NICU quilts

Here are some more NICU quilts that I made mainly from scraps. I like the size of these (27"), and that they are going to somewhere that they are truly needed.

Good timing!

I was taking a break from basting my coin quilt, and was doing some internet surfing and found this!

Although I'm already a wee way through mine, I always struggle to get motivated for the end parts, basting, quilting and binding. So this should push me along which is good. I'm also not technically sure mine is a coin quilt, as all the examples show rectangles, whereas mine is squares (using a charm pack) but I don't care I'm going to play along. I used one and a bit packs of charm squares from TulaPink's Nest range. I love it and I think it would be great for a pre-teen aged girl.

There are some truly beautiful quilts on the flickr page which is very inspiring.

Fat Quarter Quilt

I had a few fat quarters that I really loved, and wanted to showcase, so I went with a really basic pattern, with linen sashing


I went with a pieced binding, which I love



Also a good chance to practise my free motion quilting, which thankfully is getting better!

Stash alert!

Over at Sew, Mama, Sew they are doing a section about fabric stashs so I thought I would give it a go. I will try and take a picture at some point, but my craft room is so messy it is embarrassing...

• What do you usually sew?

Quilts mostly, some bags, some clothes. I'm hoping to do more clothes, and I'm taking a community dressmaking course.

• When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)

Mostly fat quarters, as quilt fabric in NZ is very expensive, so a fat quarter is a nice amount of money to spend.

• Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

Impulse!

• Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?

No prewashing for me, when I want to use fabric i'm not about to mess round washing it.

• Do you iron it?

not until I use it

• How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)

I sort by type, quilt vs upholstery vs dress, then by colour, then by size. My stash is primarily quilt fabric.

• Do you have any special folding techniques?

No, just whatever fits in the tray

• How do you store your fabric?

I have a four layered tray thing on wheels for quilt fabric and plastic tubs for other things.

• What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

Buy what you like! not what you think you need, or what is "in fashion"

• When do you say enough is enough?

When the quilt fabric doesn't fit in the trays.

• What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Quilts, its good that you can do a bit of a quilt top at a time

• Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

I don't have one favourite, but lots of fun japanese prints

More Knitting

I was so excited about my new-found ability to knit, that I've taken on two more projects. And because I like to make my life difficult, i've taken on socks....

and a lace pattern scarf
I'm loving the knitting but I think there is a very real danger that I'll develop a similar obesession with yarn that I have with fabric!

Fourth and Final intstalment of christmas quilts

Here is the last of my christmas quilts. This one was for my partners mum, and she really liked it. I don't know what the name of this pattern is, if you know can you let me know?


Here is the back, it was a good idea but unfortunately its a little bit off centre, but not so badly that it looks bad enought for me to start again.
For this quilt I used a layer cake of portobello market fabric from Moda, which was great, as it was one less thing to cut

reversible book cover

I made a reversible notebook cover from this tutorial, and it was super easy. I made it from Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric, which is a nice weight. If I made it again, I would make the bit that goes inside the cover deeper.



Whoops! I cut the orange the wrong direction...

I conquered knitting!

I have always struggled with knitting, and have tried a number of times. This summer I decided to give it a really good go, and I would just keep going until I finished at least one item. And I managed to finish two!

A scarf

and some booties for the NICU

I realise this is not exactly knitting at its best but everyone has to start somewhere! From here I'm going to try some cooler stuff, including socks.

My new long term project

I've decided to embark on a long term project, to do a big flying geese quilt. I'd like to make a big quilt to replace the one we have on our bed, as it was one of my first attempts, and there are some weird things going on with it.

I'm going to use this method for making the flying geese units, and so I've cut out a whole bag of 5" squares from my scrap.



and I close my eyes and pull out 10 pieces at random each week

and make the flying geese!


At this point I think I'll need about 800 units, and I'm going to try and do 10 5" squares a week, which gives 40 units, so a long term project it will be!