2010

1. Sultry Garden Quilt, 2. First Doll Quilt, 3. Baby Boy Star Playmat, 4. Twin Girl Quilt, 5. Twin Girl Quilt, 6. Millie Moon Quilt, 7. Moda Sweet Coasters, 8. Sorbet Pinwheels, 9. Simple Squares Panache Baby Quilt, 10. Moda Sweet Placemats, 11. Red Hippo Craft Bag, 12. Authentic Quilt, 13. Space-Boy Quilt, 14. Christopher's Quilt, 15. Bronwyn's Quilt, 16. Crazy Sweetness in the snow!

I can't believe it is the end of this year already but here it is - my mosaic of 2010's makings.  I love that both the first and last quilt of the year have been photographed in the snow!  I have had a really great year learning to quilt.  I took 4 classes, visited several quilt shows including Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, took part in some swaps and 2 Bees as well as making lots of virtual quilt friends.  I can't wait for 2011 and to start making some of the 324 quilts that are running around my head!

Crazy Sweetness

 I finally finished the quilt I started in January using Camille from Simplify's pattern Piece of Cake.  I finished the quilt top back in April and then put is aside as I was terrified at the thought of basting and quilting such a large quilt. I finished hand sewing the binding on Christmas Eve and gave it to my parents for Christmas.  Happily it now lives on the bed in my old room so I will still get to use it when I visit.

 The quilting on this one almost drove me insane (hence the name for this quilt) and it is a long way from perfect.  Whilst it was in progress I finished a few other quilts and learnt a lot from them but I was determined to finish this one in all its imperfectious (is that a word?) glory anyway. 
Note to self for the future:
1. A plain coloured back is not very forgiving when you are newish to quilting (there are a lot of puckers in this quilt)
2. Diagonal quilting is very ambitious for your first large quilt (next time maybe stick to straight lines)
3. Use 3 times as many pins as you originally planned to use when basting
4. Your Mum will love anything you make (no matter how many imperfections you point out!)


In an effort of full disclosure here is the puckery back:

Bronwyn's Quilt

The twin quilt of Christopher's Quilt from yesterday.

Made in 20 hours over 3 days!

The recipient, my neice (aged 2 and a half)  jumped up and down for 2 minutes shouting "I like it I love it I like it I love it".  Worth every minute!

Christopher's Quilt

I finished this quilt for my nephew for Christmas but can't come up with a more imaginative name!

I loved the idea of squares inside squares as a way of showing the fabrics off and was inspired by these lovely quilts 

 
This is a first for me for lots of reasons:

1. First time I used this design

2. First time I used fabrics that aren't all from one fabric line

3. First time trying wavy line quilting.

The back is Ikea fabric.

Sunday Stash

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been in Ireland for a weekend in November - we stayed with my parents for a weekend and attended my best friend's wedding.  In between we spent 3 days in Galway in the west of Ireland.  The hotel was gorgeous but it rained all day for 3 days (minus a 2 hour hiatus when I dragged my husband for a walk to a beach I used to visit as a kid.

By Day 3 cabin fever had kicked in but a quick Internet search revealed a Quilting Shop just half an hour's drive away.  So the husband was instructed politely requested to drive me there in the pouring rain.

Once there it would be rude not to buy something - I think the packs above are Moda Arcadia made up by the shop into charm packs.  I thought the colours would be perfect for boy quilts.

And these I bought just because they looked pretty!

And an update on Bronwyn's Quilt from yesterday that needs to be finished by Friday.  So did I get up early and crack on with it?  Of course not its the weekend, I work hard all week (or so I told myself when the alarm went off this morning)!  The morning started with coffee and the papers in bed, catching up on posts on my google reader, flicking through magazines before a lazy brunch of French Toast & Bacon at noon.   Did I mention this needs to be finished by Friday?!!! 

PS It is all cut now and the piecing of the blocks is in progress - why do I do this to myself???

Catch up

As I said my Work in Progress page hasn't changed as much as I had hoped for but I have made a little progress with some projects.

The quilting is finally finished on my Crazy Sweetness Quilt and the binding is all ready to be sewn on.

 Quilting is finished on Christopher's Quilt - binding and then it's finished!

This little collection of fabric is going to be the twin of the one above (literally as it's for Christopher's twin sister, Bronwyn).  Lovely as it is having twin nephew and neice it does mean making 2 of everything - the same but different.  It is Saturday night and this is still a pile of fabrics and it needs to be finished by Friday . . . .

I'm Back!

Where did November go?

November is usually a really dull month for me but this year it was crazy.  I spent a week in Ireland and 5 days in New York on holidays.  In between I spent a weekend in London and also tried to do my day job.  Quilting and blogging have taken a little bit of a back seat recently.  But I do have some posts to share of a lovely quilting exhibition I saw in New York and a little fabric shopping I did in Ireland and New York.

I have 600 unread posts in my google reader to catch up on too.  But for now Christmas is looming and I need to keep working on my neice and nephew's quilts - this is the finished top for my nephews which I have now basted and started the quilting: