Drunkard's Challenge...

...or something like that. Here's the small Drunkard's Path quiltlet, for the November Challenge on BQL, all finished & bound and so forth. Only one more to go (not that I've done them all, mind you ,but I've done the ones I wanted to, so that's fine for me). This one is 16" square rather than 12 (yes, I have to follow my own path, even in a challenge) but I think it still fits the bill.

Oriental Lanterns

Amidst the Junior Monopoly, loads of laundry and other demands on my time today (Saturday there was no sewing as there was another kids' poetry festival and a friend to lunch) I did actually manage to put another top together. This is yet another set of swap blocks which have been hanging around forever waiting to be put together. The good news is, this is the LAST SET of blocks from swaps. All the others have been used - a few of those tops still need to be finished and loads of them still need quilting, but there are no more block swap blocks hanging around. (Actually, that might be wrong - there might be half a set of framed batik 4 patches hanging around - I must check that.) I do have one or two more things which need making up, but they aren't swap blocks. Now, of course, they all need quilting!

I also managed to get some binding sewn on to the Drunkard's Path mini quilt, so hopefully will get it stitched down in the next few evenings and then that will be really finished. Woo hoo.

A little quilting

Literally a little - I didn't have a lot of time to work today, but luckily, this piece didn't require a lot of time. A basic wavy line with leaf motif - simple and straightforward. Binding tomorrow, perhaps? Well, I wouldn't hold my breath...

Drunkard's Path...

Now here's something you don't see often - I got these lovely fat quarters in the post today from Lisa in return for some cross-stitch stuff I sent her (ironically, she was my send-to partner for the Four Seasons Seasonal Swap and she received the log cabin Christmas Tree quilt from me today as well) and they were so perfect - great colours (accurate on the right - purple, not blue!) and very autumnal, that I felt I had to do something with them right away. Luckily, this desire coincided with several free hours this afternoon (kids all farmed out various places, so I didn't have to do the afternoon school run) so I knocked up a slightly free-form Drunkard's Path mini for the November BQL Challenge. I shall use the dark brown on the back and more red & purple to bind it - I might quilt with leaves. It's not big (I think 16" square), though it's a bit bigger than the 12" squares many of the BQL Challenge members are doing for their perpetual calendars.

Binding...

Finally got around to binding the little southwestern quilt which was last month's BQL challenge - and to binding this month's one, while I was at it. Both these pieces are small, so it's not too surprising I managed to finishe them up. I haven't yet started binding the batik sampler quilt, but the binding is at least attached, so perhaps I'll be able to make a start on it tomorrow night...

Quilting & pinning

Well, I did actually manage to do some work today - I quilted the little rainbow piece, to start with. I used the clamshell pattern which I used on the corn and beans quilt, which I really like. It's very time-consuming, so it's a good one to use on a small piece rather than a larger one. I chose to use a brightly variegated thread as I couldn't think what else to do - nothing really matches (or everything does, depending on how you look at it). I will bind the mini in the sky blue fabric (it's actually sky fabric - has clouds on it) to make it seem even more like a rainbow in the sky.



And I also managed to get this quilt pinned together, ready for quilting. Not totally sure what colour I will quilt it in (leaning towards purple) and what pattern (no idea), but I'm sure I will come up with something. Don't think I will work on it tomorrow as I feel like doing something else, but you never know. I kind of fancy piecing or maybe some mixed-media stuff - and I should start by attaching binding to the rainbow mini. Nice to be back sewing - I missed it - not so much on holiday in Scotland, as that's different anyway, but during the last few weeks' of school I was so busy I didn't get much done at all, and was left feeling a bit at a loose end.

Rainbow mini

Not a lot of sewing accomplished today as the kids and I spent the day at the Rural Life Centre (I've blogged about this on the family blog for those interested), but I did have a chance this morning to put together a bunch of HSTs I made yesterday. These will be for the August BQL Challenge, and the resulting piece may also suit another swap I am signing up to, with a rainbow theme. Yes, I'm planning these things carefully to kill as many birds as possible with as few stones*. Tomorrow I hope to have a chance to quilt the little piece - shouldn't take long as it is only 12x14".

I also hope to have a chance to pin together a larger piece for quilting - I bought some more batting a while back so I don't really have any excuse for not quilting something this month - just have to decide what. I know I have a couple of things upstairs which actually have backing fabrics all ready - pieced together, even - so it will probably be one of those. I will no doubt show it tomorrow, once I have made the decision...



