Stay-at-home Robin

I've had a couple of comments about my idea for doing a stay-at-home round robin, so I thought I'd post with my idea in a little more detail.

Here's what I plan to do: I am going to use the idea of the small-size wallhanging round robin that I've participated in over the last 15 months to do a add-a-bit project which will be like a round robin in some ways (you add a specified size piece in each round once a month or so) and not like a round robin in others (you keep your piece at home and only you work on it).

However, I'm not going to use the precise size from this round robin which I've done because a)it's not my original idea, b)I want to make a slightly different sized piece anyway and c) I'd like to fit it into a 12 month timeframe, rather than 15.

So, what I'm going to do is draw up the stages to fit my new size and timelength, and then start with July as the first month. I will publish the "instructions" for each month when I get to the month in question, and anyone who wants to follow along at home on their own is more than welcome to - I'll link back to anyone I know is following - but it's not official - it's totally up to you if you want to play or not. I'll probably devote a tab at the top of my blog page to the project.

If you want to play along, great. Barbara asked about collecting fabrics - the size I am envisaging is somewhere under 20 inches square, so I'm not sure how much collecting will be necessary, but I'm certainly not the type of girl to discourage anyone from buying fabric!

Anyway. Those are my ideas and I think it will be fun - even if no one else wants to join in I still plan to carry through and have a nice quilt at the end, with hopefuly, not much stress.

Bloggy Round Robins

During the past year and a half, I've been taking part in a round robin of quilting bloggers - just a small wallhanging size project, and each month, it arrives and you have to add a specific size piece or complete a step like "applique something". I've not been able to show them, though, as they've been being kept secret. Well, now they are beginning to filter their way home, so as the finished photos come through, I can share them (and of course, what work I did on them).

This piece above was the starting block for Debbie's quilt - the piece she made.



This is how the piece looked when it left me - I added the bottom row - a pieced pineapple type block and an unpieced piece of gridded batik fabric (not all additions needed to be pieced, as there would be applique and other embellishments added later).



And here is the finished piece. See how it got turned upside down at some point? Doesn't matter, though, it still works!




This piece, which is Jan's, I only have the photo of the finished item - can't find a photo of my step of it (computer died between then and now, so it might be lost because of that - or I might simply have forgotten to take one!). However, what I did was add what is now the top row - not sure if it was at the time or not - the three nine-patch blocks and the unpieced piece of floral fabric at top left.



And this piece, which is Nancy's (which she is going to bind herself, but hasn't yet done), came to me quite each on in the process - what I added was only the third step - and is the three shoo-fly blocks which are sort of in the middle row. When I got the piece it was only the monkey wrench block and the cool retro fabric square with the brown background. It's so interesting to see how these have changed along the way. I'll be sharing more as they come home to their owners.

The ladies involved have decided not to do another round of this round robin, which is fair enough, but I think I might carry on with it as an independent project myself once these are all finished - the steps are very small, even at the end, when you get somewhat larger ones like "quilt the top" - as the whole piece is only 13x18. I might not start until September, as I will be away for all of August - then again, I might start in July, as the August step would only be a 4x5 block. If I do, perhaps some of you would like to follow along at home as well - I think it would be a fairly painless way to make a nice wallhanging...

Lots of log cabins...

Worked today on some more log cabin blocks for that swap, which will be later this year - I now have 20 blocks, so however many people sign up for the swap, I should have enough to send - and enough to keep so that when I get mine back I can (in theory) make up a top more or less straight away. I have actually depleted my selection of hand-dye scraps fairly thoroughly, which is great. The only ones left are quite small scraps, which I'm sure I can use for something, someday...




I also made this sort-of log cabin block to go with Maria's blocks for the Around the World Quilt Bee - I haven't had a mailing of this in a while, as there had been a few hold-ups along the line, but finally got two in the post last week, and have now made a block for one of them. The other will come next week - it has a teapot/teacup/teatime theme, so I know more or less what I want to do for it, but I thought it would take longer, so I've done this one first.




...and here are all of the blocks for Maria's quilt together - there are a lot of stars in the recent months, but I went back to the earlier blocks for inspiration - anyway, I was in log cabin mode...

Beach Huts

I mentioned a few days ago that I had started a new cross-stitch - here it is - some very summery beach huts. Not making bad progress, really - we'll see how it goes. Perhaps I'll manage to get it finished sometime in summer.

I did lots of other sewing today - worked on the wonky log cabin blocks - but I haven't taken a photo yet, as I will probably work on them again tomorrow. I also have two blocks to do for the Around the World Quilt Bee - I haven't had a mailing in ages, but did finally get one and will do my best to get at least one block done within the next few days, and mailed along. I had intended to do it today, but as my entire workspace was covered in the scraps and blocks for the wonky log cabins, I thought I'd try to get those finished up and out of the way first. But as I have some time in the mornings next week, I should be able to get to it soon, regardless.

