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:

Lynnebob Squarepants pillow

Finished!

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.



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!



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:





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!



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

Sickness, snow, more sickness......

Yes that has been my life over the last couple of weeks *sigh*

First off the little lady threw up at nursery a week past Tuesday and so was excluded from nursery for 48 hours (Tuesday-Thursday  are my working days) and because J was away with work I had to take time off/work in the evenings so not much sewing last week at all.

Then there was snow last Sunday night which meant school was closed on Monday and Tuesday (not very impressed about the Tuesday - for the second year the wee chap's school was virtually the only one who couldn't get their act together and was closed a second day).  So much snowman building and sledging and hence a worn out me!

And then on Thursday the wee chap was poorly and I was up half the night with him.  I'm hoping that is it for a while but who can tell!

I did manage to get a little bit of sewing done (squeezed in to the odd little gap).  I have been pattern testing for Kirsty of Quiet Play - her new Just My Type alphabet is great and she asked for words for a charity quilt and I was assigned

It is the most complicated paper piecing I've done but it came together really easily and I already have a plan for another project using the patterns.  I'll also be looking forward to see what the final quilt looks like.

My only other sewing this week has been decidedly out of my comfort zone.  It was the wee chap's turn to have Patch, the class bear, over the weekend and since we were going to get the kids new shoes Patch came too and had his feet measured (with obligatory photo - and our thanks to the Clarks assistant who played along!).  But then of course the wee chap wanted Patch to have shoes too so I had to cobble (forgive the pun) something together.  Luckily after a couple of false starts I came up with something not too horrendous!

At least the wee chap was happy!

And finally to my giveaway - sorry it has taken me so long to pick a winner!

Despite my best efforts I cannot get the Random.org box to show but the winner was number 3

Emily of strawberry patch

A slightly intimidating result as Emily makes wonderful pouches of her own but hopefully she will find a use for her prize!

As for my blog name - in the 6 months before I started the blog the wee chap was obsessed with Mr Men books and in one of them (I think it is Mr Silly or Mr Nonsense) is the line 'You Silly Banana' and that became his favourite phrase to say to me or J if he thought we had done something funny.  So when I started this blog it was a phrase that came to mind.

No one guessed exactly by Amy of Amy's Crafty Shenanigans came pretty close so there will be a little something winging her way too.

Hopefully I will have more sewing to report soon.
Bye for now
Sarah

Making progress and a giveaway

Hello

Well we had some snow today which excited the kids no end.  Not enough to cancel school but it really started coming down around 3pm so the kids went straight out in the garden when we got home.  We had a snowball fight and the wee chap's aim has seriously improved!  The little lady mainly just ate snow.

Anyway I don't know if it is the influence of signing up to the Finish Along but I resisted the lure of something new and sewed up the giant Lynne Bob Squarepants block that I'm making into a cushion (using Lynne's tutorial here).

I quilted 1/4 inch either side of any seams between background and print.  I usually quilt cushions much more heavily and had intended to with this one but I do like how this emphasises the block design.  I'll have a think about it for a couple of days and decide whether to leave it or do some more.

I've also signed up for the Sister's Ten Modern BOM that Gen X Quilters.  I'm using Madrona Road in the ocean colourway and I've done my January blocks

There are some gorgeous examples popping up in the Flickr pool.  It always amazes me how varied the same block can look in different fabric choices!

And finally a little giveaway - it is just over a year since I started blogging (I thought it was a year ago today but when I checked it was actually the 12th January 2012) and although I am not the most regular of bloggers I do enjoy being able to look back over what I've made and I particularly appreciate all my lovely readers.

So I'm as a little thank you I've got a couple of things for you:

A zip pouch (made using Elizabeth Hartman's Perfect Zip Bag pattern) and two fat quarters of Summersville which was one of my favourite collections of last year.  The pouch is about 9" by 9" in size and is lined with hot pink fabric.

Just leave me a comment, any comment for a chance to win but if you feel like it you could tell me where you think my blog name comes from.

Giveaway closes 6pm GMT on 21st January 2012.

Linking up with



Bye for now
Sarah

Final finish of 2012 and a plan for more finishes this year......

Hello again

Well everyone is back at work/school/nursery as of yesterday and the kids are not impressed about having to get up earlier - much moaning and lying on our bedroom floor.  But we made it and things were a little easier today so hopefully we will be back into our normal rhythm soon.

I thought I'd share my final finish of 2012 (binding was sewn on on New Year's Eve!).  I grabbed a couple of Oh Deer charm packs from Simply Solids when Justine had a sale when she took over last year because I loved them but had no real plan.

But the bird print caught my eye and got me thinking.  The wee chap's teacher is expecting her first baby at the end of February and the classes in Year One are all named after birds so it seemed like a good fit.



I used a pattern by Miss Rosie Quilts called Domino and it went together really fast - I'd definitely use it again for baby quilts in the future.
 

I backed it in the bird print - I picked it up when I went to the Village Haberdashery open weekend in December (Annie is so lovely!).

I love how bright and cheerful this quilt is and hope that she likes it.

That was a project that went from start to finish in a couple of weeks but I've got a few projects that have been hanging around and are making me feel guilty about my planned makes for 2013.  So in an effort to get them done I decided I would link up with Q1 of the 2013 Finish-a-long in the hope that it motivates me.

1) Siblings together quilt



This top was completed back in May and I pieced a back only to find that when I went to baste it the back was a few inches too short. Now I had plenty of fabric left over but I was annoyed at myself for miscalculating and so I shoved it in a corner and moved on to other things. It needs to be finished and donated! I have the batting and binding ready.

