WIP Wednesday

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, but I have definitely been busy.  My Moda Friendship blocks keep breeding, and I now have a healthy stash of ten.  That's 1/3 of the way through all the blocks!

 

 

I didn't get any done over the Easter break, but I did try to see if I could perhaps challlenge myself to make another baby doll, this time with an embroidered face and some soft sculpture.  This one has a cute little booty!  I won't even pretend to know what I am doing.  There are certainly parts that look a little demented, but then again I am sure anyone would look a bit strange after being poked several times with an untrained needle! (yes, I am blaming the needle, not my hand...) 

 

 

 

I think I will have to see how she turns out before I go and enter this little one in the competition.  I definitely didn't take much notice of the warning that little 8" dolls like this one aren't really the best for beginners.  They look so easy until you try them.  Ahh, it's all practice and Maddy likes her. Now, let's see if I can get that other eye to match.

 

Speaking of Maddy, I brought home the pieces of a very bright pink costume for tonight to be sewn up for her Calisthenics exercises item.  Most cali Mums will know what comes next - tedious hand stitching of tonnes of sequins!  So perhaps my Moda stack will remain at its current size for just a little bit longer.

WIP Wednesday #7

When you are out of the house for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, and have to cook dinner, feed and bathe kids and read stories before you can clean up and sew, making progress is slow.  Very slow! But I am glad that I have been pushing past that wall of tiredness and switching on the machine. There is something about piecing bits of fabric together that I find so relaxing.  I have to tune out the world and focus on cutting accurately, making seams meet, pressing carefully and I get to watch a block appear before my eyes.

 

Given that I have just gotten over a stomach virus and now considering staying home in bed tomorrow to get over the head cold that has been plaguing me all week (and harassing me with an asthma flare up that has made me just want to sleep), perhaps taking on another QAL was not such a good idea.  But if I think of it as medication to keep me sane… I am so happy to be joining in! So I am following the Moda Friendship Blog Hop and QAL and loving every minute!

I was inspired by the gorgeous “Simply Sweet” fabric range I have used on Madelyn’s latest dress (made this week – just needs buttons).  I told you I was excited about this one, because of the fabric selection, right?  Well now I have an excuse to play with these colours some more! 

 

I bought the fabric at an end of bolt sale, so had a minimum 1y cut.  So I grabbed 1.5y of each the green and the white prints.  This means I have plenty left to make Emily a little matching dolly dress (and sqee! Just as I was considering drafting my own dolly version, Tie Dye Diva released it in dolly size!).  Unfortunately this fabric is hard to find now, so I can’t make an entire quilt from this range, but I have plenty to use in a few of the blocks.  And an order of coordinating prints on the way (woops – that stash busting doesn’t look like it’s going so well!).  How could I resist some of this Pam Kitty Love?

Photo courtesy of: http://www.fatquartershop.com

I managed to finish my CP cushion top, and nearly went ahead and quilted it so it was ready to stitch into a cushion cover when I eventually get to a shop to buy a zip.  Fortunately, sensibility took hold and I tucked myself into bed before midnight hit, and turned me into a pumpkin.  This block is so easy and quick to make, which makes me confident enough to cut into my Pieces of Hope stack.  Joining them and matching up seams was a little tricky, but I got the hang of it, and I think on larger blocks I will be wondering what I was worried about.

 

And thanks to Vanessa from Punkin Patterns, for her design wall post, I now have one of my own!  Mine is only small; 500mm by 700mm and I had room to go bigger, but  I chose to use foam board rather than polystyrene (for the sake of the vet bills I didn't want, as my cat loves to eat the stuff!) This was the only size available when I went to Officeworks on the weekend.  I paid the extra dollar and got the self-adhesive foam board.  Fabulous!  All I had to do was peel back the backing paper, smooth on some flannelette, and tape it to the back.  Done! 

(okay so my desk is a little messier than Vanessa's....)

I deliberated on turning it into smaller design boards to help with cutting and laying out sampler blocks, but the design wall won out.  I may go back and get some more but at $11.50 a piece I wanted it to be the size I would most use.  DH doesn’t let me hang quilts on walls… but he said nothing about design boards!

