Why my Flutterwheels friends.....

when I have all of these

and all of these

do I still have all of these?

Gill's quilt

Once again my photographic skills do not do justice to this nice quilt.

 I admire people who can put a variety of fabrics together, I am not good at it.

 In the center of the photo is a checked square which is actually a pocket with little eyelet rings in the corners. I quilted with quite a dense panto and was bound to break a needle by hitting metal or the dense layers of the pocket flap would make the hopping foot bounce off.

 Master Chaos was extreemly rude, showing suprise that I had forseen the problem and overcome it by taping a masking tape strip over the panto where the pocket was, to tell me to stop stitching. Condescending blighter!

The next quilt on the machine however was not such a happy event, as I rolled on (about 3/4 completed, SID and dense vermichelli on a cot quilt) the backing that I had not  thought to be a directional print revealed itself to me, all the faces were infact facing in one direction,

the wrong one!

As this quilt came to me already layered and I can't now remember which way it was origionally before I had to unlayer it to load it, I felt I just had to make it right before it left my house. A lengthy date with the quick unpicker and now I am really pleased by how well the needle holes have closed up after a spritz with water and a good pressing. It is now loaded ready for round 2.

I am sure I have already said you learn something new with every quilt, true that! Check backings very carefully for directional prints then, look again!

Till next time

Dorothy's quilt

I was given this quilt ages ago and told to do what I wanted with it. This quilt has little stitcheries on it and a lovely fabric with pretty floral prints, fresh spring colours,and  a narrow border with prarie points. I loved it and wanted to do an allover feather avoiding the stitcheries  so it had to be stitched freehand not a panto and I didn't think my skills were up to it so it hung in my sewing room and just loved it but felt intimidated, it looked at me every day.

I had to draw it out and tried what I wanted but was still nervous. It hung so long it became an embarassment so I gave myself a talking to and loaded it and just had to do it. Once I started I did not want to stop I had so much fun and thankfully Dorothy loves it as much as I do. I chose matching thread so the quilting is very difficult to see on a picture, which is a shame.

When I gave it back I had to point out an issue, quilting always draws in the quilt and the bulk of the fabric in the prarie points has given the outer edge a bit of a wave so I think it either needs blocking or the points need pinning out of the way and  dense stitching in the apricot border.  Of course this did not become aparent untill after it came off the frame as it was held taught.

Every quit presents a challenge and every one you can learn  from.

 I think blocking might be the best option, more stitching behind may make the points stick out. Anyone got any advice or experience of prarie points?

Till next time

 Liz

 

A quilt for a soldier

This quilt was started some time ago at a Rocheberrie sewing day, one of those mystery things, I love them! Bring 60x 6 inch squares and 200 someother size, or whatever I can't remember, cut here, join this to that, sew here, press, repeat steps 2  to 7 and Ta da!

I used donated shirts which with hindsight was not very wise, those pieces are small and sewn on the bias and would have benefitted from some starch to stabalise them. Of course I didn't have any with me, because of that it is not very accurately pieced but never mind it is done now with the addition of border and backing fabric donated by Ruth, Thank you, I am quite happy with it. I quilted it with stars and loops, the same as the last quilt.

I do have another quilt to show but as it is not mine and the owner hasn't seen it yet I will have to wait till after Tuesday when I see her. I am holding my breath just a little bit. I really hope she likes it.When someone says "do what you like with it" they know they are going to get feathers, right?

Till Tuesday

Liz

Another quilt for Master Chaos no 1

On a trip to Threads and Patches ages ago I found some charm squares with buses, Guards in sentry boxes and letter boxes, at Malvern show in the spring I found some jubilee fabrics and online I found a Stained glass QAL

http://narcolepticinacupboard.blogspot.co.uk/p/stained-qal-2012.html

At Duxford quilt show last weekend I bought border fabric and quilted with stars and loops panto. Now this quilt is ready for  Master Chaos to take back with him after his visit home this month.

I had to take the picture sideways because it is longer than the picture rail to the floor.

Till next time. A quilt for a soldier next I think.

Liz

A few of my favorites from Duxford

A close up  of the bottom right block because the quilting showed up best and is worth seeing.

A minature.

I had a lovely few hours at Duxford quilt show on Saturday browsing quilts and traders and chatting to other quilty ladies while Mr and Master Chaos looked at planes and engineering things.  A perfect venue for a family day out.  

Work in progress Wednesday

A week last monday this was my task from Make a list Monday, to complete Mo's challenge unfortunately as I had had a busy week, it was not a Finish on Friday, not last Friday anyway and I have run out of black thread now so need to go shopping. 

I am not sure what to do with it bag, cushion cover?

This was given to me as a top quite a long time ago and will probably be a Linus quilt. I could have gone to town with the quilting but just did quite a simple panto because I learned some lessons on the red and white quilt.

Wonky stars is now bound in red and I quite like it but ....

