September sewing

Well, September disappeared somehow and I don't have much to show for it - not as much as expected anyway.  I have done a fair bit of sewing though, so am pleased enough with that.  We're now half way through October, so I had better get a wriggle on to finish some things by the end of the month.  

The second of the "good" baskets for my granddaughter.  Now to make some for myself.   It is still tricky to get them stiff enough to work properly when pulling in and out of the shelves.  Rather than cardboard inside, it probably needs something like a very thin plywood or perhaps Corflute?

A finished I Spy quilt for a young friend's son, who turned one last month.  A bit late for his birthday but I had issues with this quilt that were so frustrating.  Stupid mistakes that I made and had to spend time to fix, including most of the original free motion quilting.  I tried to match up the coloured borders of each block to make it look like it is woven but I think I won't worry too much about matching the colours in a line through the blocks in future quilts.  

I made too many blocks for this quilt so now have almost enough for a second quilt, ready to make for another young person.  

Not sure about the border on this one - it may be too light - but it is finished, so that's the main thing. Eli's quilt.  Finished size:  52" x 68".  Made from stash fabrics, including backing.  Not sure of the name of the pattern - Woven something?  Quilted with a large meander in the main area of the quilt and straight line meander in the border.  Batting is Legacy 80/20 cotton/polyester.  

Pictures of some of the blocks in my ongoing evening handwork - Sue Daley's Quatro quilt.  Rather than row by row, I am sewing it in rounds.  For each round, I make enough of both the coloured blocks and the plain blocks and plan where they will go in that round.  Then I attach the blocks into four edge lengths and attach each length one by one to the quilt.  Each round is of course bigger than the previous one, so it will take a while.  Once I finish this round, I have another two rounds to go before it is bordered.  Then of course comes the sandwiching and quilting.  I'm still of two minds whether I hand quilt it or not.  

I worked on my QAYG quilt but the sashing still isn't lining up nicely, so I have to try again, I think, or do I just put up with it as it is?  It is a donation quilt but I do want to master this QAYG method of adding sashing to quilted blocks.  

How have I done so far with the goals for September:

1. Make one or more fabric baskets - for my granddaughter and/or me.  I've made one more for the grandy.  
2. Make a knitting needle roll for a friend -  this looks like it won't happen in the near future so I am taking it off my goals list.  
3. Re-join QAYG blocks into sashed finished quilt - have done this but the sashing still isn't lining up nicely.  
4. Finish sewing the elephant wallhanging top - still at the planning stage!
5. Quilt the Sawtooth Star quilt; add binding and label - spent time on Eli's quilt instead.  This one is next to be quilted.    

Goals for October

Not much left of October so I won't be too ambitious.

1. Quilt the Sawtooth Star quilt; add binding and label
2. Finish sewing the elephant wallhanging top
3. Pin baste music quilt ready for quilting in November

September 2021 fabric tally:

I've bought no fabric this month!  With lockdown, I haven't been near any shops to speak of.  

The fabric basket used 2m of fabric.  The I Spy quilt used 3.5m backing, and approx 4m for the front.  

    Fabric brought in:    + 0 m             Fabric used:   - 9.5 m

    Total for September:    - 9.5 m       

    Running total for 2021:    -  21.8 m

August achievements!

Here's the "better" fabric basket for my granddaughter, made to my own pattern after viewing a range of different fabric basket tutorials on the web.  I had to do a few bits of unsewing with this one, but nothing noticeable fortunately.  And it works quite well.  I've used cardboard to make it firm, but think Corflute might work better - maybe.  Cardboard is cheap of course and is recycling at work - I knew those wine boxes would come in handy!  😁🍷

I've written up my instructions so I can make a couple for myself as well.  Now I know how to do them fairly quickly.  I will make several more for my granddaughter too.  I will have to start a production line.  We're in different states and both in lockdown, so it could be a while before I can drop the basket off to her.  

This is the handwork project I took away with me earlier this month.  I've had this project in mind for quite some time, and have been cutting backs, batting and fronts for these QAYG hexagons, using cat fabrics and backing in colours of blue, black and white.  These are the ones I worked on while away, so a finished quilt is a long way off.    I have a large (perhaps huge?!) collection of different cat fabrics so won't run out of fabric for the fronts of these hexagons.  

