New Project List

What I'll finished next: the IWC Charity Quilt - about 50% done

What I *need* to finish this year: My Night on the Tiles. I want to take it to our Quilt Retreat in October to show it off!

What I want to start so that I can take it travelling with me: a Ripple Project - still awaiting materials

Smaller projects on the side:

Finishing one pin board for my girls - hopefully today!

Ruffle Skirts for my girls to justify falling off the No Fabric this Year Band Wagon.

Finishing Theo's Planes

and hopefully a Kidlet or two.

Zig Zag Top and Backing done

With the front and back finished, I'm just waiting for some 100% cotton wadding so that I can get started with the quilting. I think I will quilt zig zags about 4cm apart in the middle of each zig and then carry on all over the quilt.

There is enough material left over for a second, albeit smaller, baby quilt. And this will go to a flying buddy of my husband. He lost his first wife to cancer about ten years ago and only recently found love again. Their spontaneous wedding coincided with her falling pregnant and I am very happy for him. He has always been very welcoming toward my family and especially charming and warm-hearted toward my girls.

First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival - my entry

More photos on Flickr.

This is my submission to the First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival. It's called "Friendly Dragon Quilt" and designed for my godson Harrison. Harrison is an "Englishman" and being English, Saint George - of dragon-slaying fame - is his patron saint. I realised this when flipping through a colouring book I had purchased for my daughters during a summer holiday on Crete and coming across this lovely smiley dragon. Harrison is a positively smiley kid too, always on the go and full of energy! He's also my first godchild, son to my very very good friend Caroline.

I had no idea what I got myself into when I embarked on this project. I had gone back and forth on strange ideas of what Harrison's quilt was supposed to be until I found that dragon. Unfortunately, George the Dragon was missing his butt in the book so I had to add that to the design, copy and blow it up, order "Fossil Fern" fabric and went to work.

It was daunting and kept me second-guessing my plans. But at the end, I was super-pleased with the result. As we all know, 4-year-olds are a hard crowd to please but Harrison was smitten by his quilt, making me love him even more ;-)

I even got a request for a commission but until now, my quilts are one-of-a-kind. What I like about quilting in general and making this one in particular is that while working on them, I contemplate the person I will give the quilt to. I think of them, what they mean to me and this makes me feel closer to them. So as much as any one of my quilts is a present to someone, it's also a present to me.

The above photo was taken in Michigan, outside of Elk Rapids, hours before I presented the quilt. If you click on it, you can see all my posts obsessing about said project.

Now, go on, join the fun of the:

Join the Bloggers Quilt Festival - I know I will!

Oh the Dimensions!

So I finished the zig-zaggy part of the quilt and started to wonder about dimensions. What is a good baby quilt size?

The width will be 80cm or 31inches plus a little binding, how long should it be?
Any thoughts, dear readers?

Fabric availability is not an issue and wadding will be purchased if need be.

Happily zigging along

Now that I understood AmandaJean's very thorough and easy tutorial (those who are literate are at a clear advantage ;-), I am happily zig-zagging along. This tutorial makes Big Zig quilts so super-easy that I am in awe of its author!

Wondering what I am banging on about? Go here:
zig zag quilt without piecing those pesky triangles.

At the rate I am going this may become a favourite for gifted quilts!

All ziggy stripes - getting there!

Once I reread AmandaJean's instructions and vigorously smacked myself over the head about three times, I went to work and "made scraps" by cutting the blocks to their proper size.

This actually is a super-fast way of making those ziggy zags and I'm rather pleased. I am only missing a few corner blocks which I will whip up now and then it's assembly time!

Again, yay for AmandaJean and her Tutorials that Rock!

This is how well I follow instructions - NOT AT ALL!!!!

So, on my birthday I decided to not do what I don't enjoy (admin, laundry, straightening the house) and instead I started my new project: the Charity Quilt.

I went and generated myself a nice two page PDF of the instructions AmandaJean posted and went to work.

Above is the result. Aaaaargh!!! The instructions were sitting right next to the cutting mat. Did I follow them? No! Did I think I knew what I was doing? Yes. Evidently, I was wrong.

Samuel sails along on a Thousand Ships

After I neglected to snap a photo for the finished product, the recipient's father kindly obliged and sent this from London.

Random Pattern and Project Post

I came across a Lucy Goosey 3D pattern at the Moda bake shop and I'm thinking I'll downsize it and make it into a barrettes and hair clips holder for the girls, possibly with an added pouch in the back to hold the brush.

Trying to get the Zigs right

While trying to avoid the cutting, ironing and stitching of the applique parts of the Plane Pillow, I am pondering my next project and its fabric selection. I am particularly unsure about which fabric to use between the two strips of zigs ... and am leaning toward something as relatively un-busy as the "background". Hm. And the backing ... don't even get me started on that! And this is the tutorial I will follow: http://beesquarefabrics.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-zig-zag-quilt-without.html, no piecing triangles, thanks AmandaJean!