Tag: QAL

The Endeavourers Big Reveal Improv

by Kay, posted in The Endeavourers

I had a look on Youtube and collected a few clips on different types of improv which you can see HERE

I used some of the ideas from the Mr Domestic clip but didn’t want to make a flower. The fans reminded me more of agate and other minerals so I alternated some of the fans to make strips. I did cross a few to make small blocks. to make the piecing simpler I kept to 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 strips and blocks

 

I finally ended up with this

DSCF6553DSCF6555DSCF6556

The big reveal in my case is I got stuck. Should I trim and bind? Seems too traditional for it. Maybe bag instead? But I like the uneven edge. Has anyone got the answer!!!

On a lighter note in the middle of major renovation (two bathrooms, extension, windows, heating, replastering – every room a mess) the plasterer needed to move the loo and this is where he put it!

DSCF6557

In the old boiler cupboard in my sewing room! I was intending to sort it out for fabric storage but maybe….. No

If you would like to see what all the other Endeavourers have made of this quarters theme you can find them below

Catherine – http://www.knottedcotton.com   @knottedcotton
Janine – https://rainbowhare.com/
Nancy – http://www.patchworkbreeze.blogspot.com/
Carol – http://beadsandbirds.blogspot.com/
Barbara – https://theflashingscissors.blogspot.co.uk/
Ruth – http://benandcharlyscorner.blogspot.co.uk/
Gwen – https://textileranger.com/
Martha – www.weekenddoings.com
Julie – www.pinkdoxies.com
Maureen – https://josephinaballerina.com/
Tonia – http://allthingzsewn.blogspot.com
Kay – https://thecraftyyak.wordpress.com
Soma – http://www.whimsandfancies.com/
Fiona – http://celticthistlestitches.blogspot.co.uk/
Paula – https://paulabquilts.com/

Enjoy!

At the End of a Long Week

by Kay, posted in Quilting from Little things, Uncategorized

It has been a long week at work as I have been covering for the manager and there has been a lot to do, add to that, the absence of a couple of volunteers and I am exhausted. However there has still been time for a little sewing, on three projects no less; the RSC16, Fanfare and another star flower for grandmother’s flower garden. sometimes it is better to relax by ‘doing’ not just ‘sitting’

Looking a bit wonky on the inside of the fanfare block but now it’s time to stitch the centre and cover it up!

I wonder how busy everyone has been over at Kathy’s Quilts? Time to pop over and have a look

In Pieces and then…

by Kay, posted in Uncategorized

 

365 challenge week 1 in pieces

January is blue for RS16 and so I cut up all the little pieces needed for the first seven blocks from the 365 challenge and laid them out in their blocks

Here they are all complete

week 1 completed

I actually completed week two last week so it is a bit back to front. I should be back on track with everyone else now!

 

Well it’s been a hard week at work so this is just a short post and now it’s time for bed zzzzzzz

A New Challenge…or Two

by Kay, posted in Uncategorized

Checkerboard 3It’s the beginning of a new year and time for a new challenge. I just have to stay stitch the RSC15 Challenge quilt before I send it off to the long armer, so that means it is time for the  RSC16 sampler quilt This year the quilt is a column along, only I couldn’t make the first block because I couldn’t work out how to do it without the rulers used! So I decided to make something else, whilst still keeping an eye on Angela’s blocks – as she knows so many! Seriously, her blog So Scrappy is a marvellous resource for blocks and sampler quilts

After many ideas mused upon and shelved for another day I suddenly found inspiration on Facebook. So I am being crafty (obviously!) as I am combining the RSC16 with the 365 Challenge – the Ultimate Sampler. You can find more details here

There is a weekly giveaway on the Facebook page too. I tried to complete week two in time but had tension issues with my machine so I missed the deadline, nevermind I still have seven blocks completed

They are such dinky little blocks, only 3″ but I love them! Better get on with week one.

RSC15 Final Layout

by Kay, posted in Quilt-a-Longs, RSC15

I have actually finished all the alternate squares and can add them to the star blocks

 

This isn’t all of the blocks as I have already sewn three rows together so they are not included.

I also had a couple of great buys on EBay. First up, 501 Quilt Blocks is a lovely book with a lot of lovely blocks I hadn’t seen before. Some of the applique blocks are a bit twee and the alphabet letters are distinctly underwhelming but the rest are great. I will spend many hours perusing this book

The second book, American Patchwork and Quilting, has more in the way of patterns and instructions rather than blocks. It gives it’s age away by the use scissors rather than a rotary cutter but it is very informative despite that. There are some inspiring antique quilts that might be the starting point for my next scrap quilt

I will be linking up with So Scrappy with everyone else who has joined in this years rainbow scrap challenge, why not pop over and have a look for yourself – and maybe join in next year!

 

by Kay, posted in Quilt-a-Longs, Quilting from Little things, RSC15

After all the terrible events that have been happening around the world in Paris, Beirut and Syria to name a few, I didn’t feel like posting anything about patchwork squares or crotchet as it seemed so trivial. So many lives lost and so many lives altered forever. But then I thought back to a few decades ago when the IRA had ceased bombing mainland Britain for a while so I booked and paid for a theatre trip for a large group of family and friends in London. Then the bombing started again. I thought nobody would want to go and phoned everyone. Not a single person refused to go.