2) Memory quilt for my Aunt



After my uncle died last year I offered to make a memory quilt from some of his shirts. I chose a pattern and made a start but it got put to one side when Christmas related sewing needed to be done. One of the shirts she sent is lyocell which is a bugger to sew with but I'd really like to get it done. About half the blocks are made.

3) Alice Mixtape quilt
 

This is my oldest UFO, started nearly 2 years ago. It was about the 4th quilt I started and brought home to me that an accurate quarter inch seam is important. The rows wouldn't line up and after much unpicking I left it to languish until the beginning of last year when I finished up the top. The little lady really likes the fabric and I want it finished - I am going to try and FMQ it in something other than a stipple or loopy design.

 4) Lynnebob Squarepants pillow
 

Another one that got pushed aside by Christmas sewing. All HSTs are made & trimmed just need to sew it. This is intended to be a thank you gift and although it is a surprise so no particular deadline I'd like to be able to gift it sooner rather than later.

I've got other WIPs but I think three quilts and one cushion is achievable so I'll stop there!

Off to link up and drool over everyone else's projects!

Bye
Sarah

2012 in review

This post has taken me a little longer to write than intended - I sat down to do it on New Year's Eve but I made the mistake of checking Reader first and say Katy's post and the idea of making #scrappytripalong blocks seemed more exciting than blogging.

Well four blocks down I decided that my sadly neglected little blog needed some attention and it has been fun looking at the stuff I've made over the last year and it turns out there was more than I thought!

Quilts




I've finished 10 quilts this year (even if most of them are baby quilts) and two further quilt tops (the last two in the mosaic).

Most are relatively simple in design but I do feel that my accuracy has improved and I have conquered my fear of free motion quilting!  I want to try and move on from stippling this year and also improve my consistency.

Other makes




I also made four cushions, five bags, a mini quilt, three dolls/softies (only one pictured as I realised I never got round to photographing the others) and ten zip pouches.

I'm frankly amazed I managed to do that much and am looking forward to 2013.  I've got several things I plan to do but I want to try and get some of my five WIP finished in the early part of the year so I might join in with

to try and keep myself on track!

Right I'm off - wishing everyone a Happy & Productive New Year

A little bit of sewing

Hello,

I've not been blogging much recently partly because the whole family has been struck down with various lurgys over the past few weeks and partly because I've been sewing instead.

So I apologise for the photo overload!

I finally finished my Mum's 60th Birthday quilt!!  Her birthday was in March and the quilt has been sitting basted since April/May time.

She has been very forbearing but she did drop some big hints that she would like it finished when she visited in September.  So when she & Dad were scheduled to visit at the end of November I knew I had to get my act together!

I'd had an idea of quilting it with the handprints but after a couple of attempts it became clear that I just don't have the control when I'm FMQ to do that yet.

So I decided to do a big stipple and it turned out really well.  This is the biggest quilt I've made (82" square) by some margin so I was quite chuffed that I managed to wrestle it through my machine.  It definitely gives me some confidence to try and improve my FMQ and to tackle things other than baby quilts.

The pattern is Large Lattice by Amy Smart on Moda Bakeshop  and I made it using Twiggy fabrics and two Klona solids.

So having got a long standing UFO off my back (with an enormous sense of relief) what did I do?  Did I get going with another WIP?  No, I started something new!

I chopped in to my FQ stack of Summersville and made Jeni Baker's Side Braid pattern

Part of the top is looped over the line but I didn't want it trailing in the mud!

 It is a great pattern - I wanted some nice, easy, instant gratification and it certainly was.  I cut the pieces one evening and sewed the top the following day.

I've still got quite a lot of Summersville left so I think I'll add in a coordinating solid and make some wonky log cabins for the back.  I'm thinking red at the moment but not sure.

After that I decided I did have to get on with stuff.  I finished all the panels for the Perfect Zip Bags I'm making as teacher gifts using Elizabeth Hartman's pattern.  I'm now part way through construction so hopefully I'll have them done in good time for the end of term - I'd rather not be madly sewing the night before term ends!

Seven are made from a Tradewinds charm pack which I split by colour and the remaining two are from a Verna charm pack.

Right I'm off to find the Christmas decorations in the loft.  The wee man is determined we should do the tree this morning but I'd like to wait until this afternoon (mainly because I like a glass of mulled wine whilst I do the tree and 10.30am is too early for that!)

Bye
Sarah

WIP wednesday

Hello

It has been a while since I linked up with


But I've got some things I need to crack on with so thought it would help motivate me! So lets start with finishes:

Hurricane Sandy blocks

Last week I saw this post by Jennifer of Knotted Thread and thought I'd lend a hand

Jennifer now has enough blocks but is still accepting donations of batting, backing and binding.

Then the comments on Jennifer's post lead me to this post by Erin of Vesuvius Mama so I decided I could make a couple of blocks for her too

It is nice to be able to help out in a small way.

In progress

Memory quilt - the shirts my aunt sent have now been cut up as have the solids

I'm hoping to get sewing with these tonight but it depends how much progress I make with my mountain of ironing!

No progress

Mum's quilt - after my quilting fail I haven't touched it but I have to get on with it as she is coming to stay in three weeks and I'd really like to be able to give it to her then (given that it was meant to be a birthday present and her birthday was in March!)

Teacher gifts - I'm planning to make zip pouches.  Supplies are purchased but I've got until the end of December so these are low priority at the moment.

Right I'm off to see what everyone else is up to - always dangerous as the temptation to start something new always increases with all that eye candy!

Bye
Sarah