Summer Holiday Sewing

In the hols I plan to:

1   Get more of Lucy's Meow quilt done ... maybe even finished. No, that's too ambitious given I don't enjoy making all the half square triangles in this quilt. (I probably should have thought of that before I started it.)

2   Work on this cool quilt. I have had the fabric and pattern stashed away for a few months.

3   I would love also to get this one started. It's from Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking.

Mocha the neighbour's cat has been my cat friend this week - sleeping all over the washing I should have put away when I brought it in off the line rather than dumping it on the spare bed! 

Lucy the Cat has been sick and to the vet four times in six days. Blood tests, anti nausea injection, anti-inflammatory injection, x-rays and four teeth extractions later ... she is returning to her normal self, although the pharyngitis (on top of the 'feline oral resorptive lesions' issue) means her meow is still a bit croaky. Hopefully, that's it now until her annual warrant of fitness in March.

One Block Wonders #1

After weeks of very little sewing, mainly because of a new role at work, last weekend I was determined to get back to my sewing machine. I have been keen to make a bigger one block wonder for a while and I don't think you can go wrong with a 'star' quilt.

The three main fabrics came from the stash. And I was in The Crafty Needle looking for fabric for my second giant star quilt and came across the little grey and white spot I have used in the background. I quite like that I managed to put some random fabrics together and they look ok.

The quilt measures 48" square or 122 cm. It will probably go to Carol the quilter for as little quilting as possible.

It was too windy for Lucy the Cat to venture outside when I was taking photos, so she sat by the open window and the wind blew her winter mane around. And Mocha, the neighbour's cat who spends about three quarters of her day not at her own house, stayed inside in the sun. Smart kitty.

I have cut a second giant star and I plan to get more of it sewn this weekend. I am not sure how user friendly this one will be given three of the four fabrics are linen. However, it will look good!

Lucky Stars Finished

This one is a bit smaller than the bee trees, so the binding was done much more quickly than I imagined.

The Lucky Stars Quilt measures 148 x 148 cm - 58 x 58". I didn't want to enclose it in a coloured binding, so went with the background blue/grey with four smallish pieces of the brighter blue cut in. 90% of the fabrics came from Spotlight including the backing. This was one was also quilted by Carol Fearon. It is mainly ditch-stitched which I like because there is less quilting so the quilt is softer.

Lucy the Cat tested it as a washing quilt when I took it outside to photograph.

Heads or Tails?

I have been referring to this quilt as my arrowheads quilt, but I see it's actually called arrow tails. I suppose arrow tails are a little less dangerous than arrowheads!

Anyway, I saw this lovely quilt by Laurel of Sing all You Want sometime last year and thought it would make a good baby quilt for a frolleague (remember - blend of friend and colleague). I had a layer cake which I had bought for another project and used that. Laurel has all the directions on her blog for this quilt. All I did was cut each layer of my cake in half and then cut each short end off at 50 degrees. I possibly should have paid more attention to having all my arrows going in the same direction.

My finished quilt measures about 90 cm x 115 cm. I backed it with another Spotlight special that looks kind of like sketch with some hand-drawn flowers thrown in, and it is bound with actual sketch - which isn't quite as traffic-cone-orange as it looks in the photo.

Lucy the Cat has given it her seal of approval. She's pretty easy to please though.

More Trees for my Bee Quilt

Hello! Happy New Year!

During my holidays I have been somewhat productive. I have made three more trees for my Modern Monday bee quilt. Currently (well, actually as of August) it looks like this. It is a bit short to be useful. One more row will be just right.

I have run out of ideas so my three new blocks aren't that exciting ...

I plan to make one more tree using hexagons and then it will almost be done!

Lucy the Cat came to assist out in the forest when I was taking the photos this morning. I think she is happy to be home from the cat motel. She has been super nice to the neighbour's cat, Moccha who is a part-time resident at our house. No stalking her, lying in the hallway so she can't get past or hiding behind things to jump out at her ... yet!

Lucky Stars - Progress

I didn't love the three layout suggestions we were emailed. I was after something less ordinary.

 So I went back to Amy Gibson's suggestions for her Sugar Blocks.

I have added 2.5" sashing to the blocks to give them some space and try to calm the design. And then I wet them to get the paper off ... and all over the floor.

I plan to put a bigger star in the centre. Either grey and yellow, or grey and navy, or grey and chevrons. And I might add another border around the outside just to make the quilt into a more useful size.

While I was waiting for the blocks to dry (lucky it was a very warm day) I started another oven mitt using fabric from the stash.

Lucy the Cat did not go far. My chair, the ironing board, my chair, the ironing board in front of the fan and finally this basket. It was a tight squeeze!

A Meow Update

Because we pay a million dollars a metre fabric for in New Zealand, and because I really didn't know what I was doing, I made a prototype using scraps and ugly fabric (I am talking about you, Purple).

Fortunately, I still have notes from when I first started quilting. They helped me work out the size of my HSTs.

I remembered how much I dislike making HSTs. Pity each block needs 32 HSTs.

The first block has turned out ok. I think the linen on the right looks a different colour just because of the light. I am using Camile Roskelley's pattern, but I made some adjustments to take into account the size of the blue cats.

Every time I got up - and there is a lot of getting up and down when making HSTs - Lucy the Cat stole my sewing chair. She loves it.

It's nearly the Christmas hols. Yay.

A Constellation in Progress

11/12. One more with chevrons and job done. Apart from joining them all together some how with something.

Lucy the Cat sniffs out her favourite.

And then settles here.

It's nice being able to take photos outside again after what seems like a long autumn and winter.

Simple Blue and Green Baby Quilt

These pics show me that the fence needs a clean and paint. However ... the top is complete and with the darker fabrics I have made a strip to be pieced into the back. If I did this again, there are a few more fabrics I would take out of the top - they are still a bit too dark.

The quilt attracted Lucy the Cat all the way from her bed in the sewing room.

Here's a close up of one of my fave fabrics. It's by Heather Ross and has a linen feel to it, although I think it is just cotton.

Why not a Goat or a Pig?

What I wondered this afternoon, is why do I not have a small goat or pig running around the house?  Why is it that cats became domesticated and not goats or small pigs or small sheep? Couldn't find the answer on the www. My theory is it's because cats were once highly valued by the ancients. I am not sure goats, pigs, sheep ever were. Lucky for Lucy I say.

New Use for Quilt Hoop

Cat contain-er as in a way to contain your cat when sleeping.

Lucy-the-cat could have chosen to sleep anywhere, but for the last two nights she has cosied up inside the hoop. She barely fits, but this doesn't seem to worry her as she props her chin up on the edge.

If only the hoop would get back on the Little Patchwork Village quilt and I could summon the interest and energy to quilt. One more day of work until the hols. Yay. Am tired. And then it is all down hill to Christmas.

Basting and Quilting the Baby Quilt

Lucy the Cat 'helping' baste the quilt

The quilting lines

The quilting - using a grey thread



The back side of the quilt



Re-covered Dining Chairs

I went shopping at Martha's in Newmarket this morning.

Before ...

After ...

The reason for needing to re-cover ...

To be fair, I first covered them when we bought them 8 years ago. But that was pre-Lucy-the-Cat so light blue was a good idea.

More afters ...