Strip Happy!

 I'm back to my scrap busting again.

This time working through the short lengths of 2 1/2" strips and the various lengths of 1 1/4" strips.

Shown here are a few of the 'yellow' and 'green' blocks.

I've made 15 yellows and 13 greens.  Still to work on the purples, blues, neutrals, pinks....

 Once I've made (and trimmed) all the blocks I'll work out how I'm going to mix them and what size top or tops I'm going to create.  I'm really excited about these blocks.  There is a lot of (easy) sewing, and they are oddly satisfying to produce.

Lucky that it was a quick block to make this week for the Aves Quilt - or at least, I chose a quick technique to complete it!

I went 'quick and dirty' with a HST background and fusible applique machined down.  Fun to make.  I admire the people who are making a carefully pieced background and hand appliqueing the pieces to it - but it just wasn't what I wanted to do this week.

Will I, Won't I?

 Will I re-sew the flying geese frame to the dove centre or won't I?   I'm not especially pleased with the lumpy finish that I've achieved, but neither am I convinced that I'll be able to manage a better result with a second try!

I'm prevaricating at the moment.  It's pinned to my wall whilst I decide what I should do.  It may be that weeks 16 / 17 of my Aves quilt aren't as finished as they should be if I do decide to re-do their coupling.

 In the meantime I've been getting on with a challenge from my quilt group.

We've each been given a piece of this fabric - mine was roughly 6" x 8" (thank you Benta for nabbing and sending me this in my absence from the meeting!).

We were then challenged to make an 8" square quilt where the fabric could still be recognised.

This was the first quilt that I made - I really wanted to use the pattern as a pair of eyes.

 This was my last quilt with it, when I saw an elephant print in a fabric shop at the weekend and realised that I might have enough fabric left for one more eye.  I had to grub about in my bin to retrieve this fragment as it was smaller even than the pieces that I usually keep!

This was my second quilt - I like the idea of a loose woven design with strips left after I'd removed the strip with the owl eyes.

This is called 'Don't Fence Me In'.

All three quilts use fusible applique (so I lost as little of the challenge fabric as possible) and machine stitching.

All good fun!  I'm now planning to go back to my scrap drawers and start a new scrap project.

Happy sewing everyone!

Scrap Quilt Memories

 This week I had enough energy to make good progress on this little quilt that I started a couple of weeks ago.

It finishes at 36" x 46".

The blocks in the centre are 'lozenges' (rectangles with the corners 'snowballed') which used up some particular size of squares that I had.  Then I had almost enough rectangles to create a border around them.  Just five more needed to be cut - one from a scrap of fabric that I had beside my sewing machine, four for the corners from another left over piece.

 What is odd is that it isn't just the fabrics in this quilt that were provoking memories, but the actually shape of the pieces.  I only made one quilt that used these 8" x 4" rectangles - a wedding quilt for a dear friend who died not many years after he married.

I relived some of the happy memories of making the quilt for him and his wife and of the phone call from him on his wedding day, with their 'thank you' for the quilt.

I wouldn't think that a simple measurement could bring all that back so vividly!  I'm almost sad that I've used all of them now - although happy that I've made a further dent in my scrap drawers!

Backed with my grey Ikea fabric (I'm bored with it now, but as I only have enough for another quilt or so I haven't got far to go with it!) and bound with a 'bubble' pattern fabric.

Another quilt for Project Linus is complete!

Block Building

 Block 16 this week!

This is how the block started out.  I have to confess to a couple of mis-cuts but I didn't do too badly with the instructions that we were given by Katherine Kerr.

 The 'Doves in the Window' looked like this as the initial star was made.

 And like this once the 8 setting triangles were inserted.

I suspect that next week we'll be making a flying geese surround for it.

No other sewing this week - but a little architecture admiration.  This is the ceiling of the cloister at Lacock Abbey that was used in a Harry Potter film or two, I'm told.  It is beautiful.  Not only the lovely warm colour of the local stone, but crafted so carefully too.  I have a feeling that I should have taken more photos.  It would make a beautiful start point for a quilt design, wouldn't it?

Another two blocks

 Week 14 (above) and Week 15 of my Aves Block of the Week project.

Lucky that they were both nice and easy to complete, once the fabrics were decided upon and cut!

More hours (many more hours!) spent on starting to change my email addy in the myriad places that it is used as I will be changing from next month, than spent on delicious sewing - sigh!

Never mind, at least when it's complete I'll feel pleased!