Finished ! A Rainbow of Twinkling Stars

Just before the end of the year I have finished the scrap quilt made using Cathy's Twinkler Star blocks idea and that I made over around nine months as part of the RSC on Angela's So Scrappy Blog.

 

I have renamed it A Rainbow of Twinkling Stars

 

The quilt is machine quilted with a double row of Perle hand quilting around each star.

It measure 53" squares and is completely made from scraps and pieces of fabric from my stash.

 

I had thought this would be  a Donation Quilt but I'm afraid I can't part with it, I love it!

I have two other flimsies that will be donated and they will be finished in the New Year.

 

I am joining up with RSC 2017, this is the first Rainbow Scraps Challenge quilt I have ever done.

 

Happy Christmas and all good wishes for 2018.

RSC 2017 Handquilting Twinkler Stars

Linking up with Angela's So Scrappy RSC 2017 to show the progress of my Twinkler Stars Quilt.

 

I am hand quilting a double row of fairly small Perle stitches around each star shape.
Pleased with the effect. I had already machine quilted either side of all the block joins so the quilt top is well anchored.  No rush to finish this quilt so I am enjoying stitching whilst watching television or at my Quilt Group meetings.

I have now been gifted 2 lots of wedge shaped scraps. The wedges come in pairs, a solid and a tone on tone pattern for each colour.  My friend Candy made yards and yards of pennant shaped bunting to decorate the reception area for her granddaughter's wedding last year.  She and her daughter are now turning the bunting into a quilt for Olivia.  So I have been given the scraps which are around 6" long, the wedge is approx. 3" (they differ slightly!) at the widest point of the wedge.  I don't want to leave them like this in a bag because I know they will just stay there forever.  I had wondered if I could arrange them into Dresden-style circles, but haven't tried playing yet. I would normally cut scraps into usable sized squares (1.5", 2", 2.5" ) but I would waste more than I would be using.
Any ideas on how best to use them? Suggestions would be very welcome!

 

Playing with Scraps

Over the Easter weekend I managed to find some time to sew, making up the Spool blocks I had put together in sets a few days ago. That made another 19 Spools to add to my previous ones.

 

Then I decided to look through my bags of strings and sorted out ones which were narrower than the 1.5" widths I needed for Spool blocks or strings which weren't a uniform width.

These I sorted into colours and made more single colour 5" String blocks.

This time I made some neutral ones too:

 

I really enjoyed making all of these scrap blocks and now I'm off to cut out more strips to make some 9 Patches using 1.5" strips.

Finding sewing is good therapy for the cold I woke up with this morning!

We have had such cold weather this last week after a very warm weekend the one before Easter so I think the huge change in temperature is the reason why I've got a cold.  I had intended to do some gardening today but I'm afraid that's not going to happen.

 

 

 

 

Sewing Spool blocks

I love making use of scraps and have admired the Spool blocks Cathy has made and shown on her blog Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting.

Cathy made them over ( I think) a couple of years as part of the blocks she makes each month in her Rainbow Scrap Challenge collection of  blocks.  Recently she showed the completed Spool Quilt which was amazing. Do take a look at it! Sorry I don't know how to direct you to the actual link - I don't have sufficient technical skills.

783 Spools: A Finish is the title of the post on Sunday 26th March 2017.

I haven't had much time for sewing since our return from NZ but I have cut out lots of pieces to make Spool blocks and have managed to squeeze in a little time to sew a few together.

I love the variety of fabrics, hoping to sew a few more together in the next day or two. Some of the background fabrics I have chosen have worked out more successfully than others.

Busy with scraps

Still having fun sewing up scraps. Had a great day at my Quilting Group on Saturday and managed to sew another 16 Twinkler blocks.

I now have a total of 45 blocks, a good start for the basis of a Scrap Quilt. But I have run out of enough 2.5" squares to have enough variety to make more so I have started to use the 5 orphan String blocks to make large Wonky Stars.

 

Here's the first one:

 

Four more to go.

 

Twinkler blocks

I really enjoy following Cathy and her posts on her blog called Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting.

Cathy does all the things I like to do - use up scraps! She follows the RSC each month and then some! She makes loads of different blocks each month and then when she has enough of one design of block she makes a quilt from them.

One of her recent quilt finishes was using blocks she called Twinkler blocks. 
I had never heard of these blocks before and trawled back through her posts to find a pattern for them.  Now, of course I can't remember where I found that but whilst I was cutting up my NZ scraps I made a pack for Twinkler blocks: 2.5" squares of all the different coloured fabrics I had and 2.5" & 1.5" cream calico squares cut from various bits and pieces of calico. 