Wonky log cabins

Here are beginnings of some wonky log cabins made with hand-dye scraps. My dyeing group is going to swap these later in the year, and as I was looking for something fairly straightforward to piece today, I decided these were just the thing. They are going to be 12" blocks - at the moment they are 5-6", so we've got a ways to go. Hopefully it will make a bit of a dent in the basket in which I keep my hand-dye scraps!

I also spent a while today working on my quilt top for ALQS4 - I think I'm not going to blog that as I go along, though, and let everyone be surprised when they see the quilts on the swap blog. I've got pictures of 3 so far; soon I will start putting them up!

Little Red Houses

Finished! Completed tonight while watching telly. It needs a good pressing and then I will have to try to find a frame for it (it's an odd size, so may need custom framing). Sweet, isn't it?

And here's a reminder of where it stood last time I showed it:



Next on the (cross-stitch) cards, something else with houses, but a bit different - stay tuned :) Guess I'm in a house sort of mood at the moment!

Canal House C

This is the third house in the row - a canal house with a boat parked in front - makes sense! The house looks a little strange in the photo because of the 1/2" seam allowance on the sides - the edge of the roof is the edge of the house.



I decided to do the windows using Angelina this time - I made a piece of "fabric" from the fibres and then cut out the rectangles. This is fairly effective and not too fiddly; I might use it again in whole or in part for more windows. Our "required fabric" - the one we have to use a piece of in every house, I used for the outside of the boat in this house. I am trying to use it in a different place in each house, but I may run out of places before the end... The fabric I used for the body of the house is a piece of rust-dyed fabric (which someone else dyed).

This is a nice project to work on over a long time - because I am doing the houses one a time I am pretty much making them up as I go along (following the pattern of the house, of course) - mostly based on what fabric I can find that makes a suitable water and/or sky. I think the next one might have a pieced sky, as I found a nice bit of water fabric, which is big enough not to need to be pieced. I haven't done a pieced sky yet, so that will make a nice change. As for the windows, who knows - the only thing I know is that the more of them I can do in a way different from House A (appliqued frames - all that satin stitching!), the better.

Canal House C

Finally got a chance to do some work on the next canal house in the row - this one has a boat parked in front of it, so the photo shows the water (which is pieced, not heavily, but with some gentle curves - both because it looks nice and because the fabric was in a long strip), the sea wall, pavement and boat. The house I have yet to tackle. Have to think about how I want to do all those windows!

Finished Arty Quilt

Here's the little arty quilt, all bound. I'd like to hang this on the wall - but probably not all year as it's rather autumnal in colour and feel. Luckily, it's fairly small (36x28") , so there's a little chance it might actually happen...

Maths pillows

Yep, that's the excitement of my sewing day - covering some cushions with a mathematical-shape-themed fabric (question: who makes this fabric and why?). Ok, to be fair, I did do a few other things - I made binding for my arty quilt and attached it - I will sew it down later this week while watching telly, etc.

And I cut out the next house (just the paper bit) in the row of canal houses, with a hope of starting it later this week as well. I pulled out some fabric for the water, too, though I haven't sewed anything yet. Not sure what I'm doing with this one, but thought I'd start with a little wavy water (going to sew the pieces together in curves).

And that was it - lots of free time today, but mostly, I just sat in the sun and read. Because who knows how many days there will be to do just that?

Arty finish...

Here's the little quilt finished (well, quilted - the binding has still to go on of course). Someone asked how big it is - it's 36x28" - not big at all (which is good as it gives me a chance to perhaps actually find a place to hang it up when it's done), which is why I managed to finish it quickly - and why I quilted it with this pattern, which is quite labour intensive. I should have spent a little time making some cushion covers for Alex's classroom, but as the machine already had the darning foot and the right thread in for this, I thought I'd finish it first. Cushion covers on Sunday!

Cross stitch progress

A fair amount of progress this time - because I have been a good girl and done some while watching telly instead of just getting out the laptop. When I told myself I would cross-stitch for an hour before getting out the laptop, and held to it, I made a lot more progress on my cross-stitch - not surprisingly... Anyway, it's not too far off now - just the other tree and a bit more fencing, etc. A little detail around the bird. A few more weeks if I keep to my first hour is cross-stitch resolution!

Arty start...

Something a little arty - not a lot, just a little. This top has been knocking around for absolutely ages, so I decided it was time to do something with it. Also helped that it was small and I had suitable backing fabric for it! I pinned it together and started quilting it today in my small spare time - my favourite small quilt pattern - the clamshell one.

