Peaking around the corner

Hmmm, well, hello. Been awhile and once again I've decided to make a fresh start and see if I can get back into this blogging thing! I kinda froze up there for awhile - got to a point where I didn't know where to start so didn't start at all! Anyway, have decided the only way to get back into it is to actually just post something! Hopefully over the next couple of days I will make some catch up posts so you know what I have been up to.

However the thing that prompted me to blog today was this.

You see, it's been so long since I actually finished a quilt, I'd forgotten how to attach the  binding! Thank goodness for YouTube I say! This tutorial is super clear and easy to follow. I'll be tagging it so I can find it again!

The quilt I needed to attach the binding to I can't show you! It's for a doll quilt swap so you'll have to wait for the big reveal. This is a little sneak peek though.

Not much to go on , I know, but hey, that's the way it goes!

Other than that, I have a few projects on the go.

1. Baby girl quilt - this is the one I started here. The top is finished but I have to quilt it.
2. Baby boy quilt - top finished, need to sandwich and quilt
3. Mystery quilt from Australian Patchwork and Quilting. - have done the first part. Part two arrived in the mail the other day, need to get to it at some stage.
4. Planning a scrap vomit quilt like the one here at I'm a Ginger Monkey. Have been cutting up 2.5 in squares but no actual sewing yet.
5. Putting together my blocks in a sewing bee. I'm waiting for all my blocks to come back so I can start putting it together.

Hopefully each of these projects will get their own posts over the next couple of days as well as one on the sewing bee blocks I've done for others.

Hope to see you again soon!

It's a start

Today I sewed together the 8 strips of eight blocks for the baby quilt I am making. I was very careful, checking and double checking each placement so I wouldn't have to unpick! Here are the first two (actually they are the bottom two, I'm working my way up!) rows sewn together.

And here are the other 6 rows in their numbered plastic bags ready to be added. Don't want any mix ups!

Notice the lack of bird? Left him in his cage and he berated me the whole time!

Things I Learnt Today.

Today I finished cutting out and started sewing a baby quilt. It has many half square triangles and I learnt a few things...

1. I hate cutting 6 and seven eighth inch squares.

 My sewing corner - I love the natural light

2. Next time, to avoid cutting said 6 and seven eighth inch squares, I will be following this handy hint from Australian Patchwork and Quilting, Vol 21, No 2.

3. When pinning either side of the line to make half square triangles, pins on the opposite side of the line should go in the opposite direction.

Right

Wrong!

 

 

4. That even when you pin in the opposite direction, you can still do it wrong!

5. While it may be cute when you cockatiel finds the pins and picks one up, be prepared to have to distract said bird while actually sewing to stop him getting to said pins!

This is cute (even if it is blurry!)

6. Same bird will become frustrated and squawk at you when you put the lid on the pins, meaning he could see them, but not get to them.

7. He is also unable to tell the difference between fabric he can chew on (scraps) and those he can't!

Earlier in the afternoon when we were still friends.

Do you have pets that "help" you sew?? What lessons have you learnt from them??

There's No Stopping Me Now!

First day of school holidays here, but with my reduced mobility, I've told my kids to expect a lot of time at home! Which means lots of time for me to sew!

This morning I attacked The Humming Cat's sewing bee block.

I'm now waiting for the April block to turn up, and the extra white from AJ to finish her February block. In the meantime, I've started to contemplate a couple of baby quilts. Yeah baby! I'm back!

So I know I promised more...

So I know I promised in my last post here that this blog was going to experience a bit of a revival. I'd signed up for a sewing bee and a craft club to make sure I sewed and I was excited, I was enthused, I was ready to go.

But then on the day following that blog post I played netball and ended up breaking my ankle - in two places. I required surgery and ended up with a three night stay in hospital. This is what the inside of my right ankle now looks like.

The little toe side of my right leg,  just above the ankle joint.







You know the little knobbly bit that sticks out where you can flex and extend your foot? Broke that as well, thus the screws holding it in place/.





So basically that had me off my feet for 6 weeks straight - no weight bearing at all, although after 2 weeks I got to exchange my plaster for a most attractive moon boot!

 

Anyway, just over a week ago the surgeon told me although I still had to wear the boot, I could start bearing weight again so I decided to see how I went controlling the sewing machine pedal with my left foot. Turns out I don't do too bad at it, so I'm back sewing! It is a very time consuming process as I still need the crutches and it's five crutch steps from my kitchen bench where I cut to the sewing machine, but I'm doing it.

First off the rank was to finish AJ's  sewing bee blocks. They were suppose to be finished by the end of February so a little late! Somehow I managed to completely stuff up the blue star yesterday so am going to have to get AJ to send me some more white to finish, but the green turned out ok.

This is what I have done of the blue. It won't take me long to get it together when I get the other white.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea. So now hopefully I can catch up on the March block for The Humming Cat before the April block arrives in my letter box! Thank goodness my turn isn't until the second half of the year!

OMG! She sewed!!

Yes, yes, I know, don't fall off your chair. Today I actually managed to put fabric to sewing machine and sew!! Not for as long as I would have liked to, I will admit, but things kept getting in the way - like washing and cooking and Facebook... bloody facebook!

I had two things I wanted to get done today - at least one of the blocks for AJ  for the EB Sewing Bee. The other was to join and sash the blocks I did for a walling hanging at my Creative Club the other day. While I didn't get either done to the extent I wanted, I did get a start!

So first, AJ's block. I needed to sew 5 x 4.5in scrappy blue blocks. After a few false starts, I got it!

Then I had an attack of worries and got concerned this wasn't what she was after, so posted on FB see how it keeps sucking me in?? to confirm I had it right. Apparently I do so next time I can go forth!

As for my wall hanging, I got the blocks joined, but not the sashing done. This time the culprit was picking the kids up from school - or more to the point, off the ferry as a friend bought them home today. Anyway, this is where I am with it now.

From here I need to put sashing on, back it and quilt it - stitch in the ditch. I'll leave the binding until the next Creative Club (first Thursday in March) as it's done a special way and I obviously did not get to it last week! Margaret at Bayside Stitchcraft said it will only take half an hour to finish.

Before I packed up I decided to take a photo of my work area today.

The island bench in our kitchen is perfect. It's higher than a normal bench meaning no sore back and has perfect spot for the ironing board at the end. The laptop was so I could follow AJ's tutorial as well as the occasional check of FB...With temps of 32 and humidity around 71% today, the water was an absolute necessity!
 

2012 Quilting Bee

Hmmm, well this blog has been a little neglected hasn't it? Over twelve months since I have posted. Truthfully it's been over 12 months since I sewed anything! so in an attempt to get my sewing mojo back I have joined an online quilting bee.

The idea is (I think!) each person is assigned a month (mine is September). Before your assigned month, you need to decide on a block and send each member of the quilting bee pattern, fabric and any other resources you think they will need or will help. Each member of the quilting bee will then sew the block and then send it back to you and before you know it, you have enough blocks for a quilt! What an excellent idea! So with any luck, this will help revive my quilting and sewing blog mojo. The other bee participants and their months are:

February - AJ

March - Bec
April - Adds
May - Denni J

June - Joy

July - Milly
August - Mands 
September - me
October - Helen

 

Let the sewing begin!