A FAL finish! - New York Beauty

Hold the front page! I actually finished something on my FAL Q2 list! I started my New York Beauty project in March 2012 and I have absolutely no idea why it took me so long to get back to it. I started the weekend with these blocks...

I decided that I wanted to use them for cushion fronts so I needed to make 2 more blocks: Block 2

 and block 7 went together very quickly...

...then it was just a case of deciding on the layout for the 4 different blocks. Here's the one I went with.

I was a bit unsure how to quilt this as there was so much going on in the blocks. Initially I just outline quilted but that wasn't quite enough so I decided to do lots of lines that didn't necessarily echo the existing shapes.

You'll see what I mean in this close-up. It's not perfect but it'll do! I used Aurifil 5006 which is a light teal colour and was just right for this job.

I gave the other block the same treatment then it was time to transform them into cushions. I backed them both with the gorgeous floral print by Melody Miller.

 I couldn't resist keeping the selvedge intact on one of them :)

I'm in love with them so I'm hoping you'll excuse my rather over-the-top photographic coverage...

on a chair

Close-upon the dresser

On the dresser

They've found a resting place on the family room sofa for now :)

I'm delighted to finally cross this WIP off my list! I'm not sure how much further I'll get with my FAL list as I've got a ton of secret sewing to do which I'm impatient to be able to share with you very soon. I hope you've all been enjoying the nice weather this weekend. Catch you soon x

There once was an ugly duckling...

...well. more of an ugly footstool really :) A bargain, £5 from one of our local charity shops. Everyone thought I'd lost the plot when I said this 80s monstrosity would be perfect.

I'm very happy to prove that it is perfect after all! My footstool is now a swan ;)

Melody Miller, Echino and Anna Maria Horner make for a very glamorous footstool. I'm so pleased to have finally sneaked some animal print into our front room :) The family are not so pleased but hey, I made it so they'll have to suck it up ;)

I've had most of the prints for a few years and have been waiting for the right project to break them out. This was it!

The finishing touch was this funky stud trim that I acquired from Ebay. I'm pretty much in love! Look it works :)

Catch you soon x

Addicted

This week has confirmed to me that I am addicted to fabric and sewing. The first indication of the level of my addiction came with the arrival of my new sewing table. Excuse the mess I'm too tired to tidy but just about rested enough to do a small amount of sewing ;) We decided against going down the homemade route for the craft table and instead relied on good old Ikea. This monster is nearly 5 foot square, no more scrabbling around on the floor while basting quilts, woohoo!

The second indication was that about 30 minutes after the postman delivering this gorgeous package from Sarah I was "racing" up the stairs to sew them together on the machine. Yep, first time using the machine since my op but well worth the exhaustion! I knew it was a good idea getting the ladies of the HipBees to make string blocks for me :)

The third indication was a bit groundhog day...up the stairs to the machine I went this afternoon with this package of goodies from Amy. The result was equally pleasing :)

This is most definitely going to be a favourite quilt! Look how gorgeous they are next to each other :)

If I hadn't already been convinced of my fabric addiction the final indication was the overwhelming need to start another hand-sewing project having been woken in the middle of the night by an idea! I started with this tray of yummy fabrics (I've added more since this photo was taken)...

 and very soon these

became this.

I just love this combination of colours at the moment. I'm not sure how big this is going to grow but for now I'm just enjoying the process. Suffice to say I feel much more like myself now I've got some "proper" sewing done. I'm some way off wrestling with quilts but a cushion isn't too far off achievable now :)  Catch you soon x

Jumping on the band wagon.

This is one band wagon that I just could not resist! I've seen lots of Marcelle Medallions popping up all over the internet and so I bought myself a copy of Liberty Love by Alexia Abegg for Mother's Day so that I could join in. I am determined to fight my usual safe mode of sticking to one collection per project for this one. It's going well so far!

So far I've included fabrics from 6 different designers in the central medallion. I'm going to try to keep count as I go along :) That's Patty Young, Melody Miller, Saffron Craig, Sweetwater, Sandi Henderson and Helen Dardik (I think...correct me if I'm wrong, it's the dot fabric).

The central medallion went together really quickly and I managed to get the first border on too. That's 2 more designers there...Pat Bravo and ???( not sure on the black and white fabric).

I'm very motivated to get this top finished after seeing Mandy's finished Marcelle Medallion in real life at Lynne's last week!! In other news, I attended the inaugral meeting of the East Midlands Modern Quilt Guild on Saturday thanks to Kerry. It was lovely to meet more mad sewing ladies in person, including Di, the HipBees Queen Bee!! Any lovely readers from the East Midlands area that fancy popping along to join in with other like-minded people can find out details in the flickr group. Hope you've all had a good weekend. Catch you soon x

Happy, happy!

Today I turned the Tile block in to a rather lovely cushion :) LOVE!!

Happy cushion :) 

 I did some basic straight line quilting on the machine to fix everything in place, then added some hand stitching in a vivid red Perle 8.

Close-up of quilting

I used another of the Ruby Star Shining prints for the back of the cushion. I just love this range. Melody Miller seems incapable of designing a crap range which is great news for us :) I used 2 different coloured buttons for the closure which goes against the grain of my normal need for symmetry but I think it works here.

Obviously I need a new cushion like a hole in the head but what can I tell you? I just love cushions ;) Catch you soon x

A twist on the tile

The day started well with deliveries of Summersville by Lucie Summers and...

Layer cake of Summersville!!

Tula Pink's book! I pre-ordered this book in December so was not impressed when I didn't receive it when it was released. I gave up waiting in the end and re-ordered it from elsewhere. I'm a happy bunny now :)

Tula Pink's book

After browsing through the book and petting the fabric I thought I'd tackle a Tile block. I've re-coloured the original block so that it corresponds with the fabrics I used.

Adaptation of the Tile block

It's a super easy block to make, hooray! I supersized this so the finished block will be turned into an 18" cushion. All you need is 9 - 6 1/2" squares and 6 - 4" squares.

Ruby Star and Echino :) 

I've used Ruby Star Rising, Ruby Star Shining and Echino to create this very funky cushion top. I think I'll hand quilt this one :)  I've taken a few process shots for Catherine and anyone else who might be interested in how I made the block up. The blocks represented by brown in the diagram are essentially flying geese blocks. I marked points half way along 3 sides then joined them up to create the lines to cut on.

I cut all the 4" squares into 2 right angled HSTs to make the flying geese. I'm sure there are more clever and accurate ways of doing this but this is what worked for me. I lined the long edge of the HST up with one of the angled edges of the brown block making sure I had little ears either side like below.

Don't forget the little dog ears :) 

 Sew a 1/4" inch seam then press open.

Repeat on the opposite side to complete the unit. I trimmed the finished blocks as necessary to 6 1/2" square.

Repeat to complete the unit. 

I pressed all the seams open to try and cut down on some the bulkiness. There are four units like this with different rotations as shown in the block diagram.

Finished geese unit

For the central unit the process is exactly the same except all four sides will have HSTs sewn to them to create the finished 6 1/2" unit.

Central block.

 The rest is self-explanatory really :) If you have any questions Catherine just drop me a line and I'll help if I can. I love, love, love the finished block!!! When I have more time I definitely see a quilt using this block in my future! Catch you soon x