Crazy Quilt Journal Project 1

Well you know that saying about the best laid plans. I made the block last month so I would be be ready to start embellishing when the New year arrived, then it had an accident.  There was a bit of a gap on the seam so I decided to place a cat on it but the iron was to hot.

Of course it had to be a piece I got in a swap.

It came from here.

Oh well will just have to be a plain piece

The Offending cat

Put together again. Cat is much better there then where it was going to go before to cover the gap. So now its ready for the New Year

Babushka Wednesday 6

The centre block. The lace trim is hand made bobbin lace made by my daughter,  the one who the quilt is being made for should I ever finish it.

Hexagons of Scraps

hexagons of scraps

I made my first hexagon quilt when I was 6 yrs. old. Well it never got to be a quilt but it did  become a cushion cover that was used until it disintegrated.   I have probably made several million hexagons in many sizes but really like the 2 ½ cm (1"), as it fits nicely into the scrap that doesn't quite make it to a 6 cm (2 ½") square.  Well the scraps were starting to mount up so I  started on another UFO project,  these really are scraps and I don't want to make the usual grannies garden so for now will just make hexagons until I have enough to sort into colour groups, will see were it will go then. A self propelling  mystery.

Babushka Wednesday 5

This is my second favourite, I love the little one.

Babushka Wednesday 4

These four small blocks have to be put together, its not my favourite set but maybe it will look better when its sewn together.

Babushka Wednesday 3

This is one of my favourites, it was my first except it didn't play nice. I love the colours,  It was the second one I made as the first one printed out to small but I didn't realise until I had finished it. This one had an accident when I dropped the pen so has a beauty spot.

Snowmen Tuesday 49

Well Christmas is here once more,   all the snowmen are  out of there box  once more, naturally there has to be a snowman rug around, this one was made about 5 years ago.   I just can't resist those panels of blocks,  then can't think of what to do with them. this was easy as they were all square so snowball blocks for snowmen seemed just right.   I do have several other snowman prints that are not quite as easy to use, hmmm maybe next year.

Snowman knee rug

Crazy Quilt Journal Project - 2012, (Starting point)

Rough sketch of what I want to do, no guarantee as even when there my own inspirations I seldom follow through on them, the blocks are shaped in such a way that they can be made into purses or needlecases if they don't get put together.

Each  block has been drawn out on paper so that I'll have a bit of a chance of getting my fabric colour reasonably in the right place.  Each month I'll pick out a sheet randomly then when the blocks embellished use the sheet to finish of the blocks ( as in English patchwork)  When I have two or more joining blocks I'll sew together and embellish the seam.

I've marked each backing square in the same way as when I make the hearts for the Chains of Hearts group.    I draw the seam line one one side, turn it over and redraw exactly over marking.

I find if I used white or light coloured backing that I only have to place the block on a light surface (cloth, paper) to be able to see the first outline through the fabric so I don't need to use a light box or window to trace it.

I place and sew on the fabrics making sure I place well over the pencil line

I turn it over and machine stitch about ½ inch from seam line. Tack in a nice bright thread on the penciled seam line so I don't stitch past that point as sometimes I get carried away and forget to stop.  I always tack the seam line as I know from hearts I have received that sometimes its damn hard to remove machine stitch and just because thats suppose to be the seam line it doesn't mean it will be in the same place after embellishing.  I know some people like to leave at least an inch of seam allowance for that very reason but I find for me it limits the fabric I have as it needs to be so much larger and I also lose  the concept of the finished item as I tend to look at the block as a whole rather then just looking at the work area even though I use bright seam line thread.

Surplice trimmed off and its ready to start stitching,  As you can see I'll need to fudge, but a bit of lace will soon hide that mistake. Oh the joys of crazy quilting, you don't have to follow a pattern.  That block is  ready to start in the New Year.  Now if I can piece one block ahead of time each month then I should keep on schedule.   This is the last bit of stitching for this year so I can  start getting prepared for Christmas.

Christmas postcard

My  Christmas Postcard Swap that we have done  on Chains of Hearts this year is going to Jeni in England.  I hope she likes it.  Making postcards is not my favourite past time as I always have problems with the edge, even worse is the chance of making a mistake when writing on the back. I still have that to do so hope all goes well.