Mini Quilt Madness

After a decent nap this morning (thanks hubby) I have managed to get some blogging mojo back, and tell you about my latest little project - the mini quilt. Hopefully I'll just manage to get this post sorted in time to link up to the modern mini quilt challenge over at Ellison Lane.

Like many other things, this has been festering for a while. The issue is this ridiculously expensive wallpaper we purchased for Princess.  

$ $ $

It is yet to go up in her room (just one wall - you'll have to bear with me if you're a feature wall hater, but it is too crazy for a whole room) and I had visions of finding matching peacock bits and pieces to tie the paper into her room. Alas, pink peacock accessories are not a dime a dozen. But, you say - why don't you make her a mini-quilt for her wall?  What a great idea my quilty friends!  Okay then. 

I decided I didn't really like the peacock in the wallpaper, so I changed him up a bit and drew a few sketches for some ideas. I made a quilt background out of 2" squares with a border - sort of a picture frame. And then I got hacking into the scraps from my lattice quilt and ironing with fusible web.  To cut a long story short, here are the progress shots.

It doesn't help that the iron leaks.  *sigh*

Half way through the ironing.  Fiddly. And not really in a good way. 

Aggghh - I can't see.  Where's my eye?

Started sketchy quilting. A first for me. Not awesome at it, but not too bad either. The yellow is my chalk lines for the whirly swirly bits. 

Still blind.  Will you just sort it out?

Finished sketchy quilting. Well except for around the feather dots and a bit more for the branch - I decided it didn't look thick enough to support a peacock!

Finally.

I decided to straight line quilt around the black border, to emphasise the picture frame. But then I decided it needed more colour. Enter the hot pink border. This was a 1" strip, ironed in half - and then stitched around the edge. A bit like piping, really. And then I machined bound in the usual way. 

I'm so pretty, pretty.

Ta dah!  One mini quilt approximately 15 x 15". 

I totally forgot to put the hanging sleeve on, after thinking a million times 'I mustn't forget the hanging sleeve'. 

*Dramatic sigh* 

But I can do that later. 

Angle shot.  Ooooh.

I might attack it with a little hot pink embroidery. I shall ponder this further!  This was an interesting experience. The sketchy quilting was quite fun, but in my view not really suitable for bed quilts. I don't think the appliqué would handle being washed too often. 

So what do you think?  Princess was quick to claim it!  But next time I would spend more time thinking through the design. Maybe a bigger peacock. Hmmmmm.  

And just so you know how awesome and organised I was during this wee project, here is an action shot of the dining room table. Jealous?

Ka-boom.  Quilting explosion.

Not really, right?!

Linking up to Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways and Charm about You for the Lets Get Acquainted Monday link up. 

It's time to Par-tay

*turn up the stereo - woo hoo*

(Bet that's going to annoy you all day. Heh.)

That's right my quilty friends, Henry Fish: The Quilt is bound. Here are a few photos.  Your accolades, awards and gifts can start flowing in.

Who is that handsome fellow swimming across the bottom of the bed?

I have looked at a LOT of quilts since I started this and made a few more myself, but I still think this is one of my favourite blocks. It is so lovely and clean looking, and works with so many fabric types.  I think there may be one for the Shush bed in the future, although that's a king, so not for a wee while.  I am firmly sticking to smaller quilts in the short term!

Hello Henry Fish

The quilt fits a king single, with the border being the bit that's tucked in. That's why I decided to use yardage for the border, and not block to the edge, to save myself some quilting misery. No one will see it. 

We have this photo, although it looks like there is a curious lump in the bed, because it captures the colours the best. 

Angle shot.  Ooooh.

And here's another one, just because. 

Sick of it yet?

There is no photo with Henry Fish: The Pillowcase, because he's already living with Mother. I will get her to send a photo through when they are united. I am sure they will be very happy together!

Mother is coming to visit in July, so he will be going home then. But no need to cry, because I may have been visiting Spoonflower recently, and I may have got a spare yard of Henry Fish. But he's mine, all mine, this time!

