Tagged: etsy
Busy, Busy, Busy
So after all the gardening of last week we have had a week of Siberian winds to keep us all safely tucked in doors. Over on the Quiltsy Team discussion thread there was some talk about the way we all work. I have to admit to being a bit of a flitter. Perhaps I have ADHD; I do and have always become easily distracted.
This week I have finished (well almost) a quilt that has been on the go since last summer (it’s the one above). It has changed quite a lot during that time. It was originally intended for my MIL who wanted something with mexican type colours so I found some hand dyed charm squares that fit the bill and thought they would work well with white. She wanted it as a wall hanging that could double as a bed quilt. Anyway when she saw the part pieced quilt she didn’t like it and now I have free reign to go and do something else for her. She’s a bit of a fuss pot so I’ll probably do my own thing instead of trying to work out what I think she’ll like.
Anyway, it is, like I said, almost finished. It is called Prairie Charm and has a red woven gingham backing with a printed white daisy on it and a chambray border. It’s quite simply quilted. I love the colours and would be inclined to keep it for myself but my quilts have to work for their living.
I also pieced a little blue and white one with charms called Spa by Deb Strain; it is the baby brother to the star bed runner. I’m waiting on a delivery to finish it. I was going to quilt it with celtic motifs but might change my mind about this, hoping to get it done tomorrow or Friday.
Anyway, being at a loose end I decided to start the special quilt for Arty Daughter and her beau. Not sure what I’m doing wrong but perhaps someone will pop along and let me know.
I am using layer cake squares to make 2.5″ strips to make 4 patch blocks and then cutting other layer cake squares into 4 5 inch squares to make HSTs with. My HSTs are bigger than my 4 patch blocks: is this right?
I sewed them together and got this:
And most of you will recognise it as one block of a Jacob’s Ladder quilt – if I am doing it wrong or the HSTs should be smaller, please let me know as the Maths of it all slightly frightens me.
Anyway, I’m off to post this on the Quiltsy Team blog in their Work In Progress Wednesday bit; it’s my first time – I hope it’s okay to ask stupid questions.
Because I care – featuring handmade Monday
I admit it. I have been a little distracted for the last couple of weeks and have not really settled down to writing . The whole business of the previous post discomfited me and the issue of the house I am trying to no-longer think about. This is odd as it has been the one beacon of solace for so long. I should have known better …
Whilst I have not been busy blogging, I have bee busy with other things – meet Pavlova, my latest creation which has kept me occupied along with another two quilts, Trip and Dolly Mixture which should be done later this week.
In other news, I have been out to a Carers’ Ambassadors meeting this morning. Carers Champions are a not for profit organisation representing and helping carers in the Plymouth local authority area.
If you are a carer and live in Plymouth have you heard of them? Have you had any help or assistance in your role? Have you had a Carer’s Assessment by the local authority and if so what has been your experience of the process? Any compliments – any concerns? I am meeting with the local authority on 3 April to provide a carer’s perspective and would welcome local input and even experiences from further afield. Leave me a comment or if you prefer not to leave it here, email me at fimacmorris@aol.com. I am attending the Carers Champions drop-in on 5 March in Plympton to ask carers there about their experiences and would love to hear from anyone who has experience of this, good or bad.
I can tick this off today’s to do list and pop over to Handmade Monday to see what Wendy and the gang have been up to.
Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
I actually managed to finish her on Monday but owing to the dismal weather and me being involved in lots of voluntary things this week, it has taken me until now to post here. I am very pleased and also a litlle bit bemused as to why these quilts have adopted genders!
As said before Ruby is made from 1 charm pack of Moda Ruby with 5 inch border of an aqua and cherry fabric from the Ruby range. this has also been used for the backing fabric.
It is bound in an ice blue plain cotton from the Bella solids range. I don’t have a particular thing for Moda although I do love their fabrics but I’m trying to make my quilts work together and at the moment I lack the experience to be able to tell if different manufacturers’ fabrics will work as well together. I’m playing it safe, if you will.