In real life the backing that I thought was cute, now it is quilted, can be seen as shadow on the front. If I am daft enough to choose a printed backing with a predominantly white top again, I might use a plain white fabric between the backing and the batting or two layers of batting.

It is quite densly quilted with swirls as a practice piece after enrolling on a Craftsy class with Angela Waters. The class was great, Angela is lovely, the quality of the video is excellent but the dense quilting has turned this piece into cardboard. I am going to have to steel myself and see if washing will soften it. Red, black and white humm, if you see a blue cloud over my house later this morning you will know the dye ran and colour catchers were not man enough for the job.

 

http://www.craftsy.com/classes/quilting

If you have not already tried a Craftsy class here is the page of quilty ones, I can recomend the ones I have tried and have a list of ones I want to do in the future. There are freebie classes and clips so you can see what you will be getting and they are available for ever, no time limit to view.

Nothing beats a quilty get together, but I think these are good value.

 

Happy quilting

Liz

 

Very pleased!

Black and Gold

I belong to an internet forum of longarm quilters. We were set a challenge several months ago to make a quilt using only two colours. This is my quilt. I made the challenge into a personal multi challenge, to use my least favourite colour, to piece y seams, to use a different binding technique ( I have taken the binding off and put piped binding on since this photo was taken) although I had plenty of notice I was busy during the summer and left myself only a week to complete it before the deadline. The pattern is called Carpenters Wheel and I found a quilt along on this web site.
http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/carpenters-wheel-qal/

I quite fancy making another with big oriental prints. Tomorrow is a get together of the longarm quilters group and I shall be leaving it to be displayed at a quilt show in Somerset next month with other quilts from the same challenge.
http://www.westcountryquiltshow.co.uk/

Till next time, Liz

Make a list Monday

I saw Make a list Monday on another blog and thought it was a really good idea. I often flit about doing a bit of this and a bit of that but not really feeling like I make much progress. I know I have a busy week ahead so my plan is to focus on just one thing this week.
http://piecebynumber.com/CircleOfGeese-PieceByNumber.pdf
It is a challenge set by Mo at a group I have recently been invited to join. I just have to find some suitable fabrics and get going.
I need a bit of prep time and then I have a hand applique project that would be portable and then maybe if I can find some time to make and put the binding on the red and white wonky stars quilt I could take it with me if I have a few minutes. See this is how it goes.
Tomorrow I will try to post about my challenge quilt  that I have now finished binding, for the second time, and possibly a finish on Friday post.
We will see.
Lz

It works!

Wonky stars just off the machine ready for binding and burying threads. Tomorrow voting ends on a longarm forum photo competition I entered so I will then be able to show my other recent finish. Till then happy quilting Liz

Blogger problems

I have been unable to post pictures to my blog posts so have tried a different method. Hope it works.

I can finally tell you about the hearts quilt

I have spent the last couple of months busy at the local theatre, doing two shows back to back is not to be recomended I underestimated the time I would spend but it was massive amounts of fun and look forward to doing the next show.  This quilt has been on the machine for far too long but is now returned to its owner and I can now blog about it.

Many of the blocks were made by a group and put together with more blocks and a center panel by another group and I have quilted it. Sylvia asked for clam shells so I put them in the center for her, it was very time consuming, I hope she likes it.

I think the plan is to raffle it for a cancer charity around Valentines day, I will let you all know when I find out.

I do have another quilt to show but it will have to wait till later in the month as it is part of a competition with an on line group I belong to. Entries were supposed to be secret but someone has already guessed my work, perhaps it has something to do with my love/obsession with feathers. Ha!
Till next time
Liz X

Not much to blog about

We recently said goodbye to Master Chaos no 1, he will be spending the next two years working in Cape Cod. I was snapped between my lovely boys I am 5ft 8 inches and yes I am wearing high heels.

I have been dressmaking and bag making from gifted fabric and gifting them back but I have eventually finnished this Linus quilt I put together at a session run by Lynda, the feathers in the purple triangles saved it for me.

 I made a bag from leftover fabric from a baby quilt I made some time ago. I messed up rollng on the panto and had lots of free space so filled it with echo quilting and vermichelli. I like it much better than if I had got it right first time and may be my bag of choice for a while.

 I had this top in the waiting pile,it was a donated to Project Linus, and had to prove to myself that I could roll on a panto properly. In real life it is more red not orange as it appears here, so I like it and may be a little reluctant to see it go.

 I had planned to start quilting a quilt but find I have no suitable thread, so rarely happens, so have just placed an order and with a wing and a prayer it will arrive midweek so I can make a start.
Till next time, Liz

Quilts leaving my house

 I quilted this from Lynda's Linus stash.

 This I made for Help for Heros and when I gave it to her Brenda said she had only this week had a  request for a turquoise quilt, good timing I thought.

 This I quilted for a chap in the coffee shop we go to ocasionally. It had lain in a bag for 20 years.

