 2013, (having an exhibition deadline definitely helps to get this sort of thing done....)

I probably started making the little pinwheels at the end of 2009, as I remember it being my hand piecing project whilst we were building our house.  The top was complete by January 2011, and the sandwich put together ready for quilting.  Having known this quilt for so long, there are a few things I may have done differently, and it is by no means perfect, but it is a finished quilt!  Anyway, no sooner had I stitched the last few stitches, and the quilt had to be packaged away for delivery to the NEC for the Festival of Quilts.  There were a few disappointed cats in the house, as they have been waiting, and waiting to test it out, but that will have to wait.

If you are heading off to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham 8th-11th August 2013, you can see my quilt among the Traditional Quilts section, No:660.  I can't wait to see it there!

  

Statistics
Dimensions: 150cm x 190cm (approx)
Piecing Method: English Paper Piecing. Hand Pieced
Quilting Method: Hand Quilted
Dates: 2009 – July 2013

Joining up with Sarah, Crazy Mom and Feline Friday today!


Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 10

Draw 9 Nearly Insane Quilt Blocks

Here are the latest Nearly Insane quilt bocks which I have already shown you, which were part of Draw 9.  I am near finishing the edge block and then I am ready for the next ones, so it is time to make the next Draw!  It takes a bit of time to choose the fabrics for each block, cut them out and get them ready for 'found moments'.


Random Nearly Insane Block Draw 10

So, here they are                    37 - 63 - 67 - 96

Still none of those *really* Insane blocks, if fact these look pretty painless at first glance. 
I have spent a bit of time working on some ideas for Block 37, do you have a favourite from Option 1, 2 and 3?



Machine Embroidered Quilt Labels

As you have probably gathered by now, I tend to do mainly hand stitching, and like to maintain that integrity throughout the project, by hand piecing and hand quilting.  However, when it comes to doing my quilt labels, I like to use my embroidery machine.



Husqvarna Designer 1 Embroidery Machine

In the past I have done a lot of creative machine embroidery, and have the sewing machines and threads to prove it!  Therefore I like to take the opportunity to use my embroidery machine to make my quilt labels.  With the completion of my Red and White Pinwheel quilt, I had the opportunity to blow the dust of this machine and reacquaint myself with the software, to make a little label for my finished quilt.  Watching these machines is mesmerising, and it never ceases to seduce me.  For this label, I didn't even have to put the pedal on, I just used the Start / Stop button!

Stitching Quilt Labels in the Embroidery Hoop

I have got into the habit of doing my quilt label stitching in the same colour as my background fabric, like I did on my Single Irish Chain Quilt, and again, I have gone for white on white for this quilt.  I think it is important to put a label on, and I would rather have a stitched label than a handwritten label, but I don't like them to shout too loudly from the quilt.  If you can even see it, I have just put my name, date, and location on the label, with a little stitched diamond border around it. Subtle.

We all like to do things differently - how do you like to mark you quilts?



Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 9

Block 9 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Somehow with all the hand quilting going on, I have managed to complete Block 9 of the Nearly Insane Quilt.  In fact it was finished off on the journey whilst delivering the quilt for the NEC Festival of Quilts Exhibition.
 
It was not too difficult a block, though I did have to concentrate to get the red stripe (Redwork Rendevous) all going in the same direction. Also I keep sewing the HSTs in the wrong direction.  If you have ever done pinwheels, I expect you may have come across the same problem.  In your head you think, this block is so simple, how can it go wrong?  Then you start sewing, and some pinwheels are turning in an opposite direction to the rest.....


Block 9 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Also, there is a subtle Cherry fabric theme in this block.  The "Days Gone By" fabric is a cherry pattern and some of the cream scraps I have used have a white cherry print on them too - probably hard to see via the internet, but they are there.  There is a bit of the Mama Said Sew range in there too - if you pop over to the Fat Quarter Shop today, they have the range on sale.
Linking up with Freemotion By the River

NUMBER OF PIECES: 
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle,3/4" (18mm) x 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle, 2 1/2" (64mm) x 3/4" (19mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
"Somerset Shirtings" c 1890 by Julie Hendrickson and Nancy Gere, Windham Fabrics # 35205
"Days Gone By" for Exclusively Quilters
"Redwork Rendevous" by Alex Anderson for P&B Textiles
"Cream Zig Zag Stripe", Mama Said Sew, Sweetwater for Moda
Cream scraps

 

Washing Quilts - In Praise of the Colour Catcher

You may have noticed that lately my blogging has not been as prolific, and that I may not have had the chance to comment and respond to your kind comments.  Apologies. My excuse is that I have been busy completing my Red and White Pinwheel Quilt ready for the deadline for the NEC Festival of Quilts, which is being held in Birmingham on 8th-11th August 2013.Besides being time consuming, and having to quilt on the hottest day of the year, there have been a few other traumas along the way which I though I would share with you. 

 

As you may know, for marking this quilt I have been using the blue Wipe Off Fabric Marker, to draw on my quilting lines.  I have  found it really successful, and would use it again.  However, to start with, I was removing the blue pen marks as I went along, which was fine until I realised a problem.

 

I am not *stupid*.  When I made the decision to make a red and white quilt, the first thing I made sure of was that I gave the red solid I was going to use, a good 60 degree wash, to make sure that the colours would not run. However, somewhere along the way, I completed the top and put the sandwich together, using  a lovely red spotty fabric, and started quilting.  My eye may have been off the ball at the time, as we were building a house.  It was not until quite far along the quilting process, when I was removing the blue Wipe Off Fabric Marker with a very damp cloth, that I noticed that the water had caused the dye from the red spotty backing fabric to bleed onto the white of my quilt ..... take a deep breath. 