Okay, time to link up with Freshly Pieced and hit the couch with some knitting...  No sewing tonight, I am exhausted!

WIP Wednesday #6

Hmmm.. time to reflect on what I have been doing in my creative zone this week and again feel like I haven't enough to show.  I am still settling into things, but I think I am finally starting to find my feet.  New quilting books have arrived and been drooled over, and I feel inspired more than ever to get brave with FMQ.

With the realisation that the month is nearly over and I have yet to find the time to buy batting, I think it is safe to say Madelyn's quilt will remain on the backburner for a little bit longer.  I could rush it through with some straight line quilting, but I think it might be the perfect canvas for some new (to me) quilting techniques, and given that I will be looking at it every day, I don't want to think "If only I had..."  The borders scream out for some free motion, don't you think?

I have finished my February Lucky Star I showed you last week:

Made a dress for my little girl, and cut out another:

(Seriously excited about this one - couldn't fathom a more perfect fabric and pattern combo!)

And started on a cushion to test out the pattern I want to make the AIP quilt with.  I am using a 4" block, however the quilt will be done with a 7" block.  I didn't have many scraps left big enough for the 7" size, and wanted to use my cherished Central Park leftovers. This will have pride of place on my lounge, along with the matching Blockapalooza quilt (that is waiting on final borders).

Next weeks goals:

1. Sew up another dress  for my girl
2. Finish piecing my Central Park cushion top
3. Frolic on some fabric to practice FMQ

Linking up at Freshly Pieced

WIP Wednesday #5

I am alost feeling a bit unworthy to link up to Wednesday's WIP linky at Freshly Pieced today.  I made the mistake of clicking on a couple of other linked posts before posting mine, and lets just say - I wish I could magically pull a quilt out of the air to keep up.  There's some gorgeous things turning up in blogland lately!

I really don't have a whole lot to show for the week, except a few more grey hairs and bags under my eyes after our son was turned away from after school care last Thursday.  They will hopefully sort it all out soon so I don't have to fight too hard, but in the meantime it has meant even more driving after work, and less energy to do anything crafty.  I haven't even felt like knitting!  Fingers crossed that we hear some good news from them soon.

I did finish a little test block for Kirsty, at Quiet Play.  She has just released her new paper pieced alphabet pattern and will be turning these test blocks into a disaster relief quilt.  I tested the capitals and loved every minute, but it was a little more fiddly and time consuming than I had first expected.  Definitely worth it though!

Then I got going with my February Lucky Star block.  It seemed so easy after those tiny 5" letters, and I was on a roll... until my calendar started beeping at me to tell me it was time to put the fabric down and call the US for an international conference call.  So close to finishing, it was so difficult for me to drag myself away and pick up that phone, but my concience kept me out of trouble.

I am not too sure if there is enough contrast in this block.  I wanted to make sure I used dark blue, aqua and grey in every block so they tied together nicely, but perhaps a bright yellow would have looked good in place of the blue to give it a bit more pop.  I think they will look great together though and the main colours do look rather soothing together.

 

My little yarny WIP has been sitting in the naughty corner a bit - not because of the knitting or pattern but because of the yarn.  You can't really see it here, but the gradient I was loving so much in the ball has given me some disappointment in the form of specs of the next colour in the colour bands, and then, while every other gradient has been rather gradual, the darker purple shifted over only a couple of stitches to make it look like I have done a poor job of combining two balls.  I will knit on though, and move onto bigger and better things. (Woops, did I really just order 6 skeins of gorgeous Mosaic Moon Superwash to make something in my size?!)

WIP Wednesday #4

That time again!  And I finally have a finished project.  I still haven't been able to give it to the new owner yet, but I doubt the new baby is reading my blog, so here it is.

 

My first finished quilt for the year - a simple charm square baby quilt that has been sitting as a quilt top in my stash for over two years...

