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Monday, 29 February 2016

Not quite eye spy

The eye spy quilts that I've seen have generally been made up of squares and each square has the 'eye spy' fabrics full of interesting things for children to find. There may be other eye spys out there, but I haven't come across them yet.
When I decided to put together some scraps of some children's type fabrics: care bears, elephants, fish and the like, I thought the tumbler shape might be fun.

So I gathered the bits and pieces together and then thought it might be good for the eye to have a place to rest as well as to spy. So I included some yellow/light tan tumblers as well. In the past when I have made tumbler quilts, I've often just outlined the tumbler shape with a straight stitch - usually looks fine but a bit boring for this one I thought. So I did a simple double wiggle line down the centre of the blocks. Simple, but does the task of quilting which is mainly to hold the three layers of the quilt together and then to enhance the quilt overall. Its not fancy, nor is it intended to be, but I think it works Ok for this quilt. 
 
Not sure where this one will find a home as yet, but its nice to have a fun bright quilt on hand ready to give away as needed. 
Until next time,
Lynn

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Table Runner season

Since just before Christmas, I realised I've made 5 table runners. I didn't realise I was in a season of making them, but three have been gifts and two were for our place at Christmas time.
They are really handy as presents for people as they aren't such a large gift that the recipient feels overwhelmed, which they sometimes can if given a quilt. They also don't take as long to make and they can be fun to explore in terms of the quilting on them.

Here is my latest, playing amongst the Gerbra plants in the garden. The colours just seemed to go so well with the green and flowers. A cute place for a picnic if you don't want things to be flat.
 

Here it is in the kind of situation it is more likely to find itself, flat on a table. And see those little ears poking up at the end of the table, that's my Abby. My little shadow who is always not far from me!

The quilting on this is very straight forward - literally straight lines creating the criss-cross effect throughout the runner. That's partly because I thought it suited the runner but also because I'm 'between' machines. I've sold the one I had and am considering purchasing a Janome Skyline 3 or 5 or a Horizon (my friend has one of those). I'd welcome any feedback from anyone who has one of these, meanwhile I'm reading all the reviews I can find on line as well as going into a shop to try one soon. I like the amount of throat space these machines offer and they're around my budget for a domestic machine. 

I am continuing to work through fabric I have on hand (otherwise known as the stash!) and was pleased with how a metre I had for who knows what, seemed to work well for a backing for this one. Just needed a small strip down the centre. It finishes up at 62" long by 22" wide. Here it is playing in the garden again:

I will get back to the quilts I have in process soon, meanwhile it's nice to celebrate a finish. This one is destined for a part of the world I've not yet been to, Nebraska, US - maybe I'll get there one day, meanwhile this will go as a gift. 

Until next time, 

Lynn

Linking up with Quiltstory and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Forest and trees?

I have a friend who is turning the big 60 this week, and her favourite colour is green. So I thought I'd make her a table runner. That was the easy part. I then found a pattern I thought would look quite good and tried to choose fabrics that I thought she'd like.
The result - I'm still a bit undecided - the cream 'windmills' stand out well and then I quilted to help the 'square' to stand out.  They seem Ok, but is it a matter of not being able to see the forest for the trees?

My how the colour can appear differently, outside above and inside below. 


The tree fabric in the centre, below, is one that I really like and trust my friend will too, perhaps I should have added a light grey to blend better ? Too late now anyway, her birthday celebration is tomorrow! 

I also had a slight issue with my threads, - my machine is a bit fussy and likes to have the same on the bobbin as on the top and I just didn't have a dark green in the Superior thread I usually use. So there was some of the green from the front of the runner, showing through on the back. What to do? 



The feathers looked Ok on the front, so did I really want to unpick all those feathers? All those tiny stitches? I don't think so!  


So my 'fix it up as you go along' solution was to add a strip over the offending border similar to a sleeve you might add for hanging I guess. 

I know its far from ideal, but this runner is not for a competition, its to show my friend (I've known her for over 30 years I think) that I care about her, and want to give her something in her favourite colour that shows that. So I hope she gets it. She's more of an embroiderer, or painter or other artistic things, but I think she'll like it. 

Until next time, 
Lynn


Wednesday, 3 February 2016

Mug Rugs

I've had fun for a few hours playing with a small gift for some folk who've journeyed with me over several years and our association will take a different form in the future.  Mug rugs are a great way to say, 'Hey, you're special, but I don't want to overwhelm you with a quilt'. (At least that's my rendering).
So I had some scrap fabric that seemed spot on and I had fun with the different quilting and binding.
 
Rather than just make them the regular rectangle shape, I thought the tumbler added a smidgen of whimsy that I like - maybe a glass shape? Anyway I meet with my friends tomorrow when I plan to hand them out in a bunch and I may have to explain (they're non sewers) just what they are and what they're for - simplest explanation I can think of is 'fabric coasters', so I hope they get that. 

Sometimes just doing a small project, especially one that is for a gift just inspires me. And so, back to the quilts I have in progress - much larger quilting but still satisfying. 

Linking up to Quilt Story; Freshly Pieced and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 
Until next time,
Lynn