Plusses and minuses

Yay! Have finished basting the Game Of Thrones quilt - it is ready to go under the machine tonight, hopefully, to start the marathon of quilting,

Yay! We had a great Christmas, the wee one got far too much, and swe saw loads of friends and relatives.

Boo! Am about ready to throttle my nearest and dearest after days of bad weather keeping us inside - the husband has gone to work today, just as well, cos there could have been a double homicide....

What is it about the season that brings out the best/worse in all of us?

Merry Christmas!

May your holiday be full of family and friends, good telly and loads of good cheer. Love and best wishes for everyone in need and may things get better soon :)

Also - found this on The Chive, too good not to share :)

 Merry Christmas!

Finish it Friday WOOHOO!

Hey, Crazy Mom, guess what? I've finished a quilt top! WOOHOO!

Game of Thrones is coming along nicely, esp since I finished the top :D

Check out this baby:

Game of Thrones Quilt top

Its 7 feet square, the blocks are 24" each, and the sashing finishes at 3". Will be be binding it in the dark grey spot, and probably basting it tonight. Really looking forward to quilting this one, so many ideas! 

I am going to try quilting the House mottoes into each block, and add some detail at the same time. Well, nothing like a challenge :)

Can't decide which block is my favourite now...

Untangling

Working away at my Game of Thrones quilt - betcha thought I'd forgotten all about it, didnt you? :) - and have cut some more gajillion HSTs. 

Loving the work rate when you nip to the sewing machine for a few minutes here and there in your day.

Had a massage today too - the poor woman almost had to get the hammer to the tension knots in my back. I didn't whimper much - though some of the knots were very stubborn, and required the elbow and brace. Roll on a fortnight when I go back with fresh hell for her to smooth out :D

I went from this...

...to this, in an hour. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

 

 

 

How can it be Friday already?

Just saw the linkup top Crazy Mom Quilts about Finish it up Friday - and thought 'That's way too early!' But no, alas it is my sense of time which has said the great goodbye as we gallop towards the end of the month, and the Christmas deadline :)

So have been busy today wrapping presents for posting to my friends and family, most of whom still live up in the Isle of Lewis and trying to hide the rest from my 5 year old, who has no idea of keeping a secret and will happily blurt out anything that is not to be told, probably because she finds it impossible not to talk.
And I mean, talk. 
It is incessant. 
Some days our ears bleed...

But despite my lack of temporal awareness, have actually managed to finish some things. Here's a snood, which are all the rage at our house at the minute (scuse the crap night time picture with even more crap old camera):

A rare portrait of me, I don't like having my picture taken

Have made a few of these - for daughter, pals, and one in exhange for a bookcase (total bargain, for me!) and also managed to finish some blocks for one of my commission quilts:

And for a wee close up - inasmuch as my rubbish wee camera will allow:

Its a lot less brown in daylight, honest

So there you are, some evidence of me being busy. I will be busy tonight again too - wrapping pressies and finally downloading that cd-rom of photos I have been meaning to send to my parents for the last 3 months. Whoops.

Love to all! Have a good pre-Christmas night :)

Getting better every day

I have some sewing going on, despite feeling a bit rubbish - we had complete viral overload in our house for the last fortnight - and there is some sewing progress Yay! Simple stars and contrasting fabrics, am feeling the love on this commission :)

Chain piecing preparation :

There has also been knitting: Chunky wooly beanies and a couple of cowls and snoods, trying out stuff, and there has been selling: been to a couple of craft fairs, and sold a quilt, xmas decorations and wooly beanies. Photos of knitting soon, when I get myself organised...

It's getting better every day! Thanks Mama Cass.

Housework

Can go and get stuffed. 

Tomorrow I will be mostly sewing.

Hmmmmm.

Am quilting the Arrows Quilt. It is going------ well, it's going. I tried a loop stitch, and that was silly. 3 hours of unpicking ensued. I started outlining the arrows on the white, which went well except for my tension issues, which meant another hour of unpicking. So third time lucky - have outlined all the arrows in white.

Now I'm wondering what to do next.

1) Should I quilt inside the arrows with colour?

2) Should I do another smaller design in the white areas?

