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 :-