Abstract Art

Well, as I had more time than expected today (the trip to the airport took no time at all - no traffic) I decided to go ahead and cut up the fabric from yesterday and try something a little modern and funky with it. On the whole, I think I like it. Olivia also really likes it (her colours) so it may end up on the wall in their room - they have a space which is fairly well suited. Of course, it has to be quilted & bound first!

Tree skirt, etc

Finished the blocks for the tree skirt today. Other than making sure the centres alternate green/red and making sure there aren't too many of the same fabrics next to one another, I am NOT going to obsess about placement with this piece. After all, one could be there for days, tweaking. Which would be foolish.



And, because I need a new project (ha), here's some fabric I bought today. With the weather the way it is (completely crap) we needed a bit of a distraction - somewhere to get out to for a short while, which wasn't actually outside, so we decided on a trip to the LQS. I needed some batting as well (bought, but not shown - it looks like batting) but I couldn't resist this fabric and some toning colours. I bought a metre of the print and 5 FQs and will make something small with it. Perhaps even soon, though I would like to piece together the homespun blocks soon as well.

Recycled Xmas bits

I know, these ATCs don't much look like stuff recycled from Christmas, but the background paper is from a present (bath stuff from Lush - nice) and the ribbon is from our Christmas crackers. All the rest of the bits and pieces are from stash, admittedly, but it's a good start on using some of the bits I put away from the holidays...

Of these 6 ATCs, one is off for a trade with a friend in France, one will go to the January birthday girl in my Birthday ATC swap, and the other four will probably be up for offer as individual trades in the new year. I suppose I might keep one back as an emergency supply (for all those times you need an ATC right now!) but this year, I am hoping to make one batch of 6 (or so) ATCs each month for my swap - that shouldn't be too much to keep up with, right? Well, a girl can dream...

Block Lotto

So, although it's not yet January, I am actually allowed to post my blocks for this sneak peek of the lotto. The blocks we are making in January are 8.5" (8" finished) freeform tic-tac-toe blocks, using WOW and brights. These are fun and fairly easy - why not join us & play along!

I also have made some more of the homespun blocks for the tree skirt, but thought I'd show something different today!

Christmas Flower

Here's what I did today, in addition to making a few more homespun blocks. I had this block already, from a swap I was in. It's a lovely block - all the pieces are formed from folding the fabric, so it has a lot of texture to it. All I did was layer it up, quilt a few feathers down the sides, and hey presto, mini quilt.

A bit more homespun

I didn't do much work on Monday, as we decided on an impromptu trip to Ikea - which, surprisingly, was nearly empty. That was great, as it meant that instead of a brief, frantic look at desks for the girls' room, we were able to spend a while looking at them and chairs, and actually buying one (and a chair) to take home. And put together - but no sewing. On the other hand, I did have Swedish meatballs for lunch, so who can complain?

Anyway, this sewing lack was compensated for yesterday and today, when I was actually able to do some more blocks for the homespun tree skirt. It may not look like a lot of blocks, but in addition to sewing this handful, I did manage to cut all the pieces for all the rest of the blocks - which is a LOT of cutting! I decided in the end to go ahead and incorporate the two black homespun pieces, partly because I like them, and partly because I didn't have quite enough fabric without them. I think it will work nicely, though.

Not sure I will have much to show over the next few days - think I might be busy with other things, especially on Friday! - but I hope to post again before long. In the meantime, happy Christmas (or whatever holiday you might celebrate) to you all!

Homespun Christmas

Wow - two days in a row with sewing time - must be the holidays, LOL. I decided today to use a bit of the fabric I got yesterday to make some little blocks - I pulled out the red and green homespuns (and left the black ones for now) and a few more Christmassy centres, and have made 16, 6 inch blocks. I was originally going to make them into a little mini quilt, but actually, I think I might make some more and work up a tree-skirt with them. Our friends who we visited on Friday always have a nice tree, but don't have a skirt to go around the base (that's a bit more of an American thing, I think) - I reckon that would be a good Christmas present for next year - and who knows, if I start now, I might actually get it done by then... Just need to work out how many 6 inch blocks I need for a tree skirt - I have a feeling it will be a lot! (Seriously, maybe 8x8 would do it? They are 6" unfinished, so that would give a 44" square piece. I should get my skirt out and measure it, but it's under the tree, covered with presents, so it's not exactly convenient!)

Quilting content..

Yes, it's been a while since there was any. One of the disadvantages to working more in school is having less time to sew and quilt, but then, that's how it goes... Today, though, I took myself off upstairs so that some secret Christmas activity involving sellotape and scissors could take place, and while that was happening, quilted up this baby quilt for a colleague of Geoff's who will be going on maternity leave in January. For once, I have known about this for months, just not had time to do anything about it! I also attached the binding (scrappy) but have not yet sewn it down, as you can tell. The quilting pattern is also scrappy - I did a number of different things on it, as the mood took them - they are in bands across the quilt (diagonally) - swirls, meandering, pebbles, a rectangular meander, clamshells, etc. It's been so long since I quilted anything that it felt really strange!



I also got this lovely parcel in the post today from a member of my ATC birthday swap - I got an ATC of course, but also a couple of feedsacks and a big selection of country plaids & similar fabrics. Will have to plan something to do with those as they go together so well it would be a shame to separate them!

Hark the herald

No sewing to show again (sigh), but at least I can show some progress on the cross-stitch. It's not that I didn't get things done this weekend, but between a little shopping with the girls, putting up the tree, wrapping some presents and making a million Christmas cookies, etc, there was no time to sew. It will get better after Christmas, though, I'm sure.

Looking at these photos, I really should do the face of the red angel - it's sort of weird that she doesn't have one!

More ATCs in...

In the last few days, I've had a few more ATCs in the post - this one above is from Joy in Australia. Below, one from Cindy and one from Carol. 2010 swap is still open if you are interested!

Deja vu?

I promise this is not a recycled photo of the quilt I made for the Four Seasons Christmas swap - this is actually the second top (the blocks for which were made at the same time as those for the first), finally put together. I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen before Christmas this year - there's no guarantee it will be quilted by Christmas, of course, but at least it's getting closer.

Just as well I have this to show, though, as the other thing that I worked on, I can't show - my round for the Bloggers' Round Robin. The quilt top I worked on was Julie's, and it has an oriental theme, and I added some applique - and that's all I can say! Wish I could show all these pieces, as they are great to work on...

A couple more show and tell items tomorrow - two more recently received ATCs from my swap - I won't post them now, though, as it's unlikely I will get anything worked on tomorrow (though it's likely to be a much less busy week than this one was, so you never know) - and that way, there will be at least something to share!