CHARM ABOUT YOU

I have a finish and it's Friday, smiles all round :)

This is my 'Not So Charming Rainbow Stars Quilt'. It has given me a few problems, it's not perfect, it's kinda small at 41"x41" but I completely adore it:

let's just ignore that big crease down the middle  where it dried on the radiator shall we?!

I did a bit of straight line quilting in between the blocks and this is the first quilt I have done a 'proper' free motion quilting pattern on, inspired by Leah Day's Echo Shortcut design.


I enjoyed every second of it - except the part when I realised I'd done one block with cream thread on the back instead of the coordinating thread I was supposed to be using (that's what happens when I leave something a couple of days and come back to it!!). I was not about to unpick all the fmq so the mistake will have to live there - it's not too horribly noticeable and just contributes to the 'not so charming' aspect!


The backing was given to me by my mum and I've fallen deeply in love with it despite it not really being my sort of thing at all!!


I'm happy with the new addition to our house and nearly keeled over when my husband actually said that this is his favourite quilt I've made so far, partially because he thinks it "looks like it took skill". Compliments indeed, he seems to have fallen for it's charm too!


I had a very exciting package from the talented Emily arrive, very cutely wrapped :)


After seeing the lovely Dala pouch she made for Nicky and knowing she's trying to raise funds to come to the Fat Quaterly Retreat in June, I commissioned a pouch of my own!


I must say this is to celebrate the Fugly fabric party I'm hosting and we agreed that she use some actual fugly fabric in making it - if you'd like her to make you one I'm sure she would use more pretties like she usually does!! ;)


Having said that though, it's blinking cool!! I love the pigs on the back and I LOVE writing so the simple 'fugly' on the front and label on the inside are perfect.


She also included some little treats, a cute felt heart and sweet little button brooch that my daughter thinks is magic! Thank you so much Emily!
Clearly she has excellent taste so get in touch with her if you think you can help contribute to her making her way to meet us in London. I for one would very much like her to come!! She blogs over at Strawberry Patch so go say hi :)

Also take a look at the Fugly Fabric Party, which is here on Tuesday - there's a nice giveaway too!


Now I'm off to continue playing with these:



Linking up to Thursday Think Tank even though it's Friday here! (there's been some drama, go show Rebecca some love), Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, This Week@Love Affair with my Brother and TGIFF, which is being hosted by the fabulous Erin who has made a cute Blanket of Love this week!

I'm linking up to Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day:


Well I have to say I was a little disappointed in my productivity this month until I started doing my mosaic and realised I'd made more than I thought! January was a really long month! I had such a slump after Christmas and was recently ill but I seem to have spurts where I achieve a fair bit and I do really love all the things I've made.


I finished the Hacienda quilt, my Not So Charming Rainbow Stars Quilt top and did a little fmq, a camera case and a thimble pocket! I also made a sewing machine cover, two sewing cases and a zip pouch. I'm most proud of completing four rose and star blocks this month, having never done any English Paper Piecing before - I'm totally hooked and loving every part of it! If you want to join in the Rose and Star Block Party is being run by the very talented Selfsewn :)


Since it's Wednesday I'm linking to Freshly Pieced:




completed:

Two more Rose and Star blocks:



I also did the Blogger's BOM:

still not convinced about where I'm going with this

ongoing:

I managed to fmq five more stars on my Not So Charming Rainbow Stars Quilt last night! In the zone!!:


There's only 3 left to do so I'm hoping to do that tonight and then it just needs binding. I originally thought about using Kona charcoal but actually I don't have that much spare and I realised I still had some of the backing fabric left over when I cut the length so I'm going to use that instead :)

I've also been working on some Bee Blessed blocks, my first contribution.

tutorial: http://modifytradition.blogspot.com/2009/11/amish-diamond-tutorial.html

I made two different blocks and they both went horribly wrong. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. They both came out about half an inch too small (12" square instead of 12.5"). Any clues?? My seams are all 1/4" and I don't know why this has happened.
If anyone has any good links to SIMPLE 12.5 blocks for beginners that I can try not to mess up please let me know. I feel so annoyed about it but obviously I need some practice. Sorry Judith I will try again and failing that send you some fabric!!

no progress:

The secret quilt - I have to do something on this by next week. seriously.

stats
completed: 0 (well 3 blocks but I think I have to stop counting them!!)
new projects: 0
in progress: 3

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Finally it's Weigh In time at Missy Mac Creations:





Although honestly can I just skip it?? I've done nothing, ate rubbish and been ill.
There's been no change. I haven't gained or lost anything. Just feel blah about it.
I have been walking but clearly all the carbs I've inhaled after feeling better haven't helped anything.
Need a bit of motivation!!

