TGIFF - People Without Blogs Have Finishes, Too!

Last week, on the night before my final day at my internship - I already miss my colleagues! -, I got a wonderful and uplifting email. Sandra from Queensland, Australia, shared a quilt she made for her son's birthday being inspired by my Yoshi journey and mosaic tiles around the web. I'm happy to say, though absolutely in no way surprised, that it was a huge success. Sandra doesn't have a blog but I think she deserves a big cheer for all her hard work so I simply had to share it here and at TGIFF.

Don't you just love that scrap-busting multicoloured binding? I wish I had thought of that instead of going down the safe route. Sandra made a surprise back egg as well choosing her son's favourite lime green and she made the whole quilt bigger finishing at 80'' x 100''. I think it turned out fantastic and am reminded that one day I really need to up my quilting ante.

Well, on top, I can also share a finish, if only a top finish. Here is the Echo anniversary quilt top all assembled with added strips in Klona dark navy currently measuring 98'' square.

At the moment the strips start just at the sides. Let's see how much the quilt will shrink after quilting and washing. I couldn't be bothered with pre-treating this time because I actually wanted to go for a crinkly look and it might just come back to bite me now. Sigh.

As planned from the outset I'm going to keep the quilting of the Echo body simple with horizontal and vertical lines (see?) but have decided this afternoon to add a personal touch and more dense quilting to the side strips. If I don't change the plan again until the batting arrives. You can never be sure.

Either way, I'm very happy how this is turning out. See how perfectly it fits my favourite bed linen? I might even keep my deadline (fingers crossed the batting arrives in time!). Is it really only another week until our first wedding anniversary and sixth altogether?

Happy weekend and happy sewing!

Link party's being hosted by Amy this time. Hop on over!

T.G.I.F.F. - Yoshi - The Journey

With this huge finish under my belt and a host of posts, I thought it only fair to finally link up with T.G.I.F.F. once more as well as put together all the links in one post for easy reference.

This is for those of you keen to (re-)read the whole journey. Thanks for taking the ride with me.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

Happy sewing, friends!

Yoshi 10.0

Starting in the afternoon and with breaks in between, I toiled away on the binding last Thursday and managed to finish all but the final corner in this picture until 11 p.m. My bed called and I called it a day.

Last stitches on a Friday morning.

Yoshi pre-washing.

This is the first time that I didn't pre-treat the fabric for a quilt. I considered it way too much fabric to bother with washing and ironing when I'd have to iron so much during the cutting process. I was somewhat anxious but it all turned out well. The wash didn't kill Yoshi, all seams held up, and Yoshi didn't really shrink that much. If he shrank at all. I didn't measure and it's barely perceptible in the pictures. The creases on the left and right are due to Yoshi drying on a laundry rack.

M was absolutely excited when he got the quilt upon my arrival in Berlin. He got a card for his birthday in early January with pictures of the layout and what I'd already achieved to reveal what he would soon call his own but I'd omitted the egg to keep it a surprise. I made it big enough for a newborn photo session, too. He adores it and my sister loves the idea, too!


Happy sewing!

Yoshi 9.0

With the quilt top finished it was time to turn my attention to the back. Time to cut more pixels, albeit smaller ones - 5,25 cm² as opposed to the 7,25 cm² of the front.

I forgot  to take step by step pictures of the process, but once more I divided the layout into manageable quadrants (four of 7x8 pixels). After two more days of piecing I had this backing. My adhesive spray gave out on the last centimetres. Crazy. It was as good as new as I'd only used it to baste the Viking baby quilt before. Worth it, though. I can't (and don't want to) imagine basting a monster like this with pins.

Another two afternoons were dedicated to slowly quilting a grid of 30 straight lines in the ditch every two pixels. Sometimes less, sometimes more organised.

I chose invisible thread to blur with the fabric and hide any amiss quilting. Yoshi is my biggest quilt up to date, roughly 1,8 m x 2 m (~ 72'' x  80'') and I was slightly worried that I might not be able to control the quilt well enough or find enough space under my machine, but all worked out nicely.

Time too cut away the excess fabric and batting...

...and get an idea of what it looks like on a bed.

I also prepared my binding that evening and attached it, even began to stitch some of it down by hand whilst watching telly - can you guess what I watched from the picture?. I saved most of that for the next day, though.

... to be continued ...

Happy sewing!

Yoshi 8.0

I'm back once more as I'm back in Berlin for my final exam on Thursday (crossed fingers appreciated muchly). Don't get me started on the internet situation back in Bavaria... Things might change soon. Trying not to jinx things by spilling the beans too early but important changes are certainly afoot. Aaanyway, feast your eyes on Yoshi pictures over the next couple of days!

After our extended Christmas holiday with the family, we finally, reluctantly, went home and I focussed on the big Yoshi Quilt. The first two days were dedicated to assembling more pixels and finishing quadrants 7 to 9.

On the third day, after a sneak peak and reassuring layout check, I put the quilt top together and spray basted it onto the batting ... and realised just how big the quilt would be.

 

 

... to be continued ...

Happy sewing!

Yoshi 7.0

I thought I'd sum up my Yoshi progress with a little collage.

Friday evening a week ago I felt great about my progress (and still do!) if a little sad that I wouldn't be able to take up my work again until early January when we return home. Definitely stay tuned for more Yoshi in 2013!

These are the pixels (and a few spares) still left to work into rows for my quilt top. I've plain forgotten to snap a picture of those pixels already arranged according to the pattern but not sewn into rows. I'm certainly well prepared for my return!

