Quilt-o-Mania

Twoo Hoot

2012-01-28T20:17:00.001+01:00

Getting out of my sewing funk

2012-01-27T21:23:00.002+01:00

Whenever I finish something, I have a head full of ideas and can't seem to choose the right one to pick up and run with so ...

88 ... 8*8=64 and 88-64=24 - and 24/3=8 so 8 wide and 8+3 tall ...
and 2 left over ...

We shall see! twooo hooot!

Rainbows in a Bottle

2012-01-19T11:47:00.000+01:00

I love the idea of keeping small scraps in jars and then using them in projects like Ticker Tape:

Resolved to sew: Resolution 2012 and a give-away

2012-01-17T10:53:00.000+01:00

Ever since I completely failed at my resolution of not buying any fabric during a particular year (I bought even more than usual, so the fail was epic), I have stayed away from NY resolutions for my quilting endeavours. This year however, I will attempt to make as much from stash - and there is a lot of that, believe you me - as I can. There is a vague list in my head of quilts I want to make so let's see if I get around to them:

- quilt for C's bestie mate
- quilt for my bestie mate (her daughter already has two)
- finish my Night on the Tiles in Manchester

Everything else will be a bonus and I will be happy if I get additional projects to the pre-binding stage.

Seeing how I want to mainly work from stash, I might as well attempt to add to it by winning a give-away called "Resolved to Sew 2012 at Very Berry Made. Click on the link to see what is to be had!

Happy New Year

2012-01-08T14:35:00.000+01:00

Christmas has come and gone - and despite the best of intentions, there was minimal crafting to be had this time around. I think I will just have to start earlier in the year ...

2012 has been kicked off with work on UFOs, I finished one top and failed at stippling, thankfully, straight-line quilting is so much more NOW:

Another WIP is almost quilted. I had originally chosen too thick a wadding and now had to sandwich etc. the whole thing again. But with the straight-line quilting almost finished, I am quite pleased with the results:

It's not like I have time for this .... but:

2011-12-13T10:55:00.000+01:00

Apron in an Hour - available as PDF tutorial by Jona at Stop Staring and Start Sewing

V little elfin activity ...

2011-12-06T14:24:00.000+01:00

At the last minute I managed to make this little stocking wadded and filled with cloves, as a pendant for a gift on Saint Nikolaus Day, 6 December.

I would love to make more Christmassy stuff but there simply isn't enough time in the day or night yet, what with all the other elfin activities going on here ...

Happy Second Advent

2011-12-04T12:39:00.000+01:00

In other news, there is another finish:

This has been in progress since early 2010 ... more.

Another finish: Almondesque

2011-11-19T12:51:00.004+01:00

Almondesque is done. And I am really pleased. It was inspired by this photo:

The quilt was very well received and a total surprise for my friends. They had thought that their boat had sailed in terms of receiving a quilt from me because they were done having babies before I had ramped up production enough for me to give quilts away to special small humans ...

Vital Stats:
105 * 185 cm, roughly
Kona Solids
Gütermann and Aurifil threads
Freudenberg 100% cotton wadding
lotsa fun to make! .... more

Quilting done ....!

2011-11-13T19:18:00.000+01:00

I have another 3 evenings to get this one done and washed. So far, so good. While not entirely perfect, I think the quilting is straight enough. What's more, I managed to hit most of the corners the way I meant to ....

Now onto binding!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Fall 2011

2011-10-31T13:04:00.002+01:00

The time has come for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival Fall 2011 ... and this is my contribution:

Night on the Tiles was inspired by the floor tiling of my favourite pub in Manchester, just down the street from where I took my first lessons in patchwork and quilting. I've been working on it for 3+ years now, in fact, every time I go on my annual quilt retreat, this one comes along. It's not finished but it will be and soon - or so I hope. As you can see, I have gone about it a bit backward by adding the binding before I finished the hand-quilting. But it already looks so much better that I am really motivated to finish this one before the next retreat in September 2012.

top in progress - endless imperfections
top finished - hand quilting
"Vital Statistics":
Finished size approx 220 * 220 cm
all cotton fabric
all cotton thread
all cotton wadding
machine pieced
hand quilted
machine / hand bound.

Quilting Almondesque

2011-10-27T14:06:00.001+02:00

Did you know? Good prep work makes machine quilting so much easier and so much more enjoyable! You did? And you never told me???

I painstakingly pinned the whole thing and then taped about a centimetre away from where I wanted to quilt. Then I practically flew through half the quilting ...

