Quilting Those Babies

Those delicious baby quilts I've been making, I mean.

I've been quilting away both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, taking my time and burying a lot of threads. Basically I'm sticking to easy straight line quilting next to the seams to accentuate the prints whilst keeping it simple.

Initially I was scared that the flannel back of the first quilt might pose some trouble but, thankfully, quilting has been a dream.

The second quilt follows mostly the same pattern but the centre piece is dealt with slightly differently.

To keep thread changes to a minimum I quilted the blue bits of both quilts before changing to grey. Both quilts lack only a few more lines. I badly want to get started on the binding because that is certainly something I could occupy myself with during the evenings after work. Most times I'm too tired to do anything creative much. However, I'm more confident than ever to make my deadline and deliver these quilts on time.

I hope you're all having a fantastic week and happy sewing!

WIP - How I Spent the Last Weekend

I enjoyed my sewing weekend oh so much! I'd assembled my squares into this top on Saturday but wasn't quite convinced yet. It was small-ish, clocking in at 78,5 cm² / 31'' inch², and I didn't want to distort the square blocks too much with the 1 cm wide binding I plan on making.

So I had to add a border and bring up the size to healthy 88 cm² / 34 ⅔ inch². I put my tag in the bottom right corner. The red dots really pop out this pic.

I chose this flannel for the backing. So soft and perfect for this quilt. T is a tiny baby boy and I want this quilt to be extra cuddly.

Since I didn't feel like jumping right into quilting once I'd spray basted the quilt, since I still had a lot of squares left and since there's another little baby boy, little D, that hasn't received a birthday gift yet because I've been way too busy last year (he's a November babe), not to mention that his elder brother got a me-made quilt a little over two years ago (I feel like I've come such a long way since then!), and since this pattern is way too much fun and so quick to sew (whew, that's a lot of "sinces"), well, since there were a ton of reasons and no objections I simply made another quilt top.

I love it! I love how different both of them look despite the similar colour scheme of the squares. I love them so much more than the original quilt I intended to make eight months ago which proves that breaks are sometimes just the right thing for our creativity.

I hope little T and D will love their quilts and I hope I can gift both of them in person during my trip to the UK in a couple of weeks. I booked my flights yesterday and am soo excited to see so many of my friends and their boys. It'll be just wonderful.

Happy sewing!


Linking up here and there.

W.i.P. - Quilting

The batting for our anniversary arrived on, well, our anniversary. I spray basted the top Saturday afternoon before we went to the wedding reception of my husband's teacher colleague. Whew, I had to move our sofa and the dining sewing table and still this 102'' square beast wouldn't perfectly fit on the floor. I huffed and puffed a lot but didn't let it defeat me.

I love this stage. Batting makes a finish so much more palpable. Don't you just love how a project feels much more real simply because it has more body to it? I've started hand quilting a few details on the solid strip before adding the backing and now it's time to start freaking about quilting this on my tiny machine. Uh oh.

I also finished this and my friend had the brilliant idea of adding a rattle for toddler interest. How come I didn't think of this before? I really appreciate the input by the non-sewing peeps in my life lately. She also asked whether I could sew the little one as if his belly were spilling over his trousers so I obligingly sewed a curve and it came out great. Maybe I should include curves in future projects, I seem to have eschewed them so far.

The stats before I'm off again.

Finishes - 1
one of three monsters

Ongoing Projects - 4
Anniversary quilt
square baby quilt
Red Riding -
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline projects have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - Waiting

How I wish I were working away on my anniversary quilt. But despite having ordered my batting last Wednesday - I had to wait for my check and it should have arrived on Saturday or yesterday the latest - the parcel hasn't been sent out until today. So, if I'm mega-über-lucky it might arrive tomorrow morning and I could sit down with some quilting and eventually pull an all-nighter. But do I want that rush?

And it might not arrive until early Friday morning - when I've got a breakfast date with a friend planned whilst the husband is away at work. And I certainly don't feel like spending our anniversary with the sewing machine instead of him. Love you, darling machine but there are limits. xo

I'm the tiniest bit annoyed, can you tell? This state has been exacerbated by too much time spent scouring various job databases. Blergh. I've only been at home for a week and a half after my internship and already it feels like it's been half a year. Big dislike.

Well, at least I can report a finish. The Fish & HSTs baby quilt has been finished and given to my adorable nephew today. Pictures will follow this weekend.

Finishes - 1
Fish & HSTs baby quilt

Ongoing Projects - 4
Anniversary quilt

square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline projects have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing!

