WIP Wednesday - Still Quilting

Firstly, I apologise for another post full of quilting close ups - just a warning there will probably be lots of these over the next few weeks. Groove is taking FOREVER to quilt (some motifs more than others) but it's pretty rewarding (thankfully!) and I'm pretty happy so far. So far I've quilted about 40" x 25" or so (which is about 1/6 of the quilt) and it's taken about 5 or 6 hours so far. And this has been the easy edge bit - the middle is going to cause some headaches I think ;o)

So, the quilty shots :o) I'm using a combination of motifs I've done before (echo shells, pebbles), one I've kind of winged it (the azure section - although it's my dodgy version of McTavishing), and I've used Angela Walter's book for inspiration for the others (seafoam - mine is nothing like hers!!!, and paisley). 

I'm aiming for a mix of pointy and curved textures - and I think it works? I've never quilted anything this big this densely before, so I'll be interested to see what kind of drape it has once I'm done.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced - looking forward to seeing what everyone has been working on this week :o)

xx Jess

Some catching up and some fun

Most of my sewing this week has been my QAL block and tutorial, and some bee blocks. 

 For Stash Bee (August)

 For Scrappy? Sew Bee It!

Today I had a few hours to myself, while the kids went off with off to do stuff with their dad (who got back last night, so they were pretty excited!). I finished quilting Sweary Tula, and I'm trying to decide what binding to use. I'll hopefully get it sent on Monday though (so not too much over the due date :o) ).

And then I got back to Groove - I have a feeling the quilting is going to take a loooong time, so I'm glad I've started now :o) I made the (very simple) back, basted it and started quilting. Apologies for the night-time photos... hopefully you get a bit of an idea. I'm not quite convinced on the blue bit, but I think overall it will look ok. 

I am extremely happy with my thread matches. I bought an Aurifil colour chart with my last thread order, and I used that to match my solids with threads that I hoped would blend really well - they do beautifully.

I haven't done a whole lot, and my arms are already killing me - but I'm loving the textures. I don't usually starch my fabric this heavily, so it's weird quilting it - it sits quite flat. I think it will look completely different once it's washed. Oh, and I've chosen the colour with the smallest area for the pebbles - best decision ever. It will cause pain anyway ;o)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend

xx Jess

1001 Peeps - a finished quilt (yay!!)

I am ridiculously proud of this quilt. I absolutely LOVE Lizzy House's fabrics, and 1001 Peeps is no exception - and it leant itself perfectly to this pattern. The pattern is Fussy Framed Fairytales by Kate Conklin, and it was really fun to make. I love the fact that it wastes virtually NO fabric, and the floating squares border is really cool.

I actually deviated a little from the pattern - I started with 10" squares rather than 10.5" squares, which is why my floating squares aren't quite set in the right spots at the corners - although I think they still look okay. Apart from 1001 peeps, I used Kona solids in blush, hibiscus, petal and PFD. I quilted it all over using an echo shell pattern - time consuming compared to stippling (it took about 10 hours to quilt), but I love the result. And the texture of the quilt is amazing. 

The binding is Kona blush, and it's machine stitched at back and front. Finished size is about 50" x 65" (approximately - haven't measured it properly yet...)

So I have my first finished Christmas present ready to wrap - 5 sleeps to go, four more gifts to finish off (panicking much?)

Jess

Leaving it till the last minute...

I know this is totally my fault, but I'm starting to freak out a little. As my four year old keeps reminding me, its only 6 sleeps till Christmas. And I have got SOOOOO much to get done before then. Yes, I should have started this stuff weeks ago, but I kept getting distracted by new projects... so my WIP pile is massive and I have a few things that are barely started that I need to get done for gift-giving.


Firstly my 1001 peeps quilt, which I have always intended to be for my daughter, needs to be finished off. I decided that this Christmas was the perfect time to give it to her. The quilt top was finished, so just needed quilting (which is done - yay!!!). After much deliberating on how to do it, I decided to do an 'echo shell' type of quilting. Which looks great. But took nearly 10 hours to do (I'm used to getting a baby sized quilt stippled in around 2-3 hours, so this was a shock!)

It's quilted all over in this way, which has given it a gorgeous texture and although it took a long time it was really easy to do, and has motivated me to move away from stippling to other FMQ styles. It's also made me realise how much I love the quilting process - it's really just like drawing on fabric with my sewing machine :)
So this one at least is nearly done - the binding is made, I just need to sew it on (machine all the way, baby!)

Second, my Charmed Prints QAL quilt for my nephew. I (perhaps stupidly) decided to pebble quilt this one, and I am glad I decided to - the texture is just amazing! But again, its going to take a LONG time to finish. I've done about 1/3 of it so far:

It's fun to do, but pretty thread-intensive (I've used about 3 bobbins so far, so I reckon it will be 9 or so by the time I finish - and the area I'm pebble quilting is only about 37" square!!!)

Next on my to-do-by-Sunday list is a bag for my sister (I'm using Elizabeth Hartman's Margaret Bag pattern - totally cute!) which is cut out and needs sewing up. Also a bottle-bag for each of my parents - this is the outside panel for one of them:

I'm photographing as I do this one, so it will probably be a tutorial at some stage :)

Hope you're Christmas gift making is going better than mine!

Happy (panic) stitching,
Jess