Now I need to strip the tape and re-apply new tape at a 90 degree angle. And I'm not holding out great hope that I placed my pins strategically enough.

Progress II

2011-10-24T22:32:00.000+02:00

So I spend all evening on the floor with this:

only to turn it over ...

to find that I had scrimped too much ...

and now having to spend more time fixing my cheapskateness ...

Progress

2011-10-21T11:49:00.000+02:00

QAL Carpenter's Wheel

2011-10-04T08:08:00.001+02:00

This one looks interesting:

Night on the Tiles

2011-09-25T11:13:00.001+02:00

I know I am doing things a bit backward but with all of the stabilising quilting done I addded the 9+ meters in binding ...

Almondesque - the top!

2011-09-23T21:09:00.002+02:00

From a shoebox

to the finished top:

Making headway on the quilting ...

2011-09-14T13:07:00.002+02:00

but it will not be done in time for the retreat. However I am getting very excited about my trip ....

And then there is this ...

2011-09-01T17:23:00.000+02:00

I am still struggling with deciding on the lay-out of this quilt which has to be finished by mid-November.

Maybe a scribble with coloured pencils will help ...
High time, don't you think!?

Finally: the proper needle for this job!

2011-08-18T10:43:00.001+02:00

I've been looking and looking for good hand quilting needles for my monster job. Yes, the regular ones are really nice and just bendy enough but for this huge job with straight lines only, I was given a mystery Roxanne needle which I loved and then snapped in two - by accident and after many many stitches.

At the Festival, I scoured the stalls and spoke to Someone in the Know who recommended embroidery needles. They are a little stiffer (and also sharper at the other end) but they are longer and come with a bigger eye. So I'm happy ...

Out of my sewing funk ...

2011-08-16T09:59:00.001+02:00

because of too much stress at work, I haven't sewn in weeks, months, really. I did some hand quilting but nowhere near enough to meet my deadling :-(

But today I will attempt something like this little block!

"Takings" at Festival of Quilts

2011-08-15T16:56:00.000+02:00

There were a few things that I couldn't walk away from:

Lurvely fabric:

A membership to the Quilters' Guild, patterns, bobbins, needles ...

But before those get put to good use, there must be an end to this:

Best laid plans ....

2011-08-14T16:42:00.002+02:00

had me doing a large recap of the Festival of Quilts ... but I cannot seem to find the energy or time for it. So I'll just show my high-lights:

- loved the multi media quilts such as this one:

- became ever more determined to do one of those:

- was (and still am) intrigued by this one:

- changed my mind about appliqué:

- adored everything about the Twelve by 12 show:

- grew ever more eager for the "Army Wife" series by Kristin la Flamme:

Now I am drowning in ideas .... and will definitely go again! For more, go here: Festival of Quilts 2011 Flickr Set

Looming deadline: 43 days to go!

2011-08-09T20:38:00.001+02:00

This quilt is supposed to be finished for this year's quilt retreat ... I have another day of work to go and then about six weeks of what one might call "unpaid leave" where I have a lot of admin things to tackle. But the biggest item on the list is for me to relax, unwind and recharge my batteries. Finishing this project may just do the trick with those 3 tasks.

Gone quilting ...

Bunting Mug Rug

2011-08-03T10:04:00.002+02:00

Made by Anna of Something Sewn
Brilliant!

Making headway with fabric selection

2011-07-31T16:37:00.000+02:00

I have finally managed to find enough Kona Solid in blue to start fretting over colour arrangements for the top ...

What also wants to be addressed is the sewing room and the heap of mending ...:

But the ironing is done and the room is already looking much better with everything else put where it belongs!

How funny is that?

2011-07-26T14:39:00.000+02:00

It's not only on the day of my wedding anniversary but also when I am away on my annual retreat .... Coincidence?

the plaid scottie: Finished Whack-a-Bunny Quilt

2011-07-26T11:12:00.001+02:00

Check out this brilliant baby quilt

It's The Plaid Scottie's Finished Whack-a-Bunny Quilt: "I finished binding Bry's giveaway prize , the ' Whack-a-Bunny ' quilt, late last night. Sorry, but all you'll get today is a quick photo pa..."

Details of the front II

2011-07-01T15:06:00.002+02:00

It's slow but steady going and I am really happy with the progress I am making in hand-quilting this monster of a quilt. My weeks are rather hectic at the moment and doing this provides much needed quiet!

Maybe it will be done in time for my retreat in September?

Meanwhile being mulled over in my head ...

