6 more patchwork bocks

here are the next 6 Tula Pink blocks. I forgot to put last week`s onto my blog  although I loaded them onto the site so have last and this weeks to share with you today.

I have been busy,  on friday I did 12 blocks but holding them back until I have to add them to the challenge.

this is a bit of a mish mash with the colours, never mind I am learning all the time

think these strawberries look good enough to eat.

suddenly had a brain wave to photo them with a cut out frame around them, think this makes them look better as I am not planning to trim them to size till I decide what to do with them all.

not sure why this one has gone on smaller than the rest    oh yes I remember I took the photo wrong so flipped the block so that it was the way it should  be.

patchwork bag finished

Here is the bag  I made using the hexagons I had made from the batik triangles.    It has been unpicked twice,  first time I used polyester wadding and it was far too bulky so undid it.   I removed the wadding and muslin from everywhere except under the patchwork as I had hand quilted this.   I then tried quite a thick iron on vylene, did not like this either so managed to pull it off and finally mad it up without any thing apart from the black fabric and some very nice poly cotton for the lining.   I suppose it is a bit floppy but I am quite happy with it, much happier than when it had the wadding in.    Not sure if I will use it when I go to the quilt show, that had been my intention, mind you it is not very big for a shopping trip,  maybe that s just as well!
Will not bore you with lots of photos, have put the 4 on a collage,  close ups of the quilting,  the red I did in the ditch then added some small hexagons,  the green side I have done triangles on and nothing in the ditch. The green side is my favourite side.   Did consider machine quilting but need to have some practise at it first as have not done any yet.

I have turned the top layer down a bit so you can see the lining, think it is nicer to put a nice one in rather than using lining fabric.

patchwork bag

Yesterday I decided to play around with some jelly roll strips and came up with two pieces I thought I could use on the front and back of a bag.   I joined 4 strips together but made some of the seams a bit wavy and some narrower than the 2.5".   I then used my 60 degree triangle and cut out 6 triangles from each piece. Joined together I was quite pleased with the effect and have stitched them onto 2 pieces of black cotton which I will attempt to make into a bag.  Need to get some nice fabric for the lining and thought I might try and attach a thin strip of batik fabric to each of the handles, unfortunately do not have much left now so it will be different than the strips I have used.    Any advice on bag construction would be welcome.  I am not sure what I attach the batting to, the main bag or the lining.  Think it will be just a straight up and down bag with a 2" square cut out of the 2 bottom corners to give it a bit of fullness,  have a few bag making books so should have a read about how to go about it.  Do I need to do any quilting on it,  if I quilt it must mean I attach the batting to the front and does that mean I need another piece of fabric under the batting,    not sure about all this as I said earlier advice would be very welcome.  I know you will not let me down!!  

As you can see they are not the same size but that will not matter, I will have the green one as the front of the bag.

more patchwork

I am adding my latest Tula Pink challenge blocks this morning, seem to be keeping up with them, have actually done next weeks yesterday too but will not put them on till they have gone on the sew sweetness site.
                                                               block 22

block 23

                                                                   block 24

I am pleased with 22 and 23 but 24 leaves a lot to be desired!!  When I upload them to the site there is a cropping tool which I have now found and this does make them look a bit better but 24 was beyond help!

We are enjoying the most glorious weather here in the UK at the moment, how I love to feel the warmth of the sun on me, must admit would rather be sitting in the garden than walking about and it must be quite unpleasant working,some of the spuermarkets, shops, offices etc etc do not have air conditioning the air is pretty poor in these places,    the staff seem to be coping, our little Sainsburys is very bad but it is closing for a refit at the end of the month,   wonder if they will install a cooling system then as they really need it. Mind you we do not often have weather like this, they have said on the radio this morning it is the longest spell of hot weather we have ever had.

pin cushions and more

Today I will share some pin cushions I have made recently,   they are nice little projects which stitch well whilst enjoying the sunshine in the garden

there are 3 star shaped ones,   2 made with 1.5" hexagons and the larger one with 2.5" ones. I found this tutorial on  the abyquilt blog. The small blue one is the same design but put together wrong so it came out flat instead of star shaped. The biscornu I think I have shared before on my biscornu collage.I rather like the green one below the biscornu made with 8 2" hexagons, this one I found on the  Lindlady blog. The oblong one I made years ago in the candlewick style and has been the one I have used a great deal. It is filled with sawdust so the pins do not rust. Think I have finally found someone who can give me some after a lot of searching, not sure if I will re stuff all the others or not, time will tell.. The pink and blue one is made from 60 degree diamonds that I found through a link on Anneliese `s blog the stitching lady, I am now doing one with 45 degrees and think this will come out longer. The final one under the large star is a whirly gig one from crazy mom quilts blog,  have just realised that I have got it sewn together wrong, the left hand bottom piece needs rotating,  will make another soon, hopefully correct this time.

I know I was given advice as to how to put a link on  to other sites so you can hop over to  from here but sorry cannot find the instructions, maybe one of you could let me know again and I will try not to lose it this time.

