Bargello Adventures

Waaaay back in 2011 i bought a bargello kit at the Ally Pally show, i loved it at the time but as the years passed and i kept seeing it in the stash bag my love for it has gradually waned. I decided i needed to do something about this before i lost the love completely so in April i decided it was time to get it made.

Of course, i couldn't do something so simple as to follow the instructions and have asimple project. No. I had to do something different. Something that didn't involve leafy applique. Something that was slightly more interesting than a grid. And because i wanted it to hang on the wall i thought that Bloke ought to have a say in how it looked.

Over-complicate things? Moi? :/

So, what did i do? I cut up strips of paper and played around with them.

This didn't quite work for me and Bloke didn't like the shape i designed so i investigated computer programs. I found a couple that looked like they might have what i needed (i will have to edit this post when i am at my own computer cos i can't remember what they are called!) and so settled down to have a play around with them. I was able to scan my fabrics into the program and use them in the design which i have to say made it a lot easier to visualise than the strips of paper did!

Several hours later i had a design we both liked. None of which are in the photo above lol

By this time though i had really gone off the colours of the fabrics, i think it's sitting looking at them for so long, willing something to click in my brain and say "YES! That's it, the perfect design"

That never happened in this instance and actually, it rarely does for me. I am rarely satisfied with anything i make. I always think it can be improved somehow. I won't say "never" though cos that wouldn't be true :)

Anyway... I settled on a design and started cutting up the fabrics. It's a very repetitive process:

Sew strips together and make them into tubes

Cut the tubes into varying widths

Find the right colour spot to unpick the seam and make them into strips again

Sew two strips together to make one long one with the colours reversed while fiddling with the centre and end pieces because i decided to do offset strips which requires half blocks!

KEEP THEM IN THE RIGHT ORDER!!

I didn't take many photos because i found it quite an intense process. I tend to put my head down and get sewing otherwise i get distracted ;)

Once that is done it is a case of sewing them together to make the final panel.

I took a progress photo once i was halfway through rejoining the strips into the finished piece just to show how much it shrinks in width. I find it quite difficult to visualise the effect of losing half an inch off each strip so this photo really helps in that!

And then once i had finished joining all the strips it had to hang in the living room while i decided how i wanted the borders!!

Again, i couldn't keep it simple, i thought it would be fun to have really thin strips of colour. What i forgot is that it is hard work to keep the thin strips even. Especially with all those seams to go over.

So, it's not perfect in construction but actually, i do really like the finished design.

The borders are assymetrical on purpose. I wanted a contrast to the symmetry of the main design. Although with the variance in colours of the fabrics, tonally it's not symmetrical at all!

I love the placement of the dark splashes in the right hand border too, it was a little more wasteful fabric-wise to do that but it pleases me :D

All that is left to do is to back it and quilt it. That's another challenge for me, i know it doesn't want to be ditch quilted which is my go-to method of quilting but i haven't quite decided what i will do.

Oh well, plenty of time to ponder :D

I have learnt a couple of things with this project. The main one is to check placement of pieces. I could have rearranged the pieces slighty an achieved a better graduating effect instead of that "jump" on the right hand side. As it turns out i like it but i think that is only because of the dark smudge in the border.

Also, i learnt that i shouldn't buy something if i am not going to make it straight away. I came very close to falling out of love with this kit!

Baby Jack's Quilt

My friends had a little boy last November (the 8th in fact!) and of course i had to make him a quilt :D
Yesterday was his "Wetting the Baby's Head" party so i was able to finally pass it on to them, plus we got to eat some pretty awesome cakes!

I had some fabric left over from another baby quit i made and then when i was at their house i realised i had the perfect fabric to match the nursery curtains and it also blended really well with the "Grow with Me" that i had left over :D

Perfect!

That's "Grow with Me" on the right and the spotty on the left and "Sassy" middle and left :)

I then had to settle on a design which of course i couldn't just have got from a book or a website. Oh, no! It had to be "right"!! I saw a couple i liked but they weren't quite right so i decided to take inspiration from them and combine them. There's Bounding Rectangles and Little Leapfrog both from the Project12 blog.

I started out with my squared paper and an idea...

and then i got cutting! Always a heart-in-the-mouth moment this. I dither for ages before cutting as i am terrified that i will have worked something out wrong!

Fortunately this time it all went smoothly...

 ...and i ended up with a lovely pile of bits to play with :D

After much fiddling - again, i can't just lay it out and say "that's lovely, it'll do" - i have to fiddle for hours, even days to get it "just right" before i can commit to the sewing but i eventually got there.

and then all i had to do was decide on the final layout and sew the top together!

I had all this finished back in October last year but i had to wait until i found "just the right" backing fabric until i could complete it. Luckily Lisa and i had our annual trip to the Creative Stitch and wotsit show at Sandown Racecourse where i found the most gorgeous giraffe fabric with just the right colours in it :D

My First Patchwork

I may have finished a fair few quilts and other patchwork projects since but this is the quilt that started it all off way back in 2011!