Sadly I still haven't seen my brother to hand over his 60th birthday quilt.  Who knows when we will get together again, with lockdowns in both states and strict border closures.

So not a lot to show for the month really.  I have worked most evenings on my Quattro quilt of course, while watching Netflix etc.  

How have I done so far with the goals for August:

I didn't add any new goals for August, as I still had June and July goals to work on.

1.    Make up backing for Strip Twist quilt, baste, quilt and bind - Finished!

2.    Finish a better fabric basket for the granddaughter - Finished!

3.    Make a knitting needle roll for a friend - not even started!

4.    Re-join QAYG blocks into sashed finished quilt - not started but I've worked out what I need to do by watching various YouTube video tutorials.  

5.    Continue to hand piece the Quattro quilt at night when watching TV - Ongoing project, so might not include this in my monthly goals any more.  

6    Design and start cutting fabrics for elephant wallhanging - done.  Still playing with the design though.  

7.   Get a box of handwork to take away with me next week.  Done!  

I did well in June and July.  August has been a bit slower because we were away.  

August 2021 fabric tally:

 

While on holiday, I found a patchwork shop in Cobar, so helped the local economy by buying a few metres.  

The fabric basket used 2m of fabric.  

    Fabric brought in:    + 4 m             Fabric used:   - 2 m

    Total for August:    + 2 m       

    Running total for 2021:    - 12.3 m

Goals for September

1. Make more fabric baskets, at least one more for my granddaughter and one for me.  
2. Make a knitting needle roll for a friend
3. Re-join QAYG blocks into sashed finished quilt
4. Start piecing the elephant wallhanging
5. Quilt and bind sawtooth star quilt

That's enough to start with, I think, especially since several have been hanging around for a while.  

Finishes in July!

Another finish for the year.  The Strip Twist quilt in red, black and white is done and dusted, and ready to hand over to my brother for his 60th birthday.  Since he doesn't read this blog, I can show a photo of the finished quilt.  Due to lockdowns (for him) and a few weeks’ holiday (for me), I still haven’t given it to him but it will happen.  No idea when we will be able to get together again.

Finished July 2021.  Size:  59" x 75".  Used a red, black and white jelly roll purchased from Grandmothers Garden (NZ).  Backing made from assorted red, black and white fabrics from stash.  Pattern called Strip Twist by Bonnie Hunter.  Batting is Legacy 80/20 wool/polyester.

My table tennis table came out again this month, so I could baste the Strip Twist and sawtooth star quilts.  It was so easy to baste them without having to kneel on the floor.  I wish I had bought a table like this years ago.  I might have got more quilts made!  I like piecing and I like quilting - it was always the sandwiching and basting that I put off.  

Here's the second basket I made for my granddaughter's Ikea shelves.  Not happy with this one, either.  Still too floppy despite the use of the heaviest weight fusible "stuff", and the design is dodgy.  Great that it is reversible but it means the ends are very awkward and catch on things.  On to the third iteration soon, using cardboard to line pockets in a fabric basket.  Hope that works better.  

Sorry folks, if I confused you with the instructions for the email link.  As you would have realised, it is actually on the right hand side of the page, not the left.  Hopefully I haven't lost any of my following friends along the way! (And of course, if you look at the blog on your phone, the link is at the bottom.)

How have I done so far with the goals for June/July:

1.    Finish sawtooth star quilt top - Finished!

2.    Make up backing for sawtooth star quilt, baste, quilt and bind - Backing made and quilt basted.

3.    Finish red, white and black Strip Twist quilt top - Finished!

4.    Make up backing for Strip Twist quilt, baste, quilt and bind - Backing and binding made, and quilt basted.

5.    Finish a better fabric basket for the granddaughter

6.    Make a knitting needle roll for a friend

7.    Re-join QAYG blocks into sashed finished quilt

8.    Continue to hand piece the Quattro quilt at night when watching TV - Continuing to piece blocks for next round of quilt.  