Hand Quilted Fish & HSTs = This Close to a Finish

So I've finished hand quilting the stars in each Fish & HST block...

...which leaves the back looking like this. Finally time for some backing!

Once I ditched my idea of paper piecing N's birth date, weight and height (yes, it definitely would have been a great detail but I didn't feel it in the end) I settled on this gorgeous Summersville print from my stash. I'd secured 1.5 yards shortly after it came out for a future child of mine but really couldn't resist using it here. It fits so perfectly and who else should you splurge some of your most treasured fabric on? Roughly half a yard is left anyway. So there.

I've even started machine quilting the small and big octagons. As soon as these are done I will quilt the small fish squares and then it should be ready for binding. Phew, I'm this close to finishing what has been in the making for a long time and, believe it or not, I'm still falling in love more deeply. With my nephew as well. No worries.

Well, here's the unchanged stats although both the baby and the anniversary quilt are making awesome progress.

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 5
Anniversary quilt
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline projects have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - Busy Hands

My nephew is now 6 weeks and a half - I couldn't be more in love! - and his due date which served as extenuating circumstances, remember he was an early bird, has come and gone as well. High time to spend more time on finishing his quilt. So this week I'm determined to finish some outlining hand quilting before attaching the backing - I don't want these stitches to show on the back - and then, maybe, I can finish and gift this treasured project next week or the one after.

Without further ado, here are my weekly stats.

Finishes - 0
 
Ongoing Projects - 5
Anniversary quilt
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline projects have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing and sharing over at Lee's!

W.i.P. - Slow Summer Sewing

On top of work summer is slowing my sewing down a little as I'm soaking up sunshine whenever I can. Now, this isn't a complaint. I'm definitely a summer girl that doesn't even want to mention the w-word before she has to and I am making progress on pretty things even if it isn't as quick as it would be at other times.

Evidence of said progress below (above is last week's work ut aside) - Echo rows I sewed yesterday evening after work. Often I don't feel like sewing then and prefer to wind down over some telly or a book. Not so yesterday! With a little luck I might even want to iron these and assemble them this evening. Or I might not and prefer to catch up with your makings over at WIP Wednesday and my blog roll. Or all of the above? We'll see.

With a second Jamie dress under my belt it's time for new adventures in fashion sewing. The darling ranges dress is up first and I'm looking forward to breathe life into the tiny brown on cream floral from this post.

And here are the obligatory stats.

Finishes - 1
Summer dress 1

Ongoing Projects - 5
Anniversary quilt - see above
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline project have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges
Skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - For the Echo Lovers

No change concerning the stats, just some shifting from ongoing to stalled to ease my mind, but some definite progress with two projects. First, I posted a pic of my nearly finished summer dress on Sunday. Can't wait to wear it soon.

Second, there's the anniversary quilt. I've finished the first of three sections as well as a third of the other two each.

Here's the bottom right corner piece. It didn't fit into the other pic.

This top is coming together nicely and quickly. Guess I should order batting soon and make up my mind about backing. Maybe an all turquoise backing? Maybe a print? At the end of the day, there's a deadline to meet (a year ago today I had my final wedding dress fitting!) and I think I might be making a trip to Ikea soon in an effort to score some nice but cheaper fabric.

Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 6
Anniversary quilt - see above
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress


cushion cover for the husband
Summer dress 1

Stalled Projects - 3
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - stalled until deadline project have been dealt with
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges pattern has arrived
Skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - The One That Could Have Been Spoiled by Work and the Kitchen

Well, work was more demanding than expected - not complaining, honestly! - and the husband's reworking of our kitchen has taken over this flat and all available space - even less complaining, I've been anticipating a proper kitchen for months! - so my wonderful collection of WIPs is still just that - wip-iest WIPs and nothing new to show since last Sunday.

One of my recent Fabric Tuesday link-ups has, however, been highlighted in this week's post - the nephew's quilt top. How terribly exciting! (Thanks for alerting me, Jeanette. I doubt I would've checked this week without you.) And it's really another layer of motivation to finish this beauty once my sewing machine and sewing dinner table have been freed of kitchen appliances and crockery.

Updated stats for the record - there has been progress and shuffling since my last WIP post, after all.

Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 8
Anniversary quilt - cut, layouted, first, column parts sewn
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - quilting is making progress
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies
cushion cover for the husband
Summer dress 1

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars - once more stalled

Planning Stage - 2
Summer dress 2 - Darling Ranges pattern has arrived
Skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - Sickbay Edition

Summer flu got the better of me. I've been on bed rest since last Friday and am until this Friday. Boo. I'd really prefer to be at work and after spending the weekend reading the Hunger Games trilogy I'm now pretty much bored senseless. Thankfully my hexie tin still had something to offer my idle hands and the EPP parallelograms - stalled for what not only feels like but pretty much is forever - have also been allowed out to play.

