Another finish

So I just read Katy's post about how the FAL is nearing the end of the quarter and realised I had never posted here about a quilt on my list I finished weeks ago.

Life has been more than a bit hectic round these parts recently, but amongst the madness I managed some lovely peaceful, relaxing hand quilting now and again and managed to get a quilt finished :) it's now in full use as you can see above

I have managed another finish from my list too, cunningly disguised by Murphy, but I can't show the finished quilt for a wee while yet. I can't wait to show you more though :)

Fiona x

A quick wee swap

Last week the lovely Krista from Poppy Print put out a call on Instagram for a couple of people in the UK to help out with a needle case swap between the London Modern Quilt Guild and the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild and I jumped at the chance! I love swaps and it's been ages since I did one :)

A quick turnaround was needed so I decided to go with EPP which I could do on the move. Some tiny little half inch hexies were born in the car whilst my son warmed up for his football match on Saturday morning.

On Saturday afternoon they came to work with me and turned into a little hexie panel.

On Sunday they were hand quilted

And today they became a little needle book

Now they've started their big journey to Canada and I can get excited about a cute little needle book coming to me :)

Happy Monday!

Fiona x

A Finish! I actually finished a quilt!

I took all of your advice on my FAL post and decided to concentrate on just one quilt until it was finished and guess what? It worked!

I finished my St Louis 16 Patch quilt and I'm delighted with it :) The fabric is mostly Bari J's LillyBelle with some other bits and bobs mixed in. I had originally made it square but have discovered I don't really like square quilts so I added an extra row.

I decided to practice my FMQ and went for a large scroll pattern. The quilting is very wobbly and uneven in places but I'm fine with that. Hopefully with practice I will get better and it's soft and snuggly and that's what matters. The back is a Tanya Whelan print I've had for ages.

My oldest son has declared it his new favourite quilt and has asked for one in "boy colours" for his bed, but he's going to have to wait because I've got rather a large FAL list to get through. For now he can share this one with Murphy, who decided it was his new bed late last night when I pulled it out of the dryer. Here he is all snuggled up with his teddy :)

I'm getting close to another finish on my list too. It's a hand quilting one that I've been working on slowly but steadily in the evenings. Hopefully I'll be able to show that soon.

Fiona x

Setting 16 patch blocks on a point - a tutorial

A while back I wrote a tutorial about how to make a 12" finished 16 patch block for the Together circle of do.Good Stitches. The lovely ladies in the circle sent me some gorgeous blocks and I've decided to set them on a point for a bit of a change.

This is what those beautiful blocks look like when they are laid out and turned on a point. Now I need some setting triangles to go around the edges to fill the gaps.


To make a setting triangle you will need the following:

Fabric A 
4 x 3.5" squares

Fabric B
2 x 3.5" squares
1 x 5 3/4" square cut twice on the diagonal

Lay out your fabrics in the order shown below and sew into rows, pressing to the darker fabric. Join the rows together to make a triangle.

Note. This block works best when you use a dark value fabric and a light value fabric. There needs to be a good contrast between the two.

I will need to make smaller triangles for the corners of the quilt and I will add a tutorial for doing that once I actually make them :)

This tutorial is for the Together Circle of do.Good Stitches, but if anybody else finds it useful I'd love to see what you make!

Fiona x

Let's try it again

Thanks for all your advice about my Brit Bee block that wasn't working :)

I've unpicked the border, remade the cornerstones and sliced up one of my most treasured fat quarters ever, Heather Ross' Swimming Sisters in blush, and here is the result!

I'm so much happier with this :) I think it's light, fresh, airy and hopefully still beachy, but as the wise Catrin suggested, more tropical beach than British ;)

What do you think? Better?

Fiona x

Brit Bee Round 3

Round 3 is starting for the Brit Bee and after much dithering I have finally chosen a star and fabric to make my block. Yay!