2011-07-01T15:01:00.000+02:00

Friends of ours inquired a while back when (yes, when!?) they would get a quilt!? Seeing how they are building a new house in Bauhaus style, this seems as good an opportunity as any. But the design choices, oh, the choices ... so I surfed the web and came across the above by Orangebird242.

Because my friends are not really Bauhaus kinda people and love Edward Hopper, I thought I'd stick with Hopper-esque colours of blues and greys but arrange all in a Bauhaus-esque design. And ei, presto, my first real excuse to order Kona Solids. But someone something went wrong when I chose the colours:

On screen (and on the print-out of the shop), they go together really well, in real life: not so much! Argh! Back to square one then, eh?

My 15 Seconds of Fame: Someone referred to me in a tutorial

2011-06-07T14:29:00.000+02:00

... because I should do something else which is tedious and I am too exhausted to focus on it, I have been trolling my flickr statistics and saw that I had a few referrals to an older photo and project.

This was a progress shot of my Fall 2009 entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, where apparently Leila stumbled across it and referred to me in her post on fabric recommendations for the Skill Builder Sampler.

As you can imagine, I am quite pleased with myself ;-) especially because nothing much has been happening on the Quilting Front because I am simply too exhausted at the end of a long day ...

Moving onto hand quilting

2011-05-15T13:14:00.000+02:00

I'm still only at the white centres of the block but am making good progress. Will it be finished to show of at the retreat? Who knows! It is good fun though and I am enjoying the meditative quality of this part of the process.

Blogger Quilt Festival 2011: my entry

2011-05-15T12:54:00.005+02:00

I just recently finished this quilt for my father. It is made of 100% stash fabrics, a lot of them scraps from previous projects and material from two of his dress shirts. The binding once was a blouse. The pattern follows the fantastic

no-triangle zig zag tutorial by AmandaJean of CrazyMomQuilts.

I loved making this quilt for its simplicity and muted palette. Whenever I make a quilt for someone, I spend a lot of time thinking about them and our relationship and it helps me feel connected.

Needless to say, my dad was thrilled to receive this quilt and I get frequent reports from my mum about him using it.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:16:00.001+02:00

Done: Bassetti for Reingard

2011-05-03T20:57:00.000+02:00

Done and ready to get shipped!

Another finish - almost

2011-05-02T19:38:00.001+02:00

After I spent way too much time clearing out my sewing room and sorting a lot of things - down to my needles and beads - I set about finishing the quilt I made for my godmother's 75th birthday. One of her nicknames is "Hex'" (translates to witch) which is a rather apt choice for her personality. However where there is shadow, there's also light and if nothing else, she is devoted to her (extensive) family, sometimes to the point of disloyalty to her own cause. Three years ago, my mother, her little sister, had a near-fatal fall and my godmother dropped everything to rush to my mother's bedside, nursing her back to health for over ten weeks as well as running the household and tending to my dad. I am eternally grateful to her for this because I would not have known what else to do if it had not been for her.

Though a bit late, the quilt will make its journey to her at the end of the week. She spent well over a decade in Japan and while the pattern isn't exactly Japanese it is Asian and I am hoping that the colour will bring some light and enjoyment to her days.

Congratulations, Catherine & William!

2011-04-29T19:40:00.000+02:00

Bee Modern close up - superb use of scraps

2011-04-27T14:38:00.001+02:00

.... can you tell I am avoiding having to do last quarter's book-keeping ...?

I just bought issue no 5 ...

2011-04-27T14:16:00.001+02:00

of Fat Quarterly, which is all about pre-cuts! Looking forward to cleaning up my sewing room and getting to work!

Sewing Room overhaul

2011-04-27T13:00:00.000+02:00

Because I have a bit of a tendency to put cleaning and straightening off until later, a lot of things just get dumbed on available surfaces. This week, it was the girls' spring and summer clothes that I keep in this room's wardrobe. Once I cleared that away, I move onto the tall shelf in order to sort through the books, make more room and have better access to what is in there.

Obviously, when they say "things have to get worse before they get better", they were right. So off I go to another afternoon or re-jigging. But I do have big plans once I am done. One of them's already on my design wall, the other one involves Fandango charms ...

On the Design Wall: a quick baby blanket

2011-04-26T11:34:00.001+02:00

This is the fabric I picked up at last year's retreat. I have no idea who this will be for but will have fun assembling, quilting and finishing it!

Bloggers Quilt Festival upcoming

2011-04-13T14:14:00.000+02:00

I have no idea which quilt I will share but there is still time, right?

Inbetween Projects ...