Another coming attraction: the backing. I've not yet worked on it and will have to backorder some black fabric to make up enough pixels for the Yoshi egg. I've also not yet decided how big I want it to be. The pixels for the quilt top are 7.25cm² (unfinished) but I might want to make them smaller for the egg. Now that I'm going to be an aunt I'm even fonder of the idea of adding it to the quilt! This game inspired quilt will have it's own, if not very hidden, Easter egg.

Happy sewing!

Yoshi 6.0

Friday last week I was on a roll. Unstressed roll, never fear. First I made the pillow covers I showed you yesterday, then I returned my attention to Yoshi.

I began by chain-piecing 14 ten-pixel rows of blue sky. That's a lot of sky.

Next I ironed this bunch of rows to add them to those I'd prepared earlier. Here you see one pile of sky-rows and three piles of rows ready to be turned into three quadrants and a bit more.

Then I finished my second quadrant, the middle bottom one. Another foot! And a piece of belly, too.

Next I worked sky to the bottom right grass.

I finished that quadrant last that evening but forgot to snap a picture. D'oh. However, here's proof of quadrants four and five.

He's finally got eyes to look at us. I finally called it a Yoshi day and made up the baby owl for my sister's Christmas gift.


... to be continued ...

Happy sewing!

Yoshi 5.0

On Thursday last week I did sod all for Yoshi and it felt great. Yep, acceptance really freed me. Also, it was a day to socialise. I finally met up with a fellow sewist and blogger and her family who are living close by. We had a lovley chatter, her toddler boy is gorgeous and it was so nice to be out and about and not stuck in the flat all day apart from grocery shopping.

After my return home it was time to take a shower and doll myself up because of more socialising and fun times. My husband and I had a dinner date before attending his school's Christmas concert in the evening. So I donned one of my me-made skirts and off we went. We hadn't had a date in ages and went to a very nice Spanish tapas bar and steak restaurant. We can rarely afford to go out like this, so it was an early Christmas present. It was absolutely lovely and I enjoyed every minute of it.

No pics, I'm afraid, but I'll show you something I finished on Friday morning to spruce up this post.

My sister-in-law bought this lovely Ink & Spindle print in a sale and I turned it into pillow covers in time for Christmas.

Want to see more of Yoshi? He'll return tomorrow!

... to be continued ...

Happy sewing!

Yoshi 4.0

Last Wednesday my arm was still a bit affected, so I rested it and only cut a few pixels with breaks in between. Nothing to report, really, other than that I'd accepted that in no way on earth I'd be able to make my deadline. Mine because my sister had set me a more distant one. Me-made deadline, me-made stress.

You might recall that the quilt is a gift for an early January birthday. I'd planned to get the piecing and quilting done as well as attach the binding ready for hand sewing before our extended Christmas and New Year's stay in Berlin because I don't have a sewing machine there and wouldn't be home in time to finish and send it off via mail.

Yep, the time frame was narrow enough to begin with. I've come to terms with not making my deadline and am not bothering myself any longer. My sister and I have decided that we can use a few good snaps of what is finished in time, print them, and use those as a kind of voucher come the birthday proper and I'll be back in Berlin for my rescheduled appointment later in January and will take the quilt with me, then.

... to be continued ...

Hope you're still enjoying the holidays!

W.i.P. list

Finished Projects - 2
Owl Christmas Ornaments
Pillow covers - see tomorrow's post

Ongoing Projects - 4
Yoshi quilt
EPP hexies - 32 finished flowers + tons basted
Polaroid blocks Tote - will it ever get made?
EPP parallelograms/stars

Planning Stage - 1
Wedding Anniversary quilt 

Yoshi 3.0

Tuesday morning last week showed that I'd overworked my jabbed arm. It was warm and red and needed some rest. Despite desperately wanting to go on I reminded myself that rushing through things without listening to my body would be stupid, moreso since I'd promised to take better care of myself and not revert to old habits.

Not before I ironed my finished strips, though.

And I worked on the bigger owl ornaments in the evening.

Sorry, but old habits do die hard!

... to be continued ...

Hope you're having a splendid Christmas with family and loved ones!

Yoshi 2.0

Merry (Yoshi) Christmas!

Last Monday noon, after a trip to the docor for a jab, I finally started the Yoshi quilt. First things first - checking the layout, calculating, recalculating, nibbling on a piece of Advent calendar chocolate.

I decided to tackle the 1020(!) pixels and minimise distortion by dividing the image into nine quadrants. You can ignore most of the numbers because I recalculated a bit after taking the pictures. I settled on adding a row to the left, top, and bottom of the original layout, 30 rows across, 34 rows down. This way I can quilt every two pixels and still have an even grid which I wouldn't have with 31 rows across.

Then it was time to do some serious cutting. I mean seriously serious cutting.

In the end, I my back refused to cut everything in one day, let alone one go. Also, my mind craved to get something "real" done. I needed to see results, not just know I'd made progress.

So, over a cuppa, I arranged rows of pixels to sew up.

Chain-pieced them, assidiously ticking them off my layout for orientation.

Did some ironing. (But only one of these piles. Ironing seams can be as annoying as cutting pixels.)

And finally sewed up the lower left quadrant!

And fell in love. Seeing things come together really makes all the effort worthwhile. After day one I had one quadrant and two pieces of grass with black.

As well as a bunch of unironed pixel strips, a slightly achy back, tons of motivation but also some doubt about the feasibility of finishing this quilt until Friday night.

... to be continued ... 

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas with tons of love!