Lola Pouch

Just a quick post about my new Lola pouch, so I just get in under the wire for FAL Q3. I had seen many of these pouches by Sotak handmade on IG etc, so thought I'd better give it a go.
I've never made a pouch like this, with binding around the top before.

It wasn't difficult to make and the pattern instructions are very clear. I used a bit of Essex linen in blue and Liberty for the top section and the lining. The binding was a Cotton and Steel.

I have 2 gripes with the pattern, firstly the binding was too narrow, if I were to make it again I'd increase the width. Secondly, I really hate the way the zip ends. I followed the pattern measurements exactly and I just don't like how you have to grip the bag to get the zip to open.

I'm not sure if I'll make any more. Maybe I'll try the smaller size at some point.

This is number 7 on my original FAL Q3 list ( here).

Linking up to 

Juliette's Quilt

Juliette is my son Harri's girlfriend and she is absolutely lovely. Draped over  the sofa in London where my children live, is one of the first quilts I made and Juliette has always admired it ( even though I wince when I see it due to the dreadful piecing and quilting!)

So when I volunteered to make her a quilt , she asked for me to remake this quilt but with a lot more yellow in it (as this is her favourite colour). 

The block is fiddly to make and I've ended up with quite a few extra blocks . I've also made enough extra small hourglass blocks to make another quilt with the addition of some solid fabric. it was easier to make 2 identical hourglass blocks than to sew all those small triangles together.

So here is the finished quilt :

I managed to finish it in time for her birthday and she seems to like it! I made it on a sort of production line method with a lot of chain piecing. Even still, the blocks are only 6 inches square finished and towards the end I found it quite tedious. I also made too many blocks and cut up too much fabric into triangles  but these will be used for yet another quilt ( different from the hourglass blocks)

Quilt stats

Size: 72 x 72 inches

Pattern: Dalarna by Mariet Souethout- Mous in Quiltmania ( no 68)

Fabric front: mixture of quilting cottons including some Karen Lewis, Lizzy House, Jen Kingwell etc etc.

Back: Heather Ross Tiger Lily in canary ( cotton lawn rather than quilting cotton)

Binding: Lizzy House Natural History in raisin

Wadding: 100% cotton

Quilted with Glide in  Military Gold on top and decobob yellow  (138) on bottom

This was the final quilt I managed to quilt before my Handiquilter stopped working most likely because the timing is off. I'm waiting for it to be fixed.

This quilt was also in my FAL Q3 list ( no 2 ) so I will be linking up at the appropriate time. Sadly unless my machine is fixed soon, I'm not going to get much of my list done.

Jo's Blue Star Quilt

I haven't blogged for a while but I have several posts in my head that need to be written. I don't seem to have much motivation at the moment, don't know why but that's a different issue.
Anyway, some time ago now, the lovely Jo ( @joanne333jones on IG) told us that she was moving to Denver, Colorado with her husband's job. Jo has been a terrific bee mate since we met at the first FQR retreat in 2012 and we are all going to miss her terribly. So I did the obvious thing and thought we must make her a quilt. The pattern I chose was Kasbah Chic by no hats in the house which was published in Love Patchwork and Quilting, in her favourite blue colours.
In actual fact the pattern was an absolute bitch, even though the end result was fabulous. The templates provided for the corner segments gave very poor results and the half square rectangles ended up too small. We ended up paper piecing our own corner segments and fudging the rectangles. My fellow bee members were all cursing me for choosing this particular pattern and I was wondering if anyone tests these patterns.
We all met up in London in June  ( in Tate Modern for the Georgia O'Keefe exhibition) and were able to give the quilt to Jo.

I had such fun quilting this and trying to line up the front and back ! ( I didn't succeed but it's close enough).

I made a star label for the back.

And here is Jo holding up her quilt in the restaurant at Tate Modern. There were a few tears from all of us.

The blocks were made by myself, Jane @picosailors, Moira @ kettleboiler ( who also provided the binding), Sue @ suespatch12, Sue @justsewsue and Teresa @hillyfilly. We were all in the original Kinky Bees group which later became the FQR Bumbling Honeys quilt bee. 

We all wish Jo well in her new life in the USA and she will be back in a year or so, so it's not forever.

I'm really looking forward to visiting her in the future and getting the inside info on the best quilting shops in Denver.

FAL Quarter 3 list

In terms of the FAL I didn't do very well last quarter, only finishing one project on my list. I had of course done a lot of sewing, but it wasn't on the list ( a tonne of bee blocks and extras for sad reasons like #quiltsforjo and #quiltsforpulse, 2 quilts which I hadn't listed, additions to the wonderful round robin with #bumblinghoneys  and I quilted 3 siblings together quilts for other people)). It's difficult to know whether to add everything but the kitchen sink in these lists or keep it more realistic. As usual, I have more than I could possibly handle ( and of course I keep adding to it). Anyway, here it goes for this quarter.

1) Siblings Together Quilt using the final leftovers from the Kate and Birdie fabric donated by Moda 2 ish years ago.

2) Quilt for Juliette

I've got over half these blocks done and I'm making a big push to get them all finished. 

3)Triangle quilt

I've got the middle section of this quilt to do. I've got bored with it and need to motivate myself to just f ***ing do it!

4)Gnome quilt

This is a very slow burner. I add a little every now and then. I need to focus more..

5)It's a Wonderful world

No excuses, just need to finish it.

6) Star Quilt

No progress on this one

7)Lola Pouch

I have the pattern and the fabric.

8)Majestic Mountains

This is a Together@ do.good stitches quilt. I'm several blocks short but it should be a quick and relatively easy finish.