3) Should I fill in the gaps with stippling or other patterns?

4) Should I just leave well alone and bind it?

All help appreciated! Linking to Crazy Mom's Finish it Friday for some help!


PS My hubby has a vomiting bug. Oh yay. We're all treating him like a leper. Yay for another bathroom. Not yay for him feeling even more ill than he has been already :(

Game of Thrones...One of these days I'll get that typed right first time...

Here's the latest on Game Of Thrones - all blocks completed! Am chuffed to bits; even though it took 3 goes to get Baratheon right, it was worth it in the end. Of course, the work begins here - still have sashing, picking out wee teeny bits of paper, basting, quilting (aaargh!) and binding to do. Eh, that'll take no time at all :)


From top left:
Tully - Tyrell - Baratheon
Targaryen - Stark - Lannister
Arryn - Martell - Greyjoy

If you want to see the blocks individually, head over to my facebook page Fankle Quilting and Knitting

Now I've looked out the fabric for commission quilts #2, a pair of matching single bed quilts - twins? hehe - for a friend's parents. Using grey/green/blues and yellowish lights. Simple stars, but v effective. Pictures will follow, once I realise I have to add on a seam allowance BEFORE cutting out the shapes. Doh.

Someday I will learn :) Until then, we add a stupidity tax to everything we do...

Finish it Friday

Thanks to Crazy Mom Quilts I get to show off some more Game of Thrones loveliness :) I finished another two blocks this week, the Tyrell and the Tully ones. I think they are close enough to the book description to be suitable. Still working out Baratheon - its hard to get a stag's head to look convinvingly regal without it looking like Rudolph.

The sloping pictures are a probem, but I dont have room in the sewing room for a design wall so it has to be a design floor. Ah well, the key elements are there, albeit slightly angled :) I think the simplicity of the design is key too - and any further fancy dan stuff will be quilted in afterwards. I am planning to quilt in the House mottoes too, we'll see how much cursing that produces!


I also managed to get some wee crafty makes, for the craft show I'm doing in Ayr on Nov 25th - come along if you can! Nice to get out and meet people, because you can get a bit closed in when you spend all day sewing and shouting at the radio. Apparently. 

A couple of them need eyes and more detail, but I really like them. Not just good for Christmas either, that dread word which has us beginning crafting in July...

How's all your Christmas sewing going?

Game of Thrones - continued...

Another few blocks made, which makes 5 so far, and 4 to go. Working on Tyrell at the minute (well, when I'm not typing) and still trying to get Baratheon right.

Whatcha think?

From top middle going clockwise :

Stark - Lannister - Arryn - Martell - Greyjoy

(am very proud of the last one, Greyjoy, it was some job going round all those tentacles). Here's a close up - the mottling is deliberate, don't worry:

And I also really like Stark:

It is grey on white, but this is Scotland in winter, so the light is pish. Technical term there, for all the non-Scots in the audience ;)

Finish It Friday

Have finished the first 2 blocks of the Game of Thrones Quilt that I've been commissioned to do - Martell and Lannister. I think they look ace, but am slightly biased :)

Have 3 more ready to be stitched. Am figuring out this applique thing! Thanks again Crazy Mom Quilts for the opportunity to show off :) Can I leave you with some swinging tunes:

Rock on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-xd3NuWQI0

First Block of Game of Thrones !!

Here's the first one, Martell House, the easiest to practice on, and still with wee bits of paper hanging into the stitches at the back. I will be spending some time picking them out. No hardship next to the fire!

Block size 24 and a half inches.

Game of Thrones, Martell House, Applique

Notes:

• I used spray glue to stick the back of the motifs to the backing fabric, and did the circle first, then the flames 5 at a time. 

• Paper backing to stabilise the sewing. 

• The spear shaft was a bugger, had to unpick the whole thing once but the second time worked once I had swapped the applique foot for a walking foot to cope with the extra layer of fabric. Phew!

• Stitch length almost non existent, stitch width varied from 2 to 1 (my machine goes from 0-5, its a Brother XL5700) 

• Stitch used was a blanket stitch, used both directions of it (nos. 4 and 5 on my machine)

•  See Applique notes for more info

Roll on the next one! 