Here is my CQJP for july

  my flower for  july is the foxglove, I have lots in flower at the moment, all self seeded from next door,   the bees have been so busy visiting them. Only one or two are this pal lemon colour mostly they are purple but have stuck with my colour way and done the lemon one.I have also put Sharon`s stencils to good use,   they are a great buy and will have a play so I can make more of them but they only arrived the other day so rushed into them without looking at all her suggestions that I downloaded.  One of the best buys I have made for a while.The butterfly is rather blue but saw on this colour when I went to tropical World with Helen last month and thought I could get away with the colour as there is blue in the feather stitching and think it sort of pulls things together, likewise the tatted red piece in the bottom left hand corner linking up with the red in the top left hand corner.The snail was stitched as I am overrun with slugs and snails at the moment,   can`t pull pellets down as they are poisonous to the birds.

I also put together a rolling nine patch block which was in the popular patchwork magazine for june. Quite pleased with this one but would like to work out how to make it a smaller size as it measures 15"

pinwheels and Tula

It is time to add my latest three Tula Pink blocks, when I load them to the sew sweetness blog each week I have to load them from flickr and I am able to remove the background and square them up but have not found how to do that here.

this block is not as crocked as it looks on the photo I have not trimmed any yet, will wait till the end and see what I am going to do with them.

pleased with this one, sorry about the thread, did not notice it till now.

this one is rather boring!

Have decided that doing small blocks is more difficult than the bigger ones, thought little would be easier but these have changed my mind, sometimes there as as many as 24 pieces of fabric so loads and loads of  seams. But I will not be defeated and plan to do all 100,   a big big challenge for me but enjoying it, maybe enjoying is not the right description!

A few months ago I bought the pinwheel magic 4.5" template and then could not work out how to use it but the other day it was being promoted on create and craft again and have now got my act together and have done it a few samples of the three shapes it makes, once again the poly cotton came out, they take more fabric than I expected and the A block has quite a bit of wastage which will go into the little scrap stash I am collecting.

this one I used 3 fabrics on  template A

this is template A again with just 2 fabrics.

here is template B

this is from template C

My favourite is template A and can see me doing some more of these but have not worked out about colours or if I can make a few all different and will they go together okay or will the pinwheels not be seen if multi coloured,   any information will be greatfully received.

Helen`s move went well, delayed by a day but she is in and loves it.We are still unpacking, I have had 2 days off since a week last monday and feeling very tired but at least it is only 10 mins walk away rather than over an hour and 2 buses from where she lived before. Will go round this afternoon, she has been on a night shift last night so plans to have a sleep this morning then plod on in the afternoon.  I took the lawn mower round on sunday and cut the lawns and also removed loads of dandelions, previous people obviously did not do much with the garden but they had a wonderful trellis with clematis, roses and other things growing, unfortunately the flowering is almost over but here is a photo anyway.

we have to bend our heads to get into the further part of her garden, you can see the rose, they are massive but past their best.Helen thinks she is going to do away with this trellis I do hope she changes her mind, need to find out about pruning and see if we can keep it.

one of the roses, unfortunately no scent but large and beautiful

more patchwork blocks and potatoes

It is tuesday and I am a day late in doing my Tula Pink challenge,  have had the blocks stitched over a week now  but one I did a replacement for as I was even unhappier with it than some of the others.

block 16

the redo of block 17

block 17 discarded

block 18

block 17 in the 2 shades of blue I took apart a few times and redid , now I see it on the blog it does not look much worse than its repalcement. I must learn how to put the photo on without any table showing, discovered how to crop them  at last when I load them onto the challenge site today and think they look better, not so out of line etc.

My younger daughter Helen (37)  is moving into her first house tomorrow, she has been living in shared accommodation for a long time but has now got a mortgage and is feeling  `grown up`. I have been helping her pack, yesterday we worked long and hard packing all her books , clothes, kitchen things and bits and pieces,  fortunately not too much left to do today ready for the move tomorrow, we plan to bring everything downstairs and I have been good and written on the boxes where they are to go at the new house. Alfie her cat will come and stay with me tonight so he will not be too disturbed by the move, he loves coming here, won`t be surprised if he appears at my door when in the new house as it is a 5 to 10 min walk form me. Helen will also stay tomorrow night as her bed does not arrive till thursday. She has very little furniture of her own apart form her wardrobe,  chest of drawers,  dressing table and bedside cabinet which we bought for her years ago and we have fingers crossed the wardrobe will get up the stairs! Also has a fridge,  freezer, washing machine and 2 TV`s. We do not think the freezer will fit in the kitchen, previous owners have them side by side but Helen`s freezer we think is too wide. She has ordered a suite but we have to go and finalise everything this afternoon as it was ordered on the scheme that if the house fell through she would not have to have it but she got it at the sale price. Will now take 4 to 6 weeks for it to be made but she has an old couch which will do for the time being.

Thought I would share a photo with you all,    Helen is not one for cooking, being a nurse she does a lot of shift work and is not adverse to getting take aways,    the photo  is what she found in her potato bag which is meant to stop potatoes sprouting or going off!!

