Tuesday 27 January 2015

Scraptastic Tuesday - Cross & Crown

Love this block - it has a biblical theme I believe as the cross and crown would refer to the Easter story.

It is a simple block based on a 5 x 5 grid.



The first size is a 15" finished block so nice and easy maths.

From Background Fabric you will need:
(a) four 3 1/2" squares 
(b) four 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles
(c) eight quarter square triangles (QSTs) cut from two 4 1/4" squares


From feature fabric you will need:

(d) four right angled triangles cut from 7" squares
(e) eight quarter square triangles (QSTs) cut from 4 1/4" squares - I used a variety of fabrics for a scrappy look but you could get all eight from just two squares
(f) one 3 1/2" square

And having let EQ do the maths for me the 9" one isn't that bad either..

From Background Fabric you will need:
(a) four 2 1/4 " squares
(b) four 4 1/8" x 2 1/4 rectangles
(c) eight QSTs cut from two 3" squares

From feature fabric you will need:
(d) four right angled triangles cut from 4 1/2" squares
(e) eight quarter square triangles (QSTs) cut from 3" squares - I used a variety of fabrics for a scrappy look
(f) one 2 1/4" square

Join small triangles c and e together - they need to be mirrored pairs for each crown section. Then add to square a - making sure they are in the correct position.  This unit forms a HST which you pair up with triangle d.  Repeat for all four crown sections.

Join in mirrored pairs to either side of rectangle b.  These form rows one and three of your Cross & Crown block.

Two rectangle b pieces are joined to either side of square f.  This forms row 2 of your Cross and Crown block.

Join rows together, matching seams.




Here are my blocks:

The big one




And the not so big..



Only six more blocks and two repeats at a smaller size to go!  What will I do when this is finished?  

Make a few other scrappy quilts I guess....lots inspired by the Scraptastic Tuesday gang!

Monday 26 January 2015

The Tulip Dance is done!

I started this quilt in March 2013 as I wanted something a bit challenging! 

Well I did achieve that!

It all started with this block ...




I thought a few would look nice together



Helen pointed out there was a sort of four pointed star between them so I thought I'd make use of that!

My first thought was this - but didn't like it!


 This seemed better...






I got stuck when I got this far





And then I just pottered on a bit and came to another stop - other things were more pressing...


At my uncle's 90th birthday party in December I learnt that his grand daughter was having a baby in February so I decided to finish it off and gift it to her.


 I started looking at it from here!




I wanted to add this as a border and decided the coloured stars all had to go in the border and so there was a bit of unpicking and restitching required!



It didn't take too long to finish the top now I had decided what to do 




and I had a lovely print by Bari J from Art Gallery Fabrics which seemed to be asking to go on the back..



I was tempted to quilt the background with a stipple or something swirly to help the coloured bits stand out but in the end I just quilted in the ditch or near it (I can't do straight lines) and left it a bit simpler and puffier after all it is a baby quilt!


That done I found a pretty green, grey and turquoise vintage style floral in my stash/scraps - just enough to bind round my quilt!  


I had supervision at this point!


Last night I finished stitching it down....think the glass of wine helped


So this morning I took some pics that don't look too bad even on this gloomy overcast day!



I may not want to part with it but I am looking forward to handing it over!  Best write up the details so I remember how I did it first though ...as I may want to make this pretty one again.


One of my FAL15 quilts which I will be linking up at the end of the quarter.

2015 FAL at On the Windy Side

Bee Blocks done so quick it isn't even February!

I just happened to be on Flickr when I saw Maria's Siblings Together Bee block request for February: any block 10" finished!   As I was looking for a bit of a change I thought a little bit of piecing would fit the bill...

Georgia and Wishing Ring - done and in the post already!



I found these blocks in the gargantuan book 5500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone.   It is a great resource but you only get a diagram so need to be able to work out the sizes of things yourself.  

I did also find a block, Emerald & Topaz, to start my Stingy Bee Row quilt - see below



I rather like the pattern this block makes in a quilt of mirrored blocks too! Totally different right?



Oh the joys of EQ and the need to stay firmly on the path of finishing UFOs!  How long can I last out?

Went to Ardingly Spring Quilt Festival



Well I'm just going to show you the pictures!

A Liberty Dresden..




Bali goes to Baltimore by Christine Dobson




And detail...


