Back to the BOM

I began a BOM (block of the month) quilt kit when my almost 2 year old was only a few weeks old. Or maybe before that? Anyway, it was 12 blocks, 12 months. Yes, I know it's been more like 20, but I'm still working on that final block lol.
Any sewist will know that projects get moved around on the priority list (and I have a tub of things I once started). BUT! I got my final block out again this week, after finishing a quilt top for my friend who got married this year. (U like it?)


I designed it to make the most of a fat quarter stack a friend gave me. The triangles were supposed to look all uneven but I'm so anal I had to make them all 45 degrees and 60 degrees. So now they just look like bad seams. Ah well.
Anyway, I'd embroidered the word that goes in the final block, so I thought I was further along in progress than I was.
Albeit disappointing to find I was at the beginning, familiarising myself with the block reminded me of how much I had a crush on the fabric range and I fell in love with it all over again.
I wrote this whole blog post yesterday, but in the cyber trip from my phone to the net it didn't survive. The good news is I've already fused and sewn much of the block in the meantime. Next stop is three Ohio stars which I like the look of, but don't really like the constant need for pressing and cutting a bunch of pieces. Anyway, [thinking positively], they're the last ones I'll have to do for a while.
It just so happens that we get our new bed tomorrow, so I will need to get this quilt finished and soon display it on our new bed!!
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I'm really excited because two close friends are getting new sewing machines for Christmas!
Mums is an upgrade, and my bridesmaid is beginning to wonder what hit her in the sewing world as it's her first ever machine!!
She is so excited, she is already planning blogs and pages and logos for sharing her creations. I can't wait to share more details with you, but I'll simply have to.

What else I've been up to......
I've been updating with brief sentences and photos on my facebook page rather than blogging. If you're on Facebook, be sure to join me and hopefully I will make you laugh with something relatable or a crafty picture!

Other finishes:



I made a bunch of rice filled shooting stars for my mother's group friends



I made this adorable quilted teacup pouch using an instant download pattern from patchwork pottery. I want to make more, aren't they cute?!



Some fleece shapes filled with rice for my family currently travelling Europe. 25sec in the microwave and these will help keep fingers toasty inside jacket pockets on those days where the weather forecast begins with a minus symbol!



Here are my friends from Wyong Patchwork & Quilting enjoying the festivities.

Merry Christmas guys, and all the best wishes for 2013!

posted from Bloggeroid

A whole lotta progress goin' on

After sitting next to this delicious quilt on Saturday I simply couldn't resist the fabric so this is my new uncuttable.

I've been working on the second last block of my quilt "Happiness will surround you" by Lenora Jenkins.
Since the last block fabric has arrived, we don't have the impending 'next block arrival' to keep us on our toes. But I am going to be glad to see the finished product on my bed. We need something new this Winter, I say!

I sent over 2kg of my scraps to Kate of Kwilts by Kate today. She kindly paid for the satchel and I hope she gets something good out of it. Below is the best piece of scrap, and I warned her there were a lot of florals, but she's got a 3kg satchel full, so it might be ok

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I've sent off my mug rugs from Quilting Mumma's swap, over the Pacific Ocean they go, and I hope the recipients like them.
This one is for Jennifer of That Girl That Quilt

On the back is "Cass The Coolest" (but quickly remembered how long it takes to embroider something & slapped myself for beginning it).

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And this one is for Karen of sewmuch2luv and I got the idea from this pin of mine

Notice how great my corners are? I had always followed sewing instructions for corners which kept the needle down, previously.
I recently noticed in Australian Quilter's Companion that they said to start your corner stitching (after doing that foldy thing) right from the top edge. Of course I have the utmost respect for AQC magazine and I tried it. Well feel free to just scroll back to see the crappy corners on Jennifer's mug rug to see the process I'll never be following again!

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I'm getting back into the Craftsy Block of the month again. I had intended to use the same fabric range throughout ("Make life" by Sweetwater) and sew all the blocks into a sampler quilt in the end if I don't run out of fabric.

It bothered me that the blocks don't all go together (some modern some traditional) but that's what irks me about samplers full stop, I prefer tesselation quilts. Anyway, I digress.
Here are all my blocks:
January:

February:

March:

And the second March block is still coming. I cut my "background squares" at 4 1/2 inches instead of 6 1/2 inches 'cause I wasn't paying enough atttention.
Thankfully I realised before any hard work went in though ....Never mind, this is how we sewists roll. At least I didn't have to unpick, see? There's ALWAYS a silver lining LOL.

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And my Threads N Mess rainbow charm swap arrived today Yay!! If you haven't got yours, and don't want to see (a really dull crap) picture of the charms I warn you look away now.