 

I really wanted to give this an allover stipple, but I wasn't happy with my practice piece so as per usual, gave in to straight line quilting.  I definitely want to change that though.  I just love the freedom of free motion quilting, the swirly, happy calming shapes, the puffiness of a dense stipple.  So I am eagerly awaiting some lovely free motion quilting books, courtesy of my dear ole' Dad who sent me over some money for my birthday.  I had a fabulous time picking out books for me at the book depository.  Since receiving my kindle for Christmas a couple of years ago, I have hardly bought a real book for me.  Nothing beats a glossy quilt book for inspiration!

 

(Oh, and please excuse the sulking Lotta, she refused to let me photograph my quilt in peace and as soon as I would set it up, she'd be there, trying to get on it!)

The charms are Urban Indigo from Fig Tree Quilts. I love how well the backing goes with this quilt.  It's such a shame that I never finished these quilts in time to be of any use for their originally intended owners.  This quilt has a twin all quilted and folded in my stash, that just needs the ends stitched in (yeuck!).  I was so proud of my fabric find when I purchased the backing for these two quilts, that were destined for twins.  The boy quilt is a different pattern, but in similarly soft shades, of blue and green.  The backing for both quilts is the same fabric range, with lemon polka dots on apricot for the little girl quilt, and lemon dots on green for the boy quilt.  I had thought how sweet they would look all rolled up next to each other, yet their individuality would spill out as the quilts were unrolled.  Much like the twins have grown.

I did begin my February Lucky star block, but after I got 1/4 way through, I got sidetracked (this is becoming quite a habit!) and found an email with a pattern to test these gorgeous little letters.  I am testing for Kristy of Quiet Play, and am loving every second!  At least I was... I think I must push a little hard on my quilt ruler, as I have double jointed fingers and thumbs and it seems I have strained my thumb joint from all the triming that paper piecing brings.  I hope to find a solution soon, as I am totally loving this type of piecing! A little thumb resting tonight, and then 4 more letters to go and I can send my completed word block over to Kristy to stitch into her charity quilt for those who have suffered in the recent Tasmanian fires.
I think I am just in time for the party... Linking up here.

Sabotaged

WIP Wednesday has been sabotaged today – it seems Mr Skilly got a bit carried away with data downloads last week, crippling our internet and preventing me from publishing photos on my blog.

The WIPS have been progressing though. I have completed Maddy’s quilt top, quilted the charm square baby quilt, and have only about 10cm to go on Maddy’s knitted rainbow top, which I ended up going with my own design. Just a bit of binding, a bit of quilting and a bit more knitting until I have three completed FO’s.

I am going to be gentle on myself for the next week or so. My baby started kindy this week – so proud of how she just slotted in perfectly and I am itching to share her first day at kindy photo. She was oh so tired at the end of the day, but loved every minute. My new routine of two hour treks home from work going via childcare and school, picking up two very tired little kidlets will begin on Monday, as my boy starts at his new school full time (just a one-on-one morning session, and two short afternoons with only half the class this week). I am positive that the sacrifices we are making to get him there are going to be worth it– his new teacher sounds very switched on and autism aware, committed to helping him succeed not only this year, but to set him up well for every other year, when he returns to mainstream school. I am just glad I have a new coffee machine to get me through the early mornings and long days!

I am guessing the slow cooker (and Mr Skilly who follows my orders… I mean, instructions and turns it on before he leaves for work) will be my best friend, leaving me more time to help the kidlets with the transition home, and to settle them into quiet activities for the last part of the day. The driving gets me pretty exhausted at the best of times, but add two tetchy, tired children to the mix and there is likely to be tears and screaming (hopefully not from me!). I will be feeling ready for bed the moment I turn out their lights. So, if I can muster the energy, I hope to get the following done over the next week:

• Bind and label the baby quilt

• February’s Lucky Star block (and coordinating crumb block – more on those next week!)

• Knit some more on Maddy’s rainbow top

Gently does it…

Anything extra is a bonus!