9.    Design and start cutting fabrics for elephant wallhanging.  

10.  Get a box of handwork to take away with me next week.  Done! 

I did well in June and even better in July.  We were planning to be away for a large part of August, but have now pushed it forward to the end of July, so I'm not going to add anything new to the goals list, other than preparing the handwork to take with me.  Not sure when we will be home in August to continue working on the list.  

July 2021 fabric tally:

 

No fabric purchases in July, but a few finishes, so I can record those in my fabric used tally for the month.  

The Strip Twist in red, black and white used up 3 m in backing, .4m in binding, and approx 4.5m for the front = 7.9m total.

Sawtooth Star used up 2.5m in backing, .33m in binding, and approx 3m for the front = 5.33m total

    Fabric brought in:    + 0 m             Fabric used:   - 13.7m

    Total for July:    - 13.7  m       

    Running total for 2021:     - 14.3 m  (used fabric)

Halfway through the year

Yet again, too much paid work this month to get much sewing done.  I have completed the Strip twist quilt top, adding two borders along the way.  And I've made the backing and binding for it.  So all ready for quilting in July.  (Sorry, haven't taken a photo of the finished top yet.)

And I completed the sawtooth star top as well.  And the backing has been made for it.  It isn't laid out very well in this photo - there are lots of wrinkles in it. 

 

By the way, if you normally get my blog update by email, you may have problems for the future, as Google changed their settings.  I have updated the "Follow by email" gadget on the left hand side of the blog page.  Please enter your email address there if you want to continue to receive this blog by email.

How have I done so far with the goals for June/July:

1.    Finish sawtooth star quilt top - Finished!

2.    Make up backing for sawtooth star quilt, baste, quilt and bind - Backing made.

3.    Finish red, white and black Strip Twist quilt top - Finished!

4.    Make up backing for Strip Twist quilt, baste, quilt and bind - Backing and binding made

5.    Finish a better fabric basket for the granddaughter

6.    Make a knitting needle roll for a friend

7.    Re-join QAYG blocks into sashed finished quilt

8.    Continue to hand piece the Quattro quilt at night when watching TV - Continuing.  Finished attaching next row; now working on piecing smaller blocks ready to join into sections for next row of quilt.  

9.    Design and start cutting fabrics for elephant wallhanging.  

I've done well in June, but have only added one more goal to the list.  Don't want to scare myself!

June 2021 fabric tally:

 

This month I had to buy some more red fabrics for border and binding on the Strip Twist quilt.  I just didn't have enough of the right colour reds.  And there were a few blue/greens to buy as well, for a wallhanging gift I am making for a friend.  

I'm not going to say that I've actually used up any fabric in June, as the things I've been working on are not finished yet.  Once a quilt is bound, I will include all the fabric in it in my used fabric for that month.  It is the only way I can get my head around a fabric tally.  

    Fabric brought in:    +5.5 m             Fabric used:  0  m

    Total for June:    + 5.5  m       

    Running total for 2021:     - 0.6 m

What happened to May?

Well, here it is, eight days into June and I haven't let you know what I've been up to for over five weeks.  Sorry about that.  May was a busy month workwise, and we were lucky to get away for a week as well.  June is quieter work wise, and now I'm home from a little jaunt to Canberra, I've got lots of time for sewing.  

Do you recall that "quilt as you go" quilt I had almost finished last month?  I was so unhappy with the misalignment of the sashing strips that I've unsewed the whole lot, removing the binding and the sashing strips, back to the original QAYG blocks.  I have searched further using Google and YouTube and found better tutorials on how to do the sashing.  So that will be another project for June - doing it right this time!  

Remember these blocks from last year?  I've finally got around to finding and cutting sashing and cornerstones from my stash, and making a border of leftover pieces from the fat quarters.  I'm halfway through piecing the top, and I will need to make a backing and baste it, before quilting and binding.  But it will be a good one for a new baby, I think.  Sadly there isn't enough of the sashing fabric to bind, so I will think of something to use.  Probably a scrappy binding - I have enough leftovers from previous quilts.  