 Helen thinks I am mad as I take photos of odd things but who knows what this might inspire me to stitch, or maybe another blogger will be inspired!

quilt blocks

Today I am adding 3 more of the tula pink challenge blocks.  Blocks 13, 14 & 15. I have made a bit of a mess with 14 & 15, not sure what I am doing wrong , I do as they say and measure at least twice and sometimes more and cut once but when it comes to sewing the pieces together it does not seem to go to plan.  I am wondering if because they are only 6" square the individual pieces are so small they easily get pulled out of shape,    or maybe it is too much ironing.  I will redo the ones I am not happy with after completing all 100 as by then I should have improved and if I have not then will not do such small ones again.

when I look at the above photos I can see on the last one that it looks as though the fabric has been pulled form here to kingdom come!!,   or maybe I am not getting it cut on the grain but slightly crooked,    any advice greatly received and also positive criticism preferable to negative please!

I have also completed the three blocks for next week, one of which I have redone 3 times and have now given up on it, you will see what I mean when I add it next week.   We are meant to be doing 3 blocks a week and can only load the correct three to the sew sweetness blog each week, of course we can complete as many as we want but cannot add them and if we miss a week I am not sure what happens.

Tula Pink blocks 10,11 and 12

I am so enjoying this challenge,    three more blocks done,   some are very fiddly as the pieces tend to be small, one block  I had to cut 4 pieces 1" by 1".  I hope  I am learning more about colour too,  I am using my stash of fabric I have bought in drips and drabs over the years.  Now wondering about should I have washed the fabrics before using  them as I have not bothered to, maybe when I attempt a proper piece I will wash those.  It is misleading as there are arguments for both washing and not washing, have read what well know quilters have to say and they do not seem to agree either.   I would love to hear what you think about the washing process. Re my blocks, I have not tidied them up around the edges yet, will leave till all 100 are done and then decide what I should do with them if anything at all!

I went to a remnant shop in Harrogate yesterday and they had cotton poplin for £4.99 a metre, this threw me a bit as I had not seen the poplin name before for patchwork cotton..I ask myself if the cotton I have bought from the market is also poplin as it was cheaper than what you find in the quilting shops, maybe I should give more thought to what I buy and wonder about pricing. I did not buy any      how I resisted I am not sure but what I was looking for was some hand dyed thread to send to a friend.  No luck so popped on another bus and went to York, should have gone there in the first place as I got what I needed then home again.  The free bus pass is great for times like this,there are some advantages to being an OAP I seemed to spend most of the day on buses  about 4 hours in total but must not grumble!!

quilting blogs

this is just a word of warning to you all out there,  I sometimes stumble on blog that I think is worth following and one I recently added was   Linda`s quilts and things,    not sure what it is all about but instead of getting a quilt blog it opens up as       puyol messi   home loan calculator and it  is sending me things all the time which I seem unable to stop.  There is an email address in America but I can only email if I give loads of info plus my telephone number which it will not accept so I cannot get the email to send.  Just thought a word of warning to you all and if any one else has had a problem would love to know how you sorted it.  Will be much more careful in future who I follow.  There does not seem any way to get in touch with blogger to get it sorted for me.

CQJP for june

I have been working on this latest block since yesterday and think I have done enough, maybe at the end of the year other bits will be added and who knows some might be removed.  I wanted to use the allium as my flower for the month as I have so many out in the garden at the moment, shame they only seem to flower in the mauve/purple range as it is not a colour I have used on the blocks!  The little 3D needle tatted  flower in the top on the right hand side I found the as a  tutorial  on another blog.
If I do this challenge next year I will make the blocks each month, it was a mistake doing them all together but that is part of the learning curve I am on at the moment.  I am unable to add lace, ribbon etc neatly, this should be added during the construction of the blocks, never mind we live and learn.

I am also taking part in a round robin with the group embroidery friends which has been set up following the closure of the Embroiderers Guild forum. This group is open to all not just members of the EG.  There are 10 of us taking part and I have chosen gardens as the theme for my 10" x 8" piece.  I have done a bird bath and can now send it on the the next person to add something,    wonder what it will look like when it arrives back, maybe someone will do a bird having a bath!   Bit concerned what is going to arrive through my letter box as we are all choosing our own theme, trust it is something I can do.  Two of those taking part are in Australia but the rest of us are UK based.  Here is the bird bath, only worked in stem stitch but think it is quite cute. 

Tula Pink and biscornus.

I have been pressing on with my Tula Pink challenge and have now completed 9 blocks. This is a challenge as they are so small some pieces end up only half an inch wide but I`m enjoying the process ans think I can see improvement.

I purchased a jelly roll a few years ago and I am using some of that on these blocks as they only need small pieces.   9 down 91 to go!

I have also been asked to share some of the biscornu designs I have done so I am adding a collage of 8 of them

The one on the top row at the end is the original design for stitch magazine but the variegated thread I had used for it was no longer available so had to stitch it in another colour, I am glad about this as if they had used the original I would no longer have the biscornu.  .

I must now think about the CQJP for june,  I have decided to use an alium as the flower for the centre as they are looking glorious in the garden at thee moment. Mine will be a rough interpretation of the real thing.