 This is a fun little thing I made for Project Linus.

Lastly his is the latest Flutterwheels quilt which is going in the post in the morning to the Alzheimer Quilt Project at Hampden Park. Oddly I like this quilt more in picture than in person.
Till next time
Liz

A finish, nearly!

Tonight I will be putting the binding on this quilt. I made the top after christmas, a very generous gift from my friend Holly. Thank you Hun.

In real life the turquoise is not so dominant.

 I quilted it using a panto I picked up at a longarmers get together and Wonderfil Spagetti thread I bought at the NEC. I love the colour and look of the thicker thread but it gave me some tension issues. It is not perfect but I like it.

I am going to try to link up with Amanda Jean.

A pin cushion or two

Jane showed her little pin cushions here

http://janeweston.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/ring-for-quilter.html

I am a big girl with big hands

 I  made my smaller one first with a very big yellow button and found it useful when hand sewing but what I really needed was a pin cushion for my long arm and big pins.

I had been watching Calender Girls ( I love that film) while doing a pile of ironing and I thought a sunflower pin cushion would be good. I made up the pattern using a plastic lid from a Pringle tube and I have sewen it inside to ensure the pins don't come through to the back of  my hand. I used Batik fabric from stash, I used the walking foot to stitch cross hatching over the central brown bit to suggest seeds and made up the petal shape. I stuffed the center with chinchilla sand and used some wide flat elastic which goes round the widest part of my hand leaving my hand free for pinning on.

I got half way through and thought I was spending a rediculous amount of time doing this but now I am glad I have completed it because I really like it.

Thank you Jane for the inspiration.

Liz

New York Beauty Blocks

I tried a couple of new techniques yesterday while confined to barracks waiting for a delivery that never arrived, even though I phoned in the morning to check, Grrr. Anyhow I tried foundation piecing with freezer paper and using fabric glue instead of pinning pieces together.

 Using glue to join pieces together is something I will be doing again. I enjoy hand sewing these curves together but it is a lot quicker by machine so thank you Jane for the idea and sorry I can't remember the name for it. I did find the glue stick gave too much glue at a time so I will either need to cut a greater seam allowance or use an applicator of some kind.

I think I will be returning to my old method of stitching through paper for these foundation blocks as I think the points came out more accurately that way but I would concider using the freezer paper method if I ever get around to making a storm at sea quilt as the accuracy needed there is less important. I saw Dorothy was using this technique for making Log Cabin blocks very neatly and I like the idea and will be storing it for future use.
Only one more block for the set of NYB blocks but what can you do with 10 blocks? I think I will be drafting some of my own to add to them.

Till next time
Liz

April is here already

 Where is the year going?
I enjoyed a morning in the garden as Young Master Chaos enjoyed a post scout camp duvet day. Not wanting to tramp mud into the house and being too lazy to take my boots off off I rang the door bell and said the gardener required a box of tissues, a lipsalve and a cup of tea. I did have to ring the bell again to remind mater chaos the need for tea was getting desperate and this is what I found on the door step, tissues, lippy, tea and a slice of the marble cake I had made the day before with added chocolate spread on top. Got to love that boy X

Back to quilty progress, I was given this top some time ago and it has made it to the top of the pile primeraly because I had backing loaded and this fitted. I bought a panto at a LAUK get together and this is one of them, I quite enjoyed the flow once I had got into it although it is a little tricky. I am glad this is now bound and ready to be gifted.

I spent ages yesterday pressing seam alowances on  a quilt top that has been screwed up in a bag for years. I have done only 1/4 of it and my elbows are screaming at me I will have to use my lighter iron and press it in small sections every day untill it is ready to load.

Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worst and we have rain (although that is probably best for my elbows or I would be tempted into the garden again) and we have a childrens party at the railway this afternoon so I am hoping it will clear later.

Till next time

Liz

A whole lot of quilting going on

I don't need a crystal ball to know that my friends will all be binding this weekend

This is Carolines first quilt, a very personal gift for a friend

 Tricky triangles in Oakshot fabric were not the easiest but the end result is worth the ache.
I made my own  stencil but would have liked the hearts to have been less wobbly

Hilary made a log cabin bed runner for a friend and asked for flowers in the quilting.

 This seemed to fit the bill with a lovely YLI varigated thread.

 This is for Holly. Lovely spring colours I think it is destined for a gift when she goes to Africa later in the year.

 Here is the back. Quite a dense quilting pattern. I learnt to be careful not to scooch the panto when advancing the quilt.

 These bags are also going to Africa details can be found here
 http://www.daysforgirls.org/

This is the only quilt top of this batch thatI have made, it  to donate to Quilts for Injured Soldiers. I made it from only 3 shirts but now have to find something suitable for binding. This is my February charity quilt clearly very late, March may get done tomorrow and just scrape through.

Till next time

Liz