Finally, because I know you all want to know how BQF's quilt is coming along, here is her most recent progress shot. Roger is being super dooper helpful.

I like this block.  THIS BLOCK.

Linking up to Crazy Mom and Confessions of a Fabric Addict, because this is definitely a finish Friday. 

Dear Oh Deer

It's new project time. Yippee.  

Ummmm, but don't think that means I've finished other stuff, okay?!  It's alright though, this one is on the to-do list as a gift. In fact, I need to get it finished relatively quickly, so it's a good thing it's underway. 

I'm using Oh Deer by Momo. I absolutely love the big print fabric in this range and have a yard of it that I may be convinced to use on the backing. If I can bring myself to give it up ...

This is where I'm at. Cutting, cutting. Although I had to sew a couple of blocks to see what they'd look like.  Why is the unpicker out?  Maybe the first block needed some help. Let's ignore that. 

As you can see, it's a classic disappearing four patch (tutorial link on my resources page) but I have cut the blocks at 1.25" from the centre, not 1". I prefer the slightly chunkier strip you end up with. The fabric range has quite a lot of brown in it (blerg), but this is a unisex quilt, so I think that works out okay.  It balances out the pink (pretty).  The plan is for it to be 8 x 10 blocks which should be a generous throw size at 64 x 80". 

And what's this you ask? Is it?  Could it be?  Well you'll have to wait until Friday to see. For once I'm trying to have a WIP on Wednesday and a finish on Friday, instead of the other way round!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Woe is me

How are you quilty peeps?  We're not so good in the Shush household. Princess and I have a grotty, grotty cold, so I am wearing a facemask while I type this to keep you safe from the germs.  And on top of that the wee man had his immunisations today. Sadness all round. 

So not a lot has been happening on the quilty front. I have started some little chores though. I have the rest of the nine patch blocks sewn up for the lattice quilt. They are all ready to be slashed up now (that's a sentence I wouldn't want anyone reading out of context!). See:

 

And I have made a million billion metres of binding for Henry Fish: The Quilt. 

Well, I may be exaggerating for comic effect, but it still is quite a lot of binding. I have used a cotton reel so that I can pop it on my spare reel holder on the machine, to keep it tidy while I bind.  I'm saying that in a coolly understated way because I now HAVE A SPARE REEL HOLDER. Yay for Bernie!  I love my new sewing machine. Can you tell?  Don't tell hubby - he'll get jealous. 

You can run a sweepstake on when Henry Fish: The Quilt will get finished if you like. Given my history, I don't like the odds, but I'm currently going for bound by Friday. Of course that assumes an improvement in health, and me not getting distracted with something else.  Hmmmmm. 

Right. You'd better spray your screen with disinfectant now!

Lattice lessons

Today is a tired day. Goodness, I had thought I was getting over that less than awesome period of babyness. The wee man decided to have a bit of a party last night, and I was invited. On top of that, Princess has a beastly cold. *sigh*. Of course if I had gone to bed at a reasonable time instead of trying to work on my latest distraction, it wouldn't be nearly so bad!

But to quilting!  

So my 'things I really must do' list looks like this:

*cut out pieces for new gift quilt which must be finished on a strict timeline

*cut out zombie quilt

*BIND HENRY FISH

The 'things I have done' list looks like this:

*none of the above

*started random new project

I have had the idea for a lattice quilt nagging at the back of my mind for aaaaages. I have occasionally looked around for inspiration but never found one that was quite right. Then I did find one I liked, but it was paper pieced. Ick. So I did what I normally do when something nags and nags at me and ignored it. I have learned this well from hubby.*

Anyhoo, given that I now had a list of only things I had to do, it seemed important to start something I wasn't supposed to be doing. So I thought I should put my big girl quilty pants on and see if I could figure out a lattice pattern for myself.  Oh dear. 

First, the vision.  I wanted a scrappy looking, low volume background, with wide white lattice which featured a thin coloured stripe through the middle for a bit of contrast.** I also wanted the coloured stripe to weave. So I decided on two colours for the stripe.  The idea was then that I could put some bold coloured appliqué on to the lattice. 