Lucky it didn't burst any more than this, thanks to Danielle for a bit of stickytape inside to help hold the fabric piles tightly.

I'm going to make a bunch of starflower blocks with them :-D Thanks for joining me XO

Block of the month, 7 done

A deadline can be a wonderful thing. My block of the month was a bit neglected due to the quick turnover of other projects this month.
When I realised that the next month's kit arrival would mean I'd have two packages unopened, I didn't want that to happen!

So I jumped onto it and finished all I could yesterday. Much easier with the iron nearby & my smaller ruler.
This means now I'm midway thru the current month which I'm much happier about.
Here's the pic of the block I did in one day (not including embroidery which I'd already done).

In line with the law of attraction I chose the word "Allow" in place of "Live".

posted from Bloggeroid

Block of the month update - 6 blocks done

The block of the month quilt I began in September last year is coming along nicely (so say I).

I have only just begun to see some of the elements which probably drew me to the quilt in the first place.
I've realised that the words form a circular ring, which I knew, but the embroidered image next to the word is always on the outer edge of the quilt.

I love that the corner squares all have a strong deep red component to make a bold commitment to the outer edges.

The 4 inch stars which seemed to sporadically spread through the quilt actually form a ring as well, although I cheated with my centre block because I didn't want to have to complete four 4in squares LOL. There is a lot of ironing and trimming in them.
Same goes for the appliqued shapes.

Since I moved my sewing space, I've found it less daunting to do work that needs ironing. I've also found that block 7 seemed to come together a cinch! I have cut every piece already, and I attribute the speed of block 7 to my 4.5 inch ruler. Not having to lug the 24in whopper over each 2in sq certainly helps!!

I changed another embroidered word again as well. Allow instead of Live. This is in line with the law of attraction teachings which I just love. Those teachings are also why I changed:
and happiness WILL surround you
to
and happiness surrounds you.
As to draw or manifest something into your present, you need to use present tense. If you always say it *will* happen, you're keeping it consistently in the future rather than inviting it into your present ...Ok that could have been a bit heavy for some of you, but I'm sure some will get it.

I also kinda convinced Ally to change one of her words too. She is getting me to do the embroidered words on her quilt because I don't mind getting to hers once mine are done, and she's over the embroidery component LOL.

I think I'll keep the rest the same. I think "Share", "Forgive", and "Enjoy" are all great words preceding "and happiness surrounds you".
And on that note, I'll say goodbye for another post. Thanks for visiting, see you again soon.

Original BOM post here

Coming soon:

• My sewing space/s
  
• The names of the first 6 travelling stash recipients, and all recipients' blog addresses!
  

Block of the month eagerness

I did as much as I could do on my block of the month while on holiday.
Between beach visits and trips around the shops, sleeping, a few bevvies and taking care of an almost one year old munchkin, I pre stitched the borders for the remaining words which are yet to be received, and finished the word Help.
I adjusted the watering can image because I thought my interpretation of Lenora's image would look too busy. I've done most of my pics using straight stitch because I keep forgetting to read the key.
I began the flowers doing chain stitch daisy centres. Once they were all done, I somehow saw them as yellow roses so I built on them to get what you see, and did stems with leaves or thorns (whatever u want). I showed my husband and that's when it dawned on me that yellow roses are my favourite! It's funny how the law of attraction works when you least expect it.

posted from Bloggeroid

Block of the month update - 4 and a half blocks done

Here is the update of the quilt I'm making block by block, as first mentioned in this blog

My Block of the month

After a few years of patchworking, I finally found a block of the month project that I liked enough to actually buy into long term, and it turns out my good friend Ally was also under its spell.
As we're both Mums of new babies this year, it's a huge challenge we accepted together. It has been a lot of fun racing the clock to both get the blocks progressing, and I can't believe our boys will be about 1 year old when we finish this quilt. It's one with a lot of love sewn in!

She has shown her progress at her blog Sunshine and Stitching, and I thought I'd better share my progress with you too!

The design is by Lenora Jenkins and is supposed to look like this in the end...

Cute Huh?
From Gum Valley Patchwork, Australia

Block one.... from humble beginnings:

came completion of this:

Block two is coming along slowly, I've still got about a week til crunch time when block 3 is expected to pounce into my letter box :-)

The embroidered words this month are "Love" and "Hope".
Love is done, Hope still has half a dove to go, but on track.
I cut a piece of fabric off which APPARENTLY was needed to frame "hope" ...I think I still have the scrap of fabric which didn't look important at the time, and I'm just waiting for the universe to give it back ;-)

So far this quilt has enabled me to learn two new skills: Needleturn applique and chain stitch embroidery stitch.
I also used a clever way of getting a perfect circle SUPER easy to applique that I stole from http://youtu.be/8ChE9UBWA8A