Things I have found out about applique (updated)

1. It is time consuming. But in a good way.

2. The backing makes a difference. I started out with no backing and it was crap, wavy as anything. Went on the Interweb and found a couple of videos, one of which recommended PAPER behind the design. Result - success! Ordinary printer paper works for me, btw.

3. Spray glue is wonderful stuff.

4.  It takes a bit of practice for first timers to master. There is an array of leaves and leaf-type shapes hovering around the sewing table, plus different stitch experiments, all of which are varying degrees of crapness. But, eh, that is how we learn.

5. I quite like it :D

--------

6. I don't like it quite so much after pulling out threads (which took me about 40 mins. Hmph) when the bit I was doing wrinkled like buggery. Hmph. 

7. Have discovered that appliqueing on top of applique doesnt work, unless you swap the feet over for a walking foot, and lose the paper. Until you are back down to 2 layers, then you need the paper again.

8. Get one of these:

 
Applique Foot - It's ace!


9. Remember to spray the wrong side of the applique, otherwise there will be penmarks all over the front. 

Feel free to learn from my mistakes!

Winter Is Coming....

...and the need for warmth on the bed is growing ever stronger, so I've been inspired (and am finally well enough) to get on with the Game of Thrones quilt I've been commissioned to do. Seems a long time since I was asked, stupid colds Grrrrr.

But anyway, work progresses. Have cut out all the templates, cut out the fabrics from the templates (am using spray to hold them down to the block backing as they are too intricate to needle-turn)  and started putting them all together! I think the one I've done looks pretty darn good - do you agree?

No prizes for guessing THIS House!

Have attempted a few practice runs of sewing round applique, and they began with Awful and so far have progressed to Mediocre. So I went on to the lovely Interweb last night and found lots of instructions about how to make applique sewing easier and look better. Thank goodness.

Tonight (after badminton) I shall be mostly in my sewing room - Experimenting MWAHAHAHAHAHA

My quilts

Hallo blog,
Am spending some time organising the quilts I have made into a separate page, so if you look to the right you can see the start of this - my own My Quilts page! Not very full at the mo, am finally crawling out from under the duvet and reacquainting myself with everyday life like housework (yawn) food shopping (yawn) and sewing (yay!).
I am almost finished the backing of the Arrows quilt, and am going to sew the last backing seam imminently :)
ie when I get my sorry ass off the floor and thrust the interweb to one side....
(I sit on the floor).

And I have finally cut out the templates for my Game of Thrones quilt, which is going to be awesome, assuming I can get what's in my head onto paper and then fabric.

So it's all picking up again! Hurray!

Have some picture joy :

Courtesy of the The Chive

Awesome, eh?

Finish it up Friday - the Sock Version

Hallo you lovely crafters!

Have been doing flip all* quilting myself here this last few days (and I cannot believe it is Friday already) but I have been doing some sock knitting. Because sock knitting is Very Portable. And when the place has been heaving with nieces and nephews and all manner of children needing to be entertained in the holidays, portability (is this a word?) has been essential.

In fact, these socks have been to: Heads of Ayr Farm Park, Troon Beach Park, Fullarton Woods, Craft Daft, Adventure Planet, and any number of stops inbetween. And socks are for niece who has been entertaining us, and esp her cousin, with her presence for a few days.

So as my finish it Friday, I present one Finished (WOOHOO) sock and one ALMOST and as good as finished sock. Used 3.25mm needles and James C Brett's Moonlight Sonata. I am usually a bit snobby about non-natural fibres, but I have to say I am pleasantly surprised by this one, It doesnt feel plastic, and knits up really nicely. I'm not sure how it will wear as a sock, but it has 10% mohair, 10% wool, 75% acrylic and 5% metallic for that extra glamour. This is my favourite colourway out of the lot.

I will be quilting as soon as normal service resumes, which will be from Tuesday because the schools go back. To say I am looking forward to this is quite an understatement.

Any return to normality will be welcome because my hubby, who is already ill suffering from post-viral fatigue (90 weeks and counting), has been struck down with a heavy cold, and has been unable to leave the house even more than usual, leaving us all slightly cabin-fevered. Yay for school and immune system recovery! Yay for me getting some free daytime hours!