Any ideas about the blocks or improving my clear misinterpretation of instructions would be very helpful too :)

Linking up to Sew Modern Monday and Manic Monday:



I'm not normally smug... rarely do I feel completely happy with something I've sewn but this time I really am! Excuse the ensuing smugness...

I have been working on my 'Not So Charming Rainbow Stars Quilt', which wasn't turning out exactly right. This has become a slight comedy of errors. Anyone spot the mistake??:


Yeah, see the middle block at the bottom - it's the wrong way round!! Whoops. I only noticed it when I was basting and at that point could not be bothered unpicking. It'll just have to stay that way!

Then when I did some straight line quilting and the bobbin ran out I stupidly put the wrong colour in - I was using a different thread to match the backing and out of habit used the top thread colour. A bit of unpicking later (I couldn't leave that - it was too obvious and annoying!!), the right thread in place and the straight lines were done.

So with renewed confidence I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and practice my fmq - Nicky will be proud :)

I had a gander at Leah Day's designs at the Free Motion Quilting Project, just the beginners ones obviously!! There's so much choice but I wanted something that would counter the pointy stars and also a design that would suit the backing fabric.

I went with the Echo Shortcut:

first and second attempts

third attempt!

My tension was all over the place and the first attempt was with the feed dogs up. I thought since this was a function of my new machine it would make it easier. I hated it, so feed dogs back up and attempt 2 and 3. My design looks less curvy and more like mussels than Leah's but I really like it!!

Happy with the pattern, I switched to the thread I'd picked for the quilt to try and sort the tension out and had another go:

from the lovely folks at Patchwork Corner

Technically it's not Friday here anymore but it is somewhere in the world, so I'm linking up to 'finish it up Friday' at Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF at KristyLou's Creations!


Already this week (and last weekend!) I managed to finish a sewing machine cover, 2 travel sewing cases and a hand pieced rose and star block, which you can see here. I also made a zip pouch for my zips!

I have been working on a 'version' of this pattern, I say that because I forgot that the charms I had were 4" not 5" and I'd already cut the solid squares for the points from the pattern, so my stars sort of came out as a mistake and not all neat! I went with it anyway a) because I had no more neutral solid fabric (I barely squeezed the sashing out of it!) and b) I like them and don't really care!! I continued in a nonchalant way until I had this:

sorry for the late night shots, I've been out for dinner!!

So this is my 'Not so charming rainbow stars quilt'! I've only finished the quilt top so far but I've got the backing ready to go! It's a weird, beautiful, hippy acquired taste sort of fabric, that my mum kindly gave me but I oddly love it:



The quilt top was actually slightly bigger than the backing but I couldn't bear to piece this fabric together, it would look even odder and I like the red border on it. I did contemplate adding a border to make it bigger but I doubt I would have been able to centre it properly when basting because that would require skill!! So I did the only thing that felt right to me and trimmed the edges of the quilt top. So what the sashing won't be even, I will love the back and that's what counts!!

I'm thinking of binding it in Kona Charcoal because I think that's all the solid fabric I have and it will suit the Autumnal colours, I don't really want a print binding and I can't be bothered making a scrappy one either. Lazy?? Yes I am!! Well maybe just about this one ;)
I'm also planning on quilting it by outlining the squares and then doing some free motion quilting inside the stars. They're not big so I was going to do some loops or something. I don't really want to fmq stars or anything too fiddly but would love to give it some texture. Any ideas?


I'm fairly certain this will become a hanging out on the sofa quilt because I'm not sure anyone else would love it!!


Oh and if anyone has any clue what that orange flower fabric is (top right corner) Rebecca and I would love to know!!

On a whim and spurred on by a few crazy people agreeing to the idea (thank you!!!) I also decided to create a linky party on my blog starting 7th February - the idea is to de-stash and get rid of any unwanted fabric you may have been hiding by having a giveaway/swap/whatever on your blog and linking up here. Click the button to learn more and spread the word!