Wednesday 6 March 2013

I have been sewing...

...just not blogging.

Things have been ticking along in our house but a combination of more illness (I feel like a broken record) and half term meant that my time to do things other than work, kids, house etc has been limited and so I've spent in sewing!

So apologies if this is a long post but I thought I'd get down all the stuff I've been up to in case it is another 6 weeks before I get round to posting again!

First up I have made some progress on two of my finish along 1st quarter goals:

she can quilt

Lynnebob Squarepants pillow

Finished!

Lynnbob Squarepants pillow finished! Lynnebob Squarepants pillow - back

It is made using Lynne's tutorial and part of a charm pack of Verna by Kate Spain.  The back is a cotton/linen mix from Backstitch and it is bound with a Lizzy House jewel print.

It is about 24" square and apologies for the flat picture but I don't have a pillow form that big!

Memory quilt

I have finished making the blocks for the memory quilt I'm making my aunt and I've decided on a layout.

Layout for my aunt's memory quilt

I changed the outer blocks slightly from the original design adding plain blocks as I felt it was a bit too busy for my taste.  I'm pleased with how it is shaping up - just need to press on with sewing it all together!

One of the reasons I'm not as far along with the memory quilt as I thought I might be is because I was seduced by the Starburst quilt along organised by Melissa of Happy Quilting.  I love Melissa's style and had bookmarked the Starburst tutorial when it first appeared but although I was sorely tempted with the quilt along started I held firm and stuck to trying to finish my WIPs.

That all changed at the start of February when I found out that one of my oldest friends is getting married in May - now I had the perfect excuse to jump on board!  I had some Juggling Summer by Zen Chic that I bought from Annie when the Village Haberdashery had its open weekend last year and so I bought some additional prints and dived right in.  I decided to go for a different layout using three blocks rather than four and Melissa's assembly line method meant they came together really fast - I finished the quilt top in a week, definitely a new record for me!

Starburst Quilt top finished

It is 80" square and I adore it.  I will definitely use the Starburst tutorial again - I think one big block would make a fab baby quilt.

I've also been keeping up to date with the Sister's Ten BOM.  Here are my February blocks:


Sisters Ten BOM - February block 1Sisters Ten BOM - February block 2


And I've signed up for a fun swap run by the lovely Fiona of Celtic Thistle stitches and Sam of A Cup of Tea and a Slice of Cake (who I'm sure is equally lovely!).


Who doesn't need a new apron!

Apron Mosaic

Right well that was a massive post - I definitely need to post more often!  I am off to the Duxford Quilt Fair on Saturday so maybe I'll have some fabric goodies to post about!

One last thing - my real life sewing pal Jill has just started a blog so if you have five minutes drop by and meet her at  The Nocturnal Stitcher.

Bye
Sarah