* means none, nothing happening, to all you non-Scots out there :)

Sort of finish it up friday

Linky party thing to Crazy Mom Quilts (awesome bento on there, btw, just gorgeous)

I have been making some stuff, although not finishing yet. Can I blame the cold viral thing and visiting family? I better not, it's wearing thin :)

Have some pics anyway, I have finished some wee brooches.

And this is one I finished aaaaaaaaages ago. My first proper quilt, but it's not been off the bed long enough to be seen anywhere. Made entirely of flannel fabrics, this is almost 10 years old now. It has a bit of fraying round the binding but am not minded to take it off the bed long enough to fix it cos its so cosy. A vital piece of kit in the west of Scotland, I can tell you :)

Autumn sunshine

isn't it lovely?

Everything looks and feels better in this weather, despite having to scrape a bit of ice from the car windscreen this morning. There is a peace in this weather, the clear blue sky, the colours of the leaves and berries, listening to the birds frnatically singing away, the wiping of the nose because your stupid cold still hasn't gone away...

Seems everyone I know has been affected by this virus, so nice to know it's not just me. Tired again today, but it is leaving me at last.

Craft show was pretty good, actually. It was the first one ever in that location, and had its teething troubles, but people came in, things were bought, I found something for my hubby's Christmas, it's all good :)

I forgot the cushions, but ach, it went fine anyway.

Here's the thought for the day. Makes me chuckle every time, and so true (dont look if easily offended though)

 Later there will be Arrows quilt basting. Woo. Hoo.

Does anyone like basting? Really?

Small but perfectly formed

Updated to join with Crazy Mom Quilts linky Finish it Friday party!  (I think that it counts that I've finished my quilt top, even though its not the whole thing yet )

Even though I have been a bit under the weather, some things are ideal makes when sitting cosily by the fire, in front of some excellent telly (or in this case, Supernatural on dvd).

Check these out - what do you think?

Cushions were bought, and decorated, little brooch motifs are detachable for washing. Each one I finished was my new favourite :)

PS Borders on Arrows quilt, just needs basting and quilting and binding. Well that will keep me busy for about 10 minutes. ha.

Deja Vu again

Have not got rid of this cold. It had been lurking in wicked glee in a dim corner of my being waiting for the moment to strike out again, and boy has it ever. Today I have been mostly lying asleep on the sofa leaving the parenting to my ill husband. Luckily the shopping got delivered so we have food in the house yay.
Crafting has been minimal. I have managed a cushion decoration but the sewing machine defeated me today - I was pinning my borders onto the Arrows top when I was hit with a wave of nausea. Clearly this bug has issues with handmade items.  Luckily it seems to have no problems with me watching Mrs Brown on iplayer.
I am now on my way to bed to see if I snore this virus into submission.

Time Warp

I have a deadline looming; the Ayr Town Hall Craft Show is on 7th October, 1-4 pm and I have a table. All of a sudden it's next week! I don't know where this month has gone.

People say it's a side effect of ageing, this accelerated time passing, but I reckon it may be a craft thing. Something about working with your hands and making stuff is a huge time suck. You can lose yourself in the sheer colour and creativity of it all and suddenly its teatime, and the cat's battering the door trying to get in, and you were supposed to pick up the wee one from school (no, its ok, haven't done that. Yet)

Like anything to do with computers is a time suck, but at least you have something to show for it when you finish crafting. Words with Friends, Not so much...

Anyway. Aside from straightening the edges of the Arrows Quilt, I have been designing cushions and making decorations. Really good fun, and partly out of necessity. My tennis elbow is playing up, so no knitting for me just now, so have been crocheting and sewing, and draping ribbons artfully hither and thither, excellent stuff. All I have to do now is unpick side seams on cushions, sew the ribbons and brooches on, and sew the seams all up again. That won't take hours at all, will it? Eh?

Will have some photos tomorrow. Every one I do is my new favourite. Hope other folk like them too!

Finish it up Friday

Taking inspiration from Crazy Mom Quilts, to add an extra incentive to get back to the sewing. Not v easy when recovering from the cold, but a wee bit every day helps. Then I can get this Arrow out of the way and move onto the next thing!
Lucky I haven't amassed a huge backlog.

