Flowers for Alison - Free Appliqué BOM

As you can see Block 1 is coming together quite nicely.  I've worked out the cutting instructions for the background for the whole quilt and you can get them on the BOM page.  These instruction are if you want all your backgrounds for the appliqué to be from the same fabric.  I plan to make mine all different so I don't really care about fabric requirements my stash is overflowing I'm sure I will find fabric to make the quilt 10 times over.  

I plan for the release day of the first pattern to be 1 July if it all comes together earlier then you will get it earlier, but I think I'll make the pattern change over the 1st of the month to make it easy for everyone to remember.  

I'm thinking flower centres are going to be optional for this block, i'll supply them but I don't think i will use many as I've managed to fussy cut some of the pieces and I think they look fine without them.  

Hope you will join me.  Stay tuned on Instagram and my Facebook page for more pics

OMG I'm glad that week's over

I'm really glad I don't travel for work a lot, i'm still not over it, ended up falling in a heap yesterday, with a sinus/migraine head ache.  I'm still pretty groggy as I needed some tablets to stop nausea and that makes me even more tired.  The other thing is that work doesn't get put on hold when you are interstate either, and there were a couple of disasters waiting for me on Wednesday to try and fix.  Today I managed to start getting a little ahead but I am still way behind where I need to be.

I'm so so glad its the weekend, and it is a long weekend and there is no tennis tomorrow morning and there is a chance I can sleep in.

At least I managed a bit of stitching while i was not sleeping and I'm hoping to prepare the rest of the templates to stitch tonight and if I feel up to it I will do some more stitching.  The first block is coming together beautifully.  I had the fabric all spread out over my hotel bed and trying to pick which piece of fabric would be good for each flower.   I use freezer paper on top of the fabric so it is a bit of a surprise when its all stitched and the finished flower is revealed.

I've tried other methods of needle turn but I get a better finish by using the freezer paper to mark the edge and turn the seam allowance under... it works for me and I'm sticking to it.

This afternoon I've ordered a scanner so that I can can the finished templates for the blocks.  The drafting was all done in EQ7 but it doesn't allow you to save the documents as PDF, they need to be scanned in and then edited because EQ's finished placement image usually needs a lot of tweaking to get it usable and I have to edit the labelling on the templates themselves.

I have purchased an Epson Perfection V39 which has a few features that I think will be useful for my pattern making, one is that you can remove the lid if you want to scan and book or journal (thinking mixed media here). The other is that it will scan larger pieces of paper than a4 and software will seamlessly join the image, which I'm hoping down the track will make it easier for me to make bigger patterns if I want to sell them in bricks and mortar shops.  It also has great colour fixing software for old photo's which I have a heap of and will probably come in handy at some point.  It also can be powered by the USB plugged into the computer no need for another power cord which is really handy as I don't have a spare power cord next to any of the computers.

The Skill Builder Class starts next week which I am looking forward to so I will be looking through and changing some of my notes to make them perfect.

I'll leave you with a picture of the night sky from my Hotel Room, apart from that I didn't really see much of Brissie at all just the view from the taxi's mostly in the dark, the office then the hotel.  
 

Quilt off to a new home

I rarely give quilts away as gifts, I usually just make them to satisfy a creative urge and not for a specific purpose.  I also need to know that they would be appreciated so I think long and hard before I make for a non quilter, but a took a leap this time and made one for someone I don't know.  It was for my Boss' daughter as she just had a baby.

I do have strong feelings about quilts for kid, they are more than just a bed covering.  My daughter still uses her baby quilt, it has been something to snuggle under in front of the TV, hidden under with the dog, made tents and forts with the dinning room table.  It has been well loved and well worn over the years, some of the stitching hasn't survived the tug of war with the dog, but that doesn't matter because it has been appreciated and most of all used.  So it isn't any wonder that most of the quilts I have given away are for babies.

It went with a message, not to use it on the bed until the baby is 12 months old but it can be used for floor time and all the things I mentioned above and with care instructions and it was well received.  The photo isn't all that great, the sun was coming down over the fence hence the flare.

I'm heading to a warmer climate on Sunday for work for a couple of days and plan to pack my sewing gear in the check in luggage so I can sew at night in the hotel.  Hoping to finish block one of the new BOM.  If I make any progress I'll post pictures on Instagram and the Facebook page.
I have a couple of quilting books for the  plane trip that I plan to read cover to cover.  I saw the forecast for Brisbane on Sunday and it is going to be 27 so I am looking forward to being warm for a couple of days.

Free BOM - A few more details

A few details of the next free BOM is on the Free BOM page it is coming soon but I hope to start the stitching on the first appliqué block this weekend so keep an eye on instagram.