WIP Wednesday #3

I have been very focused this week, working soley on Madelyn's big bed quilt.  Considering I can only find an hour a day to sew during the week, I am proud of myself for sticking with it, and reaching that 74 block target!  When I pulled it out of the cupboard a few weeks ago there were 20 blocks, already joined into rows to make a cot quilt. The prospect of making enough to turn it into a single bed quilt was daunting since I haven't done anything this big since Austin's big bed quilt (which now could do with updating!),

 

 

 

I had to unpick the previously joined rows, to spread some of the old fabrics around the quilt.  Some of the blocks were made from scraps, with 2-3 blocks having the same fabric, all concentrated in the bits I had already pieced together.  I thought I could get away with unpicking only a few to spread, but I didn't like my sequence of colours as I had the cream square followed by a white square and the reds and browns together.  I don't do random very well!  As it was I spent an hour or so agonising over the placement of the blocks.  I then had to lock the kids out of the lounge room since Sunday night, so that I could keep my blocks where I wanted them.

 

The photo above shows how I managed to not go crazy keeping my blocks in the right places and orientation while I sewed.  I bought these little sticky dots so that Madelyn's birthday party gurests could make ladybug hats.  They didn't have bl;ack, so I bought white, and gave the kids some textas to colour them whatever colour they liked - some even had rainbow spots!  I had stacks left, so left the box on the kids' craft table.  Then suddenly I had an epihany!  I wrote the row number and the block number (eg R3/2) on each dot, and knew that when I stitched the blocks together the letters all had to be in the same orientation.  It worked wonders!  Although I did still have to become good friends with the unpicker for the odd one that refused to line up with the seams on the adjacent block.

 

Not long to go now.  I was hoping to get the borders on tonight but I had to stop, blog and sleep!  All the blocks are joined though (thank goodness - it wasn't the kids, but Lewis, my English Mastiff that sprawled across the quilt and messed a few up).  Tomorrow,  I can stitch on the double border of the perfect "almost solid" shade to match the blocks.  Yep - that stash count went up again...  Border fabric will do that to you!

WIP Wednesday #2

Other than my two Lucky Star blocks, I don't think I have really done much this week (I knew this would happen when I started WIP Wednesday last week, but didn't think it would happen quite so soon!)  So this week, I have only a teeny bit to show you.

 

 

I have added a few more blocks to Madelyn's quilt block pile, and have done some layout planning and calculations to turn this Schnibbles pattern ("Four Corners") into a single bed size.

It turns out my 20 blocks need to grow into 74! Luckily they are fairly simple blocks, and I can easily do 4 at a time in less than half an hour if they are all cut out. I have been reluctant to cut and sew too many though as I have some new fabrics on the way to help me grow this quilt, and I want to make sure the new fabrics end up in more than just a couple of blocks. One of them was used by Emma How (LINK) when she pieced together and quilted Madelyn's baby quilt "Joy of Friendship", which goes beautifully with Maddy's feature wall and I thought it would make the quilt a bit more special to include some. The prints are quite a mash-up of styles, so hopefully this slightly larger print doesn't look a bit strange amongst the more delicate florals. If it does, I will simply use it on the back somewhere. I love this fabric too much not to use it. The quilt is a little faded, from lots of use and an equal amount of love!

 

We have also had a baby girl born into the extended family recently - a sweet little bundle born to hubby's cousin's wife, named Indiana Niamh.  I knew my WIP cupboard would come in handy, for in it lay two unfinished quilts, originally made for our friends' twins, now 2 years old!  The twins received hand knitted vests in colours to match their quilts but the quilts never made it to completion.  Our friends were blessed with a boy and a girl, so in the WIP cupboard was a baby quilt for either sex.  Had Indiana been a boy, all I would have to do would be to tie off some thread ends, and finish stitching the binding down (really - that's all that the boy quilt needs, yet it has sat in the cupboard untouched for so long!). The baby girl quilt is a simple Japanese coin style, with only the top made, so I have now pressed, and basted ready to quilt. I am trying to decide whether I am brave enough to FMQ or whether I stick to a simple no-fail straight line pattern.

