Free Motion Mavericks - Week 401 - Baby Arrived Early

My good intentions to have the crib liner finished in time for the Autumn Baby's arrival have been thwarted by his early arrival on Sunday - three weeks early with accompanying shock and drama.  After a rough start, mum and baby are now doing well, but not home yet.

Meanwhile, the crib liner is nearly finished - four quilted panels, ten and a half inches deep, joined at the four corners using the QAYG method.

I stitched a line down the middle of the joining strip so that the panels can fit easily into the corners of the crib.  I decided to use the same fabric to keep the join reasonably unobtrusive, giving a few entertaining results with the design.  There is some dangerous flying going on with those three helicopters.

With the binding I wanted minimum contrast, and dug out a piece of fabric that I bought years ago as a small remnant.  There was just enough to make the binding.  The design is very muted and the little stars and moons are perfect for bedtime.

Now I have to attach tabs to fasten the lining to the crib.  I have been deliberating for a while, and have finally decided on a method.  It has been tricky working with just photos and measurements and without being able to fit the lining to the actual crib.  I have put in pins to indicate the spacing between the staves, but it still didn't help with the actual length of the tabs.  Eventually I hit on the idea of asking my husband to make a mock up of a couple of staves and the top and bottom, all to scale, so I can work in three dimensions instead of floundering in fresh air.

I still have plenty of the main fabric left, but didn't want to cut into it just for a lot of tabs that would only be seen on the back, so I pulled out a pale brownish fabric that will go better with the wood of the crib.

It has sweet little angels on it.  I'm hoping one or two will be visible on the finished item to keep guard over the sleeping baby.

 

Here goes for Week 401:-

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last time with her wonky stars.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 399 - A Trip to Surrey

 

Again I have to own up that I have done zero sewing, and I shall blame the weather - it has been too good to stay in, which is unusual because often we have summers that are complete washouts, so this year I have been taking every opportunity to be outside.  The allotment is having an overhaul, which is long overdue, and I have spent countless hours digging, weeding, burning the garden rubbish, and getting thoroughly grubby.  It has been bliss.

Last week we went to stay with my brother in Surrey and had a pleasant few days talking, eating, going out on trips and relaxing.  The wildlife there is slightly different.  The foxes are bold, casually strolling through gardens at any time of the day.  This handsome young fox was basking on a neighbour's lawn.  I don't often see foxes here because they are timid country foxes, unlike the fearless urban foxes where my brother lives.

It was an unforgettable trip because after driving through spectacular thunderstorms to get there, not long after we arrived the news came through about the Queen's death.  She will be greatly missed.

Here goes for Week 399:-

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last time with her fabric books.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now.

Blogger is being very uncooperative tonight and won't download images for me, so no photo from Andrée's blog yet.  Perhaps it will work tomorrow.

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 397 - Finally Started

 

Finally I have made a start on the crib lining for the autumn baby.  Time is flying, the due date is next month, and the fact that we are now into September really spurred me on to get to work today.  As usual, a job I thought would take half an hour took absolutely ages.  I need to make two long thin panels to go down the sides.  Making the sandwiches turned into a bit of a headache when I found the pattern on the fabric isn't quite horizontal, the oddments of wadding weren't long enough so I had to sew joins, and also the wadding was fairly badly creased and I had to resist the temptation to iron it.

Once the first panel was quilted I was a lot happier.  I had exactly the right colour thread, which didn't interfere with the movement of the design, and somehow the quilting brings the toy trains to life.

It's probably just the way I see it, but the trains are now going up and down little hills.

Here goes for Week 397:-

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up with her 3D seascape embroidery.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more. 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 395 - Raiding the Stash

You have to love this nursery print.  It has been in my stash for about four or five years now, and finally the perfect project for it has cropped up.  There is an autumn baby on the way, and I have been making items for the crib.  

The first items were easy, eight plain white cotton sheets, all cut from a length of sheeting that I bought a couple of weeks ago.  I was lucky to find 100% cotton, because the shop usually only stocks cotton and polyester sheeting, in a full range of colours, but they had one roll of pure cotton, so the sheets had to be white.  Just cutting out rectangles and machine hemming them was the perfect project for earlier this month, because life has been hot and rather chaotic.  We came back from our trip to Ireland to find everywhere looking parched after a heatwave, so the garden and allotment needed serious attention.  We also had extra fun and games because we found the heat had caused a burst in a water heater in the attic.  Fortunately the heat meant that everything had dried out before we got home, but the water had caused an electrical fault with the downstairs lights.  The plumber had a quick straightforward job, but the electrician is with us today to solve the problem.