Lisa (who else!) talked me into a Jelly Roll workshop in early February 2011 and this is what i made. I can't for the life of me remember what the pattern is called or where it came from*** but i do know that the fabric is "Fandango" by Kate Spain. I've also managed to glean from a forum post that after the top was finished it was put away until the Stitching Show at Sandown in early 2012 where i bought the yellow fabric "for the borders".

So, I had a day trip to Plush Addict on Saturday where i bought several Kona Solids to co-ordinate with some of the Stash - including the pink/purple range of "Eastern Miniatures" by Fabric Freedom, yes, i am finally going to do something with it!! I have admired it for long enough and it is now time to take the plunge and cut it up before i fall out of love with it because i can't decide what it wants to be LOL

But i digress... As usual! I decided that as i was buying MORE fabric i should finish some longstanding projects and  really, shouldn't the most longstanding be the first finished?

As soon as i got home i got the sewing machine, iron and irong board out and got to work. I decided to forego borders so that i could use the yellow fabric as the backing and actually it makes a lovely sized cover for my legs and feet :)

I used the backing as the binding, even remembering how to turn the corners properly and then i hand stitched the binding. I have always machine stitched the binding but i think i am a convert! Yes, machine stitched is a LOT quicker but hand stitched looks beautiful and actually it is very relaxing. This one took probably about 3 hours, maybe a little more but that's just an evening in front of the telly!

Here are the Kona solids that i bought on Saturday, along with the fabrics they were bought to go with!

On the left we have Pool, Peridot and School Bus (top to bottom)
At the top we have Crimson and Sweet Pea
At the bottom we have Cayenne.

Picking out these colours was a lot of fun, the reject pile was MASSIVE due to the fact that Plush Addict carry over 200 colours of Kona Solids.
I can't wait to get these made up so i can go and choose the next lot! :D

Now, shall i finish my "Mountain Majesties"* quilt or my "Twisting the Night Away"** quilt next?

Decisions, Decisions!

*Mountain Majesties was another workshop quilt. This time it was on June 7th 2012 and the top was finished on 18th June 2012
**Twisting the Night Away top was finished on 22nd June 2012 but i can't remember or find any other details than that!
***The pattern is called "Strip the Willow" and it is from Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott :)

Moda Bake Shop: Lawn Chair Quilts

Moda Bake Shop: Lawn Chair Quilts
Would really like to make this quilt, i am going to have to make it from FQs though and buy myself some plain solid metreage for the contrast, will have a sort through and pick out some complimentary colours and also will have to work out how many FQs i will need!

Feb Challenge - finished top

I'm not doing too badly on my challenge, i settled on a layout last night and joined all the blocks today and here's the finished top!

All it needs now is layering, quilting and binding :D

Hopefully i will have a sewing machine again soon so that i can get on with it!

I absolutely adore the colours in this range, i'm so pleased i bought the "Moda Scrap Bag" and didn't put it off "cos i've got enough" lol

It was a joy to work with and i love what i did with it, it's based on a quilt in a book but i didn't set it on point and it was my first sewn log cabin blocks too which i really enjoyed doing.

A February Challenge

The challenges continue! Following Januray's success i have set myself a tougher target this month.
I want to make a whole quilt from scratch for my m-i-l's birthday at the beginning of March :oD
It's definitely not impossible given that i pieced 36 blocks yesterday afternoon :D

2½" pieces joined (on the right)

Halfway...

All the prints done...

First border added...

All done!

I played with them last night and settled on a layout so that's this morning's job.
The sewing machine needs to go in for a service as it's really been complaining lately so i'd like to get the blocks joined just in case i don't have it back for 3 weeks!! :o(

January Challenge

this year i have decided to challenge myself in a Crafty sort of way so each month i am going to set myself a target and work towards achieving it.

January's challenge was to complete The Porange Quilt and the Badger Blankie and i am happy to say i achieved both goals!

Lukey is only laying on it to show the size of it, he is totally banned from it now, it's MINE and i don't want it smelling of dog lol

I don't have any photos of the quilt yet, i keep forgetting to take them... you can see it before it was finished though, i'll let you ;o)

The finished top before borders were added

Arty shot... borders added, backed, quilted and binding done :)

Blogger's BOM #2 - Part 2!

So here is my finished block, the red is not as bright as this but my camera refused to believe me!

And here is Lisa's block.
I love how different they look despite being made from the same pattern!

So what with making all these half square triangles and triangulated rectangles we had lots of little bitty half square triangles left over so i spent the rest of Monday doing more sewing and made these scrappy blocks.
It took ages to do as i had to first sew and press all the half square triangles and THEN i had to arrange them all.
I am rather pleased with how they've come out though :)

That little pile of miniscule clippings and the four brown/blue pieces are all that is left from today's sewing sesh!

Blogger's BOM #2

So after a week of sitting and looking at my pattern printout i finally decided on how i would cut the fabrics for this block, here are all 96 pieces ready for some patchwork magic!

It might not seem like it but this photograph represents quite a lot of sewing, these units are now all ready to be paired up and joined.