 

Red dye bleeding onto white fabric

It was difficult to proceed with my quilting until I knew for sure that when the quilt was finished it would be a Red and White Pinwheel Quilt, not a Pink and White Pinwheel Quilt. Luckily, I still had some of the backing fabric spare, and I decided to do a test run.


Dylon Colour Catcher

I put some yardage of the spotty red fabric, an old white pillowcase, and a Dylon Colour Catcher sheet in the washing machine on a warm wash, and waited for the results.  As you can see it all worked out perfectly.  Yes, the colour did run, but the Colour Catcher did the trick of collecting the loose dye particles. 


Washing Quilts - Colour Catcher Test Run

Quilting of the Red and White Pinwheel Quilt continued right up to the deadline, but before it was packaged up and delivered, it had to be washed.  Even with the test I had done, and the results plainly in front of my eyes, somewhere inside of me still had some doubts, and I had reservations about this moment. A few days before, I noticed a comment by Karen at Celebrate Hand Quilting about washing quilts, and I contacted her for some reassurance. Thanks Karen for your advice, at the right time! 

The quilt went in the washer on a COLD WASH, with NO detergent, with FIVE Colour Catchers.  At this point I still had the blue markings on the quilt, and I needed to rinse them away, without detergent, which worked a treat.  Within a few minutes, with the loose red dye, it looked like a bloodbath in the washing machine, and I could see that all the Colour Catchers had taken up a lot of dye ... take a deep breath.   

So I drained the first round of water off, replaced the Colour Catchers with FIVE MORE, and started the process again.  There was a lot less red dye in this wash, but the Colour Catchers still took up a lot of red, as you can see from my final collection of Colour Catcher sheets drying on the sink in the laundry room.  Once this was rinsed, I finally did a wash with some detergent in it, and THREE Colour Catchers in it.  By this point I had moved onto a different packet of Colour Catchers, and I found that Dr Magic Snatch a Dye, which I purchased from Lidl, works just as well.


Red and White Pinwheel Quilt drying on the Sheila Maid

As you can see  - the final results show a Red and VERY White Pinwheel Quilt, which I am very pleased with. During all this time, my husband has been thoughtfully searching for Red and White Pinwheel Quilts on Ebay - just in case.
I never really had an interest in Chemistry when I was at school, but I would like to thank  all the Chemists that were involved in the development of this wonderful product - the Colour Catcher.

Hand Quilting in Hot Weather ....

Red and White Pinwheel Quilt, 2013 Tour de France

For the record, we have got really warm hot weather here in the UK at the moment, about 32 degrees. Perfect weather for quilting ....  Lately, I have been using every spare moment of my time hand quilting.  Thank goodness I have had the company of the Tour de France, for the past few weeks.  The exhibition deadline is getting close, but I feel as if I am on track with what I need to do, with just a few hurdles to push through.


Washing the Butterfly Quilt

The last time we had hot weather like this was 2006.  I was hand quilting my Butterfly Quilt, and I can remember sitting underneath it in very hot weather, again working towards a deadline.  I have come to the conclusion, that if we are to guarantee hot summers, I need to have a big quilting project on the go.  Anyway, whilst the weather has been hot, I have taken the opportunity to wash some of my quilts, as they are drying in no time.


Sparky the Cat lazing in the sun.

Otherwise, it is just too hot to do anything but snooze, especially if you are wearing a fur coat. 

Fabric Stash Additions - The Sewing Studio, Redruth, Cornwall

It is over 6 weeks since I have set foot in a fabric shop, so luckily whilst I was in Cornwall last week, I was introduced to a new quilt shop, where I could get my fix. The shop was on Chapel Street in Redruth, called The Sewing Studio.  As well as a large selection of sewing machines, it stocks lots of the MODA pre-cuts, such as Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and Charm Packs, at competitive prices, and other lovely fabric yardage too, so do take a look.

'Snowman Gatherings', Primitive Gatherings for MODA

To start with, I have had my eye on the 'Snowman Gatherings' by Primitive Gatherings for MODA for a long time, and with the 10" layer cake sitting there, it just had to come home with me.  I justified it because one of the purchases I made in America was one of the Schnibbles books, which focuses on using pre-cuts in its designs, so once my current hand quilting project is done and dusted, I am planning on making a few smaller projects.


Holiday Treats Red Packed Peppermints, Timeless Treasures

The purchase of red and white / cream fabrics is winding down now, but I am always on the look out for interesting novelty prints, and a fat quarter of 'Holiday Treats Red Packed Peppermints' by Timeless Treasures, also made it into my bag. 

Throughout the Nearly Insane journey, one fabric which I have fallen in love with is the Bias Check from the Mama Said Sew range by Sweetwater, for Moda. I looks really good in the blocks I have incorporated in so far, Block 11,  13, and 96, and I when I saw yardage in black and grey, I thought it would be a great addition to my stash.

The shop also had a good selection of quilting rulers, including my favourite Creative Grids rulers.  As you will see from my Pinterest board, a Star quilt of some sort is going to feature in the future, and I had identified that this ruler would be tool to get it done.


Creative Grids Non-Slip 2 Peaks in 1 Ruler

So as you can see, a good haul.