Silver Lining - A Mini Quilt

About 4 weeks ago I was soooo excited about the Modern Mini Challenge at Ellison Lane Quilts, I was inspired by the daily blogs I was reading and I had roughly two tonnes of sketches of all these amazing mini quilts I could make... and then I forgot all about it, until saturday morning. When decided to forget about the scenic art quilts I had sketched (as I didnt have the scraps I needed) and I had instead narrowed it down to 2 blocks that I have been itching to try but when I was glancing through the link up I saw that both my blocks had already been done - and one had been done more than once. Not wanting to copy any one else's efforts I hatched a new plan to create a mug rug with a technique I haven't had the courage to try it; reverse applique.

My finished mug rug is 7" x 15" so I am not sure if it qualifies as a mug rug anymore, my smaller version did not have enough detail and although the technique of reverse quilting was ok, even I could not tell what the picture was supposed to be! Hopefully this one is a little more clear :)

I found a cute silhouette shape of a couple under an umbrella and go to work and at 9.30 tonight it is finally quilted, bound and photographed and soon to be entered into the competition! Woohoo!

Stupidly I have left it too late to get a daylight shot, but luckily the colours aren't far off.

For the quilting, I had hoped to use a raindrop pattern, but I chickened out as I haven't had time to practice with my free motion quilting needle at all and settled on a dense 1/4" straight line quilting for the ground, leaving the rest mostly unquilted which hopefully gives it a billowing cloudy feeling. The quilting is quite clear on the back, I had toyed with using blue to make sure it was visible but I am glad I didn't as the white is clear enough for my liking.

And as a bonus, it is the first itemI have made entirely of scraps, yey for finally having enough of a stash that I can do something with it... even if I can't do a street scene of my little town- yet! Maybe check back in a year or two to see if I manage that one :)

I know it is not a patch on a lot of the minis in the pool, some of which are amazing, but I am pleased to say that I decided early on that I wanted to be a part of the mini fun and for once I made sure I finished in time, now as for the swoon-a-long (I'm blaming my lack of stash and slow fabric ordering for loosing momentum on that one but at least I am fully equipped when I do have the time.)

Now back to the many pieces of curio quilting.

J x

EDIT: link 198, that's a lucky number, right?!

Winter Stitching Update #1

1. finish my woolly christmas tree garland (13 down, 7 to go)
                no update to report

2. wrap some woolly wreaths, from ChristopherAndTia
                fail!

3. make a series of felt stockings for the garland, by Dutch Blue
                maybe next week?

4. trio of applique and embroidery christmas scenes (when Helen brings some hoops back from China for me to play with) by Pilli Pilli
                no embroidery yet, but my hoops are on their merry travels to England!

5. stay up to date with my Brit Bee (and finish October's this week)
                woohoo success!!! I finished October's block this morning and it is on it's way to Laura, I will             .              do a post on the blocks after she has received them.

6. enjoy the local quilting festival on Sunday 23rd, by Lutterworth Piecemakers
                check out the post that I did last weekend to see some of the great quilts I saw, it was a lovely             .               exhibition!

7. quilt and bind Numero Uno
                quilting - check, binding - nearly!

8. quilt and bind it's twin; Uno Gemelo (sticking with the spanish naming theme for these babies)
                no chance, must buy more batting

9. quilt and bind my Baby Mystery Mixtape
                ditto

10. start (and finish the big sister quilt)

                nope

11. cushion for Nan of all her grandchildren's handprints

                started, but very little progress.

12. decide what I want for my Bee month and order the fabric

                I think I have decided, been researching like mad this week, but I need to try it out myself              .               before I inflict it on the lovely Bee ladies!

13. finish the embroidery lettering tutorial, over at Needle N Thread I started months ago!

                I'm sure I will get around to this eventually...

14. write my winter stitching list

                another checked item!

so the updated list looks like this;

1. finish my woolly christmas tree garland (13 down, 7 to go)

2. wrap some woolly wreaths, from ChristopherAndTia

3. make a series of felt stockings for the garland, by Dutch Blue

4. trio of applique and embroidery christmas scenes (when Helen brings some hoops back from China for me to play with) by Pilli Pilli

5. stay up to date with my Brit Bee

7. bind Numero Uno

8. quilt and bind it's twin; Uno Gemelo (sticking with the spanish naming theme for these babies)

9. quilt and bind my Baby Mystery Mixtape 

10. start (and finish the big sister quilt)

11. cushion for Nan of all her grandchildren's handprints

12. decide what I want for my Bee month and order the fabric

13. finish the embroidery lettering tutorial, over at Needle N Thread I started months ago!