*no actual birds were harmed in the writing of this post :)

Southwestern bargello

Today... This piece is for the July BQL Challenge - it's a mini bargello style quilt. I had some great southwestern style fabric with lizards on it which I used as a base fabric, then added the turquoises and browns. When I finished, it felt a bit like a river in the desert, so that's how I've quilted it - a river across the middle, then the ground - in swirls - at the bottom and some suns in the sky at the top. The binding is not as wonky as it appears - it's merely that I haven't actually sewn it down yet, it's just pulled to the back and pinned so I could make sure I liked it!



The other thing I sewed today was less exciting (for me), though Olivia was pleased with it.

BQL Challenge

So, here's what I did today - after spending ages thinking I had plenty of time to do this in June, I realised that June is quickly running out and I really should get started. It's a small piece, maybe 15x20" and although I enjoyed the McTavishing in the border, I'm not totally thrilled with the entire finished effect -it's too puffy in the middle where there's no quilting. I wish I'd pre-quilted the central panel before adding the strips, but it's too late for that now.

Handbags and elephants

Another productive day today - again with the bad weather there is so little incentive to go out anywhere, even to the park, so I get more sewing time. We did other stuff too, like playing some games and family reading time (a new daily ritual) but yes, there was some sewing.

First off, I put the handbags together and quilted them - the piece is about 15" square, so it didn't take long to quilt or to attach the binding, which I sewed down tonight while watching Dr Who and/or Little Miss Sunshine on telly.

The ATCs I made this afternoon in a downtime when everyone else seemed occupied with something and I was a bit restless. My stock was a bit low (i.e. none except the ones I made yesterday) so I wanted to get a few more on hand. Might do some tomorrow, too, if time and weather permit... The elephant paper is another I picked up at Millet's Farm, so I no longer need to feel at all sheepish about going into that shop!

I also put binding on the little class sample (this was spare binding left from something else - I have quite a bit of that, and think it might be useful for the class) and stitched that down during the telly this evening, too. And as both of those things were quite small, I also finished binding this baby quilt, which was about half done and has been knocking around for a while. Gotta love those weekends where you have no plans!

Variety show

Well, a nice productive day today, with lots of variety. The productivity is due to the rain, largely - if it had been nice, we might have gone somewhere; as it was, I organised a tons of photos on the computer & sewed; Geoff did some work, read, went for a run; the kids played on the computer & DS and did some work on their puffle houses (they have been creating with cardboard boxes & making little creatures out of pompoms - it's a whole town in the living room - I should really take some photos only they keep telling me they aren' t done yet...)

First order of businesss was this block in black, white and red, which is the March birthday block for Vicki - I know, it's late, but she's running behind herself, so I have put it on a back burner for a while. Finally got a chance (and the inspiration) to do it today).

And then I made some ATCs, using (among other things) a bit of the paper I bought at the craft shop at Millet's Farm on Wednesday at the bloggy picnic.

Then I went on to work on the April calendar page for the BQL challenge - handbags - which I shall put together & quilt tomorrow. It's only small - the blocks are about 5 inches square at the moment. The handles I shall leave free floating (mostly - will tack a couple down in places).

And finally, this piece on the right is a small sample for a "class" I'll be teaching - sort of. I offered to run an after-school quilting club next term (an hour once a week for 10 weeks) for the Year 4s. A lot of the teachers & TA's at school run clubs once a week - there's a minimal fee for the children to take part - and last term, there was virtually nothing for Olivia's year available, so I decided to step into the breach. I needed something which could be done by hand and which would be simple yet impressive. I decided to start with a small wall-hanging, the background being 6, 5" squares with small appliques (fused, then stitched over, but raw edge) with some handquilting. I confess to piecing the background on the machine for this sample (and likewise, will attach the binding on that way - in fact, I may take in my machine the week we do the binding - I will sew it down by hand of course, but can't quite see putting it on by hand - I know it's possible, but it's not necessary!) but I did do the quilting by hand (yes, really) to show that it can be done. It's not wonderful, but I think it's good enough not to be shown up by a room full of 8 & 9 year olds!

Challenge/Insertions

Two things done today - the March challenge for BQL, and a related piece, using another printed photograph but different style blocks. The March challenge, as you can see, featured a printed (onto fabric) photograph and a chequerboard of squares - I was pleased with how this little piece (12" square) came out - obviously it needs some binding, which I will get to soon, and I think I will go back and quilt around the edges of the photo to make it a little less puffy.

