Day 12 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Output - 12 Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

I was meant to post this yesterday, but I had a window of time which was either going to be sewing or blogging.  Sewing won (as it should), and it meant that Nearly Insane Block 74 got completed.  So in all, after 12 days of sewing, we have a Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt top, twelve and a half Nearly Insane Quilt cornerstones (which was the aim of the exercise), two Nearly Insane blocks and two Nearly Insane Edge / Corner blocks, plus some of the chevron border.  You will also see that I found the missing edge block.

Makower Advent Calendar Quilt

Also not to forget the quilted Advent Calendar that was finished (but now packed away in the attic for next year).


Dresden Plate Pin Cushion tops

I also mentioned that I had been making some presents that I would reveal.  I actually forgot to take a picture of them before I wrapped them up, but do have this picture of them part way through.  I made two pin cushions in a similar style to my Grandmother's Flower Garden pin cushion, only they were smaller and had a Dresden plate pattern on the top, using some prints from the Primitive Gatherings range. 

This evening, Suzi has been catching up on reading all the lovely comments you have made about our Celtic Solstice Mystery quilt. She is has really enjoyed it and is ready for the next one!

With all that excitement over we are back to the regular red and white theme of this blog, with no other immediate projects in mind.  I am happy to say that my Nearly Insane endeavours have inspired some of you, and Anna has written to say she plans to start one soon, having received the book for Christmas.  We all look forward to seeing it soon!
 

Day 6 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Makower Advent Calendar Quilt #107

Whilst everyone is thinking of the New Year, I am still catching up with 2013.  As part of my Twelve Days of Sewing, I didn't manage to sew an of my cornerstones, but I did manage to complete my Makower Advent Calendar quilt.  This has been hanging around for a while, and I was determined to complete it during the Christmas break.


Makower Advent Calendar Quilt #107

I had completed most of the construction, and the past two days have been about the quilting.  It took longer than I intended, but I have done it well enough to pull it out for next Advent!  I am so pleased to have this done.


As I said, no Nearly Insane progress, partly because I have had visitors, which has included my sister who has been using our floor to baste her quilt with the help of Suzi.

Day 5 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Country Christmas Advent Calendar by Makower UK

There is nothing like getting ahead of yourself for Christmas.  I started this Makower Christmas Advent Calendar quilt back in November - November 2012!  Day 5 has focussed on getting this quilted ready for next year.  I have dithered over whether to hand of machine quilt it, but as you can see the machine has won.  You always think it will be quicker on the machine, but there are lots of fiddly bits to stitch, so I am happy to take my time to get it right.  There is still more work to be done on this, which I hope to be able to show you tomorrow.

Canoe  block cornerstone for Nearly Insane Quilt

I also completed my obligatory cornerstone for my Nearly Insane quilt, and pleased to be on track for that too.

Suzi helping with the Advent calendar quilt

Suzi just wasn't in the mood for a photograph yesterday, but is definitely in the mood now.  She is keen for me to get the Advent calendar finished so that maybe next year she can have treats in it.  She doesn't realise she will have me to compete with!
 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 30

Block 30 - Nearly Insane Quilt

What I am enjoying most about the Nearly Insane Quilt, is that there is no time to get bored with repeating the same block, as each one presents a fresh challenge.  When planning this block I was going to change the direction of the HSTs, but once I remembered that the block would be on point, I changed my mind back.  I really like the use of stripes on this one.

I am really pleased that I loaded all my fabrics on to the Electric Quilt software, as it allows me to indulge in choosing the fabrics for each patchwork block.  The software has really worked well with this project because of this,  and I get to use it at least once a week.  Before, my experience of it was limited to designing a quilt, and then spending the next year making it!

PS: I have just done a really SILLY thing. I measured the finished size of the block.  It has turned out 6" x 6 3/16"  - that is a problem for another day!