Just when we thought we were getting cooler weather we were hit by a second heatwave.  Last week the temperatures rose to about 92F every day.  One evening I took a thermometer to the allotment, a real suntrap, with rich clay soil that retains the heat.  I knew it was hot, but was amazed to see the thermometer rise to 102F.  I managed to finish the crib sheets early that week, but after five or so days of such high temperatures it was all getting too much and every afternoon was nap time.

Now we are back to normal since Monday.  It has even rained and we have welcomed it back as an old friend.  So now I can start thinking about quilting again.  The wedding quilt has been put aside for the baby projects.  Now that I have made the sheets, I am planning a quilted lining for the sides of the crib to act as a buffer against the wooden staves and as a draught stopper.  The red and cream trains and toys fabric is perfect for the job, especially as I have enough for both sides.  I just hope I get the measurements right, but with all the photos I have received of the crib showing the tape measure across certain points, I think I can make a start very soon.  

                                                            

 Here goes for Week 395:-

Many thanks to Gail for linking up with a post about alpaca ironing mats - like wool but minus the wet dog smell!  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 393 - Home Again

My favourite photo taken on our trip away last month - at last we have met our granddaughter Emilia, who is now 21 months old.  We took a two week holiday to Ireland to visit our daughter and son-in-law Genevieve and Gonzalo in Belfast, and son and daughter-in-law Ally and Leah and little Emilia, who live near Dublin.  It was frustrating not being able to see Emilia when she was tiny and having to wait so long to be able to travel.  We have received scores of pictures and videos of her, but it isn't the same as seeing her in real life.  She is every bit as beautiful as we expected, and a bit of a scamp.  She also loves her food, and I found that the best time to get a picture of her was when she was in the high chair.  This is the minced beef picture, where things were fairly well under control.  The chicken curry picture is a far messier affair.

This little hat came with me on our travels.  It was all but finished when we set off, but it needed elastic, which I bought in Northern Ireland, and something on top.  Once we were home I made a pompom, which turned out totally useless so I scrapped it.  Instead I made a knitted flower in grey, and a slightly smaller flower in the blue mix to match the brim.  I can't decide whether the finished item reminds me more of a tea cosy or a Christmas pudding.

I have no quilting projects to show today, so I am looking forward to seeing what appears on the linky this week!

 Here goes for Week 393:-

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last time with her flower mug rugs.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 391- Knitting Hats

We are on our travels, so this is a very brief post written on a slick high-tech computer, and of course I haven't a clue what I'm doing.  The only project I have with me is my knitting and the latest fun is little hats worked on four double ended needles.  As soon as I am able, in other words back to my steam-powered computer, I shall post photos and update you on our adventures.

In the meantime, feel free to link up with your projects, quilting if you are managing to keep on sewing in the summer heat, or anything else you are doing instead.   

                                                             

Here goes for Week 391:-

Many thanks to Gail for linking up with her sunshine quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 389 - Quilted Baby Jacket

Recently I have been doing a fair bit of knitting, getting back into making baby cardigans, and only today I remembered that I have this little quilted jacket stashed away from over ten years ago.  I set myself a task, using just four different fabrics, and because it was before I had launched into the thrills of free motion quilting, I hand quilted it.  The piecing and quilting was relatively easy.  The real fun started with the seams, running underneath the arms down the side.  It wasn't a particularly happy experience, in fact I had a right old tussle, which is why I never made another.

To give an idea of the size, the back is just over ten inches square.

I remember looking at photos of Mongolian tribesmen and being fascinated by how their coats always fasten down one side, so I tried out a similar method .  There is an inside button to hold the left front in place when the three outer buttons are fastened.  If I made another jacket like this, now that I have a buttonholer, I might make it double breasted with buttonholes.

This jacket looks as though it would better suit a little girl, with floral designs and buttons on the left.  Were I to make another I would use little boy fabrics and speed up the process with free motion quilting.  However, after all the grief I had with the seams, I would have to think long and hard before even starting.

The wedding quilt is having to take second place to gardening at the moment.  Summer has well and truly arrived, so I am spending hours outside doing battle with weeds and enjoying every minute of it.

Here goes for Week 389:-

Many thanks to my co-host Andrée for linking up last time.  She has been busy exhibiting her work and giving a class.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.