Yesterday I sewed some of these blocks together, 9 so far and I love them.

 

As you can see there are even some Christmas fabric scraps in the blocks but I think that just adds interest ( I did leave out the squares of red fabric with 'Merry Christmas" written all over them in gold!).  I am also an avid Bonnie Hunter fan and I know she would add Christmas fabrics so, if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for little old me.

 

Lots more scraps left so I can happily sew some more at my Patchwork meeting on Wednesday. I bought an orange dot Fat Quarter at the Show on Thursday so I'll cut up a few squares from that to add to my orange mix.

 

Joining up with Nicky's Scraptastic Tuesday on mrs sew and sow blog

Sorting out my NZ stash

As we have sold our NZ house I am sorting out all our belongings ( not too many, thankfully!) and that includes my sewing things.
Last year I made a conscious effort to use up old scraps so when I got out my stash yesterday it looked like this:

A cabin bag of larger pieces ( not yards, just pieces left over from backings etc)

And packs of completed Crumb Blocks, 4" and 4.5" sizes, packs of scrap squares of varying sizes, a small jar of buttons ( although I have since found a larger jar and lots of loose ones!) and a tin of embroidery flosses.  I also have the usual cutting mat, rotary cutter, rulers, sewing kit, threads and so on.

 

I also have a large pack of 5" Liberty-style squares. Not really my taste, too pale and flimsy:

 

And a pack of Fat Quarters:

As I love making Scrap Quilts and over the years I have enjoyed looking at so many lovely RSC photos I decided to make up kits for 5" String blocks (each one in a set colour: blue, red, pink etc), Twinkler Blocks, again in a set colour with the same cream muslin star, 9 patches using 2.5" squares, and perhaps some strips of joined rectangles I can use in a Coin Quilt.

So I have been busy ironing scraps and cutting as efficiently as I can into the sizes of strips and squares needed for these projects.  Now I am all set to go to the various Patchwork meetings I will attend whilst I'm here in NZ.  I belong to two groups so I hope to sew a lot of scraps up into useful blocks, perhaps even a little quilt?

As I write this post I am smiling at the reactions of me bothering to use up such small quantities of fabric! I know from reading many blogs that so many folk have huge stashes and mine - including my one back home in the UK - must seem so tiny! However as a post WWII child I was brought up on the Make Do and Mend school of thought so I hate to waste anything. If I can make some useful blocks I shall be pleased.

I'll keep you posted!

 

 

Last Patchwork Group before Christmas

This morning we had our last Patchwork Group meeting before Christmas.
All 20 of the Group's Premature baby quilts were on display and I took a few photos:

 

I love the rabbit in his Carrot Car!

 

Amazing what can be made from scraps and orphan blocks.

 

Happy Christmas!

Charming Charm squares

I have really been enjoying looking through my scraps,strips and squares to find inspiration to make more premature baby quilts. The quilts are fun to make and it's lovely to get the creative juices flowing , finding ways to use up scraps that have languished in my stash for far too long.

The 6 quirky 4" squares are a good example of what I mean!  They have been in my Squares stash for so long I can't even remember where they came from. There were actually 7 of these Charm squares so I still have one left over! Quite cute pictures which I framed with strips from my Strips stash.
A while ago I won a Giveaway and ordered a few metres of fabric that could be used for bindings ( my favourite spots and stripes). The turquoise one with white spots was the fabric I chose for the borders and also the backing of this little quilt. The binding is aqua Kona Cotton also from stash.

The finished quilt measures 16" x 20".

 

Linking up with Nicky's Mrs Sew & Sow's Scraptastic Tuesday - November Link Up

Premature baby quilts Day

At our group meeting last Thursday we made Premature baby quilts.
Lynne started the group 20 years ago and I have belonged for 19 years. Every now and then Lynne organises a Workshop at her house.  In the past we have made tote bags, a lovely drawstring bag with outside pockets, a scissors case and even tried Foundation piecing.

Lynne had been clearing out a cupboard and had organised her scraps into pieces large enough for backing, and strips, squares, larger strips, orphan blocks, thin strips etc.  She had set out a cutting station, an ironing station and displayed her scraps in areas so we could mix and match to make premature baby quilts. Our local hospital requests they are 16" x 20" so that was what we made. Seven of us, happily sewing and chatting and enjoying the delicious coffee and cake supplied by Lynne.

What fun we had, delving into her scraps - always more interesting than your own!  Lots of chatter and new ideas tried by some members. Our newest member had a great day, learning so many new things. We all put together one little quilt, some completed two and then they were taken home to hand stitch the bindings.  Every one was completely different.