I thought I had made much more progress than this :( better luck next week!

Jennie x

An achievement... or two

Having had an awful time at work the last few weeks, I have finally had the courage to stand up to my boss and tell him that I am not coming back in until he sorts himself out, which means I have had a week off to play and while the first few days were all about sorting out the house and looking after my family, friday was all about me and I certainly kept myself busy!

First, I dragged out the Baby Mixtape quilt which has been sitting quietly in my dining room waiting for me, and I have 100% finished the piecing for the top.

Now I just have to go out to buy the sheet for the backing (that might have to wait a few weeks until payday though as I allowed myself to buy these beauties online...)

             

I have been eyeing up Etchings for ages and I just couldn't wait any longer, who knows when it's going to arrive- but at least I can be happy that it is on it's way!!!

But in the meantime I need to practice my quilting on this guy...

who has been in the wings for far too long, but I am so pleased that I still like him! Originally this was going to be the front of a double sided quilt in matching fabrics, so I have been adding borders to the back panel to get the sizes right, but now I have changed my mind and I am pretty sure I need some extra quilting practice so I bought plenty of neutral backing to make two yummy lap quilts that might actually get used.

Part of the decision came when I realised that I think I prefer the back to the front and I don't think I could bear to use it if I liked both sides- I am not that confident that my seams will hold!

Notice the extra pieced borders, I should have measured the length before going to buy fabric; note that 44" isn't as long as you think and that a quarter probably isn't enough... lesson learnt! 

Hopefully, quilting this is on the cards for today, after a long walk over the fields with this guy,

He needs a bit of tlc, but the lucky guy does have his first costume all ready for Halloween. Now, normally I am dead against dogs in clothes (unless they are supposed to be useful, like a snuggly fleecy jacket for a short haired dog in the snow) but I saw this toddle pumpkin costume in Wilkinsons and decided to take my first stab at clothing alterations. It turned out to be dead simple; just a few ripped seams and some alterations to the sleeves and waistband, with an additional tie ribbon around his middle and he's all set to go...

Not sure what to do with the matching hat though...

What do you think?

Jx

PS. Don't worry Miss October, your blocks are works in progress, hopefully I will get them done tomorrow!

Now off to walk this doggy and try to shift my cold!

Another busy day

Wooo, I am glad to report that I have finished my June blocks too! Trudi and Fiona, you can commence checking you letter boxes in eager anticipation (or backing away in fear, as the case may be) because both sets of blocks are on their way!

Here is a sneaky preview of Fiona's finished block...

Now that I am finally up to speed, I was allowed to do some playing, I have a single fat quarter from Verna that I have been holding for some time and I absolutely needed a new pin cushion, so ta-da!

I love these jars, I have been saving them for a while, but we just don't get through jam quick enough, they have a curved edge and lock neatly together all in a row- I think I will be needing some co-ordinating versions of this!

and what is a new pin cushion, without a needle case?!

I just love the matchy-ness!

In case you are wondering I used a tutorial from Jennifer Dawn for the pin cushion, although after making a yoyo looking shape, I realised that 5" was not enough of a diameter for my jar and I ended up opening the circle and hot gluing the edges around the lid and then covering the rough edges with my ribbon. and I used a tutorial from My Three Sons to get me started the needle case, but as I didn't have any hexies to use, I fussy cut a piece of my pattern for the front and back.

J x

Beginning a birthday present

I sat down last night to start making a birthday present for a friend who loves to bake and I couldn't think of anything better for her than an apron and hat! I found a pattern for the hat here while googling madly (you can see it listed under her tutorials) as I couldn't be bothered with the maths although I altered some of the sizes and I am going to leave off the velcro fastening and even with my slow beginner style it only took about an hour and a half, although I did have some help...

but he decided it was too much like hard work and soon fell asleep, leaving me to carry on alone.

There was a lot of finger pricking when I was trying to fix the pleats; until I realised that I should be pinning down the brim, and magically there were no more sharp edges for me to hurt myself on- duh!

All in all I am pleased with it and can't wait to show my friend; I hope he loves it as much as I do (and my model; Jen de Bear thinks it fits perfectly too and thinks she is getting to keep it)

Next up is a cute flirty apron to complete the set, I have found a great one that I will be testing and showing you in the next few days!

Thank you for stopping by,

J x

edit: linking up to the sundae scoop party at I <3 naptime
and fabric tuesday at quiltstory

Introducing Hans

I have been working on a little project for a special little girl that I will share in a few days. 

In the meantime I thought I would share a project I completed just before Christmas, its Hans my Wise Old Owl, adapted from a tutorial at Toads Treasures

Hope you like him :)

J