Update from my sewing room - Wednesday WIP

Whats going on in my sewing room? Not a lot of structured things, that’s for sure. This week I had a major launch at work so I’ve been pretty busy. And the weekend was spent in a small town in the opposite end of Denmark far away from my sewing machine, where my old school had a reunion party. So in other words,  a week with preciously little sewing time.

I have some projects I need to finish - my Swoon quilt, my Made in Cherry quilt but most important  the quilt for my Nephew, which needs to be finished end of April. I made the pieced back this week and basted the quilt. Now I have stalled completely though – have no idea how to quilt it. Only thing I can come up with is stitch-in-the-ditch which is nice but… Well, you know. If you have any ideas on how to quilt this super boxy top I would love to hear from you.

Can I brag a little? I brought the top to my LQS to find the binding and the owner LOVED it – thought it was very unusual and asked for pictures so that they could use it for inspiration to others. I think it’s the dots that makes it stand out so much. I’m growing very fond of it myself. The binding was tough but I found some fantastic fabric and so is the pieced back is looking pretty darn good as well . Can't wait to show you the finished quilt. It will be quite a dramatic, busy quilt.

I continue to make Liberated Wedding Rings from my scrap pile when I can, but I also started another couple of scrap projects this week:

Paper pieced stars – just practicing - the centres are horrible. I have to rip these apart again and start over:

And then I'm making some large blocks in lovely green and red scraps. I hope to make some placeholders out of them but mostly I am making them to practice FMQ.

So as you can see some focus is much needed in my sewing room. Be sure to drop by Lee's blog to see more structured approach to quilting

Wednesday WIP

I can’t believe it’s already been a week since last WIP update. Time flies. The Easter break became all of us well. My Mom was visting from Sweden, kids were off from school, DH and I both home. The weather was freezing cold – it snowed and there was plenty of rain as well. Nasty weather that did not invite to any outdoor activities - my garden looks like crap right now but I managed to get some quilting done... No complains from me.

I finished the top for my Nephew's confirmation. Need to buy some backing fabric before I can finish it though. The confirmation is April 29th so I better get a move on:

I also started a scrap project last week – A Liberated Wedding Ring quilt. I decided to change it to a spiderweb pattern. Didn’t like it, so now I’m back to plan A and making the Liberated Wedding ring in blues, greens and a bit of yellow. All the fabric is from my scrap bin and it’s so much fun to do. The colors seems really harsh on the picture due to the flash but in reality they are muck like the quilt above.

The no-go spiderweb block - think it will look better with a light centre so I'll hang on to this one and maybe finish it later. I seem to have plenty of scraps to make both quilts:

When not doing Wedding rings I have a little fun with some other leftovers – the diamonds from this quilt. I don’t have enough blocks to make a quilt so I’m playing a little with a layout like the star below. This is definitely NOT going to be the final layout but I enjoy moving the blocks around and see patterns emerge so it’s on the design wall for the time being.

Don't you just love The Prince Charming fabric? I had forgotten how much I like it  :)

No more rambling from me - be sure to check out more WIP updates at Lee's blog



A star update

It seems the only things I do these days is making star quilts. Not that I hear anybody complaining but maybe, just maybe, I should try to make something else soon. Until then please bear with me and all my WIP stars.

Last week I started the Swoon quilt with my Mum when we visited her in Sweden.  I bought the pattern a long time ago but were always a bit hesitant to start it. I’ve seen so many beautiful Swoon quilts in Blog-land and I got more and more nervous about making it. To actually pick the right fabric...

Finaly I pulled myself togeteher, picked up some Kaffe Fasset fabric bundles and dived into it without thinking too hard about it. And holy cow… The Swoon fever hit me hard. It’s been a delightful week swooning – it is truly an amazing block. My Mum is smitten too.

About the size… I definitely like the 9 stars the most but it is simply too big and I really have nowhere to use it. The 4 stars are a more practical size for me but it needs a little … well a little more.

So now I am making a lot of small stars – the geeses are really small but I get to use some of the scraps and you know how that pleases me.

This week I also finished piecing the Made in Cherry quilt top. What to say… I don’t think I really like it. This is a first for me. I find the colors too purple and pink and the star is too big. I think I will fold the top and put it away for a little bit. Hopefully I will find good use for it one day and will want to finish it. Here in Denmark there is really no charity organizations that collects quilts. And would I  give away something I dont love myself anyway? I don't know. Time will tell I hope. I will hold back on the batting and the back until I feel better about it.

Enough about me and my WIP's... Now head on over to Lee's blog to see some truely lovely projects.

 

Only little progress… WIP

I dont think I have ever quilted this little in the past year. I have so much non-quilting related things on my plate and it has just not been possible to squeeze in quilting at all.