9)Bumbling Honeys Round Robin

I received this back from the wonderful bumbling honeys who have all made their own additions. I will write a separate blog about it, but I'm thrilled as it has exceeded all my expectations. I now just have to decide whether to add to it or leave it as it is. My son fancies it as a wall quilt so maybe just quilt and face it.

10) Scrappy quilt

I find it quite liberating to make something less structured than the quilts above. I have loads of orphan blocks and a huge pile of scraps, so I'll hopefully make another scrappy quilt this quarter.

I think that's enough. It's not everything by a long chalk, ( I have at least another 2 quilts set aside half finished and fabric for several more )

Linking up with 

Another Quilt for Siblings Together

I thought it was about time I posted about my next Siblings Together quilt. Since I last posted my phone has decided to die and I spent ages prevaricating about what to replace it with. DH got very exercised about not being able to contact me 24/7 but then he is wedded to his phone !! It was actually quite liberating for a short while but meant I couldn't take photos. That is not entirely truthful as I do have a camera ( somewhere) but have got so used to how easy it all is with modern phones.

Since I started writing  this, the awful atrocities in Orlando have taken place. We on this side of the pond just can't understand the attitude to guns in USA and why there isn't an uprising to change the law. Even the most diehard rednecks can be outvoted in a democratic society. Anyway, my thoughts are with those affected and their families. I will also make a block or two for the Orlando MQG drive
Enough on my soapbox, here is my latest quilt:

Two years ago I made an almost identical quilt and the way the blocks were constructed meant I had 12 half finished blocks left over. So, I finally pulled my finger out and finished the blocks. This quilt is slightly smaller than the previous one as I didn't add a border of the white crosshatch. I decided to save the small amount I had because I have enough HST's from these quilts to make a third quilt for ST, but I will need the white fabric to make it big enough. I'm amazed that I can stretch it to 3 quilts!!

I quilted it very similarly to the last one, but  I can see that my FMQ skills have improved in the last 2 years.

Quilt Stats

Size: 49 x 64 inches

Pattern by Melissa from Happy Quilting

Front: Storybook by Kate and Birdie ( donated by Moda) with white crosshatch from Botanics Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander

Back : Fabric from Ikea

Wadding:Hobbs Heirloom 100% cotton

Binding: Green fabric from Storybook range.

Quilted with Glide Linen on front and Wonderfil white decobob on back

This is another finish from my FAL Q2 list ( no 5 in my list here)

Scraptastic Tuesday and My Scrap Vortex Quilt

Like many ( all ?) quilters I have a scrap problem. I'm one of those people who hoards even the tiniest scraps. The problem got so bad, that eventually I had to buy some storage bins for the scraps.

 

 

I  managed to sort them out into different colours, and even ironed some of the scraps, but that was as far as it went. I also have a drawer next to my cutting board where I put the scraps from my current sewing, in theory to be sorted at a later date ( usually when the drawer is so full that I can't stuff any more in ).

 



I have read about other people's organisation of scraps and am in awe. I start out with good intentions but rapidly become bored and abandon it half done.

Anyway, I felt it was about time to do something with at least some of the scraps.  I chose to make a quilt using Amanda Jean's scrap vortex method . This has the advantage that you choose scraps of the same size and build them up into slabs without making any more scraps ( a definite advantage).

 

I soon got very bored with it though which is why I've made a relatively small quilt. It is very time consuming, largely due to the fact that I mainly used what Amanda Jean calls snippets ( pieces of fabric less than 4 inches). Some of the pieces are only 1/2 inch square when sewn, which is a lot of seams.

 

 

I'm very pleased with the way it has turned out, it's truly scrappy but very bright and 'happy'. I backed it also with scraps and made the binding with the scraps from the backing.

 

 

 

The best bit for me was the quilting. I had so much fun and enjoyed every moment .I decided to improve my skills in graffiti quilting and just went for it. 

 

 

Sadly the photos aren't doing it any justice and some motifs worked better than others. I used a fabulous golden coloured Glide thread which sparkles in certain light. It was probably silly to do this on such a busy quilt but for me it was worth it.

 

Quilt Stats

Size: 52 x 62 inches

Front : made entirely from scraps

Back : Scraps of Riley Blake lime dots on white and Lu Summers Summersville Spring Garden Lime Juice.

Binding: Same as back

Wadding : Fabric Freedom 100%  cotton

Quilted with Glide in Military Gold on top, Wonderfil  Decobob in white on bottom

 

Unfortunately, this was a spontaneous make and it's not listed in my FAL Q2 list. I've decided I'm going to continue and try my hand at a few more scrap quilts if only to clear out those boxes. Though of course they just keep on filling up.

 

I'm going to donate this quilt to Siblings Together and link up with Scraptastic Tuesday.

 

 

 

 



FAL Quarter 2 2016

Well, I didn't do too badly in the first quarter of this year, with 5 quilts finished. My list was deliberately a fantasy list, so I'm going to be more realistic this quarter. So, continuing over from the last quarter:
1) Triangle Quilt

 

I have made a fair bit of progress with this quilt, but I've sort of got bored with it. I'm forcing myself to carry on and get it done.

 

2) Gnome Quilt

 

 

I've made progress with this one too. Just need to do a lot more blocks!

 

3) It's a wonderful world

 

 

No excuse for this one, all the blocks are done. I just need to assemble it.

 

4) Star Quilt

 

 

 

I have about half the blocks for this done, but it has sat in a cupboard for 4 years. Time to get it finished.

 

5)Siblings Together Quilt

 

Yet another quilt for Siblings together. I have enough blocks/fabric left from this quilt to make a second one.

 

 

6) Quilt for Juliette

I have promised to make a quilt for Harri's girlfriend. Haven't got a photo, just a few ideas and a colour scheme.

 

7) Trajectory Quilt

Carried over from last quarter.

 

 

 I think that's more than enough for 3 months!