Bloggers' quilt festival 2014 - too late to enter :-(

Thanks Amy for holding the bloggers' quilt festival.  This year I was entering a quilt in the original design quilts.  Sadly, I missed the deadline by a couple of hours.  Here is what would have been my entry.

I made this quilt for my niece.

First, I drew the design on paper, to decide how to make the tail.

Then transferred it to a huge piece of paper I made from cheap kitchen paper glued together, to create pattern pieces

The tail was sewn together, the body machine appliqued to the tail.  Then cam the fun of creating the eyes.

Each eye is made from four different fabrics, with two of them needle turned applique and the smallest and largest machine appliqued.  Fifty three eyes later........

The back was made, basting done and it was quilting on my sewing machine.  I quilted the fern design from Angela Walter's book on the tail sections of the peacock.  The label information was part of the quilting, then it was bound, washed, dried and sent off to my niece.

Label quilting.

The back

Crochet, no quilting

I've decided to crochet for a while, as the weather has turned cold in the sub tropics. Joined a pineapple tea cosy knit/crochet along, although I only crochet.

The layout of my second DP lap quilt is decided. Just the setting triangles to cut.

 

 

I also finished the owl tea cosy for my sister. It hasn't turned out quite as expected, but it can be the prototype (size wise) for the pineapple tea cosy, which is also for my sister. I'll make a big raspberry for my teapot, as it is short and stout.

 

I just realised I don't have a finished picture of the owl! Maybe the next post.

The pineapple tea cosy has involved a lot of unraveling. I didn't like my effort with the puff stitch, so created my own pattern. The original pattern is the top bit and the stitch I have decided on is the bottom section. I had more than half finished the second side before I realised it was too wide, so had to unravel the whole thing and start again. Grrr to self.

I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed that I won't have to unravel again, although I might redo the first side to make it straight. I am brain dead.

 

 

Final layout - modern drunkard's path

After mucking around with more possible layouts for the first quilt (and not wanting to make a square quilt), these were some of my other options.

This one would have let me use an uneven number of rows/columns

This one really wants to be in multiples of six

This is the layout I've settled on for the first quilt.  I'm really happy with it, even if I have to unpick about 6 blocks and resew them, as they're a bit far off on the corners.  They all still need trimming.  This layout gives lots of movement and secondary shapes which I like.

The blocks will end up at 8 inches finished, so I should end up with a lap quilt 64 x 48 inches.

The layout for the second, mirrored blocks is completely up in the air.  I still have another 18 blocks to sew before I start to lay it out.

Too many WIPs - Progress report

I became a finisher.
Now, I have returned to my earlier self and procrastinate.
I started to piece some drunkards path blocks - I want to make two lap quilts for a couple of friends, but I'm wavering on the layouts. Here are some possibilities. I might make them mirror images, one with the dark quarter circles and the other with the light. Any ideas?

Matchy matchy

Not matchy

The start of a mirror image
I need to commit to a couple of things, one of which is to finish stuff before I start anything else. Other current WIPs are:
Waiting to be basted and quilted

This one is boring - well it was but the photo has disappeared. Bad blogsy.  Put it back now!

Lovely tone it down

Long term project

Still working on this shawl

Owl tea cosy for my sister

APQ Tone it Down QAL - Flimsy finish

Hooray, it is done.  The top section really isn't darker than the bottom section.  I think this is just shadow from under the house.

APQ Tone it Down quilt blocks - DONE - tick

I finally became really industrious and decided to chain piece the last four blocks at once.  I should have done this from the beginning, apart from the first block.

It has been a mountain of sewing - I webbed the sub-units to make sure I didn't get them muddled - thanks Bonnie Hunter!

Here are the last four blocks.

And here they all are together.  Obviously my design wall is not high enough to fit them all on.  This isn't the final layout and I still have to make 27 more nine patches for the sashing, but its looking lovely.

It is such a pretty quilt.

The hexagons continue, although I am starting to get stabbing pains in my hand - I think from all the hand sewing.  I might have to slow down on those.

Once the Tone it Down quilt is finished, I'll have two quilt tops to baste and quilt and one still being made into a top.  I think I've already decided on the next one - curved piecing!

APQ Tone it Down quilt - blocks 15 and 16 - hooray!

Only four left to make!  I've started to put up some of the sashing that I originally cut up.

That blue sashing at the top right might have to go.

Even after I make the last four blocks, I've still go heaps of little nine patches to make - there's only one up so far, but it is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I think this will be a very pretty quilt.  Not sure if I should give it away or keep it for myself.

Hexagons so far for my not GMFG really quilt.  These finish with one inch sides.