Yet.

Pointing the way

Yay! Work is going well on the Arrows quilt, after a zillion hours of sewing squares together (possible slight exaggeration) and half a gabillion hours at the ironing board (hyperbole merely for effect), I have an almost finished quilt top!

Arrows Quilt top

 I love that it looks like there are slight furrows in the bed, even though it is absolutely flat - that's the design kicking in. Cool!

Detail of patchwork

Detail of the patchwork -  the piecing is pretty accurate for me, which is essential on this project, as the HST have to align to get the effect. I haven't decided on quilting yet, but have picked out a scrappy binding, unless I see something amazing instead. It looks like it'll be a double bed size too, which is handy. I'll be adding a small border round the edges, which might include arrow points too depending on what I can manage.

I will work out a pattern for this if anyone is interested, and will be selling the completed item at one of the Craft Fairs this autumn, or in my Etsy shop. Keep an eye out!

Bluech.

Have a sore throat. And achy bones. Am still managing to get a bit of sewing done, though, have half the top of the arrows quilt done, and the rest all lined up ready to go. At least its a school holiday, and hubby has taken the day off, so no early morning to worry about, and he can entertain the Blighter for a while.
Bleuch, though,

It doesn't help my mood that I have hellish tennis elbow in my left arm, or that I walked into the metal frame of a chair the other day and have a possible broken toe. I don't think its entirely broken, because I have broken a toe walking into a bath before and that pain  made me almost vomit, and the toe has been hunchbacked ever since, whereas this one was just really feckin sore. At least the purple colour is fading and it looks ok really.

So not feeling 100% right now.

Ach it will pass. Will feel better soon. Just going to wallow in firelight and chocolate cake for a wee while first...

As time goes by...

Where has September gone? It's only been here for 5 minutes, and all of a sudden it's the middle of the month and I have hardly done any sewing! Ok, have been to a friend's wedding and got loads of housework done and had a social life, but come ON, how can a person get some quality quilty time in?

Ah, but have a friend coming round tomorrow morning, and am fully expecting that, as well as blethering, I can sew a few rows on my arrows quilt. It's looking v good with the first dozen rows done, the only problem is that since its on point, the rows get longer and longer as I near the centre of the quilt (and are more likely to need the seam ripper as I lose concentration, oops). Ach well, we're getting there, as the advert would have it.

Excitingly I have another commission to do, and this one is a beauty, Game of Thrones house emblem quilt for a friend - watch this space, the Quilter Is Coming!

(if you dont get G.O.T. you wont get this, sorry)

Will post some details as Iwork them out. Cheerie.

So far, so good

I have started laying out the fabric on my (design) floor, and it's going to have to be done in two halves, as I just don't have the room to do it in a oner. I started with one idea, and have decided on a slight tweak which makes it a bit more dynamic, I think, and my hubby does too bless.

First layout was with the arrow ends squared:-

And then I wondered about making them pointed, like below:- 

(the gaps are because I hasn't made enough HST for the new layout, so am currently cutting some more. Thought I'd finished. Rats)

I prefer the second layout, much less static, so the extra work will be worth it in the end. Finished size, not sure yet, as this design is completely off the top of my head, but I reckon it looks like a large single/small double size to finish.

Off to rest before another cutting sesh tomorrow :)

Cutting a rug

or at least a ton of fabric. I'm working on my mystery quilt, and have cut :- *ahem* (clears throat)

13 each of big squares in purple, red, blue, yellow, green for 26 each HST (65 total so far)
30 same size squares white (95) with another 35 to go
60 each small squares purple, red, blue, yellow, green (395)
over 150 white pieces of various size,

which means I have cut over 550 pieces of fabric, for a quilt which so far only exists on paper. Crikey.

So far so good. Now all I have to do is finish the white, and do a mammoth amount of sewing, making sure that all the squares are sewn together in the right rows, that all the HST work out to the right size, and find a floor big enough to lay out all the rows in the right order (gulp) without the cat or the offspring climbing all over it.

No small task then :)

Here's some nice colours and a really cool idea!

