The End of the Rainbow - Quilt That Is!

Well it took a while but I made it in the end! In September last year the lovely Molli Sparkles hosted a quiltalong called the Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along or MSBHQA! I had seen the broken herringbone block when Molli shared some photos on a Facebook page we are both in and so I had already earmarked it as one of my future 'to do' projects so it seemed like a great idea to join in, even though I really didn't need another project (like we ever do!).

Anyhoo, I got a few blocks made here and there but then my father in law took ill and it got pushed aside as time was very short at that time.  So it went into my 12 in 2014 UFO project box as project No. 1 and April was its lucky month!

A while back I had laid all the blocks out and decided I needed two dark greens and one dark blue/indigo block and had picked up some fabric in these colours so I was ready to roll.

I got those made (and forgot to take a photo of them) and got them sewn together. Excuse the dodgy photo, the sun was determined to shine through the window when I was trying to take a photo!

I decided it needed to be a bit wider if it was going to fit on a single bed so I pulled out all my leftover scraps and a few other pieces and started putting together another rainbow, a long narrow one this time!  Don't these cut offs look pretty?

 I ran these down each side and finished off with a slightly wider white border and Ta Dah... Its done!

Really happy with the way it turned out, only problem is now it becomes a quilting UFO!

Thanks for visiting my blog today,

Sunday Stash - Damn That Sale Section!

Well there I was minding my own business being a good girl and not buying any fabric and just like that, Boom! I had whipped in a quick order to Pink Chalk Fabrics!  That's what happens when you get those lovely emails letting you know all the lovelies they have in store. My problem is their sale section!  I just had to have a little look and then I spotted some coated Kate Spain fabric for a bargain price and I was lost!

These little goodies arrived in the mail on Monday (well I couldn't just order the Kate Spain fabric could I?)

This is the one that triggered my spending spree (don't you just love that selvedge? Pity its coated fabric!

Why do I want some coated fabric you ask? Well some time back I saw a pattern (there's a Youtube tutorial as well) for a little bag you hang off your sewing table to put your threads, offcuts etc in and it was made in coated fabric inside so that when you want to empty it the threads etc don't stick to the fabric. Brilliant idea I thought and stored it in the back of my head for when I saw the right fabric, and here it is! You're supposed to use two contrasting fabrics but I'm happy with both sides being the same. Who knows when I'll get around to making it but at least now I have the fabric sorted!

I also picked up these lovelies. The one on the left is Garden for Olivia, Star Flower Blue by Lide Enche and the one on the right is Twice as Nice Blue Blooms by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake.

I couldn't leave these lovely spools behind either! (They're Love to Sew Cool Spools in Black by Michael Miller).

And last but definitely not least these two lovelies. Zen Chic Barcelona Spanish Tiles in Onyx on the left and Erin McMorris, Astrid, Mitte Aquamarine on the right. I have looked at that Aquamarine fabric a few times and its never quite made it into my cart but this was its lucky day! I love the Spanish Tiles mostly as it has splashes of orange and I can see it teaming with some of my orange stash fabric beautifully.

It also happens to have the cutest selvedge!

Very happy with my splurge.  Nothing was over $9 US a yard and some were only $5 and $6 so easy on the hip pocket too. Only problem is I might have done the same thing this week over at equilter.com but that's another blogpost because that fabric hasn't arrived yet!

Linking up with Sunday Stash over at Molli Sparkles.

Swap Blocks - Some Lovely, Some Hideous!

This month my Quilting Block Swap Australia partner was Kerry from Queensland.  She requested some scrappy blocks, two different designs with the guideline of being as scrappy as possible, preferably using my ugly fabrics. A little dubious, I searched my stash for a selection of uglies and this is the result:

Now I must say I have heard from Kerry since and she loves the blocks but I really felt terrible when they were done as I felt they really were hideous! Probably the most unattractive blocks I've ever made but she's happy so that's okay.

Now the blocks I received in return were lovely. She did a wonderful job and they are probably the best made blocks I've received so far in this design. One in white:

and one in black:

I still need 10 black and 3 white so it will be a while before I get this one put together!

Sewing Retreat Wrap Up

Now that I've had a few days to recover after my sewing retreat I'm ready to do a recap!