And of course, what do I do when I have a quilt close to finishing?  I start another quilt.  My brother turns sixty in August and I thought it would be nice to make a quilt for him to nap under on the couch.  He is very prone to naps, apparently.  So I pulled a red, white and black jelly roll from Grandmother's Garden (NZ) and more 2.5" strips from my strip box and using Bonnie Hunter's Strip Twist pattern, am making a quick lap quilt for him.  I've made 48 blocks and will join them into a top over the next week or so.  Not sure if I will add borders or not.  The pattern has borders.  We will see if it needs them.  I will need to make a backing and then baste it, before quilting and binding.  I have six weeks until his birthday so the theory is that I will finish in time!  

Granddaughter's birthday was 31st May, so I made a quick and easy bag for her hopscotch, ready to hand it over at her party.  She isn't quite into hopping on one foot/leg yet, but jumping from square to square is allowed in hopscotch when you're little.  But another lockdown happened and her party was postponed.  I handed the gift over at the weekend when they visited.   

I also made another basket (Ikea shelf size) for her toys.  This was a different pattern and I like it even less than the first one I made.  Next one will be a basic box, with inserts to put cardboard.  It will hopefully be more sturdy than this one!  And now I've just realised that I didn't take a photo of this basket before it left the house at the weekend.  So you will just have to imagine it!  ☺

There was one textile related visit last week, to the Pioneer Women's Hut Museum near Tumbarumba in southern New South Wales.  It is committed to preserving rural women's heritage, and has an amazing collection, really well displayed and curated.  There is one hut dedicated to quilts, but the other exhibits were really interesting too.  And there was one hut built recently to house and display a local lady's button collection - which must have been enormous.  So worth visiting - Covid and borders (state and national) willing.  Here's a photo of my favourite quilt in the collection on display.  

              

Goals for June/July:

1.    Finish sawtooth star quilt top

2.    Make up backing for sawtooth star quilt, baste, quilt and bind

3.    Finish red, white and black Strip Twist quilt top

4.    Make up backing for Strip Twist quilt, baste, quilt and bind

5.    Finish a better fabric basket for the granddaughter

6.    Make a knitting needle roll for a friend

7.    Re-join QAYG blocks into sashed finished quilt

8.    Continue to hand piece the Quattro quilt at night when watching TV

Let's see how I go with these goals!

May 2021 fabric tally:

 

Nothing purchased in May, and only one thing completed - the fabric basket.

    Fabric brought in:    0 m             Fabric used:    -  3 m

    Total for April:     -  3 m       

    Running total for 2021:     - 6.1 m

William Morris rules! OK?

 

Finally finished my William Morris quilt, made from two Moda layer cakes: The Morris Workshop, and, Morris Earthly Paradise, designed by Barbara Brackman.  This quilt has gone to a friend, who loves William Morris designs as much as I do.  

I considered adding a border but didn't have enough of anything suitable in my stash.  The binding fabric is a Thimbleberries design, leftover from a workshop I undertook about 15 years ago.  I knew that fabric would come in handy one day!  The backing is pieced from 1/2m cuts of various David Textile fabrics, mainly their William Morris collection but also some Rose and Hubble designs.  

The quilting was done with a variegated Signature cotton thread; see how much was left when I finished!  

I had planned to quilt a little bit fancier but ran out of time, so it is straight line quilted in the ditch of each block, and then diagonally across each one.  

Finished size:  63" x 90"

This is the first quilt I've sandwiched using my "new" table tennis table.  Someone, somewhere had mentioned their use of one as a sandwiching table so I picked it up cheaply on Facebook Marketplace.  It is much easier to do the basting in your own house, rather than taking everything to the local hall to use their tables.  And far, far, far easier than basting the quilt on the floor, which is too much for my back and knees these days.  The TT table is 2.7m x 1.5 so a little narrower than the William Morris quilt.  It was easy to clamp the quilt on the overhang side so that once most of it was pinned, I could untape it and slide it across to finish the pinning.  I had hoped to sit in a chair to do much of the pinning but the folding table legs preclude that.  When I finished pinning, my back and knees thanked me profusely!  

I did make a quick fabric bag to hold the quilt for gifting to my friend.  The David Textiles fabric is a dressweight, so not really the best for a bag, but it will do.  

The QAYG strip quilt was finished in April but I am not happy with the sashing strips not lining up.  I am going to unpick some of the seams and re-do the sashing. So this quilt will be a real finish another time.  

