Day 4 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Canoe block cornerstones - Nearly Insane Quilt

It seems like I was busy in the sewing room today, but have little to show for it.  Firstly, I managed to get three more canoe blocks done for my Nearly Insane quilt, so I think that makes a total of seven, so far.


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 block trimmings

The rest of the time was spent trimming the remaining blocks for my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.  It seemed to take me ages.  Since I hand piece most of my quilts, mainly using English paper piecing, trimming for accuracy is not something I ever need to do, as the paper templates inside keep an accurate shape.  The quilt may be quick to sew on the machine, but other bits of the process sure take time!
 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Edge Block 98

Edge Block 98 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Here is a photo of Block 98, one of the half blocks that go around the edge of the Nearly Insane Quilt.  I emphasise that it is a photo, because somewhere between taking the photo and now, I have misplaced it.  It is the only evidence that I have that I completed it.  I am hoping it will turn up between some papers, or in a 'safe' place that I might have put it.

As you will know, I always add the statistics of a completed block to the end of the post.  In it, I have a difficulty scoring.  So far only a very few have been beyond 4/10 (Block 43 sticks in my mind ...). To be honest using English paper piecing I have found these Nearly Insane blocks easy to put together.  As each one is different, it is like making a fresh 6 inch quilt each time. I have found process most enjoyable.  Yes, some pieces have been very small and difficult to handle, but they have only represented a tiny part of this quilt.  I know that if I had been doing those on the machine I would have given up a long time ago!

NUMBER OF PIECES:  15
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1" (25mm) x 11/16" (18mm) x 11/16" (18mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle, 3" (77mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Little Spots Red, Pierres Famous Travelling Circus, Michael Miller
Hearts on Red (567-R5) Makower
Tangled Threads in Apple Red on Cream, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda

Part 5 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Bonnie Hunter's 2013 Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt?

I was please to see some green and neutral for Part 5, as it has helped to calm down my pinks and oranges.   Last year's Easy Street was in lovely colours for the winter, but in the summer it looked a bit odd.  I hope my Australian / New Zealand readers are appreciating the sunny colours I have used!


Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 3" units

I have spent a lot of time trimming all the square units, so that I will be ready to go.  Having seen all the different ways that Celtic Solstice participants were storing their blocks, I thought I had better get my house in order. Once trimmed, I have stacked them up in a shoe box, ready for OFF!

Part 5 Celtic Solstice Quilt - Split Square Triangles

 

Day 3 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Celtic Solstice Quilt - Star Points

Day 3 was mainly focussed on getting up to speed with Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Quilt.  From previous experience she usually does the BIG REVEAL on New Year's Day, so I want to make sure everything is trimmed and ready to go for when that happens.  I also made the final touches to some presents, which I will show you in due course.


Part 5 Celtic Solstice Quilt - Spilt Square Triangles

At midday, Part 5 was released, so I spent the rest of the day making up the one hundred split triangle units required for this stage, and started to trim those as well.

No Nearly Insane cornerstones were done, but then I did get ahead of myself the day before, so everything is still on track.  It is amazing how much sewing can be done when work doesn't get in the way!

Suzi the cat under the Christmas tree

Suzi has taken to sitting under the Christmas tree whilst it has been up, and that is where I found her for todays photo.

Day 2 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Day 2 - Twelve Days of Sewing, Fabadashery

Despite the late start, I did manage to get a good bit of hand stitching done on Day 2.  I managed to do not just one, but three cornerstones, which gets me ahead for a few days.  What a great feeling! I also made up some of the chevrons for the border, inspired from the chevrons we have been making in the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt. 

Nearly Insane Block 69 is also now done, which means I have moved onto the blocks in Draw 18, which I will let you know about in due course.


Day 2 - Suzi on quilted cat mat

Here is Suzi's pose for Day 2 of the stitching marathon.  I can't promise that the following days are going to be much different, as this is her spot of choice at the moment.  All the same - nothing nicer than seeing a cat snoozing on a quilt.

Today at midday in the UK, Bonnie releases Part 5 of Celtic Solstice quilt, so I expect I will be back to the rotary cutter and the cutting mat.

Other Quilting news ...

With the Celtic Mystery Quilt, the Nearly Insane blocks, the preparation for the holidays I didn't had much time for blogging before Christmas, and there are a few things I wanted to catch up on.


