Final Reveal: The Fish & HSTs Baby Quilt

Last week, finally, ten weeks after his birthday my nephew finally got his baby quilt.

My sister had decided on a monster theme for his room. Hence the card and the little something I wanted to add to the backing. Unfortunately it came off in the first wash? Gah, ah well, you win some you lose some.

So here's the finished backing complete with the dotty binding, just block out the little monster in the top left corner.

The quilt has been a huge hit.

Bonus: Anniversary impressions.

We had a wonderful afternoon and evening. I decided to open "Chez Mareen" instead of going out for dinner after all and cooked up a lovely three-course dinner to accompany the champagne we received as a wedding gift by a very good friend and kept safe for a year. A year - still blows my mind. We ended up with lots of yummy leftovers to be had over the weekend which is always a plus.

Also, beautiful flowers!

Happy sewing!

Go and have a look at everybody else's finishes over at Em's Sewing by Moonlight. Find me at my regular Tuesday hangouts, too.

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!

Back in the Game

I'm still taking it slow but the love sewing machine and I have been reunited which has resulted in this baby - a finished baby quilt top for the nephew. Do I have to give it away? Haha, no worries. I will. Just too happy how this is turning out.

It's also the return of the living room door as a backdrop. With a twist. The doors in our new flat have glass panels which, at least for this picture, is kind of cool.

Up in the air.

Meagre attempt at playing artsy.

I'm making progress on the owl front on the back of the Red Riding cushion cover as well. Another thing that will be hard to part with.

I'm off - I've got another date with my love sewing machine once I've cut into 2.5 m of fashion fabric (the blue floral print in this post) and 1 m of light blue cotton lawn. If all goes well I can swirl around in another summer dress of my own making after the weekend. Depending on the weather just as much as my perseverance.

Happy sewing and a wonderful weekend to you all!

Impressions

Thank you for all the kind words and congratulations on the birth of my nephew. I've seen him two more times now and I'm absolutely lovestruck. This is just a short hello with two shots of what I've been working on today so far.

Finished the centre block for my nephew's baby quilt. Read all about it here.

Also, some more paper piecing. Finally started on that pillow cover for my husband that should've been made for his birthday a month ago...  Don't fear, he got something else he enjoys a lot.

Well, I'm off again for more sewing. So nice to have a whole day all to myself and be sewing again.

Happy sewing!

Don't Sew Tired

Wednesday evening I tried to sneak in some much needed sewing. Needed to relax and needed to make progress with my nephew's quilt. My body was willing but my mind was a little absent. See what I did there? Such a rookie mistake and noticed after having sewn all around the blocks. Don't sew when tired.

No, seriously. Don't. Or you'll make the same mistake again when trying to fix it!

In the end I cut along the lines of tiny stitches and made use of the resulting scraps. Thankfully it all worked out. I'm running short on the Seaside print and time to reorder.

After ironing them and trimming off dog ears I called it a day and fell asleep over some sitcoms on the telly. I'd planned to sew them into a block with my paper pieced "N" on the following evening. And didn't. Because I paid a visit at the hospital.

Yep, my gorgeous nephew totally ignored my quilt progress (or slight lack thereof) and entered the world on Thursday morning. He's beautiful and tiny and fits right into my arms. Did I mention he's beautiful? Off to see him again in a bit before a short trip home to visit the new grandparents with my husband.

We'll all drive back to Berlin on Sunday so they can meet the darling boy, too, and we'll have some precious family time. N's totally screwed up my short holiday plans - I'd planned to stay with my parents until Monday - but I can't be mad at him and I all I want to do now is lock myself in and sew away until I've finished this quilt. Which is exactly what I'll do on Sunday evening and Monday. With a little luck it could be done by the time he arrives home, probably Wednesday, because I'm off work Monday to Wednesday.

Happy weekend and happy sewing everybody!

N Is for Nephew and Love

Today I bit the bullet and made my first paper pieced something. An important something, too. Ready to be framed by HSTs. So proud, it's bordering on ridiculous. And Kristy, I think I can finally relate to your paper piecing craze and I'm finally ready to tackle what should've become my husband's birthday present. Now if only I'd find the time...

Yeah, technically the HSTs in my latest blocks have been paper pieced, too. But that didn't require any thinking or actual construction. And yeah, that wonderful "N" wasn't achieved instantly. My first attempt looked like this - had to make a better one to do the quilt justice in its neatness, tininess and cuteness. All of which will surely apply to my nephew, too. *wink* The perfect block above is 3,44'' square, the "N" only 1,77" square.

I've started sashing and assembling my blocks with cornerstones as well.

So much closer to finishing the top! Right, with that I'm off to prepare HSTs for the centre block before going out for some much needed dancing.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and happy sewing, friends!

Oh, and I can link up with Kristy's new Paper Piecing Party for the very first time, too! Whoop whoop!

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!

Fish & HSTs - Sharing the Fun

Right after finishing Phillip - or block#3 - I knew I had to share the fun. In a girls' edition. With some of my favourite fabrics. And since Cassie not only loves my boy blocks but is expecting a little sister to her slightly less little girl I knew just who I'd like to share it with. I had a tiny layout insecurity for a moment which I took to my facebook friends - I couldn't possibly ask you all on here without ruining the surprise.

Try a different placement of the corner HSTs and overall darker impression or stick with the old?

Well, it proved a close call but the winning faction told me to stick with the blue. So, without further ado, here are the sister blocks I made. Same yet not the same. Unnamed fish, so Cassie can individualise them.

I'm glad to say the surprise went down more than well! Full-blown excitement well. Now close-ups. Because everybody likes close-ups. Matter of fact.

I'm very much looking forward to see what Cassie will turn them into. If she can ever stop stop staring at them on her wall, that is. ;-)

Happy sewing!