I'm not going to make any goals for the next post.  I worked quite a bit in April and will be this month also.  Other than handwork, I might not get much done this month.  

April fabric tally:

 

(Honestly I wasn’t going to buy any fabric in April, but I made a quick visit to a sewing shop this week - just because it was there! - and bought a few fat quarters!)

    Fabric brought in:    +1.5 m             Fabric used:    -  8.6 m

    Total for April:     -  7.1 m       

    Running total for 2021:     - 3.1 m

March disappeared - where is this year going?

Maybe you're like me, and wondering where this year is going.  A quarter gone already!

I've had lots of other stuff happening in the last month - weekends away with friends, a 4WD course, babysitting a grandchild for a weekend, working a few days in paid employment, car service, medical stuff, helping our daughter move house - and the month disappeared.  I did get some sewing done in the midst of all that, so I am happy.

Here's the first of the fabric baskets I made for my daughter's Ikea shelves (finished in January.)  This one was made from bits and pieces from my stash, with the ends made from wedges - that I had cut for a round quilt three years ago.  The base and two ends have extra-firm stabiliser in them, but the two sides are just normal batting.  Unfortunately, this makes them sag a bit.  It was very tricky to join sides to the ends when I got to the base and no room to manoeuvre my machine foot.  So I'm going to try a different pattern for the next basket.  

Finished size: 11"x 11"x 12"

Here's a picture of the round quilt I made from 36 x 10 degree wedges - all cat fabrics. I made it for my granddaughter, born in May 2018.  

My QAYG quilt having the binding attached.  

As one of March's goals, I experimented with sewing the blocks together and just kept on going and finished the quilt top - four blocks wide by six blocks long.  

One issue with it is the sashing strips to cover the joins.  I hadn't found a really good how-to for this so bumbled along on my own.  It depends on which side of the seam you attach the binding strip as to which way it folds over - and unfortunately, in some cases on my quilt, the sashing strips don't match up between rows of blocks.  It took a while before I realised this would happen.  

The binding is all scrappy (of course!)  All scrappy blue bits from my bindings basket. Almost everything in this quilt is from scraps, including the batting. The backing is consistent, from an old piece of fabric that I've had for years.  But my next QAYG quilt will have multi-fabric backing, depending on the size of my scraps. 

There will be a photo of the finished quilt once I've hand sewn down the binding.  This will be a donation quilt, I think.  

Finished size: 40"x 60"

Here is my granddaughter's third birthday present for May.  It took me a while because I was also working on other things.  All the fabric is from my stash, except the Bluey fabric - bought especially for this.  I made bathroom curtains from the white No. 1 fabric, shorts for my son out of two of the blue-ish fabrics (28 or so years ago!), and other fabrics from a bag of scraps a friend gave me.  The backing is cream calico with a strip of rubber backing down the centre ( to stop slippage).  It is normally used for kitchen drawer bases to stop glasses and such sliding around.   

Finished size:  2.1m long x 60cm wide (77"x 22")

I've also tried sewing some crumb blocks - not sure if they will be ongoing or not.  Maybe I will have to throw out those smallest pieces of fabrics?  No pictures of those yet.  I'm still feeling my way with them.  

Last post's goals .  Notice that I hadn't specified a date, just by the next post - this one - so therefore I could have left this blog post until I had achieved all the goals on the list.  😆

1. Finish the Hopscotch mat  - Finished!
2. Make a bag for the Hopscotch mat - still to be done
3. Finish piecing the William Morris blocks into a top - have just started piecing this
4. Try piecing together the blue QAYG blocks - Done!
5. Glue baste grey blocks for next round of the Quatro quilt - Finished!
6. Start on a new fabric toy box for my granddaughter - Stabiliser has arrived in the mail, but no time to start it at present.  
7. Get a photo of the first fabric toy box - Done!

March fabric tally:

    Fabric brought in:    +  2.5 m  (stabiliser doesn't count)              Fabric used:    - 6 m

    Total for March:    - 3.5m        (February's count was wrong; should have been + 7.5m rather than                                                         minus)

    Running total for 2021:     + 4m