I've been thinking about using some of my Mendocino fabric by Heather Ross for ages and decided that now is as good a time as any, so I started pulling fabric. Before I knew it, I was head over heels in love with the pile of fabric in front of me, and decided that just a single block wasn't enough! I have a whole quilt planned for this pretty pile :)

I managed to get a grip of myself and choose just a few fabrics to make my star. I wanted a round star shape and decided to use the Evening Star from the Summer Sampler Series. I've made this star a couple of times before and really like it, but then I remembered a gorgeous block I'd seen Rita of Red Pepper Quilts make a while back called a Colorado Star from the book 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars by Carol Doak. Now, I don't have a copy of that book (but I'm seriously tempted to buy it) so I used the Evening Star templates from Katie at Swim Bike Quilt and added in the centre star part.

I love the star but I'm not sure about the border I've added to the block. I'm going for a light, sunny, beachy feel and the blue strips are supposed to be like water. The essex linen cornerstones are supposed to be like sand, but I'm not sure it's working. What do you think?

Fiona x

Fourth Quarter FAL List

I've missed the last few rounds of the FAL. I got totally overwhelmed with my massive to-do list and couldn't face making a list of stuff that I knew I probably wouldn't work on. But I've realised those projects aren't going to finish themselves are they? So here goes

1. My Brit Bee round 2 quilt. I have the most beautiful pile of blocks and the lovely Sarah has guilted me into putting this top of my list ;)

2. my St Louis 16 Patch quilt. I love this quilt and have already added an extra row as I wasn't happy with the square shape. I've got backing fabric and just need to get it basted and quilted.

3. My Scrap Vomit Quilt. I think I might have lost the plot a bit with this one. It was actually quilted, but I wasn't happy with the backing fabric I used (a flannel sheet that I dyed a hideous colour) or the quilting so I ripped out all the quilting and binned the offending backing, so it has regressed back to being a quilt top.

4. Moving swiftly on...
My Fat Quarter Shop BOM 2012 blocks need to become a quilt top. I'm trying to decide on a layout for these blocks, and I'm considering making a second version of each block so the quilt is bigger, I've got plenty of fabric and I really enjoyed making the blocks. I really wish I'd made 2 of each one as I went along, but that's a lesson learned!

5. I started a scrappy Tumblers quilt on a whim months ago, and fell out of love with it halfway through making the quilt top. I'd really like to get this one finished and onto my bed!

6. My Brit Bee round 1 quilt. The lovely Emily basted this for me and I've started hand quilting this. I would really really like to get this finished.

7. My FFA2 Dresdens quilt. I think this might be my oldest WIP. I started this when Lynne did her dresdens QAL and loved making it, but once I basted it I fell out of love. I'm hand quilting this one too and I'm hoping I'm going to love it again once I finish the quilting.

8. My Recess quilt. This was another one I started on a whim and loved making it. I'm hand quilting this one too and got bored. I need to get this finished up because I really love the fabric!

9. My freshcut quilt. I was hoarding this fabric for so long and finally decided to use it in a quilt.  Once I finished the quilt top I didn't like it at all and I've ripped out some bits and it's been sitting sadly ever since.

10. My Row Along Quilt. I started this QAL that Lori Holt hosted, but I think I got bored and it got abandoned. I love the fabric and either want to use what I've made so far to make something - a baby quilt maybe? Or make the rest of the rows and get it finished!


Now that I look at that list, I think there's no way I'll manage it all, but if I even get a couple of things done then that's better than none :) There's also a bit of a theme going on there: start something on a whim and either get bored of it, or not like it anymore once it's a quilt top :(
Maybe I'll love them again if I ever do get them finished.

Thanks to the lovely Leanne for hosting the FAL!

Fiona x

Prettified Pincushions - A Zakka Along 2.0 Project

Well it seems like I needed a little blogging break doesn't it? Sometimes something has to give and this time it was my blog (again!)

Anyway I've been wanting to jump in on the Zakka Along 2.0 since before it started. I bought Ayumi's beautiful book Patchwork Please as soon as it came out and have flicked through it so many times, each week when a new project was posted in the sew along I vowed I would make the time to make it, and finally in the final week I have managed! Yay!

I grabbed some of my teeny weeny Heather Ross scraps that I just couldn't chuck away and made 2 little Prettified Pincushions. I kind of wish I'd made a third because these two are destined to be gifts, but I have plenty more little scraps and it was such a quick easy project  I'll definitely be making more.