Scrappy Log Cabin by Eileen Blood



 Eye of the Tiger by Delia Cecil




A basket of Lilies by Christine Dobson 



And for scale!  Tiny!



And the retail therapy 

From the lovely Maude


From the charming Plush Addict team!


From Cool Crafting!


And some other hmmm 'essentials'  - well the thread was!



Good day out on Friday!

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Scraptastic Tuesday January Winners!

So the winners have been chosen for this month - thanks to our wonderful sponsors we have great gifts to share.  Make your own drum roll please as the first win of the year should be a bit of an occasion don't you think?  





A huge thank you to each of our generous sponsors for the following prizes, and congratulations to the winners, who were chosen randomly:
And to the lucky winner of the Oakshott prize - you get the latest Oakshott Scandinavia fabric to try out - you could say I'm just a little bit envious

My scrappy news is that I have now finished putting my clamshell corners onto my panel - this is the last one!  That is all 480 clamshells hand stitched together!


And here they all are!





As I cannot bring myself to chop bits off to straighten the edges so I am filling in all those odd shapes by hand piecing of course!   I could be a little while!

Saturday 17 January 2015

Fickle on Friday!

On Thursday I was working on my oldest UFO - Sewing Words - got two picture blocks done and now have one more to show you to go with the word Pin of course!   







I even have one of these and have had it since I was a girl!  Pressie from my mum!

Getting there slowly....


But I started being fickle on Friday ..well I had cut out all those clamshells I needed to finish my top and I decided to do some handstitching on Thursday evening.  I got one more corner stitched together but not yet attached to the quilt




And one more corner was being worked on yesterday and I have just finished it today though it might have been quicker without some feline interference...

All nicely laid out...



Before I could stop her...


Re-sorted and more mischief planned...


Okay I'll wait till you go or look away then...





Pets - don't you just love them!

Thursday 15 January 2015

Pushing things along....

I have been challenged, in January, by my friends, in the Lazy Bums group, to push this quilt along.   It is now my oldest UFO!  Sorry about the gloomy photo....





It dates back to my first ever bee - Sew & Bee Happy!   I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I just stepped in and I guess like most new things that is what you have to do!   Of course, I then stepped into four more bees so it must have been ok, don't you think!?


I think I terrified some people by asking for pieced sewing related words - I had a list just so I didn't get the same three letter words over and over!

Dream; Design; Cut; Pin; Piece; Stitch; Trim; Layer; Baste; Quilt; Bind

That bit was fine!   My lovely bee mates helped me with those!


I then decided I should add representations of these activities - I had seen several foundation pieced patterns designed for Sew Out Loud {quilters wordplay}  I even made some of them!  The iron, the seam ripper, the sewing box, the sewing machine....and then I stalled as paper piecing is not really my thing to be honest.  Yes I can do it, but I don't enjoy it as much as other things...(maybe I need even more practice?)







So new plan - something I like better - piecing a pixel heart  - the 'Love' block made by the adorable Jude



And a couple of spools....


'Bind' was made by the sweet fluffy sheep that is Cindy

Later there will be some applique...and maybe even some other stuff.  

Feel like I've made a small step forward...


Tuesday 13 January 2015

Scraptastic Tuesday January Linkup



Scraptastic Tuesday



Today is the first Scraptastic Tuesday linkup of 2015!

We still need help in using up those scraps and hope you do too!  So here we are to encourage you in your efforts and indeed my favourite part of this is looking at all the inspiration you provide and the huge range of projects you are working on in a scrappy way!

My own project this week has been to make more progress on my clamshell quilt which has been cut from my healthy collection of charm squares.  

My quilts used to be made from scraps only and I had difficulty cutting into my larger cuts of fabrics.  So I decided to cut charms squares from each new piece of fabric - the balance might have tipped in the other direction now!?

It would be great if I could get the balance just right....

Anyway here is what I started with 


You saw my 'curtains' last week!



And here they are attached to the main panel.....one corner first


And now two






Not that exciting I guess to anyone but me but I have now cut and sorted out the remaining two corners - so who knows next week might have a ta da moment!?

Anyway here are our fantastic sponsors!   


A huge thank you to each of them for the following prizes, which will be awarded randomly:
  • Massdrop - assorted fat quarter pack
And here is where you want to add your links!


An InLinkz Link-up


Now I wonder what Leanne has been up to.....

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