WIP Wednesday - Spring has sprung!

After the bedlam of the Easter break it's great to be back in routine and have some quiet time in the afternoons to rediscover my sewing mojo.

I've been reading how organised everyone is and how they're ticking items off their finish-along list already, you know who you are!

My Spring Whimsy quilt is pretty much all pieced, I just need to put a little bit more white around the edges. I have ordered the wadding and backing so there will not be anymore progress for a couple of days on this one until it arrives.

And don't you just love it when friends come around, see the blocks hanging on the design wall (sounds posh but is really just a piece of wadding held up by trouser hangers suspended on picture hooks!) and bagsy the quilt before it's even pieced! And she said she'd pay me for it as well! Result!

Another item on my Finish-along list is to resurrect my kaleidoscope blocks which were a complete failure at my last attempt. I went back online and printed the templates again, re-read all the instructions, comments & feedback and voila! Two lovely blocks so far!

I think this particular project was about overcoming the fear that I couldn't do it and mentally being in the right place to try again.  I was able to recut the triangles I had previously cut to the wrong size which I am very relieved about because I DID NOT want my Denyse Schmidt prints to go to waste!

Stats:
No progress this week year so far on the;
Solids HST Diamond Quilt - needs re-basting as I've changed my mind about the backing fabric!
Black and White King Size Bed Quilt - completed quilt top, partial quilt back
Dresden Plate - partial quilt top
Kids T-shirt Memory Quilt - some t shirts cut....

Finishes this week: 0
New Projects this week: 0
In Progress: 7

Linking up with Freshly Pieced

Nah nah ne nah nah!

No I'm not impersonating a fire engine! I'm doing that very annoying 'look what i've won' noise!!!!!!

The very lovely and super talented Laurie Wisbrun was having a giveaway of her new Modern Whimsy line and I won!!! I'm no #86!!! I'm very excited. My package came in super quick time from the States and also included the Bejeweled pattern by Amanda Murphy.

The prints are so spring-like with lambs, rabbits, swans... but they'll have to wait as my next project will be to finally cut into my FQ stack of Laurie's Tufted Tweets.

And whilst we're on the subject of lovely and super talented ladies, Lily's Quilts is hosting the Small Blog Meet at the moment, so if like me you have fewer than 50 followers why not hop over there and link up, take a look at some other small blogs and make some new friends!

Urban Circus Rag Quilt

I loved the Laurie Wisbrun fabric line the moment I saw it, but it was hard to get hold of the blue 'earth' colourway so I ended up with more of the yellow & green 'spring' prints.

I knew I wanted to rag quilt it and then along came a tutorial from Moda Bakeshop 'A Day in Central Park' - uh oh, dilemma! I love central park and was busily collecting those prints too... but stuck to the plan.

This is the first time I've done 'quilt as you go' blocks, and these were so easy with just 2 diagonal quilting lines on each block. It was when I started joining the squares that my brain went a little screwy! You have to stitch them with the back sides together and I'm so used to 'right sides together' that the seam ripper came out a few times I can tell you!

I was going to back it in the busiest of the prints, the one with the circles and stripes but realised I didn't have enough so out came the seam ripper and instead I went for Kona Corn Yellow and Chartreuse.

Why is it as soon as a quilt goes outside for photos all the bugs in the world land on it?!?!?!

I'm going to add at least one, maybe 2 more rows as soon as my order of wadding arrives. It's currently 36" x 36" square.

I need to order some of those sprung loaded fiskars scissors for all the snipping ahead! and I'll make up some scrappy binding I think.

I think it looks really bright and cheery and I can't wait to hear what everyone else thinks so please leave me a comment.

Opinions Please...

I don't have a WIP Wednesday this week :o(
My dresden is no further on, and I'm making another weighted pin cushion organiser for mum but you've seen them both before...

I'm thinking of making a sewing machine cover so I thought I'd head on over to Flikr and see what could be found, here's where you all come in:

Full Cover?

1. No. 644, 2. sewing machine cover packed, 3. sewing machine cover, 4. MMM Swap Machine Cover, 5. sewing machine cover right side, 6. Sewing Machine Cover, 7. Sewing machine cover in 'Hope Valley', 8. Sewing Machine Cover, 9. Sewing Machine Cover view, 10. sewingcornerwithnewcover, 11. uhgmixercovertwosides12. Not available

Or up and over, tied at the sides?

1. Sewing machine cover, 2. WiP: Sewing Machine Cover, 3. Little Red Riding Hood, 4. {Urban} Home Goods Swap - Thank you!, 5. Retro Ruler Sewing Machine Cover, 6. sewing machine, 7. Rainbow mosaic machine cover 2, 8. UHG Swap Sewing Machine Cover, 9. Hexagon Sewing Machine cover, 10. Valentine's Sewing Machine Cover, 11. NestingChairs-Sewing-Machine-Cover-003, 12. sewing machine cover front, 13. Sewing machine cover - back side, 14. Sewing Machine Cover, 15. Urban swap ready to mail16. Not available

Why did these covers attract my attention? The fabrics, the piecing, the mood they create? This is not going to be a scrap busting project for me as I have no scraps!, so any fabric will be brought specifically for purpose. With each project I take on at the moment I'm trying to apply a different method of piecing, so that I'm constantly learning and not just sticking to what I know!

That said, if I go for a full cover, do I then have a side slit for power cord and opening at the top for handle? To add pockets or not to add pockets?

Some have piping rather than binding, I'm not sure I'm up to that! It needs a different foot on the machine doesn't it?!?

I'd definately like something bold, bright and cheerful as my dining room can be a bit dark and shady. I love the Laurie Wisbrun stacking chairs green and orange fabric, and also the measuring tape fabric... will I even be able to still get these, I feel a fabric hunt coming on!

If anyone has made a sewing machine cover I'd love to hear from you. Which design you chose and why, any problems you encountered, and any tips you might have would be very much appreciated.

Thanks everyone :o)



P.S. Please do still head on over and see Lee at Freshly Pieced to see what she and all the others have been up to this week!

Tuesday Tutorial

Did anyone else catch this post from Moda Bake Shop this morning? A Day in Central Park...

I've been wanting to do a rag quilt with my Urban Circus by Laurie Wisburn fabric and needed a good, beginner proof tutorial to get me going. And look whats taking shape on my (very temporary excuse for a) design wall this afternoon!

I've come to a grinding halt already as I've run out of the print I decided to use for the backing, but a quick order to Amanda at Simply Solids (who has some Urban Circus on sale!) and I'll be back up and running in no time hopefully :o)

P.s. If you go to Simply Solids and get the Urban Circus or Tufted Tweets on sale, please mention you saw it here! Thx.

In anticipation of tomorrows linky with Lee at Freshly Pieced, I'll be linking this post with WIP Wednesday. Head on over there to see what everyone else is up to this week.

Stats:
Completed this week: 0
New Projects this week: 1
WIP: 3 (Black and white bed quilt back, Lily's QAL Dresden, Urban Circus Rag Quilt)

In Monday's Mailbox...

A lovely little package from Simply Solids;
Some Laurie Wisbrun Urban Circus Elephants and Tufted Tweets - both on sale(!), one of the Kate Spain Central Park prints I was missing and some more KONA Black as I'm thinking of making a wagon wheel like Lynne's (Lily's Quilts), as seen here