I tottered off to Spotlight to get some cheap material for a trial run and managed to get there the only day of the year when there was no special on fabric. Ah well. 

I hit on the bright idea of using some 2.5" strips sewed together for the scrappy background, which I intended to slice diagonally for the lattice.  I love jelly roll friendly ideas. This is how the first effort turned out. Ah well. Again. 

Teeny weeny block.  Rejected.

Even hubby noticed that the fabric went all spazzy. What can I say. And I thought the proportion of white to the stripes was wrong. So I tried again, this time with a nine patch as background.  Much better, but still a bit small - see:

Better.

I was so proud. Despite, or because of all the effort, I felt like a real quilter.***  I went to put the wee man down for a nap and to ponder what size to make the nine patch. And guess what I found then. That's right. This tutorial on a nine patch lattice quilt using a slash method. I couldn't believe that Amy had nicked my idea. Like a whole year ago. Humph.

I got a bit grumpy pants at that point.  But I soldiered on and made a bigger block anyway.  I used 5" squares for the nine patch, 4" white strips, and 1.5" coloured strips and loved the finished size. It's nearly 19". Awesome. I wasn't a fan of my background fabric choice though. 

MEGA BLOCK (said with an Arnie accent)

At that point I had a big sulk about it. Because I hadn't thought of it all by myself I decided I didn't like it anymore.  Which was a bit silly given I had cut up a whole layer cake for it. I went to bed to sleep on it. 

The next morning I figured it wasn't really the quilt's fault I wasn't original.  And I also decided I was being a bit silly given that every other quilt I've made has been based on a pattern or blog tutorial. So I made some more blocks. 

When I had made two, with two not quite finished, I didn't like it again. 

Make up your mind already

But then I finished all four and I've decided I DO like it again. I like the scrappy diamonds inside the lattice. I'm so contrary. I also can't believe how different the stripe makes the background fabric look.

Yay I like it.  Finally!

So the current plan is to make 12 blocks, and then see whether appliqué is a good idea. At the moment I think it might be too busy. What do you think?  All constructive criticism is welcomed!  I'm still not massively in love with the fabric, but it's okay. 

Linking up to Crazy Mom and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Howdy visitors!

*hubby is oblivious to nagging. In fact he is oblivious to many things, including new shoes. This is an asset. 

** I'm avoiding the word 'pop' here. I thought of using 'zing' but I think that's just as bad and I'm guilty of using both. 

*** whatever a real quilter is. I imagine she can hand piece perfect teeny tiny little pieces into amazing patterns, and then quilt it like Angela Walters while drafting patterns and smoothly cutting appliqué pieces with her spare hand. All while raising three perfect children in a clean house after finishing her day job. 

Hello Kitty gets a pillow case

I managed to finish my little mini project that I started on my lovely quilty day with BQF.  Wanna see it?  First, you should go and say Hi to my new quilty friend!  Hydeeann has written the loveliest post about Shush over on her blog. Quilters really are the nicest people. I never expected to have such fun when I started blogging.

So a mere six months after finishing the Hello Kitty quilt for Princess, I have managed to do her pillowcase. Pillowcases are great. They're fast, and unlike cushions, they're useful.  Hubby says I should make them for presents. I pointed out people might then expect the matching quilt the following year, and there was no way I wanted to get into that bind!

So here it is. Little 2" blocks put together in the same way as a scrappy round the world block.  I quilted it 1/4" out from the seam, and prefer that to the 1/2" quilting I did on Yee Ha. I think it's coolio.  What do you reckon?  I bound it in the same binding as the quilt, to tie it in .

Hello little quilty kitties

Because I bound the pillowcase, I thought you might like to know how I did it. I learned to make pillowcases at school, but that was out of a single piece of fabric, which you sewed right sides together and then turned out. This is super simple, and I like binding quilted pillowcases. I think it shows up that it's quilted, and makes those seams very secure for lots of wear and tear. 

So here goes.