Finished/Reeds

Here's the promised photo of this quilt finished - it was hard to get the small boy off it long enough to photograph it and it has gone upstairs with him to bed. Bless. Someone asked about the fabrics - the solids came from my stash, but I think the noveties all came from his - or mostly, anyway. Today he enjoyed trying to work out which ones he still had some of in his stash...



The other thing I did today was to make some more reeds for the May block lotto. I made two back in the sneak peek period, but didn't have a chance to do any more until today. And here they are. I love these - perhaps I'll be lucky enough to be one of the winners...

Spring - for a moment, anyway

Finally, a day with some more time in the sewing room! First order of business was actually to get the binding on Alex's quilt, which I did - a photo of that tomorrow, once I've finished sewing it down.





But while out and about on errands today, I couldn't resist popping in to our local haberdashery/craft department, and picking up a few treats. This morning was lovely and sunny, and springlike - as you might expect from May - though it got less nice later. Still, I was enjoying the spring weather enough to tempt me into buying some spring-like goodies (and some other goodies as well, of course), which I later used to make a batch of ATCs...



I also picked up this scarf in a charity shop - I saw it hanging in the window and was tempted in to acquire it. The nice little old lady working in the shop commented on it, but I didn't have the heart to tell her I planned to cut it up and use it as the base for an art quilt (just as well, really, as it's made from some really dreadful material and has the most synthetic texture imagineably - it was the various shades of blue which attracted me, and the lettering, of course).

Triangle meander

...is what I used to quilt this - doesn't really look that finished in this photo, but the observant among you will note the lack of safety pins... It's not heavily quilted (for once) but it will certainly do for what it is - a quilt of favourite fabrics of a small boy. Binding soon, I hope!



A closeup of the triangle meander - not very exciting, but gives an idea - it's like a loop meander but with triangles instead of loops. It's actually a hard one to do on the DSM as you need to move the quilt quite freely, which I find tougher under the DSM - probably why I usually end up doing dense quilting - not so much need to always be travelling large distances!

Giveaway results

Many thanks to all of you who offered to home my lonely, unwanted blocks recently. There was lots of response, so I have had to divide the blocks up based on a variety of factors - balance, long-term blog devotion, what you intend to do with the blocks, and ultimately, a little randomness.  But because there were only 4 different sets of blocks and lots of people offering to rehome them, in the end, some of you haven't got any blocks - sorry about that, but do keep visiting anyway, lol. I'm sure, knowing me, there will be more in future!

So - leftover black and bright blocks from the birthday swap with be going to live with  Dagmar. (Quiltmoose) - Dagmar - can you send me your address. I probably have it somewhere, but it's too much like hard work to find it, if I do!



The black and white HST blocks will be going to live with Margaret - not only is Margaret a longtime reader and fellow swap hostess, but she's making a charity quilt with an Olivia theme.  Having an Olivia myself (who predates the books, though not by much), how could I resist? Olivia, Queen of the Trampoline! I'll get them in the post to you soon, Margaret.



The little log cabin blocks will be going to live with Gene, who comments on my blog nearly every day I write something, bless him. I hope you can find a good use for them, Gene!  Send me your address and I'll get them in the post to you soon.




And finally, the group of orphan and miscellaneous blocks will be going to Lisa (miniaturequilter), who again is  a long time reader and commented and who I've swapped with a number of times. I hope you'll be able to find lots of interesting things to do with them, Lisa - and I know if there are blocks you know you won't use, there are loads of people who would happily re-re-home them for you!

Reeds and more

Well, there was no sewing today, as we were due to meet up with friends for a walk and picnic - given the horribleness of the weather, we decided a pub lunch was more in order than a picnic, but at least the rain let up enough to do our walk. Which was nice - but with most of the day out, no sewing. So, here are a few other things to show - two blocks for the May Block Lotto, which I made last week during the sneak peek period. I love these blocks - and I am going to make some more for the lotto, but only had time to do a few during the sneak peek period...




And, as it's been a long time since I did a cross-stitch update, I thought I'd share that - the main reason being that I haven't done much lately. But there has been some progress since I last showed it, and now that I've got it back out, it may progress a bit more...

Shoes - really really done

So, here they are - finished, including the binding. Shoes. The infamous (to some) shoe quilt will be ready to travel over the seas this summer and go to its new home... Not much else to say, really! I did start quilting Alex's quilt today, but I'll show a photo later as it's still precariously balanced upstairs under the machine. Anyway, it's not that exciting as it's only a simple triangle meander...

UFO progress

I forgot to post this yesterday - it's one of the things I worked on. First, I made the binding and attached it to the shoe quilt, which I will probably finish off completely this weekend. Then, I pieced together the backing for this quilt (piecing backing is probably - no, definitely - my least favourite aspect of quilting!) and layered and pinned it. No idea when I will get around to quilting it - probably not this weekend, as there are other things waiting to be done. But at least it's there and ready...