 

I still have 150g of the apricot coloured Rowan Cashsoft that I used to make the vest for the little girl twin, so perhaps Indiana will get a little matching knitted dress as well.  I am thinking of doing another little Darwinia like I made for my gorgeous niece, Katherine.  I love this pattern - it always knits up looking adorable!

 

However, I must finish this quilt first - my stash count is starting to look a little scary with no "Out"s to speak of and more fabric on the way...

WIP Wednesday #1

Another thing I aim to do this year is to keep up with this blog a lot more than I have the in the past couple of years.  The idea of WIP Wednesday is certainly not new, but I have never played along, mainly because I felt it too difficult to do when I am working during the week.  You see I hate my photos from late at night, which is usually the only chance I get midweek.  But that perfectionism is crippling me, and driving me away from blogging, and I do want to blog! I enjoy looking back over past entries, and have been disappointed that I haven't documented recent times.  So if you can put up with average flash photography, then I will try to ignore it too, and post every Wednesday about something I am working on.  

My other problem with WIP Wednesdays is that I often don't have much to show for the week especially when life gets busy, but hey, if I don't have much, I will pull something out of hiding, and it might give me that push to do a bit more work on it.  I can do this!  To keep me accountable, I am joining the WIP Wednesday linky party over at FreshlyPieced.

This week I was hoping to show you a sparkly rainbow knit in progress, using my much loved Wooltopia Sparkle DK from last year's Every Little Girl's Dream Rainbow Gradient Club.  Unfortunately though, It isn't behaving for me.  First I tried to turn it into a Tropical Fish Skirt (by Elena Nodel), that I know Miss M would absolutely LOVE, but I got to the third of the way mark, and found I had already used half of the 200g of yarn!  So I checked the yardage only to find I had highlighted the wrong size for the yardage on my pattern in my haste to cast on!  I love using my iPad to highlight patterns, and mark where I am up to, but it looks like I didn't check, and check again before I cast on.

Too sad to rip it all out straight away, I decided to knit from the other end of the ball.  I put a feeler out on Ravelry to hear some suggestions for what WOULD work for a size 6 little girl (yes, Miss just-turned-4 is definitely well into size 6!) with a graidient, Georgie Hallam's Milo came up, but that's how I used my last gradient, so I wanted to try something different.  It needed to be relatively sleeveless for a top to get the gradient to work, and someone suggested a very new and pretty pattern, that would be such a sweet little summer tank.  It is called Nina, by Rachel Evans, which also has two dress options included in the pattern.

Unfortunately, that pattern splits after the sleeve cast off, so the fronts and back are worked separately for a little bit.  I thought I might get away with it, but it seems that the gradient has decided to start to change just as IU began to work the separate right front.  So by the time I have done the back, it will be on the purple when I get to the left front.  The yarn is too gorgeous to snip for working separate bits, and while it might not look too bad if I put the right front over the left instead of the other way, it won't do the gradient justice.  So we are back to square 1 - pattern selection!  But before I go hunting, let me show you the beautiful sparkles!

I am now thinking something a little plainer - like the Cyclades vest (by Elena Nodel) - might be a better option. I couls also knit a cowl or something for me, but I got a cute little matching rainbow hairclip with the yarn, so I would love to see the yarn and clip in an outfit together some time soon.  But it has put me off knitting for a bit with all this ripping back.  Good thing I have the January Lucky Stars BOM to take my mind off it in the meantime!

I spent ages playing around with colours last night, and finally decided to just jump in and go with it.  I wasn't sure about the orage, but it isn't as bright as what this picture shows,so we'll see how it goes.  I can always switch it out with green, or red in some of the other blocks and give them all a try.  My main colours are the blue, turquoise, pale grey and white.  I want this to be a spare quilt for when we have visitors, and possibly used in the boy's room on his trundle, so I wanted to use lots of blue and keep it fairly unisex.  So far I have only managed half of the block.  But I have been working on Maddy's quilt, and my Blockapalooza quilt as I mentioned in my last post, so there has been a lot of sewing going on this week.