2011-04-11T19:58:00.002+02:00

... is usually a difficult time for me. This time, I am lucky because I have a UFO on a deadline - Bassetti for Reingard due this month - as well as three half-finished objects: A Night on the Tiles in Manchester, HST Neptune and Disappearing Nine-Patch plus another zig zag quilt that never even got mentioned before.

That leaves me with enough to keep my hands busy while I engage in sweet pondering of "what to do next". On the list of possibles are:
- Poseidon design for my Fandango charms
- Sweet Daisy pattern for my Dandelion Girl
- Very unlikely: Moda Bakeshop's Easy as Cake for twin sized quilts for my girls' beds at my parents house.

- and then a Bauhaus project for my friends who recently asked when they would be getting their quilt!? They are moving into a Bauhaus-inspired new home but I am still unsure of the colour scheme.

There's also a quilt in the planning stages for Elisa's sister, Elisa of the Emergency Quilt (She's quite the ham now!)

Done: Dad's Biggest Zig

2011-04-09T18:27:00.002+02:00

Finished and right on time: it was my Dad's birthday on Saturday and I managed to finish the quilt on that day ... it was so sweet to see that he really loved receiving this gift.

And I am ever so pleased with it too. The pattern works well, the quilting looks great and is quite even. I love the back with the scrappy element. It has to be said, however, that I still suck at planning a project, see my fretting over a potential border ...

Almost finished: Dad's Biggest Zig

2011-04-06T22:23:00.003+02:00

I've been having such a good time with the finishing of the project, adding a few rows, sandwiching and quilting it ...:

Top: Hate it - OK, that's better - onto the backing (too short)
2: Taping it down - "Butter" - "Jelly"
3: Pins, pins, more pins - Sandwich, "jelly down" - Quilting
4: Details - We were a blouse once - Career Change: binding

PS: Notice how there is no border? Yup, it got dropped ...

Progress

2011-03-21T19:50:00.000+01:00

I am very happy with my progress on the Big Zig quilt. With wadding on the way from my favourite quilt shopkeeper, it's time for me to crack on and finish this one:

Now that I decided on the border, there's only the batting to fret about and I might consider a pieced back but am not entirely sure yet. Another thing to ponder is the quilting. I'm not very seasoned at free motion / stippling and zigging along the zigzags may be a good way to accentuate the pattern.

Ok, off to the sewing machine!

Easter Decorations: Paper Balls

2011-03-20T15:54:00.000+01:00

It doesn't happen very often that I sit down with my girls and do a spot of crafting, sadly, because we all enjoy it very much. Strangely, Easter seems to bring out the Crafty Mum in me ... so we sat down and made paper balls ... good fun was had by all.

For reference, this was last year's craft: Happy Easter 2010

Two more seconds: Mug Rug Madness

2011-03-20T12:37:00.000+01:00

Not that I have ever gotten around to making one myself, I imagine these little mug rugs make excellent little pressies ... and I will most certainly be reading along:

Auditioning Borders ...

2011-03-19T12:27:00.004+01:00

Given that I never really "plan" a quilt, I oftentimes come to a point where I feel the assembled top is too small. This one's currently 100 X 140 cm which strikes me as a bit twee for a grown man's lap / nap quilt.

I wondered wether I could remedy this by adding borders but that's a bit tricky given the bold pattern. My initial thought was to first add a solid border and then squares the same height as the zigs.

Hm ... not happy with that .... too blocky-bold-weird ... so off to Flickr I went and came across this:

Originally uploaded by Ms Alleycat
Hence the new action plan: Add as many blocks as the dark blue scraps will allow, then add borders similar in style to those shown by the smart Ms Alleycat!

Now off to order wadding!

Ticker Tapes - another great idea to stash bust and use scraps

2011-03-17T13:02:00.002+01:00

This seems to be a recurring theme around these parts .... originally uploaded by Rachel of Stitched in Color.

Brilliant use of scraps ... Log Cabin Patchwork by Red Pepper Quilts

2011-03-15T12:24:00.002+01:00

"Scraps" appear on the top of my mind today - not work, mind you - and this is a great way to use scraps from one colourway. I think I should be making one of these with all my pink scraps ...

Great idea, AmandaJean: Using batting scraps

2011-03-15T09:47:00.003+01:00

I have always derived a strange form of satisfaction in using all my batting ... and AmandaJean is showing how to turn those left-overs into a rag quilt ... go check it out!

Edited to add a link to the finished product: Rags to Riches.