NUMBER OF PIECES: 34
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle,3/4" (19mm) x 3/4" (19mm) x 1 1/16" (27mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle 1/2" (12.5mm) x 6" (152mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Roc-Lon Unbleached Muslin
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman
Red with White Dots, Makower
Weekend Rail Stripe Red by Swirly Girl Designs, for Michael Miller # 45533
Red pattern with white dot (unidentified)

Joining up with Connie at Freemotion by the River

Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 5

I got a little behind last week with Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt, but today I feel as if I have pulled it back a bit.  Firstly, I caught up on the fabric cutting.  Last week we were assigned to cut squares in our final colour, which for me is PURPLE.  I was itching to work with another colour, but it just didn't happen last week, so it felt like a bit of a treat to dig into my stash and pull out the purples.

145 x 3 1/5" Purple Squares

I noticed that a lot of my fabrics have cherries on them, and I have mixed some more fruit into my quilt, with some juicy blackberries, courtesy of RJR Fabrics Farmer's Market (2008).  There is a cute print 'Crazy Daisies' by Buggy Barn for Henry Glass (Pattern 1394).  They are meant to be daisies, but I think they look more like to intergalactic stars, against this deep purple!  There is also another 'Ditzy Daisy' (1005) print, and a swirly black and purple 'Lava'  pattern (730), both by The Henley Studio for Makower, a few batiks, and a few odd scraps.  Once the purple was done, I cut the red squares, and green squares I needed for Part 5.  The red fabric on top of the pile is called 'Santas Got the Goods' by Diane Knott for Clothworks - I sure hope he has!



Red, Green and Purple Fabric cut ready for Part 5

The construction of this little block was quite simple - if you follow Bonnie's excellent instructions.  My first few attempts were not squaring up very accurately, but once I started to sew along the right side of the line, as Bonnie suggested, they were much better.  I have decided to keep the square in tact, mainly for greater accuracy further along the line, just trimming out the excess of the triangle.  On a previous quilt I was sewing a similar block, but I had to cut both excess triangles because I was using a light fabric and the dark pattern was showing through.

 



Up until now my colour scheme has been looking a bit too festive, which has been concerning me, but with the addition of the purple I think it has been brought back to a 365 days a year quilt.  Do you think I have got away with it?



All my cutting is up to date.  I still have to join up some of the Flying Geese from last week, and to complete the rest of this weeks block.  I also have A LOT of trimming to catch up with.  I am really pleased with my colours and can't wait to start piecing all these parts together.  It has been great fun playing with the pieces to create patterns, and seeing everyone elses ideas. Here is my 'guess' for the Mystery Quilt, using this weeks pieces. 

Christmas Countdown - Advent Calendar

"Country Christmas Advent Calendar", Makower UK

Whilst looking for scraps for the Easy Street Mystery Quilt, I came across this panel in my stash, #107 Country Christmas Advent Calendar by Makower UK.  I must have bought it at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, several years ago, and several Advents have passed since then.  It has a pocket for each day, just big enough for a chocolate.  I am sure I have had it for 5 years or more. This is clearly a missed opportunity.  It must be AT LEAST 120 chocolates that I have gone without!  In an attempt to redress the balance, I thought I could get this ready for 1^st December, THIS year.

It is a neat little project. Everything you need is there, including the instructions. Once the pieces have been cut out, the hems need to be folded back, pressed and sewn. 

Stitching the pocket hems for the Advent Calendar

With red and green pockets, there wasn’t really an ideal thread colour to use, so I opted for a gold metallic (Isamet 0500), to add to the glitz of Christmas. 

Box pleats for the pockets of the Advent Calendar

The 24 pockets are in strips, so they need to be folded to create a box pleat, and then attached to the main fabric panel.  So far, there has been more pressing with the iron than stitching, but all the pockets are attached, ready for a quilt sandwich, and the decision of whether to hand or machine quilt.

There are still 11 days to get this completed, within in which time Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery Quilt will have started.  I notice it will be 24 days since Bonnie made the announcement, maybe next year I can use the calendar to count down to her Mystery Quilt, and refill it for 1^st December!