The other thing I did, I like even more - I've been wanting to play with the strip insertion technique as featured in Quilter's Playtime and other places - in fact, I've been wanting to for a long time, ever since I received a quilt from Julie in the Miniature Booty Swap (first round) which used the technique. Lately, I seem to keep seeing it everywhere, so it's been on my mental list. I had a second fabric photograph (first one was too small for the challenge quilt), so I decided to combine it with the insertion technique and this is the result - more or less. I kind of made parts of it up as I went along, I admit. Once it was assembled, it looked unbalanced, so I added the red strip down the side and then quilted it really heavily so that the strips would pop out. The red strip has a vine with leaves quilted into it rather than heavy quilting. Obviously, I have to bind this as well, but I'm looking forward to hanging it up somewhere and enjoying it.

Finished littles

Finally got the binding on these and sewn down tonight, so I can tick them off the list of projects. The one on the right (which I think of as "the red one" because it has a lot more red in it) will go home with my mother to live, as a birthday present (her birthday is early March). The other will stay here to live. These are 12" square, so even with my restrictions on wall-space I should be able to find a little place for it!

A little spare time

Not much, as I was busy baking a cake this morning, but while it was in the oven, I did manage to get these two quilted - they are only 12" square, so it didn't take long. Both are done with hearts with the background filled in around the hearts - on the red one (left) I did the hearts and the fill both as I went along; on the right hand one, I did columns of hearts on a string first, then went back and filled. I think both methods work ok, frankly. Not sure why hearts - I guess because it's February and everything seems Valentine-y at the moment.





And here is the triptych piece - it wasn't done today, but I did finish stitching the binding and sleeves last night, so it's ready to show properly. I hope the new owner (can't think who my swap partner is - will have to look it up again) likes them.

Snow Day, Mark 2

Another snow day today - back to normal tomorrow, though. But in the meantime, I spent a good part of the day sewing (though we did go out to collect a friend of Sarah's and get some donuts from Krispy Kreme - these two things are often connected, as Jess lives just up the road from the Krispy Kreme shop) and the kids mucked about outside playing snow games, having snowball fights and so on. But by the end of the day, they were getting a bit fractious, so it's good they'll be back to school tomorrow.

Today I worked on two different projects, both involving Japanese taupe type fabrics - both authentic taupes and some fabrics which aren't really, but look it, which is good enough for me. On the left is my dresser runner, whichI have been in the process of making for a long time, but which had kind of stalled. Today I finished the last dozen or so blocks and started putting them together - here, they are in twos and threes, so it's getting there. Might get it finished tomorrow morning.

On the right is the February challenge for BQL - sort of. I used the same sort of string pieced triangle blocks but have made mine smaller and put them together in a different kind of configuration. And yes, there are two, I know. Originally, I had planned to put them together differently and make a larger hanging, but as I was playing around with them, I decided I liked this arrangement better. Even if it did mean two. One I shall keep for myself, the other will be made up as a present for someone, so it won't go to waste. Not that they are quilted yet, of course, but at 12" square, that shouldn't take long.

Circles!

So, here's today - and yesterday - to show you. Today's work was this little quilt, which is for the BQL January Challenge. The challenge last year was bags - this year, the idea is to make a small quilt, either A4 or 12x12 each month, which can then slot into a calendar holder and provide a perpetual calendar. Each month, a different idea or technique will be given as the focus for the challenge. This month, the idea was overlapping circles, raw-edge appliqued (having fused the circles down beforehand). Personally, I didn't really want to make a 12x12 or A4 piece - I don't need another calendar and anyway, wanted to make something a little bigger - so although I followed the design & technique specs, I did change the size & shape a little - I added a border, for instance, and made 12 4" squares rather than 16 3" squares - and so on. Oh, and I killed two birds with one stone by using the stitching which holds the circles down as quilting, too. (I then meandered the background as filler). It's still a small piece - about 16"x20" - and it will fit perfectly on one of the doors in my hallway, along with some other little quilts. This was made using the fabric I received from Barbara the other day (how's that for speedy!) with some other bits thrown in from stash. There's still lots of the fabric left, of course, but at least I have the pleasure of looking at it on a regular basis.

And yesterday - I forgot to blog this - often I don't blog on a Friday as I am usually at school all day, so no work to show - totally forgot this came in the post - anyway, this is a selection of goodies from Karol-Ann, sent as postage reimbursement for some blocks I sent to her. The little wallet at the top right is a tea wallet - for holding a small selection of tea bags in your handbag...

And I did go back and put a back on and edge the house for January - I have spared you a photo of this - it looks exactly the same except for a neutral coloured satin stitch around the edge!