I have also changed the listing for last years sampler in my Esty shop it is now available in one listing should you wish to purchase the pattern.

Sewing Days are the Best

The girls and I had another sewing day yesterday.  Last week started off a bit shitty so a day of just stitch'n and bitch'n was well needed.  We all had a bit to unload so the bitching was shared around always much better when everyone shares their gripes.

There was one quilt top finished, another half put together, I managed one block of my metro rings quilt and started the first block of my next free BOM.

I've finished designing all the appliqué blocks, I just have to work in the fill ins.  The stumbling block is my knowledge of working custom quilts in EQ.  I'm getting there but there are still a few blanks that need to be worked on and I have to decide on the final dimentions of the quilt which will be determined by the fill ins.

It was a good mail day today a book delivery.  The first book is by Becky Goldsmith, The Quilter's Practical Guide to Colour.  I have a lot of Piece O' Cake books because I love appliqué.  I haven't tried their technique for appliqué as it always seems like hard work to me, but I have always admired their use of colour and I think this will be a real great reference book.  I think we all have to develop our own colour style  but knowing the colour theory is a good thing... doesn't mean you can't break the rules once you know them.

The next book is The Modern Medallion Workbook.  My first thoughts were that there weren't many pictures and it was a bit wordy, but on a second flick through I have noticed that there are lots of diagrams to go with the words, and I probably just got distracted because the first book had so much eye candy.  There are some beautiful quilts presented so I will be heading back when I have a minute and have a proper read through.

I've been on the search for a replacement leather thimble that I like to wear on the hand that is underneath when I quilt.  My current model has come apart and the metal end is flapping in the breeze.  I tried my local quilt shop and where I teach and searched the resent Craft Fair with no luck.  Talking over the girls they suggested trying the internet, which I hadn't got to yet and I found the type I was after at Ozquilts.

There is lots of rain tonight a good night to sit and sew I think, or start tracing templates, anyway it is a good night to be inside in the warm.  Catch you next time.

This and That

Teaching has begun again this week.  It is a small intimate class this time so the girls are getting lots of attention to detail and they should finish their quilts in record time.

I sent my next quilt off to Handmade on Friday and they have advised that it has arrived which is always a relief.  This quilt is going to be all mine so I will happy when it returns.  The magazine has also advised that my first quilt is on its way home and they have finished with it and it set to be in the Issue on sale from 30/7 so still a way away.  Can't wait to see how it looks in print.

Yesterday I headed to the Stitches and Craft Fair, I stocked up on supplies from the Scissor Man (mainly rotary cutting blades), a Drunken Path set of templates in multiple sizes and of course a pair of scissors, these are of the tweezer variety, I thought they may be useful for snipping threads while machine quilting.

I then found a stall stocking Liberty Fabric, "the Strawberry Thief".  My only complaint is the proprietor wouldn't leave me alone and kept suggesting fabric.   One thing I can't stand, I quite honestly prefer to be left alone when looking at fabric.   I quite often can't articulate what it is I want, I plan in my head as I look at fabric and I need to be able to think.  If I want input I'll ask for it.  I know a lot of people want help in making selections but I am not one of them.  Basically I will know what I want when I see it.  I think she got the message once I rejected everyone of her suggestions.   I was really happy with my selection in the end but it took me a lot longer to decide with all the interruptions.

They have a Liberty Club which I may consider joining, just have to decide what size pieces I want.  I bought Fat Quarters this time but I don't think I can afford that every month but that is a decision for another day.

Have a good weekend.

Free BOM a couple of questions

I'm designing a new BOM. Quite a number of people joined in my last free BOM and it was fun to see the difference takes on the Blocks on Instagram and Blogs from around the world.  However my true love is needle turn appliqué, therefore I would like to include appliqué in my next BOM which may end up making the finished quilt go longer than the 6 months that the last one did.  Do you think this is a problem?

At the moment my thinking is that for the Appliqué Blocks I will provide both needle turn templates and mirror images which can be used for machine appliqué using fusible webbing as I know not everyone is wants to do needle turn.

There will be pieced and appliqué blocks.  The pieced blocks will be relatively simple and on the small side.  

Here is the design so far it will be subject to change as I will probably keep tweaking right up to the stitching stage and putting it together is usually a whole different thing when you are working with actual fabric.  As you can see it is a long way from finished and colours are just an indication.  I plan on using some of my script stash as backgrounds but in order to calculate how much you will need it is easier to keep all the background the same.

Let me know what you think.  I'm looking forward to starting on the stitching but I do have a couple of other projects to finish before I get to that stage and lots and lots more tweaking.