One block made

Bloggers BOM (again)

This is my finished block.

Had i known i was going to change my mind before i joined the four blocks together i would have rearranged the dark and medium squares but i just love the star in the middle so i am prepared to deal with it :oD

Lisa also finished her blocks today, she's using her precious stash of Central Park fabrics (designed by Kate Spain) and i adore her results

Isn't it fascinating how two people can use the same "template" and come up with such different results.

Gotta love patchworking eh?!

At some point this week i need to cut the fabric for Block #2 as we are going to sew them next Monday, i have my fabrics picked out already ;o)

Blogger's BOM #1

I'm a little late in getting started on my blocks but today Lisa was here for sewing so we both worked on this project. I had prepared slightly in advance and all my fabric was cut and i had made my little half-square-triangles at the weekend.

Oooh bunting!! :oD

A little head start

I was having terrible trouble deciding on my layout - but i am rather pleased with how it looks after much dithering and rearranging.

Block #1 done!

Decisions, decisions

Here are the various layouts for my Blogger's BOM quiltalong

It's quite surprising how the placement of certain colours really changes the whole look of it, and it's not necessarily a good thing that, as i find it really hard to make a decision at the best of times!
I've had these photos on my phone since Sunday afternoon and i was periodically flicking through them to try and narrow it down and as today was sewing day i really needed to decide before Lisa got here.
I was all set to go with the top right and sewed the 4 blocks accordingly when i just happened to reverse the left and right blocks and discovered a star hiding in the middle!
I'm a little disappointed i didn't see it before i had sewn them as i would have arranged the dark squares differently but i am pretty happy with it and there's no way i am unpicking and resewing so i am dealing with it :oD

Happy Birthday Mummy

So, it was Mum's birthday last Sunday which meant i had to get cracking and finish her quilt, luckily for me she went on holiday so i had a few extra days to dither about it! Lisa came over for our sewing day on Monday and helped me layer it up and then i spent the day quilting it. 

I went for a very simple "in the ditch" quilting, just round the kaleidoscope blocks, i did think about doing the same round the red border as well but i decided not to in the end, although depending how much it plays on my mind i might well steal it back and do it at some point!

I used a black bias tape for the binding as i didn't have enough of the border fabric to make my own and the my original plan of using the backing to bind it didn't work out as i hated the red border, i think it looks much better with the dark border and all the red "contained".

I delivered it at Quiz Night on Thursday and she loves it :oD

Mummy and her new quilt

BOM - #2

The second block is out! I must get cracking, i haven't even cut the fabric for the first block yet!

Blogger's Block of the Month, it's my turn! - Field Trips in Fiber - Adventures in quilting, hand dyed fabric and fiber art.:

'via Blog this'

Another QAL!

This one features a block a day for 16 days - i don't know when i will get round to it but i like the half square triangle and log cabin theme so i am saving all the instructions to my computer and will work on them in my own time :)

Block of the Month

I've taken part in knitalongs before but never a quiltalong so i thought i'd give it a go and sign up for the BOM at Canton Village Quilt Works

I've no idea how much fabric i will need but i have devised a small plan which i will reveal next week ;o)

The first block was posted on the 25th and there are already 51 blocks posted to the Flickr group!!

BOM Block #1

A Quilting Life: Blogger's Block of the Month

More so i don't lose my instructions than anything but why don't you join in too :o)

Kindle Cosy Part Deux

This one is less "patchworky" but i just adore the fabrics and as a second attempt i have managed to iron out the wrinkles in my pattern and think i've got it sorted now. It's not much of a pattern admittedly but i've got the sizings right now and am happier with it than the first one - not that i mind the first one, it's for me anyway so any faults don't matter, i know they are there but i also know it was my first attempt so i appreciate them for what they are - lessons :oD

This is the front of the cosy

This is the interior

As is this, but with the Kindle pulled out a little - it actually goes all the way inside the pocket now whereas the Japanese-y one came up a little short ;o)

Paranoid!

Bloke bought me a Kindle for my birthday earlier this month and i am very paranoid about smashing the screen so i decided that wrapping it in a wolllen hat was no longer a suitable solution and decided to make a patchwork cosy for it :D

There's a particular quilt in the Japanese Quilt Inspirationsbook that i really like so i decided to base my Kindle cosy on it. Unfortunately the quilt block in the book comes out at 10" so i had to downsize using my maffematikal skillz :oD

It was actually a bit easier than i thought it would be and i soon had all the pieces cut out and ready to sew. Still on a part sewn seam kick i used them again for these blocks.

and then i sewed them all together...

And HEY PRESTO! I have a squishy double-fronted Kindle cosy which will hopefully protect it when it's in my handbag and stop the screen from being smashed in!!

That's the front, i really love the fabric with the cream background, it's so pretty <3

And that's the interior - the stripy fabric is from the same range as the Kaleidoscope Quilt that i was going to use as a border but once i saw the quilt top in progress i knew it wouldn't be right!

It's a very snug fit when Kindle is wearing it's silicone skin but i am very happy with it :o)