'Quilting Wide Open Spaces' by Judi Madsen

Firstly, I finally received my copy of 'Quilting Wide Open Spaces' by Judi Madsen, of Green Fairy Quilts.  I ordered it back in the summer, but there were delays on the printing, so I have been waiting quite a long time for it - but not as much as Judi had to wait for her first published book!  The book is about quilting with a long arm quilting machine.  I don't have a long arm machine, and tend to hand quilt most of my quilts, but I have always been amazed by the beautiful custom machine quilting that Judi does, as it is so neat and well thought out. I could be converted ...

Finally, some very sad news.  A few days ago I found out that my favourite local quilt shop, Busy Bees in Newport, Wales, had had a serious fire during the night, and it looks like EVERYTHING has been destroyed.  I can't imagine how heart-broken the owners must feel.  I had just started attending a Worker Bees group there once a month, and some of the fabrics in my Celtic Solstice quilt were purchased from there, so I had only visited there quite recently.  It makes you realise what an important role LQS's have in building your local sewing community.
 

Day 1 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Nearly Insane Quilt, Block 69 - In Progress

As promised, I have started my Twelve Days of Sewing.  The main aim is to get some of those cornerstone canoe blocks done, and as you can see I am on course for that. 
I have also put some time into the next Nearly Insane block.  The majority of this was done during the two hour Downton Abbey Christmas Special, whilst we waited for a plot line to emerge...
Since I have a bit of time off work, I will also keep you up to date with what sewing I am up to.  As you know I have my Nearly Insane project, and the Celtic Solstice on the go.  I still have a few gifts that need a final touch, and some other UFOs that need to be done before  the end of 2013.
I will keep it short, as it is 2 o'clock and NO sewing has happened today, so I had better get a move on.

Suzi the Cat, enjoying the sun

If Suzi is in the mood, she reckons she might pose for the twelve days as well.  Today, she is enjoying the winter sun shining through the window, without the inconvenience of getting her pink paws chilled from being outside - beauty and brains!

Happy Christmas

Patchwork Christmas Tree

Happy Christmas!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 85

English Paper Piecing - Nearly Insane Quilt, Block 85

Here is a detailed photograph of Block 85 of the Nearly Insane Quilt.  I hope it shows how the block is constructed, compared to the final effect.  You will see that I have used scraps of different fabrics to make up the square inside a square effect, using English paper piecing.

Block 85, Nearly Insane Quilt

Again, this block is my latest favourite.  The more scraps I can use, the more I love it, and I like the way the triangles make up the red square.I like the bright red square in the centre, I like the midtone half square triangles around the edge, and the white space.


Construction - Block 85 Nearly Insane Quilt

I am very aware that the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt eats up a lot of my sewing time at this time of year, so I make sure that any time watching Christmas TV is productive, and Nearly Insane gets moved on.

Canoe Block Cornerstones for Nearly Insane Quilt

After Christmas I have hatched a plan to get a few more of my canoe block cornerstones completed.  I hope to do a "Twelve Days of Christmas Project" where I aim to get just one cornerstone done a day.  That will be twelve more done for the start of the New Year.  They are only small.  It should be easy enough.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  49
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1/2" (13mm) x 3/8" (9mm) x 3/8" (9mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle, 2 1/2" (63mm) x 1 3/4" (44mm) x 1 3/4" (44mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Scraps

Part 4 - Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

Part 4 - Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

After sewing all those 4-patches for Part 4 of Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt, it is always fun to play with the blocks and guess the layout.  I must admit I am ready to pull out the green and neutral again, to calm down the overdose of orange, pink and yellow.  It took several sessions to get the 4-patches required for the small quilt, and after the third go, I still have the final count to do.  I hope I have enough - I have presents to wrap! I have presents still to make!


4-Patches for Part 4 Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

My 4-patches are made up from pink and orange fabrics from my stash, which don't have a lot of contrast, unlike the colour combination of Bonnie's colour scheme.  I hope it works out.  Last year, Bonnie threw a rapid fire finish at us, and it caught me unawares, so I am determined to make sure all my blocks are trimmed and in order as we approach the end of December.


Part 4 - Celtic Solstice Quilt, Twosies

Bonnie shared a quick method to pair up the twosies for this stage, but I must admit I like to pretend I can mix the pairs up manually to avoid any repeats, so I did it the old fashioned way.  Obviously, there will be repeats....