The comments were along the lines of; ‘Hitler never stopped us by bombing ‘ (from someone who survived the Blitz), ‘When your times up, your times up wherever you are’, ‘Nobody is telling me what to do’ ‘Don’t let them win’ and so on. Nearly everyone had worked in London during other bombing campaigns so this was no different.

The moral really is ‘Keep calm and carry on’ (WWII poster). The objective of terrorism is to stop you living a normal life. The French Tricolour is flying at half-mast on our town hall to show solidarity with Paris and in honour of Nick Alexander a resident of Colchester who died in the Bataclan attack. Remember the dead and  those affected by these terrible events.

But do not tar everyone with the same brush. Nobody attacked me as a catholic when the IRA killed innocent civilians and nobody should attack Muslims for this atrocity. That is what Daesh want, don’t play into their hands.

To carry on as normal then; swamp angel star completed

Swamp Angel Star

A few more alternative blocks and the top will be complete.

The applique fans are also nearly ready – just the inner circles to add once I have decided on the layout. For now I have been playing around with the composition, but might stick to the one in the ‘Quilting From Little Things’

The tumbler quilt top is nearly complete but still waiting for one more block for The Global Quilting Project. Four projects are nearing completion and my thoughts are already turning to the RSC16. What are you working on?

 

 

Second Row

by Kay, posted in RSC15

Another set of alternate blocks completed and a second row finished. It departs a little from the RSC15 because I didn’t use brown or wrap around the colour from the other end. It was too rainy to take the photos outside so this is the best I could do!

Second Row RSC15

As you can see it is wider than the bed so I don’t think I will be quilting it. Fortunately for me Janette Chilver of J Quilts who happens to be the winner of Best in Show at the Festival of Quilts 2015 in Birmingham, lives a few miles away. You can see her beautiful quilt here

So much piecing also means a lot more work was done on the Tumbler Leaders and Enders challenge. Everything is joined up in rows of eight at least and quite a few in sixteens. I think this quilt top will be finished at the same time as the RSC15, but being lap-size will be quilted by me. It will be my Autumn/Winter quilt for the settee and the Simply Colour one will be put away until Spring

Do you have different quilts for different seasons?

Dear Jane …Again

by Kay, posted in The Global Quilting Project

Share Jane

Dear Jane,

I am so excited to have been accepted to take part in an international project to make your quilt in a beautiful new fabric range. To quote from Share Jane‘s Facebook Page it is;

“An exciting, collaborative quilt project…..[which] came about from a new friendship with Jeltje van Essen and the good folks of Moda Fabrics. This innovative version of a Dear Jane quilt will showcase Janet Clare (new Moda designer) fabric – Wordsmith along with other bits of Moda fabrics. We will make 3 quilts in total – one for The Netherlands (Jeltje) for her shop teaching sample, one for Canada (Kim) for my teaching sample and one for Moda (to travel in their booth).

Here’s where YOU come in ….. if you are interested in making a block, please let us know. You will be sent a detailed kit with fabrics, block design, instructions, etc. and will be added to the documentation label. This will truly be a worldwide effort. So exciting!!!!”

Jelte van Essen is another member of The Global Quilting Project. I’m so glad I joined TGQP otherwise I would not have seen this! The intertwined hearts are a beautiful feature.

You can find out more about it here

Redo on the Blue, plus a couple of Yellows

by Kay, posted in Quilt-a-Longs, RSC15, WIPs

Blue and Yellow

Four more blocks completed and on the line – not far behind the rest of the group considering I started in August and not January. It was quite breezy but I managed to get a few shots in between gusts

I returned to the Whirling Geese block and used darker blues, as my mid-blue version was a bit too light. I used the inner block from the orange month to do a second mid-blue block too which is a Twirling Four Patch.  It’s more like a pinwheel than the block that is called a pinwheel!

Whirling Geese Pinwheel

I finished the yellows too. Monkey Wrench is in the original list, however, the second paler block should have been Air Castle but I substituted this block whose name escapes me.

Monkey Wrench

Yellow block

As you can see it is another lovely sunny day which is a welcome return after the last few days which have been cold and grey

Next job on the list was chain piecing the squares I had prepared earlier in the week for the alternate blocks

All the indigo, pink, red, yellow and orange are now in little four or two patches. The good thing about all this piecing is the amount of tumblers that were sewn together too.  All are at the very least paired up and about half of those are now in fours. It’s surprising how quickly this Leaders and Enders project is going. It may even be finished at the same time as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge! Now all I need to do is keep up with the Quilting From Little Things and they will all be wrapped up by the end of the year – nearly forgot the Global Quilting Project! Just waiting for one more block and then assembly can begin. Perhaps I will have three full-sized quilts for New Year

Purple Pain

by Kay, posted in Quilt-a-Longs, RSC15

Do you remember a certain singer who decided that a symbol would represent him instead of a name? Well that’s how I remembered him after twisting the title of one of his songs. Now that’s what I think of this block. I just kept getting it wrong and the final product is wrong, but I like it the way it is. Nothing to do with the instructions, they were fine, but I have a bad habit of making things late at night when I should go to bed. I am tired and I make mistakes, fortunately it’s not brain surgery!

Purple pain RSC15

It was supposed to be Carrie Nation but I completely forgot to add a third purple to the small squares which are supposed to run through the middle, so I played around with the arrangement and made this instead. Not so much Carrie Nation as Frustration!

I was multi-tasking and making more than one block so I could chain piece but things went awry, never mind the end result is going in the final quilt anyway!

Another purple block still to be made yet. Watch this space