Don't you love a few days away with lovely people in a lovely place doing what you love? What could be better?

So on Friday night, right on sunset, my bestie Kerry and I arrived here. (Hopefully the photos aren't too odd, I found later in the day I inadvertently had my macro button on and I don't know when I did that!)

After a quick tea of tasty minestrone prepared by my sister in law Kerrie (note we had two Kerry/Kerries!) we got set up and got cracking!

My goal was to reduce my scrap box somewhat by making string blocks. Here it is on arrival:

We stitched late into the night on Friday night and then finally crashed only to start again the next morning. We were a bit slack this time and didn't get up until 7.30am and sat around having a chat and brekkie until our last person arrived at 8.00am.  Pauline had been to the Rocky Horror Stage Show the night before in Adelaide and surprised us by arriving so early. She was keen to get cracking!

Here is the lovely Doreen, Pauline and my sister in law Kerrie. I think she may have been threatening me with those snips but I took the photo anyway! 

It was such a beautiful day the other Kerry and I took a gentle stroll along the beach:

We walked all the way down to the end and back and then got stuck into it again. Here was the view from our front verandah in the other direction:

Kerry was mostly doing some beading and crocheting but she also had a sewing project to do so I took a break mid afternoon on Saturday to press some blocks and do some hand sewing and let Kerry have a go on my machine.

Its only a project she's been meaning to do for 18 months so it was great she got it done. That's the other Sue in the background (yep two Sues and two Kerry's in a group of 6!) coming to grips with cutting fabric.  Sue was never going to be a quilter but the bug has bitten and she made one quilt top using some lovely Vincent Van Gogh fabric and by the end of the weekend she was hooked on making divided 9 patch blocks after Doreen gave her a lesson!

So on to my projects.  I made a total of 32 string blocks in a variety of colours:

I only stopped as I ran out of the background squares and strips I had prepared!  Then I moved on to making crumb blocks out of all my teeny tiny leftover bits.

These I find are quite time consuming so only got four of these done (which is the same number I made last time). This time around I made yellow and pink - here are all my blocks so far (they're 8.5" square).

So of course by now you'd think I would have made quite an impression on my scrap box wouldn't you?

You'd be wrong though! I'm not sure I can even tell I took anything out of it!  Looks like I'll have to do it all again in September!

Thanks for reading my blog today,

2014 To Do List Update

Well I guess that seeing we are a quarter way through the year already (yikes, how did that happen?) I should take a quick look and see how I'm going on my project list for 2014, just to keep myself on track!

1. Broken Herringbone Quilt - finish blocks and put top together  This is my UFO project for April.
2. Quilt 'And Sew On' Wallhanging made last year.
3. Mariner's Compass Quilt for my brother Kym (I have ruler set I bought several years ago I want to test out!)
4. Complete and quilt QBSA swap star quilt.
5. Make more blocks using crumb scraps I did four more of these on my retreat last weekend, now I have 8.
6. Use my rainbow swap charms to make a quilt. Top is done and partly quilted so pretty well done!
   
7. Complete Cot Quilt for my niece - this is my January challenge project and is underway! Done
   
8. Make more Star Value scrappy blocks I have cut out all the pieces ready to stitch together
9. Quilt Star Surround Lap Quilt
10. Make a Shadow Trapunto project from book by Geta Grama
11. Use pinwheel blocks made at sewing getaway into a project - maybe placemats? Done
    
12. Christmas swap charms - use in a project - perhaps a table runner and/or pot holders?
13. Castle Ceiling Quilt - continue handpiecing. Layout decided, slowly coming together, sewing rows together at the moment.
    
14. Make handbags from patterns won last year.
15. Project using mixed charms from swaps and scraps using pattern from book I have
16. Make quilt top using Peter Rabbit fabric pieces
17. Continue with QBSA block swap
18. I Spy project using swap blocks - very long term as I don't need this yet.
19. Finish watching all my Craftsy workshops I've signed up for, particularly the Leah Day ones.
20. Try quilting feathers this year!

So far so good I think.  The first 12 are in my UFO list this year so hopefully things will continue to stay on track.

How are your UFO's? Are you kicking butt or are they breeding?!

Cheers