Washing day blue-greens

This is what I have been doing the last few days - washing the fabric stash. I have been meaning to do this for MONTHS and the lack of washing has been an issue in a quilt or two, so it had to be done. Rookie mistake, I know, but have been far too enthusiastic to get started on things before now.
This is the second last load to go on :-

Now imagine this in yellow, red, pink and purple, blue and green. Lot of green. More than I would ever have imagined or guessed. I seem to like green. Who Knew?!

It has been fantastic to see the garden filled with gorgeous colours, especially as the flowers are fading and the leaves starting to crisp. The yellow wash was particularly cheery, cant think why I never took a photo.

In other news, work is continuing on the mystery quilt, with some red and green (ha!) squares being cut ready for use. Still the yellows, and purple to go, though may be revising the palette yet, not decided. May be feeling indecisive and wobbly due to folding over 200 pieces of fabric.....

Blue for you ... for you!

TADA! One blue and white squares quilt, ready for my latest craft show at Ayr Town Hall  on Sun 7th October 2012. Quilt measures about 3 ft x 4 ft, and is a variety of cotton fabric scraps and white sheeting with cotton wadding and thread. Machine washable, and diagonally straight line quilted, which is a change for me as I like to meander :)
I am very chuffed with it (and apologise for the overcast picture but it is Scotland in September). Have some more pics :-

Blue for you

It's late and I should be in bed, but am chuffed after finishing all the machine sewing on my latest quilt - blue squares on a white background. It has looked good over my rail the last few weeks, and I'm surprised and pleased that the basting spray has held it together that long. Pics to follow.

Cutting continues on the mystery quilt, with the blues (bit of a blue theme developing just now, am like Picasso but with more hair) almost done and have started on the reds.

Def needing my massage this weekend :)

PS have just bought a blade sharpener - Truecut Rotary Blade Sharpener. Anyone know if its any good?

Magical Mystery Tour...

... because I'm working on a pattern I have designed myself. Because I have no idea how this is going to turn out, other than some colours I have been messing around with on squared paper, this will be a bit of a challenge. Especially as I am assuming totally accurate quarter inch seams while sewing. Ha.

However, if it works, out, not only will I be chuffed as hell, I think the pattern will be really, really good.

So far, I have cut:

75 - 3.5" squares
36 - 3.5 x 6.5" rectangles
22 - 3.5 x 9.5" rectangles
21 - 3.5 x 12.5" rectangles in white for background.



Now I have to cut 275 coloured squares 3.5" square, and make up 130 HST at 3.5".


(picture from Sunflowers and Dragonflies)

That'll keep me busy for a day or two :)

Mind the Gap!

Spaces appearing in my quilts to sell collection - Yay! Have sold this cute wee one:

(About 4 feet sq, fabric is Freebird by Momo)

And now I need to get on with making some more. Ideas yes but not been able to concentrate long enough so far. Hopefully now the household is back ion a routine again, I will feel the muse inspiring me and the mojo working. 

I wonder who the muse for quilting and patchwork would be?
Hmmm...

Failure to Launch

Hmmmm. Hard to get started in this weather. Trying to get into stuff, but lots of everyday life getting in the way of serious crafting. Not bad everyday life, I mean friends coming to visit, little'un starting school, hubby not feeling well, going out for an evening or two, is pretty good really. But am not getting my head together for some concentrated making. Ach well.

Plenty of time coming up for that. Have done a couple of wee things, coasters, hearts, some place mats. Pics? I think so.....

The Little'un wanted a gym bag with Hello Kitty so this is what I managed to rustle up with some IKEA fabric and ribbon. She liked it, and I think it turned out well. Not bad for some unpracticed sewing and bad interfacing hehe. You're not getting a close up thanks to the crap camera, but excellent from a distance :)

Festival of Quilts

Festival of Quilts, NEC Birmingham, this weekend, 16-19 August.

Wish I was going.

*Sigh*

Workshop space / craft partner wanted!

Anna Maria Horner's craft space - WANT!

















Just putting feelers out - anyone know of a crafty person wanting to share some workshop/craftroom space? I am looking for an out-of-house crafting space to share with a like-minded crafter because it is always more productive in similar company, I think.

Know anyone, or of a space going begging?

Anything would be helpful, ta X