Yesterday evening I finally decided that in order to keep my sanity some quilting time was required. I moved the furnitures a little, laid out the Made in Cherry project and started sewing. It felt good. Really good. As soon as I started quilting the tension and the stress level went down and I found myself focusing only at the task at hand. I think quilting should be mandatory when you’re feeling stressed :)

I am who I am… and despite enjoying the non-stress I immediately started obsessing over the background color. It needs to be dark I think but what color? I would love to try something else than the obvious dark plum, which is of course a lovely option. I think I need to finish the star first and take the project along to my LQS to compare colors before I can really decide.

Another WIP I started 2 weeks ago – the Kaleidoscope quilt. This is a project we’re doing in my quilting group. I will work more on it next weekend when we meet again. Mine is the one to the left.

The days are slowly getting longer here in Denmark but it’s still pitch dark when I leave the house in the mornings and when I come back. You will have to bear with the bad picture quality a little longer.

I might not have gotten very far this week... Or last week So go on over to Lee's to se some stunning projects.

Nighttime is the best time...

So this is what I do when I ought to be fast asleep... but can you blame me? Making a Sparkle Plenty for my oldest son. His birthday is fast approaching and he REALLY liked the star pattern so I want to make this for him. He is very tactile - he loves to touch and feel things - so I am considering to use some very soft, thick fleece as a backing. I would prefer to make it in cotton but I know he will get a kick out of having a quilt that feels soft, so I might have to compromise on my own liking for this particular quilt.

Wednesday WIP

Did I miss last week Wednesday WIP. Think I did… My Google Reader tells me I have close to 200 unread quilt posts and I feel totally out of the loop these days. Life is very hectic around here. Some major deadlines and an unexpected extra project at work are to blame. Oh well, the Christmas holiday will be here soon and that’s okay with me. A bit more than OK actually…. Enough whining and on to the WIP’s for this week. I am working on 3 quilts right now

I  made a background for the Star quilt, basted it and have started quilting it. No pictures - sorry - but I think this will be one of my all-time favourite quilts.

I almost finished hand quilting the circle quilt. Unfortunately  it was starting the fray a little on the edges and since I don’t have much fabric to cut of I decided to add the border now and finish up the last three circles later. Spray basting is great that way. You know the fabric will not move once it’s basted.

This week I also re-organized my sewing area and I love it. . I got a new table. It’s actually our old dining room table without the extensions and it great to have a larger area to work at. I now have my big cutting mat and my little pressing iron right next to the machine. The chair is my great-grandmother's. It was in my Mothers loft and when she moved she didn't want to to bring it, so I got to take it home.

I love my little corner… really do. It’s in the basement – right next to the stairs up to the kitchen/dining room. It means that I am still a part of what goes on in the house even when sewing. The only disadvantage is the natural daylight. There is next to none. I had an option of using another room with huge windows but it felt too secluded from the rest of the house so I’d rather have this one and then buy some decent lightning. 

I started organizing my scraps in some old CD shelves. It's perfect because I can sort the scraps in colors and it's easy to see get an overview of what I have.

And that’s about the progress I have made... Next I need to get started on a back for the diamonds quilt as it is supposed to go under the tree in just a few weeks. Speaking of which….I haven’t gotten as far as to decorate for Christmas yet except for hanging the kids Christmas stockings in the kitchen. Before I started quilting I used to do some embroidery. I made the first stocking for son #1 and it was of course ready for his first Christmas. When son #2 announced his arrival I started another stocking. It was ready when he was 6!  I think it’s a god thing I don’t have more kids as they would probably have to make their own stocking ;) 

Luckily I can see I am far from the only busy quilter around. Lee has postponed all Wednesday WIP's until January. Still, for me it's a great to get an mid-week overview so I'll do mine this week anyway  :)

A quick glance... Wednesday WIP

A lot of of work - both real work-work and a volunteer job - left preciously little time to quilt this week. I've really only worked on one quilt this week. What looked like this last Wednesday…

now looks like this:

It's 'Sparkle Plenty' from Stephanie at Lofts Creations. Instant sparkle if you ask me....

I managed to piece the remaining pieces yesterday evening and the top is done. If I only had enough batting to continue tonight...

I cut the squares 7" and 6,5" and ended up with a large quilt at approximately 70"x70". I've used a lot of different green scraps and despite not being sure about the colors in the beginning this quilt has really grown on me. I feel a tingle of excitement every time I look at it. It's a simple and stunning layout.

Wednesday means Wednesday WIP - stop by Lee's blog to see great lots of great WIP's

 

Unfortunately that’s pretty much it from me this week. I bring you the sad facts: 

New projects: 0

Finished Projects : 0

WIP's:

Cool color diamonds - top was done last week and making the back is next on my agenda.

Warm color diamonds - half of the diamonds are pieced. No progress this week.

Nautical quilt with leftovers - no progress

Circle quilt - still hand quilting it and it's almost done....

Sparkle Plenty - finished the top

BOM - looking forward to the 25th where the next block will be out

Weekend is over and out….