Here are my two:

 

 

This one used 6 of Lynne's orphan blocks. Nice and bright with their cute frog centres. Lynne and I have a similar taste in fabrics.  I bought a strip of these froggy pictures a few years ago and made a baby quilt for my friend's grandson with most of them.  It was a very quick quilt to assemble as most of the work was already done. I added a simple green and white gingham border from strips which had already been pre cut. Quilted on the machine but I did add a line of hand quilting with Perle thread around each frog centre which made them stand out more.

The second quilt was also quick to make. The centre piece was a larger scrap which was pretty much the right dimensions.  A flowered piece was cut in two and added to each side of the centre houses strip.   A narrow border top and bottom made the quilt just the right size. Again, machine quilted.

 

Of course we barely made a dent in Lynne's scraps!  There were enough left for us to have many more Premature Baby Workshop Days.

 

I so enjoyed making these little quilts I had another sewing day at home on Saturday.  I finished another one and have three more in various stages.

 

Here's the 3rd finished quilt:

 

 

The four animal pictures were in a strip which I have had in my stash for years - gifted by a friend who was sorting out scraps prior to her house move. I have never been able to find the right project for it until now. I cut up the strip of pictures and framed them with strips from my stash of scrap strips.  Two 3.5" froggy fabric strips were added as top and bottom borders and the top was done.  I even used leftover binding scraps to make the scrappy binding.

 

We hope to gather together all the completed quilts at our Patchwork Group meeting on Thursday so I hope to get more photos then.

 

 

7th quilt finished!

Yesterday I finished my 7th quilt of 2016.  It's a Baby Quilt which I have called Strawberry Patch.

In the next three months I know of three babies on the way - one is due any day now.
So, I have been busy making baby quilts - four in the pipeline, one of which is Strawberry Patch.

Here it is:

 

The finished quilt measures 42" square and consists of alternate 4" Crumb blocks and 4" fabric squares.

I hand quilted in the ditch.

I love striped bindings and just had enough of this bright pink and white fabric to bind my quilt.  I literally had a 3" piece of binding left!

 

The backing fabric was a piece I bought at last year's Festival of Quilts. I love owls and couldn't resist this one. However, when I came to use it for the backing I discovered it was unusually narrow, nowhere near the normal WOF and once the selvedges were cut off  it was not wide enough to back my quilt.  So, I decided to put a pieced strip off centre down the length of the quilt.

I used some 10" squares of vintage sheet fabric I had bought many years ago at a Table Top sale at my NZ Group.  I have been steadily using these squares in my projects this year but still haven't finished them all.

 

 

 

And a couple of Close-ups to show some of the variety of fabrics I used up in this quilt.

 

I am pleased with it, it's really bright and cheerful. Stimulating for a baby I think and lots of opportunities to play "I Spy". 

So, if Fiona's baby is a girl, this is for her.

 

Strawberry Patch

I have made another baby girl quilt using 4" Crumb blocks interspersed with a variety of pink fabrics.
I made a similar quilt earlier this year and I have used the same design again, this time featuring a lovely strawberry fabric I bought in Spotlight. Originally I used the fabric as the backing for another baby quilt but as I had a sizeable chunk left I decided to showcase it in this new quilt project.
A few 4" patches of Strawberry Fabric and used to make the outer border too.  Still got some left which should be enough for another border in a similar quilt which I am sure to make sometime soon!

Some of my favourite Owls fabric in this photo - only scraps of this fabric left now!

 

Another of my favourite fabric in several blocks in this picture.  Can you see the pink fabric with little French buildings on? I bought this for a quilt I was commissioned to make a couple of years ago.  Again, only scraps left now!

 

 

 

I was awake early this morning so I was able to assemble the quilt and it is now ready to quilt. 

The owls fabric I had in my stash (not the Riley Blake owls in the 4" squares) was bought at last year's Festival of Quilts in Birmingham.  It wasn't very wide, nearer 40" so I had to add a pieced strip vertically. I think I will hand quilt this as I did the last one.

 

 

This was a fairly quick project as the Crumb blocks were all in my tin and it was just a matter of choosing the ones I thought were most suitable. My pink scraps were all stashed in the same drawer, so it was quick to cut the required 4" patches from them.

 

 

Here's the whole quilt.  I love it!

As The Beatles said: "Strawberry Fields for ever!"

 

Seeing stars

I have been making some more Wonky Wishes Star blocks (Bonnie Hunter style) and today I sorted them into piles according to the neutral fabric I used for the centre of the star.

I now know how many more blocks I need to make in order to have enough for another Girl's baby quilt.

Here are the piles of blocks:

 

Some piles have 3 blocks, some 2 and there is the occasional single star block.