Well, apparently June isn't up to being a month for finishes and doesn't offer a lot of interest for blogging. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for July, though. With that impressive list of ongoing projects it's definitely got a ton of potential..

Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 8
Anniversary quilt - first steps taken
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies
EPP parallelograms/stars
cushion cover for the husband

Stalled Projects - 0

Planning Stage - 3
Summer dress 1 - have decided to make another Jamie dress with a few tweaks to improve the fit even more and switch up the look slightly
Summer dress 2 - still waiting for the Darling Ranges pattern to arrive
Skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - Slowly Getting There

Look at this friendly bunch!

Mike has been joined by Henry.

Thomas and Stephan are besties.

Toby is giving Swimmy II the tour.

And Phillip has found a brother in Swimmy.

Last week was busy with work on Saturday and this week is buzzing, too, with three days until well after 8 p.m. Still, I'm okay with where my projects are going. A whole lot of good ones in the work, some verging on being finished.

Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 6
Anniversary quilt - first steps taken
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies - should really work on these again sometime but my ride to work is a bus ride and I get car sick easily when focusing too much on anything

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 4
cushion cover for the husband
Two summer dresses & a skirt - bought a dress pattern from a shop in Australia, now to wait for it's arrival

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - And the Fish Go On

The little fellas are coming along nicely. I should be able to finish these four tonight. A few seams per evening after work when I feel like it. Nothing massive. Slow and steady wins the race.

Working rows in batches instead of proceeding block by block has proved very efficient, too. You don't get the joy of seeing each goldfish framed in one sitting, but you save time along the way and four finishes must mean four times the fun once they're ready. Am I right? Eight times when I put them next to the those waiting in the wings. So much closer to assembling the top! I'll make one more centre block, though it might not feature a goldfish. Let's see.

Other than that, I'm still basking in the glory of my new bag and can't pat myself on the back often enough for inserting a key fob. It's pure magic, friends! Lol.

Stats

Finishes - 1
Nanette tote

Ongoing Projects - 5
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies - should really work on these again sometime but my ride to work is a bus ride and I get car sick easily when focusing too much on anything

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt - oh my, really must start on that! How did time sneak up on me thus badly again?
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P - Slow Progress

I really enjoyed the long weekend after my first full week at the internship and this is what I've been working on when I didn't take care of a poorly husband or household chores.

1) Trying to find the perfect layout for the blue-grey squares. Still not there.

2) Turning my new Nanette tote from this...

...to this and some more.

The topstitching on the zippered inner bag pocket (tutorial) isn't perfect but I was eager to go on and it's a) a detail that 99 per cent of the population won't ever get to see and b) I can deal with it. I decided to add a key fob this time around because I've always got troubles finding my keys, even if I throw them into pockets. Thanks to my sis for always letting me harvest her old bags for hardware!

Hopefully, unlike last week, I can make time for a little sewing in the evenings and finish this baby until Friday. I love it already.


Stats

Finishes - 0

Ongoing Projects - 7
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Nanette tote bag - nearly finished!
baby things
Red Riding - erm, yeah...
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting
EPP hexies - 52 finished flowers + 14 nearly-theres

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

W.i.P. - Square Central, or Central Square?

Last weekend I cut lots of 5'' squares (and some rectangles) from this pretty stack for the blue and grey baby quilt I'm planning for my nephew. Yep, the one on top of the Fish & HSTs quilt. Lol.

I love that fawn so much, Carol used it in one of her projects and I just had to have it, too. Doesn't it look too cute?

Nearly forgot to add these as I'd put them in a different box.

So, a blue and grey baby quilt featuring vegetation and animals from all party - sky, earth, sea. Anybody got a catchy name for me? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Stats

Finishes - 1
two loop/infinity scarves

Ongoing Projects - 7
Fish & HSTs
square baby quilt
Nanette tote bag - more soon
baby things
Red Riding
Grecian Waters/Emerald HST quilt - finished the top! - still pinching pennies for batting

EPP hexies - 52 finished flowers + 14 nearly-theres

Stalled Projects - 1
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 5
Wedding Anniversary quilt
Quilt for the husband - downgraded to a cushion cover, still needs to be made, oops
Two summer dresses & a skirt

Happy sewing!

P.S. The intern is going well. So far I'm definitely enjoying it.