Friday night I went to the first Christmas Lunch this year. The Christmas Lunch is a nasty Danish tradition that involves lot's of alcohol and weird behaviour and it always ends too late at night. Even if I didn't drink more than a glass of wine (was driving home)I still ended up spending most of my Saturday in a horizontal position:

By Saturday night I finally re-gained some dignity and started laying out Sparkle Plenty while watching (or rather listening) to an English detective series (Barnaby) film on the TV. This is how my floor looked late Saturday night:

Sunday morning I started piecing. My oldest son was playing a basket game so I had to stop piecing before I really wanted to. After basket it was straight home and prepare dinner for SIL and family who came by for a Sunday dinner. I should have gone to bed after they left and we had cleaned up the kitchen but I just wanted to piece a little bit more. Know that feeling? And this is what the quilt looked like when I finally dragged myself to bed at 1 am. Not completely done but enough to feel happy about the design. Like in totally fluttering happy. But...It's going to take lots of coffee for me to get through today!

I love, love, love this pattern and so does everybody who sees it. My SIL got dreamy eyes when she saw it and even the boys compliment the star pattern. I definitely want to make more quilts like this in different color schemes.

The design is really easy to scale up and down and as I wanted a bigger quilt than the pattern suggested I cut my squares 7x7” and 6,5x6,5” . I havn't measured it yet but I think it will come out app.180cmx180 cm.

Wednesday W.I.P

In Denmark we always say ’Tak for sidst’ which (not very elegant) translates into ’Thank you for last[ time we met]'. Last week I got to ‘meet’ so many people though their blogs and I had a blast. There are so many interesting projects brewing in blog-land and my inspiration barometer is at 100% right now.  So from me a giant ‘Tak for sidst’ to all those who participated in last week W.I.P.

The quilt used to be named 'Kaffe Fasset Sashed Boxes' - now a different quilt
This week I dug out an old W.I.P  – the Kaffe Fasset Sashed Box quilt. I was struggling with the planned layout as quilt was very busy.  I ended up separating the colors and this week I finally pieced the cool palette quilt inserted as diamonds on a dark grey background rather than the boxes. That also means I have the warm palette I need to finish up at some point. My guess is that it will be a while though... I was planning to do borders but it's bigger than I though it would be, so I might not add borders after all and just do a scrappy border.

Without batting and back it almost looks like cathedral windows doesn't it?

Sparkle Plenty
I was determined to finish up some more WIPs before starting new quilts and then this happens… ups :) One of my favorite designers, Stephanie from Loft Creations released a new pattern this week, and last night was spent cutting and pinning. Now I have a pile of fabric ready for some chain sewing after work tonight.

I decided to make the quilt a bit larger so I cut the fabrics slightly bigger.  This way I'll keep the fantastic star design. I’m doing this quilt with the fabric I have at hand – and I’m low on polka dots unfortunately – so this one will have a white background. I will definitely have to do one more with a dotted background later. Isn’t it just a happy, bright design Stephanie has made?

Circle quilt
Other than that I did more hand quilting this week. I really love quilting with the pearl thread. It's easy and very, very noticable. I am more than half done by now so I am aiming on finishing this sooner than later, which is a good thing as it will be a Christmas present for my niece.  The picture is re-use from last week--- I moved on to new circles but it basically looks the same.

So here are the stats for this week:

New projects: 1

Finished Projects : 0

WIP:

Cool color diamonds - top is done

Warm color diamonds - half of the diamonds are pieced

Nautical quilt with leftovers - still collecting scraps

Circle quilt - quilting

Sparkle Plenty - finished cutting

BOM - looking forward to the 25th - Stephanie has designed the next blog so I'm sure we're in for a treat.

Need it, want it....

A little progress on the cool palette diamonds finally. What I really need now is a design board... must make one soon :)

 

Wednesday W.I.P

Wednesday again and time for an update - be sure to stop by Lee's blog to see what others are working on.

For me the big finish this week was the Heirloom Pendant quilt

After finishing up the Heirloom quilt I had some scraps - the ears from the pendants and a few larger pieces from when I cut the FQ’s. I decided to make some pillow covers. It will be Christmas before we know it and I think they will do well as a gift for my sister.

A HST pillow made from the leftover triangles:

Still working on the Dresden pillow (my first Dresden project):

This week I also made another leap on the circle quilt…I finally got some more background fabric and made the last quarter of the top.  It looks a bit wrinkly here but that because I started hand quilting it so I turn and twist it all the time. Once in the frame it stretches nicely.

I decided to quilt with Pearl 8 in funky colors. I’ve got a bit to go yet but it’s good to have as an ‘in-front-of-the-TV-project’ and then all the other projects for when I crave some quality time all by myself.

 

I went into creative, crazy mood when I made the back. I’m not so sure it’s all that good but it might still grow on me. 

  

So here are the hard facts for this week:

New starts: 2 pillows

Finishes: 1 quilt and 1 pillow

Quilts in progress:

• BOM
• The warm palette Kaffe Fasset diamonds
  
  
  
• The cool palette Kaffe Fasset diamonds
• Circles appliqué
• Leftover Prince Charming striped triangles