Easter was very good to me

No I didn't get any Easter eggs - can you believe it our super market was sold out a couple of days before!

Well as you all know I have been trying to finish things before I start something else.  Well I may have started another........

Also as the 21st birthday quilts are a little behind (ok one of the recipients has just turned 24 ) and I had 4 to finish and another to do for this year so the pressure was on.

Easter was good as no work and lots of time to sew between guests.

I also decided to get a couple of the baby quilts done. Thanks Denny, I managed to get 3 out of the material I had using your small pattern and one large one. After finishing these I decided I needed to quilt them myself after all that's why I got the new sewing machine way back in 2011.

I started with straight stitching and mostly it was fine sometimes had trouble with the bulky seams and at times didn't seem to sew straight but it looked Ok over all

So then I started FMQ and after a couple of broken needles,  many thread breaks and lots of missed stitches I went to ask Mr Google what I was doing wrong! Guess what it worked out it wasn't me, but rather my machine. It seemed to be like this for everyone on one page I found, however I also found some suggestions as to what I could do to fix it. So I lowered the foot changed, the tension experimented with different needles and threads and have finally found satisfaction! It was actually fun once I fixed some of the issues and now I have another 2 kids quilts to experiment on so hopefully I will have a lot more ironed out once I get these done. Also in my research I found out that there can be an issue with straight stitching too, so maybe that wasn't me either and now that I know, I will endeavourer to see if I can fix this too!

Also I now need to do something more than stipple and straight stitch quilting.

So as I can't bring these up to see you for show and tell will need to do it via the blog. Sorry some you have already seen

The straight stitch quilted kids quilt using Aneela Hoey line for Moda. Have mixed a few of the lines in together from sherbet pips to a few later lines.

This one I'm embarrassed to say was started in 2009 from an Oh Fransson pattern and material from spoon flower by Laurie Wisburn. It has been waiting to be quilted for that long!!!

These next ones I think you have seen in some progress, but they are now all quilted and bound!

This one is only a year later for the 21st, so not bad really. I used Parson greys first collection from a Kaffe Fasett pattern.

This is the Sue Ross pattern which I enlarged. Another 21st present (recipient now 23! )

The BOM from maybe 4 or 5 years ago 

This was the mystery BOM finished with the same Anna Maria Horner social climber (boy I was lucky she bought more out and in the photo you can see the very subtle colour differences)  and used her field study as well

This next one is the only one where I think I could have used a darker binding material. I think this one is too light but I can't face changing it so it will remain there.

So here is my pile DONE 

and only 9 more to do but now I'm on a roll!!

What have I learnt?

1

Firstly, I have learnt (re-learnt?) that foundation piecing is very messy.  Very very messy.  And in a house which is already somewhat challenged in that respect that is not necessarily a good thing.  My window renovations are also messy ..... not conducive to domestic harmony in a small semi.

2

Secondly, whoever said use a denim needle at last month's class is a genius.  I can't remember who is was, but it was a very good tip.  Now if I could get another equally good idea for how to unpick seams with 1mm stitch length when you make a mistake, that would also be well received.

3

Cutting the pieces bigger than you think you need is a stress reducing approach (refer second point above re unpicking).  And cutting them all out before you start is also smart as it saves time.

4

Contrast is a winner.  I am trying to get intensity of colour in this quilt.  Unlike Kim's beautiful high dry stone wall, the image which I immediately had in my head was handful of quality street chocolates.  So the first block I tried went for full on colour blast.  I do like it, but it doesn't do justice to the block and definitely doesn't have the wow factor it deserved after the unpicking I did.  So I tried another one with more contrast.  It isn't intense enough for me, but I do think it works better.  I could do ANOTHER one with solids, but the windows are calling out to me.

 5
My family often suprise me in a nice way.  My other half jokingly suggested that I make a quilt for a client's 70th birthday.  When I took him seriously he actually embraced it and was really happy with the fact that we were giving him something more meaningful that a bottle of scotch.  And even more surprising was the #1 son's endorsement of the quilt, saying that he would know it took a lot of time to make.  Here is the finished product in the back yard, with my passionfruit crop also on display.  A manly blue stripe backing, simple straight line quilting and a katy jones linked fence binding and we are done.

6

Finally, Zoco is still a pussy cat. After two days of rain he was very happy to be catching some rays.  I just love the uncomplicated relationship I have with this guy.  As long as I feed and pat him, he is happy to love me back. I know not everyone is a pet person, but for me they add a whole extra dimension to my life.

I am off to Cairns on Saturday for a week with the boys.  I am looking forward to some intensity of colour out on the Barrier Reef.

See you soon ...