First up, another weekend, another quilt top! I'm not getting a whole pile of time to spend sewing these days, but when I do get to it I am being super productive. No faffing about, just the very model of efficiency! So, here is the latest sewing result - my Frogs and Snails quilt for a new baby boy. I'm making this one for my MIL who wants a present for her grand-nephew. Its a small, cot size quilt and a little bit akin to an I-Spy quilt, as a lot of the half square triangles have interesting detail for a baby boy. There are owls (of course!), cars, traffic lights, buses, whales, bugs, kangaroos, spots, stripes, stars and of course a frog and some snails :-) No puppy dog tails though!
I could have gone a number of different ways with my HSTs in terms of layout, but after playing around for a little bit yesterday afternoon with different combinations, I thought this worked best and I really like it. I have a lovely soft piece of blue and white gingham print fabric for the back and i nf the gods smile on me, I might even get it basted tonight.
I'm also working on cutting two other quilt tops - one for a baby girl in red, pink and aqua with these lovely fabrics:
And one for a baby boy in these lovely orange, brown and green fabrics!
Also on the agenda this morning was catching up on Cindy's free motion practice-along so I could link up to Free Motion Friday, even if I am a little late. I watched the video and got my little scraps of fabric and batting ready. And then I almost collapsed laughing when I saw the result.
Bloody, horrendously awful. You know I like to show you my craft fails from time to time, this one is definitely up there in the rankings - serious wobbling, stitch length all over the place, rubbish tension (look at the pic of the back) and general crapness.
I even made a 2nd attempt.
Its a little better, but not by more than about 2%. And that's because I moved the fabric around at the end of each wave so I was working towards myself, to give me more control. And I remembered to breath! Still didn't work :-) Moral of the story? Need to practice!!! Now, I do think I should probably go a little bigger on the fabric I'm using - there's not much scope for control on a scrap this size. And I need to look at my tension issues, so the manual will have to come out for next week. But it was definitely fun and I can't wait to try this week's drop art. Think I will have to go reading up a little before tackling it. Because, imagine if I could do it? How cool would it be!
In other news, I am getting started with my stalking of my partner for the Modern Christmas table runner swap. I pulled out my stash of Christmas fabrics from last year - aren't they nice? But I might need to add some to them to get a colour palette my partner LOVES, off to do my research this afternoon.
And I got CeLynn's fabrics for October in Sew Bee Blissful. She wants us to make these super cute owl blocks, I can't wait to get started on them. Really love her fabric choices:
Last, but by no means least, I want to say thank you to everyone for linking up to my Summer Sewing wrap up! It was amazing to see what you all got done, isn't it the best feeling to look back at all your achievements? I've had a few requests for a Winter sewing list to keep you all on track - are you interested? If so, I'll get working on it and post it sometime in the next week or so, just let me know in a comment. Now, back in May I did promise a little giveaway for people who participated and I have consulted with Mr. Random. I had 7 people complete from start to finish (love you all!) and of these he picked:
So, there's my random news. Hope you're having a lovely weekend!
22 comments:
You have done ok on the FMQ, The thick/thin thing is definitely working, and your second lot looks good from here!
all looks good, with a bit more practice we may all get there.
Woohoo! Thanks for the win, but much bigger thanks for the Summer Sewing. It not only helped me focus, but it also let me see that I am getting far more done than I realised. Sometimes we all need to take a look at our accomplishments, not just our long lists of things to do.
love all your christmas fabrics: I bought some yesterday, but I don't think they are my partners thing, so may just have to keep them :-)
Love the baby boy quilt! very fun having all the fabrics to search from. Can't wait to see what you do with your green/orange/brown stack. Good work on the FMQ, I'm so terrible at it, it's definitely a need to practice type thing.
Love the quilts, love that you are just as crap as me as FMQing and will pretend not to love Susan :)
Ooh yes, Winter sewing list - I need one of those!
Well done Susan.
And I really like the HST baby quilt - the simplicity really works.
Love your baby quilt and was contemplating an HST 1001 Peeps boy quilt just this evening! Well done Susan, and we all need more FMQ practice - well I certainly do! I would be very interested in your winter sewing thingy.
Absolutely adore the idea of an HST I Spy quilt. May have to copy...some day....
Those baby fabrics are gorgeous! I love your finished quilt top too :)
You have been productive!
I think that's a good attempt at FMQ, those waves are way tricky than they look. I'm sticking with my worm description!!
Love your HST madness, and your FMQ isnt as bad as you think... I missed out on summer sewing list, I'd love a winter option! (and congrats to susan who is lovely)
Ooo yes to a winter sewing list, I desperately need to focus! Love the HST quilt, you have an enviable selection of boy fabrics!
x
PS congrats to Miss Susan too x
I found your blog too late to join in on your summer list; would love to join in a winter one!
Love your beautiful quilts.
Congratulations to Susan :)
Your FMQ looks a whole lot better than mine. I need Lots of practice :( What a cool HST quilt,will have to make one of those myself someday.
Winter projects list,please.
Congrats Susan! I would love to do a Winter list - I missed out on the Summer list. I am not sure what I put on my winter list but I sure would figure it out for you.
The lady on the video, whose name I've forgotten, made it look so easy, didn't she? I haven't even tried my first sample so you are way ahead of me!
Whew! You have a lot going on! I love the fabrics you have for the little girl and boy quilts and for the table runner - all great choices. Your FMQ looks great! Did you see mine? Jeez! Your second attempt absolutely looks better than the first, so a little more practice and you'll be off running! xx
Seriously productive there, WTG! Love the fabrics for the next 2 too.
As for the FMQ, I haven't got to mine yet (I have my sewing machine up here with me, but as I said to Cindy, I thought if I tried to experiment with this while I was here, I'd probably get turfed out of the cottage ;o) )
I am still too intimated to try the FMQ'ing - so MAJOR props to you for giving it a go! They are not bad at all! Rumor is it gets easier with practice, but I'd be more than ecstatic if my first attempt comes out as half as good as yours!
Love your HST quilt - such a great range of fabrics!!
Another gorgeous quilt top! Congrats to Susan, what does she win? Jxo
Love your triangle quilt! Good luck with the FMQ - I bet it's not really as bad as you think!
Wow, there is a lot going on here, Sarah! I'm thinking of baby boy quilts all the time now since our latest grandson was born last week, so thanks for the ideas--the HST is super cute!
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