Tuesday 28 February 2012

Finished: Scrap Vomit aka Technicolour Yawn

Well, thanks to Lynne at Lily's Quilts for the Klona Pomegranate, I have a second finish in two days.

Scrap Vomit is finally done.  I'm still in two minds about this top mainly because I hate brown so much.  At least with this, it's not a solid colour but a batik so it's a little less, well, brown but you get my drift.

As I am photographing this my adopted daughter turns up with her dog (Vicky as pictured) and quietly says 'I like that'  I just about die of shock as she loves blue not brown and pink!

So my SV may well have a home once it gets finished.  Eventually......

It's another quilt where it pays not to look too closely - the most brilliant part is that all the pieces went together brilliantly even it the millimetre perfect seams aren't there.  The batiks do a brilliant job of hiding this even pretty close to.

There's a whole album of them on Flickr called The Scrap Vomit Appreciation Society and I now need to post my finished one up there.

Missed it Monday - Plume by Tula Pink

The aim of these postings are to document the fabric collections I have missed out on in recent years.

The first up has to be Plume by Tula Pink for Moda.  All images are from TulaPink.com

I love all Tula's fabrics.  I fell in love with Neptune and managed to get a jelly roll and a layer cake and made a quilt top.  I also have a little lap quilt from Hushabye.  I really did manage to miss out on Flutterby, Full Moon Forest and Nest completely.  I have two tiny bits of Nest and some odd bits of Hushabye but nothing of note.

Plume was another I missed out on and it's really annoyed me ever since.  I loved the swans
I truly loved the key tree
Then there are the birds
And the feathers!

I adore Tula's fabric collections and this was her last one for Moda before her move to Free Spirit.  You can see elements of her next collection Parisville in some of the prints in Plume.  In particular the Swans remind me of the hair in Parisville.

There is always a hidden something in Tula's prints; mice bees, owls etc so her fabrics  are always so much more detailed than you first realise. Go on dive in - she is amazing!


Finished: California Dreamin'

This is a quilt with a story.  I was staying with my Mum in 2010 when I first saw the fabric and then the pattern.  I have a Dutch language copy of Patchwork magazine with the pattern in and it was the only reason I bought it,  I found out later it was a free pattern from the Free Spirit website!

I finally bit the bullet in early December shopping around on Evil Bay for the best price, and bought the fabric.  Needless to say, I over ordered some prints and under ordered two, both of them critical.

 I spent the hated Christmas season teaching myself foundation paper piecing and got most everything done I could, planning to get the remaining fabric in January.  Then a massive spanner got chucked in the works - I was left without ANY money (see the sister blog to this one for an explanation).

Three very kind people helped me enormously.  First Sarah at SewMeHappy then Jenna at SewHappyGeek and the very generous Lisa from Illinois who really bailed my backside out and enabled me to finish the top.



Let me say this now, had anyone said that this was essentially a New York Beauty quilt, I would never have tried it.  Secondly there is no skill rating on this pattern.  Technically I would say before doing it that it was too difficult for this numpty to achieve.  There are mistakes but this essentially is a learning piece for me.


I'm just pleased to have finished it and I love the colours and shapes and warmth.  It will hang on my wall until I finish one of those amazing Judy Niemeyer designs I have coveted forever and felt were technically beyond me. I don't think they are any longer.  Then there are Jacqueline de Jonge's quilts like this   And  Dan Rouse put up this beauty.  I want to be Dan when I grow up - he does the best curved piecing ever! Anyone want to come on the mad journey??


Sunday 19 February 2012

February already?

Where has the month gone?  Honestly, I lose so much time these days its really quite worrying.


That said I appear to have lurked quite a bit in the witch cave aka my workroom.  I'm in here now with my dog guarding the door, snoring loudly.


So what has been in my sewing machine (and under my seam ripper) in the last few weeks.


1. Scrap Vomit from Katy's tutorial here Sorry but it is properly called Technicolour Yawn but Scrap Vomit has stuck from the outset.
This is the layout on the spare bedroom floor and it was instantly claimed by Vicky! I have three blocks to complete but I'm waiting on some Klona Pomegranate squares to finish.  These are coming via The Fairy Quiltmothers up North and then I can get on and assemble the top.  It's made from two Fabric Freedom  noodles in Chocolate Candies.  Basically it'sblue pink and green splodges. with brown.  Lots and lots of brown.  I don't really like brown so what was I thinking but it actually looks ok.  I teamed it with white, pomegranate and a Sentimental Studios green print I had that passes for a solid.

2. California Dreamin' which is a free design from free Spirit that does with Jenean Morrison's gorgeous fabric of the same name. I efll in love with both the pattern and the fabric in May 2010 while in Holland and it's taken this long to sort out the finances.  I like a challenge and decided to teach myself foundation paper piecing for Christmas!  I got most of the fabric before the holidays so went ahead and cut out what I could. I also pieced what I could.  Lets say my best friend for the duration has been my seam ripper as mistakes came thick and fast! I also have to say a huge thank you to Sarah of  Sew Me Happy for being one of my Fairy Quiltmothers and letting me get that centre medallion completed.


Here is where I am presently as I am waiting on one piece of orange Santa Rosa to arrive from the USA which my friend Jenna of Sew Happy Geek appealed for on my behalf. again a huge thank you to Jenna!  I must admit that I absolutely love this piece and I actually like FPP.  Perhaps I should start a New York beauty quilt or join the QAL being run here by Sara of Sew Sweetness?

3. Workroom organisation  I am fed up with the mess on my table top.  It's normally covered in mess and it's really bugging me .  This is the one room in the house that is organised (its a standing joke) and I can find anything I'm looking for quickly. I know I should be embarrassed but I'm not.  Well apart from the floor which is covered in orts and chewed cardboard but that doesn't count!

I go so fed up and made this little fabric basket this week to contain the crap  useful items on the tabletop.  I was given two Moda Scrap Bags from Cross Patch for my 2010 birthday - one was Me and my Sister Sprint Fever which go included in this and the other is Bonnie and Camille Simple Abundance.  Not my choice as it has Brown in it which is why it has taken so long to decide what to do with it.

The pattern is from Ayumi of Pink Penguin and easily accomodates pens, cutters, ruler, scissors, unfinished blocks etc.  Quick to sew and very useful.  I have managed not to lose my seam ripper since its arrival!

Following on from this, I made a bigger one for the coffee table which is often covered by my crap sewing bits and medications.  This was made by some of the offcuts from the California Dreamin' quilt above.  It's taller, wider and holds loads more junk  essentials than the little one. that's and A5 notebook in there and an entire sewing project.

Then I went a little mad and made a tall round one for the trimming and orts that keep ending up on the floor (no photo) and a sewing machine mat which needs binding. these two are also from the Scrap Brag.  I've also started to make a sewing machine cover as my machine lives out all the time but I have no wadding so its ground to a halt for a bit.  Again this is from the last of the Scrap Bag.

The only other thing sewn was a new dog bed - Phoebe's beloved dog duvet she's had since she was a little puppy got ripped last year and it has been constantly belching stuffing all over the living room floor ever since.  It was possibly the easiest project ever - start to finish in an hour.  It's been a bit hit ever since. I shall photograph it for next time.


Farewell for now and lets see what the next month will bring

Rosanne