 

Here are two lots of 3, showing the different arrangements of colours using the same centre star fabric:

 

 

 10 more blocks needed.  I love making these blocks - very satisfying use of scraps.

 

Off the Back Burner

I recently sewed up a pile of QAYG blocks for Nicky's Block Drive (mrssewandsow.blogspot.co.uk) The Siblings Together Quilt Block Drive!for Siblings Together.
I ran out of batting so had to put two of the blocks to one side.

I recently had some batting delivered to my house as I am now ready to sandwich the Wee Bees April quilt and needed more batting urgently.
Before I start that big quilt I decided to get some smaller things finished so the QAYG blocks came off the Back Burner and here they are:

 

Nice and bright - just how I like it.

 

Of course I have now got the bug for making more so there are 4 more in progress.

 

I am not really procrastinating about sandwiching the bigger quilt but I haven't been well again ( this time a balance issue connected to the virus I caught 8 weeks ago!) so kneeling on the floor battling to get the quilt sandwich smooth is not for me at the moment.

 

So, in the meantime I am cleaning out a few more scraps for a useful project.

 

Happy sewing!

On a roll! Turning out the blocks

It's the start of May already. Here in the UK it is May Bank Holiday and it's wet and horrid.
I feel sorry for the folk who work and this is the day they were hoping to go out for the day, spend time gardening etc. As my husband and I are retired we don't usually make plans for Bank Holidays.

However, I have been very busy over the weekend churning out blocks to make into QAYG blocks for Nicky's Block Drive for Siblings Together. (Siblings Together Quilt Group post from Thursday 28 April 2016).

Here they are, spread on my bedroom carpet:

 

 

All bright and colourful - they are so much fun to make and it is good to see partly used FQs and scraps being used up for a good reason.

 

I have definitely got the bug for making these blocks and whilst I was on a roll I made 10 blocks! 

Then I had to ferret through my stash looking for low volume fabrics for the backings and also batting scraps.  It's surprising how much fabric and batting pieces I have used up in order to create 22" squares. Nicky said we could piece batting and also backing scraps which I have done for several of the blocks.

But I am now completely out of batting  apart from one large piece I am keeping on one side to use on the April Wee Bees Quilt I will be putting together later this week. A shame because I just have 2 more QAYG blocks to assemble.  Never mind, these two will have to wait until my next visit to a Quilt Shop. Not sure when that might be, perhaps mid June when my Patchwork Group usually has an outing.  Otherwise I hope there might be a little left over from the Wee Bees April Quilt so they can be finished sooner.

I have started to machine quilt the other 8, two finished and this one had its ends sewn in whilst I was watching television yesterday evening.

 

The blue & lilac flowered fabric which looks like 1970's bed sheets is  actually from a pack of (very) roughly cut 10" squares of fabrics I have had in my stash for several years. I picked them up at my NZ Patchwork Group when one of the members was getting rid of unwanted scraps and stash.

These QAYG blocks seemed as good a project as any to start to use them up.  I have used quite a few: pink & lilac and yellow & pale orange ones too.

 

Off to machine quilt the rest of the blocks.

 

Happy sewing!

Lucky Stars Quilt ready for donation

I have had such fun making my Lucky Stars Quilt.

I enjoyed turning a pile of 9 star blocks ( all different in every way which I had collected in a Block Swap over four years ago) into a pretty quilt.

Each block contained lots of white solid fabric which needed softening somehow so I added rows of hand quilting using variegated Perle threads: blue, pink, yellow, purple and green threads.
Again I am pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, a photo of the finished quilt:

 

 

It measures 55" square and I am thrilled with it!  I am sending it off to Siblings Together later today and I hope it makes one little girl very happy, that every time she snuggles under it she will remember her time at Summer Camp.

 

Stop procrastinating ....... just DO it!

Back in January and February 2012 I participated in a Bee Swap on Flickr. I asked for a variety of star blocks using some designs that I had seen being made at that time by other Flickr members. At the time I received the blocks I was having health problems and going through several months of treatment so the blocks were put away.  Over the intervening years I have found them again in various sorting out sessions I have had in my sewing room and each time they have gone back to join other UFOs.

A few days ago I was looking at the Siblings Together blog ( siblingstogetherquiltgroup.BlogSpot.co.uk )  and the packet of star blocks popped into my head.
It's such a worthy cause, why didn't I just stop procrastinating, get out the blocks and make a quilt?

 

As you can see, they are very varied, lots of white background, in one case it was a creamy coloured white which really stood out like a sore thumb when they were laid out on the carpet.