I was really excited to find the square buttons in my Great Great Aunt's button box. They're beautiful mother of pearl and are the perfect size for the centre of the pincushion.

I've got loads more to write about, but I'll save that for another day. For now, it's just nice to be dropping in here :)

Happy Thursday!
Fiona x

Stitch Gathering this weekend

I'm getting excited and organised for the Stitch Gathering in Edinburgh this Sunday!

I've got my ticket, my secret partner's name tag, my supplies and all my class prep (almost) done.

Hope you have a great weekend, and if you're going to the Stitch Gathering I'll see you there! :)

Fiona x

A finished quilt and a ticket

 I can finally show off a quilt that I made a wee while back.

It's in the current edition of Creative Quilting, which is a special edition and was being launched at the Festival of Quilts last week. you can buy it in WH Smiths or order it online here

The quilt is made using a jelly roll and I will be teaching how to make this quilt at the Stitch Gathering in Edinburgh later this month.

The magazine is packed with really beautiful projects including a stunning quilt by the lovely Jo, who is the Mastermind behind the Stitch Gathering, as well as some other really gorgeous projects. The photography is really lovely!

Speaking of the Stitch Gathering, I have made my ticket :)

Jo had the brilliant idea to produce a fabric ticket that can be personalised by each attendee, and turned into a quilt! How clever is that?!?

Our schools went back today so I am finally managing to get stuff done, and am hoping that more time means more blogging :)

Here is how my little lovelies looked this morning

Happy Wednesday!
Fiona x

Fat Quarterly Summer Issue is out tomorrow

The Fat Quarterly Summer issue is out tomorrow and it's packed full of fantastic summer projects for you to make! 

And you can find out how to make my essential camping kit too :) Visit Fat Quarterly to buy a copy, or if you are a subscriber keep an eager eye on your inbox!

Fiona x

A top and some blocks

In my last post I had somehow managed to start a St Louis 16 Patch quilt, well it's now a finished top!

the 20 blocks I had already made became 25 and now I have a 70" square quilt top. I was very tempted to go bigger, but the kids have announced they need another quilt for the living room. Apparently this is for them and they have proclaimed it the perfect size as it is. I've already decided how I'm going to quilt it and now I just need to find some backing fabric.

I managed to get my Brit Bee blocks for June finished. I wasn't too happy with the first one. It looked much better in my head. The block itself is beautiful. It's called Whirling Star by Faith at Fresh Lemons, but my fabric choices really didn't do the block justice.

So I decided to draw my own block for the second one, and planned my fabrics a bit better

I spent some time over the weekend stitching and now it looks like this.

I decided to applique it to the background fabric and it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare to get those points tucked in! Seams meeting at a sharp point like that do not make for easy applique! I really need to remember that!

Happy Tuesday!

Fiona x

On the 16 patch bandwagon

So I did it again. I somehow accidentally started a new quilt.

I kind of deserved it, sort of. I managed to get (almost) caught up on Bee blocks and other things that had a deadline and once the decks were (almost) clear, I figured it was just fine to add another project to the teetering pile of half-done, almost-finished, barely started projects that clutter my house!

A while back I treated myself to a bundle of Bari J's beautiful LillyBelle line, and it has been sitting patiently waiting to play.

I love the 16 patch block and wrote a little tutorial for a 12" version for our do.Good Stitches group to make a 16 patch quilt a few months back (another unfinished quilt that is at the top of the pile!) 

But I decided to follow Steffani's great tutorial, as recommended by the lovely Katy so it makes better use of the FQs that I have. It seems like everybody who has made one of these has marveled at how fast they come together, and it's true!

I really needed some mindless sewing today, something fast and easy so I could ignore my lovely, beautiful, but extremely annoying squabbling children. Our school holidays started 4 weeks ago and they are getting a bit sick of the sight of each other! 

Anyway, I now have 20 blocks which will make a 56" x 70" quilt but I'm thinking I might want to go a bit bigger. I might pour myself a glass of wine, play at arranging my blocks, and raid my stash for a few more FQs.

Happy Wednesday!

Fiona x