Woo-hoo! Birthday Finish!

Today it is exactly a year since Mr U-t-B's clever daughter produced this lovely little man...

He has, since, done that baby thing of growing at an enormous rate and getting cleverer day by day.  He's rarely still long enough to take a decent photo, but he's a trendy little chap, with the most enormous eyes and a gorgeous smile.

I had an idea for his first birthday present w-a-a-a-a-y back, and even gave a sneak preview of the 'feasibility study/mock-up/prototype' early in 2013, when I was starting ABSOLUTELY NOTHING new, but feasibility studies, mock-ups and prototypes were permissible.  Ahem!

Sixteen-patch blocks...

Sailing boat blocks...

And embroidered blocks were my idea...

Anyway, the 'absolutely nothing new' idea has long floated beneath the Bridge of Abandoned Resolutions, but at least this is one project that has, most definitely, been finished...

Last week the sun shone long enough for me to take it outside for a few shots...

Emboldened by Gill's advice - do pop over and see her 'Bella's Quilt'which will make you squeal with delight! - I used my machine to quilt, in wavy lines.  I could use a little more practice with machine quilting, but overall it's okay, I think!

I still love the 'Sarah Jane - Out to Sea' fabrics I used, even if rather a lot of beheading went on in the creation of the blocks...

The embroidered blocks took a while, but they were worth the effort.

I used mostly chain stitch, in single or double lines.

I did have a big GRRRRRRR! moment when I washed the embroidered blocks to get rid of the soluble pen, and some of the red floss bled out!  I quickly rinsed and administered vinegar (which I'm led to believe stops colours bleeding)  but some damage was permanent.  I toyed with the idea of re-doing the blocks, but then thought that the marks will hopefully fade with time.  Some were embroidered round to become bubbles!

I now need to decide on a name for this quilt.  

'It's a Pirate's Life for Me'

'Piratically Perfect'

(a nod towards the bleedin' floss, and a reminder to pre-wash floss for important, washable things!)

or 

'I'd Rather Be Bucaneerin'!'

I can't choose.

What do you think?

Snowy days...

Yes, we too have had snow.  It came on Thursday night, dusted everything prettily, closed most local schools for a day, hung around for the weekend, then mostly melted away, till last night when we got caught up in the edge of the 'snow-bomb' and received another dousing. 

Cue the essential blog-land snow photos...

What better excuse could there be for a bit of this - sitting in front of a glowing wood-burner with a gloriously hefty quilt-in-the-making, stitching away to try to finally shift this off my list of works-in-progress...

Hand-quilting is not something I've done before, and it's not very neat.  Let's call it 'rustic charm' shall we?

The fact that I've used a bit of thick old woollen blanket (from the 'Dog Blanket' section of a local charity shop - apologies to dogs in general for depriving them of this one!) means the 'rocking stitch' technique I've read about for quilting is impossible, so each stitch has to be stabbed through individually.  I have my right hand at the back and the left at the front, so am getting to be a more ambidextrous stitcher, but I think my left hand still needs to improve for more even stitches.

I have now quilted twenty-four-and-a-half of the thirty-five squares - maybe I will get this finished before winter is out?

Sustenance has been provided on a regular basis by Mr U-t-B, who is rediscovering his culinary prowess since stepping out of the daily grind.  Last's week's soups were a work of genius - I will share a recipe soon!

In other news I spotted some really scrummy vintage fabric on the Rag Rescue website...

...which duly arrived the day after ordering.

Who needs to go out in the snow when such beauties can be delivered via the post, the very next day?

Also slipping in on this order was this sweet little child's coat hanger.  We used to have ones like these when we were little, so I couldn't resist when I saw it!

Although I am not starting any new projects at the moment,  I have been planning and preparing. Well, once I've ploughed through all those jobs I've been putting off so long, I really will deserve a reward.  So, in preparation for a birthday some months down the line, I ordered some adorable 'Out to Sea' fabric...

Once again my fabrics arrived the day after I had ordered them - this time from 'The Eclectic Maker'.

Each fat quarter was intriguingly folded.  I have tried to work out how the folding had been done, but failed.  

I am now looking forward to the moment I can justify cutting into these to create the quilt I am planning.  Having this carrot dangling in front of my nose is definitely helping me focus on getting on with the unfinished one.

It's snowing again!  

Back to the quilting and a warm drink ...

Pieced!

Busy times mean that the only way I was going to make some progress with the quilt was to 'seize the day' when I found myself awake at five am and get on with it in the lovely calm of the early morning.

So now the quilt looks like this...

There are a couple of bits I would do differently next time, such as trying not to use the strips with the obvious stripe to them.  

Next stop, borders.

Not much chance of that this weekend though, as we have a kitchen to fit in the flat my step-daughter is moving into.  Mr U-t-B is very confident that it will go smoothly, but with the discovery late last night that the boiler is leaking, I think we may be held up by that needing sorting (replacing?)  And if it does need to be replaced, it will mean that my design could have been much more straightforward, as we would put the boiler in a more suitable place to free up floor space.

Off to phone the British Gas people!

Snapdragon Quilt - Day Two

Thanks to two sneaky half-hours yesterday, the rest of the snowball squares are done.

A bit of reducing bulk and thread trimming required today, then I can piece the nine-patch and snowball squares together.  Might just achieve this today in spite of being at work!

A Pause in Proceedings

Well, I don't know if it was the charity tin-shaker (see previous post) who jinxed me, but today I really do feel like the old lady he took me for.  My back, knees, elbows and some of my fingers are complaining with almost every move, so I've decided to take the day off from any further decorating and pursue something a less energetic.  I think it was all the clambering on and off the platform and stepladder for wallpapering and painting duties, plus scraping peeling paint off walls that did it!

Remember this book which I was given for Christmas?

From the very talented Pam and Nicky Lintott, of The Quilt Room blog  or The Quilt Room shop.

Well, last week I received a very nice parcel in the post...

...a Moda jelly roll - 'Lumière de Noël'.  


Sorry about the slightly fuzzy photos - gloomy days and our camera don't mix well.  I got this roll (which not many stockists seemed to have) from Pollyanna Patchwork, by post, and a very quick service it was!  


In spite of its name, it's not overly Christmassy, which would feel all WRONG now, but the warm tones will be great to work with just now.  


I chose the quilts I would like to create.  The reason the book is called 'Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts' is that each section details how to make two small quilts from one jelly roll (obvious really!).  Being an indecisive sort, I have chosen quilts from different sections, but this is still achievable, as one uses 20 strips, and the other 16.


Here are the ones I've chosen...

The Snapdragon Quilt

 The Jigsaw Quilt

I have pondered the strips in my roll and split them up following the instructions for each quilt..

Now all I have to do is decide which one to begin with, and get cutting, then stitching!


I will keep you updated on how things are progressing!