Repurposing: Shirt into Skirt with Yoga Style Waist

2011-03-01T12:15:00.001+01:00

Make It and Love It: Repurposing: Shirt into Skirt with Yoga Style Waist: I will definitely give that a try this summer!

"Two-Timing"

2011-02-25T09:34:00.002+01:00

With two quilts due in April, I find myself going back and forth between projects, which I am quite enjoying. The top one has been in the works for about two years and by the looks of it I took my merry time. It's a simple hand quilt job and perfect for my Stitch'n'Bitch or evenings on the sofa in front of the telly.

The other one is shaping up nicely too ...

I finished auditioning blocks for the bottom two rows (with what is now the bottom row moving up and the other one moving down ...) so the top should be finished by the end of next week. That leaves me time to ponder the quilting. While I would have liked some straight line quilting, I think that will distract from the zig-zag.

Festival of Quilts 2011

2011-02-24T19:08:00.000+01:00

It's always good to have something to look forward to and this year, quilt-wise, I have not one but two "somethings". Not only am I going on retreat at the end of September but I'm also going to the Festival of Quilts in Brum in August.

I am already very excited because not only do I love quilts, I also love having something to look forward to, it anchors my year and helps me stay motivated through the hard slog of weekly routine as a working mum of two and "career widow".

Already, I am plotting accomodation, transportation, education (lots of classes available) and also shopping! Birmingham has excellent shopping and I intend to make use of the weak pound. Which all settles the question of when to leave (Thursday! not Friday).

Now I can't help wondering how many Euro bloggers I will run into!

Details of stripes and shirts ...

2011-02-19T11:22:00.002+01:00

I am making good progress with my big zig quilt and am particularly enarmoured with the stripes here ... I like that they are all going in the same direction, a minor detail, but I like it all the same.

Also, unlike previous projects, I have been diligently cutting to size and ironing as well.

Is this a good idea?

2011-02-13T14:20:00.002+01:00

A while back, I started the assembly-line style production of blocks for AmandaJean's no-triangle-zig pattern by cutting long pieces of fabric, sewing them together, one solid, one patterned and then cutting them to size. This is working rather well.

But this time 'round, I'm using a fairly graphic stripey fabric and I am wondering whether I will need to alternate horizontal and vertical stripes ... we shall see!

Must make one of those heart mini quilts

2011-02-09T13:02:00.002+01:00

Look what I found in VickiVictoria's photo stream .... it's based on instructions from Freda's Hive

Happily chopping away!

2011-02-07T21:55:00.002+01:00

I am having good fun in my little cave aka sewing room, hacking fabric into pieces in order to turn this heap into something new!

Eternity is finished - yay!

2011-02-06T18:56:00.000+01:00

Finally, I'm done but not without a few mishaps. First of all, I really struggled with the instructions going from rib to regular so I reversed the order. No issues there. But then I have never been really good at casting on so I ended up with a lot, and I mean a LOT, extra stitches (4). And finally, I ran out of yarn during cast off (1) so had to frog that part and re-do it because I didn't have yarn that matched (2) and was too cheap to get another skein. So there you go: adventures in knitting!

1.) 2.)
3.) 4.)

But I LOVE it and the Rowan Lima yarn is just delicious to work with and wear! I think I might do another one - albeit with less stitches.

Still taking an Eternity

2011-01-28T16:18:00.000+01:00

So ... I frogged it again. And then stuck with my idea to work it back to front, so I started with the garter stitch part. It's a bit bigger than 200 stitches because of the way I cast on. But it's working well and I am enjoying this project. However I will be happy when it's finished and I can wear it!

On the chopping block

2011-01-28T15:59:00.001+01:00

Isn't it great when sticking to a New Year's Resolution allows you to drag your heels? In the spirit of "more finishes", I have been avoiding cutting into the fabric selection for the as-yet-unnamed quilt.

It pays to have a think before you cut!

2011-01-16T10:55:00.001+01:00

and in other news, water is wet!

My dad has been dropping hints as big as concrete bolders that he wants a quilt. It's actually really nice to be asked for such a personal and somewhat womanly gift by a definite alpha male. Now, the recipient is a physicist with a distinct taste for the no-frill. He's also very traditional in the sense that he appreciates heirlooms and such. But which pattern?

At first I pondered the Maths quilt pattern. But it's square and my dad is tall, making this a huge monster. Then I was clueless ... and finally I settled on a scrappy zig quilt.

So off I went to audition my blue fabric ...

... and found it all very bland ...

