Clothilde - finished

Clothilde is off the needles and blocked. It was an enjoyable pattern to knit, not too difficult, but enough to be interesting. I did not love knitting with the Malabrigo silky wool, but it makes a beautiful shawl and I love the finished result. More details on ravelry.

Wagon Wheels Pattern

This quilt pattern has been a long long time coming. The blocks and top were sewn together quite quickly and then I thought I would hand quilt it and this is where things came to a sudden stop. While I love, love, love the look of hand quilting especially with perle cotton and I am not a natural at it. I didn't like how it looked when I tried it and because of this I did not enjoy it. Not one bit. So it sat in a the pile of unfinished quilts until the end of last year when I decided to machine quilt it.

So finally the pattern is available. It is in my re-opened bigcartel store which now has all the PDF patterns available as instant downloads.

Quilt for Jane - finished

I have decided I need to finish off quilts completely when I make them (yes I know it sounds obvious, but starting something new always seems much more fun). There are quite a few in various stages around here, including some tops which just need quilting and binding. I basted, quilted and machine bound this quilt for my sister Jane this week when my girls were have a holiday with their grandparents. It is such a big quilt so I just quilted it with straight horizontal lines. I think trying to free motion quilt this might have driven me insane and I love the look of straight lines through the shoo fly blocks.

It is quite a big quilt and 2 lengths of fabric was not enough to cover the back so I added some fabric in the middle and some across to make a big cross. I really wanted to make a big shoo fly block to cover the back, but my brain just couldn't manage it in this heat.

This week

The week in instagram pictures:
Soap Making.
Shawl knitting.

Coriander collecting.

A little quilting. The pile of unfinished things is getting smaller.

Made in Cherry

I finished my miniature version of Sarah Fielke's Made in Cherry. I have always wanted to make a lone star quilt, but the thought of all those y seams has always put me off. This pattern is so much easier and gives a similar look.
I wanted to use up some scraps and make a small enough size to hang on the wall so my squares are all 2 1/2" and my centre square is only 8 squares across instead of 10. The finished size is 32". I did machine sew the binding, it was definitely easier and looks a bit better on the back than the first one I did.
There is a quilt-along going on over at Pins and Bobbins if you want to join in.

Machine Sewn Binding

I have been wanting to try machine sewn binding for a while and Rita at Red Pepper Quilts has a great tutorial. I thought I would try it on this little quilt I made last year that was in Fat Quarterly issue 5. It has been folded up ever since waiting to be quilted and bound. After trying to machine bind the first side and unpicking it 3 times I nearly gave up, but I am glad I didn't - it all of a sudden came together and the quilt was bound in no time.
It is by no means perfect (see the picture below), but with practise I know I can get better at it. The thing is I actually enjoy hand sewing the binding. I find it quite relaxing and it is a good excuse to sit down and watch something on tv and I love the way hand sewn binding looks. On the other hand I do love how much time can be saved by machine sewing so I am glad I had a go and have a new quilting skill.
I have quilted my Made in Cherry and I think I will have a go at machine sewing the binding on that.

Interesting Things

My girls are fascinated with the pictures of twins in the latest National Geographic.

Some summer reading:

When God was a Rabbit

How to be a Woman

Poorly Made in China

Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey - every page is mouth watering.

A Sue Codee pendant.

A Miki.o calendar ( sorry a bad picture taken on my icky yellow wall - it is a lovely calendar!)

I made a decision

Well the husband had the final decision. I still couldn't choose. Thanks for all your input - it is always good to have fresh eyes have a look and give an opinion. Now to decide on how to quilt it ...

Decisions Decisions ...

A blue or green shot cotton or a red and white polka dot?

Summer

We are back from a great week in Albany with my parents, sisters, their partners, nieces and nephews. There was swimming, boogie boarding, playgrounds, food (lots of great food!) reading, dvds and unfortunately suck little girls and much vomiting. I can't believe how fast these summer holidays are going, school is not far away.
After a week without sewing meant I really needed to get something done last night. I am joining in the Made in Cherry quilt along. I am making a small scale version which will be about 32 inches across.
Craft withdrawal last week also made me commit to the Swoon-along, although I have not thought this through at all and it could take a while and Jodie started a rag-rug-along. I have pinned a few lovely rug tutorials, I think it is time to have a go at one.

Wonky Log Cabin

I think this should be my year of fearless quilting. I have already tried to take that approach with my clothes sewing. I have tried new patterns and fabrics in the last year and much of my wardrobe is now handmade. There are many quilting techniques, ideas and patterns that I want to try and some of those have been on the to do list for a few years.
One is the wonky log cabin. I have promised my Mum a dress for her birthday, but she really needs to come and stay with me while I make it so I thought I would make a little wall hanging for her. I decided to have a go at a wonky log cabin and not think too much about the process. This is the result. I was really worried after I cut the block into quarters that I had made a big mistake and I should have left it as a wonky square, but now it is finished I am really happy with it and the best thing - so is my Mum.
I used scraps of some patterned fabrics and the solids (except the cream) are Kaffe Fasset and I love them. The colors are amazing. I can't believe it was the first the I have used them I will definitely he using them again soon.

Simplicity 4171

I am going to attempt to blog from my new iPhone. My computer is away getting fixed so I am very glad I have this phone and am wondering how I ever managed to live without it!
I have wanted to make a shirt dress for a while and had planned on making Simplicity 2246 but then I discovered I had Simplicity 4171 which has more shaping (back and front darts) and also comes in B,C or D cups. I used the D pieces and did not making any other major alterations, just took the hem up a couple of inches and gathered the sleeve instead of pleating it. It was much easier than doing a full bust adjustment.
I used some quilting cotton called Little Apples from Moda by Aneela Hoey.
I love it, it fits perfectly and I can see myself making more in long sleeves when it is cooler.

Molly Jacket

A few weeks ago I was lucky enought to win some Violette Field Threads patterns from Lisa at A Spoonful of Sugar. The Molly Jacket had been on my list of things to sew for a while. I had really meant to knit the girls some short sleeved cardigans for summer as it can a bit chilly down here in summer, but knitting takes forever compared to sewing. The Molly Jacket is the perfect alternative. I used some light weight denim and lined it with a red and pink spot that Amelia chose. I made a size 5/6 for her and added about 3/4 inch in length. I would add a little more next time. I chopped about 3/4 inch off the sleeve length as it was a little long.
I only had one big red button so that is all I used. I would like to make this again with three buttons and I will definitely make this again. It is a great pattern that went together really easily with easy to follow instructions.