It is stipple quilted in the colourful central panel in
my own unique messy style using a variegated pale grey Gutermann Sulky thread and in places it has been unpicked due to tension problems when I was nearing the end of my reel. It looked more like crochet than sewing. The batting is Warm and Natural. I’ve used it for the others too but again this is down, really to a lack of experience in anything else. Another happy accident. It seems to be well regarded but I just found it originally at a good price for what I wanted (a cotton batting). I thinking of using Heirloom wool batting for commissions – I suppose that depends on the price the client is willing to pay. I have one in mind for myself which will use wool batting and William Morris fabrics. For our new house 🙂 .
I am satisfied with the overall standard of finish. I just have to work out now how much to sell them for. I have a craft fair next Friday at the Roland Levinsky Building in the University of Plymouth and would like to get them on my etsy shop over the weekend with some other bits. So if you have any experience in this (pricing quilts for sale) please contact me. Ruby measures 36″ square. It has been washed and has that slightly wrinkled quality that I love.
I’m currently working on a new project for next week’s craft fair and will hope to post the results on Sunday for next week’s Handmade Monday – next week is busy again with a day at Bristol with the Phoenix team, a day interviewing for this voluntary thing I’m doing and the Craft Fair on Friday – I think Thursday may be a bit fraught.
St Distaff day blues
I thought I would share with you my latest little creation which was originally going to be called the Putting on the Itsy Bits Ritz quilt due to the combination of Moda and Makower fabrics used, but will, from now on be known as the Little Boy Blue quilt.
It is made from about 2/3rds of a Moda Putting on the Ritz jelly roll and about 1 1/2 yards of Makower Itsy Bits yardage. This is not because I am the devil may care, throw caution to the wind, kind of woman, it’s because the lady in the nice fabric shop had matching fabric but couldn’t sell me any due to her block of the month club. Frankly it would have been better to tell me she hadn’t got the matching yardage. Anyway the Makower is a very near match and is for the back only, which will be stippled, so is not really a problem.
Being on a budget, I am always looking for ways to make my fabric purchase better value for money and have been busy looking at prices of the different precuts. In the UK layer cakes and jelly rolls seem to be between £25 and £30 ($39-$46) and charm packs £8.50 – £11.00 ($13-$17), in fact it seems to me that the retailers sometimes just swap the dollar sign for a pound sign. Imagine my delight to have found a secret (well I suppose not if I’m sharing it with you) stash of delightful charm packs.
At this point a drum roll feature would be excellent WordPress, let me introduce, Melody from Fort Worth, Texas and her Etsy shop Melody of the Heart. I currently have, winging their way to me, 9 charm packs in three designs for a total of £62 ($93) including shipping – which works out at just less then £7 a pack – I haven’t found better value anywhere else at the moment but if you can do better …. Please pay her a visit; amazing value and a lovely friendly service too.
In other news, I am just waiting now for some batting so that I can complete Ruby and her friend. I am currently hand quilting Little Boy Blue (see below) but am waiting for a free motion quilting foot and my try machine quilting Ruby to see which I prefer.
Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby
The light is still not quite right to photograph this to reflect the lovely colours but I will include the swatch in a moment. I have used a single charm pack from Moda designed by Bonnie and Camille called Ruby. This was my first attempt at cutting into the patches (four patch blocks). I have pieced them randomly without much attention to the overall design and I like it. Next time though, I will be planning more carefully and piecing with purpose!! All over pinwheels would be particularly suitable for a boy I think. The panel here looks quite Cath Kidston in colour whereas the palette is actually fresher and more modern looking, see swatch below right.
Anyway, the panel is approximately 26.5 x 26.5 inches. I’m trying to work out how I got there but next time I’ll write it down as I go. The charm pack yielded 10 4 patch blockswhich were cut on the diagonal to give 40 triangles which were sewn back together to give 10 squares – I used 9 blocks to create a square quilt top.
I’m waiting for my backing and binding fabric to arrive but I will be using the one pictured to the left (the aqua coloured with apples/cherries) to create a deep 8 1/2 inch border, it will also be used as the backing fabric. The quilt will be bound in the same aqua colour but a solid version.
I will be using Warm and Natural cotton batting again (if it ain’t broke …) as I have been pleased by the finish of Hannah’s quilt and it was quite easy to hand quilt.
I will be hand quilting this one too – the middle panel will have a stipple pattern like the one to the right 
and the border will be echo quilted on either side of the border fabric and then have the lovely ducks (left) to further decorate it. It will be approximately 35.5 inches square when completed and will be for sale in my etsy shop.
the life and loves of a sheweevil 