... only to find that I probably had enough of the darker blue solid:

... but then couldn't bring myself to start cutting. I dislike this step of the process, I find it fiddly and tiresome. Also I'm cheap when it comes to blades and that's not really helping either. And my cutting table was stacked mile-high with unfinished projects - see New Year's resolution: more finishes!

This turned out to be a good thing because my fabric selection is just this side of scrappy and I can use Amanda Jean's very nifty Zig Zag quilt without the pesky triangles tutorial. This will save me a lot of time and tediousness and I am quite pleased with myself, seeing how my procrastinating paid off.

That leaves me with so much more time to ponder a title.

2011 calendar tea towels

2011-01-14T14:27:00.002+01:00

Last year, Spoonflower wasn't only doing a calendar tea towel competition (my gran used to have these calendar tea towels when I grew up and my mum still uses a few of those from the 1970ies - insta memories), they were also doing a "few shipping" deal, even internationally.

Of course I couldn't resist. But then I spend the money saved in time and petrol, having to go to the main customs office two days before Christmas to pay customs / VAT in order to get my shipment.

9 of those 12 are now finished and will be packed for sending to my nearest and dearest this weekend.

Which idiot picked that thick wadding?

2011-01-08T14:18:00.000+01:00

Even with a walking foot, my machine cannot handle it. So off come all the pins and in goes new wadding.

New Year's Resolutions 2011

2011-01-07T15:34:00.002+01:00

Just like every Christmastime, I contemplated whether or not to have New Year's Resolutions ... and this year I have decided on the following:

More finishes!

Waste less time on the internet and spend more time working on enjoyable projects

Spend more time on myself and take better care of me

Quilting and other crafts are a very good outlet for me to release stress and also to retreat into something that's just for me, at least until that project is finished. We'll see how far I'll get.

Last year, I finished the following:

Kai's Fruity Zoo - The Pink Zig - Computer Music Quilt - In the Pink
Caroline's Objects - Crocheting Madness 4 - Table Runner for Sandra - Rafe's Flag - Candle Mats - The Vague Heart - Christmassy guest towels

There are still a few tea towels from a recent Spoonflower design contest floating around the house but I'm hoping to have those bound and packed for sending off really soon.

Now off to new projects and more finishes!

Happy Goosey Christmas!

2010-12-28T17:39:00.001+01:00

I hope y'all had a lovely Christmas. Mine must have been as near perfect as possible with lots of snow, happy children and yummy food.

Today I straightened my sewing room and have found myself to be quite overwhelmed by all that fabric that I bought wanting to make it into something and not quite knowing what. Maybe I should finish a few projects!? It seems like I have been playing catch-up for the past twelve months and never quite managed.

And since the last quilt-related new year's resolution of "no fabric" didn't work out so well (never bought more than in 2009), I think I will resolve to finish more!

What will we be?

2010-12-26T14:19:00.000+01:00

My Christmas loot: 3 charm packs and one FQ bundle of Kate Spain's Fandango. I am droooooling!

Must (eventually) make one of those ...

2010-12-20T11:58:00.002+01:00

... am however scared of all the pointy bits in the middle!

Edited to add: the photo was taken by Red Pepper Quilts at Purl Soho.

Rafe's Flag

2010-12-18T13:21:00.000+01:00

My friend's third son arrived this August and I wanted to make something for him as well. His initials were initially reported to be R - G - L which I found maritime alphabet flag for. Only when the wall hanging was 95% finished did I find out that an extra A had been smuggled in. No way was I going to take it apart again and therefore changed the plan for embellishments, thereby adding the missing letter:

Previous gifts include: Harrison's Friendly Dragon Quilt, Caroline's Objects and Theo's Planes, a cushion cover.

Reindeer surgery

2010-12-18T12:33:00.000+01:00

Paula was given a lovely reindeer which is designed in the same style as a lot of the cuddlies and softies one sees online these days. "Elchie" is too cute to bear. But he was born in China and one can tell why this is cheaper. The hand-sown seams where he had been stuffed came apart after only a few (vigorous) cuddling sessions ...

Long story short: there is something to be said for local handiwork and crafts-mum-ship!

Eternity scarf - what a double entendre!

2010-12-16T13:22:00.001+01:00

What do you mean, you can't fudge it!? Well, the instructions were right, you can't fudge it. I tried and I paid the price. So I had to frog the scarf and redo it all over again - hence the name "eternity", I wonder. I did decide however to put the whole thing onto its head and start from the top down. Beginning with a cartridge stitch was causing too much trouble.

All in all, I can say that this is fun to make and the Rowan yarn is oh-so-soft! I cannot wait to be finished and wear it!

Happy Advent!

2010-12-05T10:12:00.001+01:00

This is this year's "Advent Wreath" - I was ill the days running up to First Advent Sunday and couldn't get a green wreath to decorate. When I was well enough again to venture out, obviously they were all sold out .... so none of this this year:

Rafe's Flag

2010-11-29T22:03:00.002+01:00

The prairie points were meant to go on the bottom but I think I like it more this way.

Getting ready for Christmas ...

2010-11-27T17:36:00.003+01:00

Originally, these towels were meant to go into a Christmas charity raffle but there are so many items already that I am just giving them away as gifts. Because I was having fun with them and a lot of cat-themed Christmas fabric, I made some kitty Christmas towels for my friend Caroline:

And now, finally, for me, me, me:
I found the pattern on Ravelry and I can tell you that Rowan Lima is delicious, soft and wonderful to work with!

Brilliant idea!

2010-11-25T11:44:00.001+01:00

This was originally uploaded by imagingermonkey. And I think I will have to make something like this too!

Mug Rugs ...

2010-11-22T14:52:00.002+01:00

As you may be able to tell ... I am bored at work, not because I don't have a lot on ... but because it leaves me a bit uninspired at the moment ... I'd rather be making mug rugs ...

Guess what I will do tonight!

2010-11-22T14:33:00.001+01:00

There are Christmas stocking and tea towel fabrics that I crave!

Can you say "sidetracked" ...

2010-11-19T11:07:00.000+01:00

During my first visit to Melody's Fiber Mania blog, I stumbled across one of her projects, the eternity scarf .... I loved it so much - me, the person who doesn't like wearing self-knit things - that I had to hop over to CS Quilt Design for Rowan Lima yarn and downloaded the pattern.

I have no idea when I will manage to actually knit this ... but one can still dream, right?

As an aside ...

2010-11-18T13:45:00.000+01:00

I so want to go to the Festival of Quilts in Brum in August 2011.

For more info, go to Facebook or Twisted Thread

Christmas Countdown

2010-11-18T11:25:00.001+01:00

I actually made two of these after stumbling across the Candle Mat swap. One will go to my mum, the other will go to the raffle at the International Brunch the International Women's Club Stuttgart is hosting in aid of the Kinderschutzbund Stuttgart and their amazing efforts in supporting children in need.

Such a simple, yet cool way to use HST

2010-11-06T16:08:00.001+01:00

As some already know, I hate corners, I hate triangles even more. But I love HSTs ... they are so easy to make. But they can be a bit repetitive, so this is a great way to use them.

Thank you, Red Pepper Quilts, for sharing!

Cuddly Lovey surgery

2010-11-06T11:09:00.000+01:00

Paula has had Yayo since birth and loves that little lion with all her heart ... and teeth and arms ... There came the day when Yayo was so threadbare that he was more bare than he had threads left:

Because she wasn't my first baby, I had the good sense to buy two of the same animal and in the beginning I managed to somewhat rotate them.

Which now left me with a bit of an imposter who needed to be "adapted" to his identical twin ... and at the end of it, I had a very happy little girl ...

All in a weekend's work!

Finished! and before baby's due date too

2010-10-30T12:58:00.002+02:00

I can hardly believe it! I finished this baby quilt before Baby K puts in an appearance. Obviously I have a few favourite blocks:

On the whole, this quilt was so much fun to make. I started off with inspiration from Pink Chalk Studio and just rolled with it.

Always being one for short cuts, I'm especially proud of the quilting along the binding which simultaneously attached the other side of the binding:

Quilt Exhibition in Holzgerlingen, Germany

2010-10-13T11:03:00.001+02:00

Vom 16. - 24. Oktober findet auf Burg Kalteneck die große Quilt-Ausstellung statt.

Den Flyer und weitere Infos gibt's hier und den abgebildeten Quilt sogar zu gewinnen. Ich habe ihn gesehen, er ist sensationell!

For all you international quilters in Southwest Germany: there is an exciting quilt exhibit on from this weekend. More details here - two fabulous quilts to be won in a charity raffle!

Retreat Report

2010-10-12T20:12:00.000+02:00

It's already been more than a week since I've been back from Herrenalb but I can report that it's been a great looong weekend. The Lady who Organises it did a very good job again at keeping everybody happy and everything ticking over nicely.

I've been lucky enough to share a table with experienced quilters who really know what they are doing and so it's been a good learning experience as well as a productive four days.