First, make a quilted pillow top that measures 20.5" x 30.5" (for a 20" x 30" finish). Then, to make the back, cut a strip of your backing fabric (I just used white, but you could use something pretty) the full width of fabric by about 22". This is just to give you some leeway if it turns out to be a bit wonky.  Cut 10" off one end, like so.

Backing fabric, with a 10" strip cut off one side

Sew a hem down one long side of your smaller piece. Mine was just over 1/4" wide. It doesn't need to be flash because it will never be seen. You just need to make sure it won't fray.

Look, it's a hem

Then sew a hem down one side of the large piece of fabric. Because I chose a plain back, I put a bit of binding on it.  Again, this is just to stop fraying, but this hem will be seen, so try to be tidy!

Place your pillow top on your table wrong side up.  With WRONG SIDES TOGETHER lay the short piece down first on the top, with the unhemmed long edge matching one side of the pillowcase.  

The 10' strip laid out.

Lay the large piece down on top, with the hemmed seam 2" in from the same side of the pillow top.  It can't be placed right on the edge, or else the binding will catch it when you sew it on.

The large piece of backing laid on top, all nicely bound down one edge

Because your backing will be too big, pin and trim it down to the same size as your pillow top.

Nice and tidy

Sew right around the pillow case, just under 1/4" in from the edge. Then it's time to bind in your usual way.

I'm a machine binder. I use 2.25" strips. You need 100" finished binding, so I cut three WOF strips (about 126") and that was about right - it allowed a comfortable amount of room for finishing. I sew my strips together on the angle - I think it looks prettier finished and means you don't have a bulky seam to machine over. 

Sew along the marked diagonal, trim the excess and press flat

After ironing the sewed together strips in half lengthways, I machine the binding to the back. I have previously tried the method where you sew it to the front first, but I'm a bit pants at that, and I think this gives a better finish. 

I use clover wonder clips to attach the binding.  Love them.

After I have sewn it most of the way around, I measure the finishing point by folding the fabrics together and finger press the fabric at that point. It's just by the chalk in the photo. 

Measuring the length of the binding

I mark a cross on the fabrics along the folds of the finger pressing, to give the exact point where the fabrics need to meet for sewing the binding together. With the binding fabric right sides together, the centre of the crosses should match, with the fabric at a 90 degree angle. I then mark with chalk the diagonal seam and sew along it. I forgot to take a photo of this bit. Durrr. But this way, the binding is always finished exactly the right length without needing to measure a thing. 

X marks the spot

After sewing the binding together, I topstitch it on the front just a smidgen in from the edge.

All wonder clipped to the front

And then it's finished!

Happiness ensues

And you can take a lovely blurry picture of it on the bed!

All done

Minnie likes it.  I hope Princess does too!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, even though this WIP is finished.  Henry Fish: The Quilt still isn't though. I have over 10 metres of binding to make. Urggghhh. 

Lazy long weekend

Did you know it's Queen's Birthday weekend in New Zealand?  It's not actually the Queen's Birthday, but we have a long weekend and I'm okay with an extra day off work any old way.  Anyway, BQF and I celebrated by having a special quilty day on Sunday. Princess was visiting Nana and Hubby was on duty with the wee man. 

She brought her machine over and we set up.

But before we started, we pigged out on KFC (reserved solely for such occasions). Then long suffering BQF was required to admire my recent fabric purchases. Given I have gone a little overboard, it made her feel much better about her own fabric indiscretions.  That's what friends do though, right? Sometimes you just have to man up and get another fat quarter, if it will make someone happy. BQF made me feel better too though, by explaining that Mummy BQF buys quilting fabric. And she doesn't even quilt.  Good on her, I say. 

BQF made some of her gorgeous blocks. She thinks they're a bit nanaish. I think they're lovely.  She only has seven more to go now. She's sashing them up with more of the prints once they're done, for a real scrappy look.  Pretty. 

I finished stippling Henry Fish (high fives all round) and then started on a Hello Kitty pillowcase for Princess. I mean it's only been six months since I finished the quilt.  Small projects are great. I got the top all done in no time. 

I had a lovely juvely time. I think it needs to be a regular fixture!