 

But, I had an idea of sashing with multi-coloured strips and set to.  In two days I had created this quilt top:

 

A lot of the fabrics came from my scrap strings, but I also had to cut into lots of FQs for more variety.  The outside border is Delhi Flowers by Amy Butler, a piece of lovely fabric I had been hoarding for ages.
I am really pleased with the quilt.  This morning I sandwiched it, this afternoon I machine quilted the main part of the quilt but I am going to do some hand stitching round the stars and where there is still a lot of white showing.

One of the interesting things about the top is that the creamy white block is now not noticeable at all - magic!

Have a look at the Siblings Together blog - perhaps you will inspired to finish a UFO and donate a quilt.

I am feeling very enthusiastic about those star blocks now - perhaps it was worth waiting for 4 years for an idea to pop into my head!

 

I love strawberries!

From when I was a little girl I have always loved strawberries. In those days, of course, you could only buy strawberries in season - June and July - which made them seem even more special. Nowadays because fruit and vegetables are flown in from all over the world strawberries are in the supermarkets every month of the year but I don't think they have the taste or the 'specialness' of the strawberries I ate as a child.

Strawberries always meant  Wimbledon, a tournament I have followed very keenly ever since I was 11 years old and began to play the game myself.  My husband and I did go to Wimbledon a few years ago which was a thrilling experience but usually I am glued to the TV set, watching every ball.

So, when I was in Spotlight a few weeks ago looking for a suitable and reasonably priced backing for my In the Pink girl quilt I just had to buy this fabric.

 

I even have a small piece left over so that will find its way into future quilts.

 

I am very pleased with this quilt and I now know who will be receiving it. The baby - now known to be a girl - is due in August - so I am well ahead in making that gift.

 

Because I love the quilt and always admire other blogger's photos of folded quilts, here's two more photos:

 

 

Hope everyone is having a happy day.  We are busy packing up, ready for our long journey on Wednesday back to the UK.

 

 

In the Pink baby quilt

My second finish for 2016. Another Scrap quilt alternating Crumb blocks with scrap squares, all cut at 4" square.

Close up showing the alternating Crumb blocks

 

The bright pink homespun border and candy striped pink and white binding finished the quilt nicely.

The quilt measures 40" square and is all hand quilted.

This quilt will go back to the UK with me and go into my stash of baby Girl quilts. I know of a couple of babies due this year, one may be a girl!

First quilt finish for 2016!

Wow, I feel as though I should hang the flags out................... I have finished my first quilt in 2016!
I have been making two baby quilts side by side, one in pink for a girl and one with blues, greens and oranges for a baby boy. Baby boy Josselin arrived a few days ago so the blue quilt has a home to go to, back in the UK.

Here it is:

 

The quilt top is made entirely from scraps, fabric leftover from a baby quilt I made last year for Max. 

The crumb blocks were also made from those scraps augmented with a few other scraps in the same colours which I thought added extra interest and variety.

 

I hand quilted in the ditch, very simply as I thought the quilt was 'busy' enough.

I bought the backing fabric at Spotlight, a cute elephant design ( I love elephants!), a soft silky feeling Japanese fabric. I know elephants don't really go with the On the Farm theme of the quilt, but I couldn't resist it and the colours were a perfect match for the colours in the quilt top.

I chose a lime and white striped fabric for the binding, again purchased at Spotlight.

Striped bindings are my favourite choice, somehow I think it gives the quilt a smart, finished look. And this lime and white is very crisp, like a Granny Smith's apple! 

 

Quilt details: Blocks 4.5" unfinished,

Alternate fabric block and crumb block.

Border cut at 3".

Measures 41" square

 

I have two more Quilt Groups to attend this week, the last for each Group before we go back to the UK.

 The MQC meets tomorrow and I will be making some more QAYG blocks for Jan in Australia.

I have got 9 prepared, backings cut to size and batting pinned on so all I have to do is sew on the strips - all ready too. I managed to find enough batting scraps to make 9 more blocks which, when trimmed, will finish at 10.5" square.  They will be mailed later in the week.

On Saturday it is the Vintage Quilters Group meeting when I will hand sew the binding on the pink baby girl quilt and hand embroider a label for Josselin's quilt.

 

Then no more sewing for me until I am back home in the UK.

Our family arrives on Sunday so we are all very excited. First visit for our SIL and beautiful granddaughter. Our daughter has been here once before, back in 2007!

 

But I will blog about the baby girl quilt once I've sewn the binding.  And that will make TWO finishes for 2016!

I don't seem to have done as much sewing as in other years but we have had a lot of visitors so lots of cooking and washing and changing bed linens!  But that's all good too. We love to see people here.