First on my agenda was a baby quilt called "Kai's Fruity Zoo" for my friend's son due next month:

This was really good fun to make because I planned very little other than taking black'n'white print outs of blocks posted a few weeks ago. Basically, I just went with the flow, had no plan and no process. And I really like the resulting top which has actually progressed much further than above picture implies. It's now quilted and just needs its binding putting on with one last line of quilting.

I also spend a lot of time on other projects like this one which will be a Zig Zag baby quilt when it's done:

and on this Disappearing Nine Patch:

It's quite Christmassy in colours, I just don't know what to make of it yet. But the individual blocks came together so quickly - I currently have 49 - that I may well make more with the "left-over" fabric I acquired.

And while we're on that seasonal topic, I can also show you this:

These will be candle mats, one to be donated to a charity auction, the other as a pressie for my mum.

Then I worked on a wall or door hanging for another baby boy:

He recently arrived and supposedly those flags above are nautical alphabet flags spelling his initials R - G - L. This one needs a back, two hooks or something similar for hanging and some minor quilting.

And I swear I was good and spend some time with this monster:

I think I finished another five or six of them large white sections. But it's a long way to go still.

Then obviously, much time was spend chatting, perusing the offerings of our favourite local quilt shop as well as the cross stitching shop.

Fat Quarterly: Holiday Edition Coming Soon...

2010-10-07T14:17:00.000+02:00

Fat Quarterly: Coming Soon...: "We have been working really hard over the last couple of months to bring you a special 'Holiday' Issue of Fat Quarterly. Packed to the bring..."

and I will be buying it. Although I have my Christmas crafty plans all lined up, it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas 2011 ;-)

Fat Quarterly Quilt Along - Dandelion Girl quilt

2010-10-05T14:15:00.002+02:00

For years, I have been looking for a suitable pattern for all my Dandelion Girl fabric and I think I may have found it ... Regardless of that, I like this idea of keeping the core of this block all in the same colour.

Originally uploaded by Jewel's Arm Candy.

Chunky Quilting

2010-10-01T23:19:00.001+02:00

Wadded, pinned and ready to go: I spend me evenings at the retreat with hand quilting - very Zen!

Imperfect but I like it!

2010-10-01T11:26:00.002+02:00

This is the first top I didn't plan to within an inch of its life and I like it very much.

Halfway through Day One

2010-09-30T19:58:00.001+02:00

I'm almost done with the blocks, just lacking inspiration for the last one.

So far, so good!

Finally finished!

2010-09-28T09:18:00.002+02:00

These have been hiding at the bottom of my must-mend bin for 22 (!) months now and this year they are the first Christmas items to be finished.

I have a plan or two for this year and we will see what comes of them. But having finished those feels very good ...

First Gift Idea for Christmas: Candle Mat

2010-09-27T11:09:00.002+02:00

Via the Quilting Gallery, I stumbled across this adorable Candle Mat by Sandi Andersen, which comes in a two-part tutorial: part 1 and part 2.

I volunteered to make a goodie for the charity auction at my club's International Brunch in December and I think this might just fit the bill!

So cute: sailboat mug rug

2010-09-22T11:04:00.001+02:00

Good Inspiration for Kai's Fruity Zoo

2010-09-21T12:00:00.000+02:00

Sometimes I abuse this blog a little and it becomes my notepad of sorts. This is one of those moments ... I stumbled across a post on the Pink Chalk blog and the bee blocks posted gave me some good ideas for Kai's baby quilt: See post here

Both photos from Flickr

The start of something new for someone new

2010-09-17T12:29:00.002+02:00

After years of waiting to be allowed to adopt Chinese baby girl and with a little extra help, my friend is expecting her first baby. When she told me about her journey I said that no matter which way the baby was "delivered", I'd make a baby quilt for her.

All of the fabrics are from stash, some even from a give-away hosted by Alissa. I'm hoping that this will add extra-good mojo for the kid.

This is one of my projects to take on the retreat later this month.

It's been way too long!

2010-09-11T14:32:00.002+02:00

There is no way that this monster of a job will be finished for the retreat ... but now that summer is almost over, I'm hoping to get back into hand quilting.

Urban Inspiration

2010-09-01T14:32:00.000+02:00

I can see a perfect quilt pattern in that Shanghainese facade!

The finished thing

2010-08-24T14:35:00.000+02:00

Crocheting Madness has changed form and is now finished. Don't ask me what exactly I am going to do with it but I'm sure I'll find a freezing soul to cover with it ...

On the hoop

2010-08-19T16:00:00.002+02:00

problem solved ... now I just need to find the motivation to hand-quilt!