Trial by Heirloom

Cutting accurately takes the loooongest time.

 I finished the green quilt top, but in true disorganised style, found that I didn't have quite as much dark blue cotton as I thought to complete the back. Sooo.......what to do while the cotton was on order?

Well, obvious really - start a new project. I'd bought the fabric mid last year to do Joel Dewberry's Heirloom quilt, but it had sat quietly in the cupboard waiting for me to feel confident enough to tackle it. Well, I can't say I felt more confident, but it certainly felt like the right time to Have A Go.

Top complete

At first, I felt a touch nervous of the specific cutting instruction, they certainly left no room for error, but I was amazed how quickly it came together after the cutting was done. I'm even wondering if I can use the pattern again as a stash buster - although I like the idea of learning new skills by trying different sizes and shapes.

Space is certainly an issue when pinning the layers together, I really don't know how people manage with massive double bed sized quilts! I think I possibly need to sweet talk a friend in to borrowing her floor in future. I'd decided in true in for a penny in for a pound fashion, that I'd use this quilt to have a go at free motion quilting. Which, I have to say, I had a go at on my old machine a few years ago and I was utterly useless at. The terror! In fact, I'm fairly sure I swore quite a bit, threw something, and vowed NEVER to try again. Glutton for punishment!

Anyway, I looked at some guides on a couple of blogs, Elizabeth Hartman and AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts have absolutely spot on guides.

The finished article

I am absolutely delighted with how it turned out - not perfect by any stretch but I learned so much about free motion quilting by just working through this whole quilt. I found it easier to just floor the peddle and move the quilt steadily, by the end my stitch length was even and I found it easier to move through the stipple pattern. You know, I'm actually quite excited about free motion quilting. Ah, I love being a geeky crafter!

What next?

The top, feral chickens, and other unlikely stories.

 The top is finished, huzzah, and I am not so secretly pleased with how it has turned out! For my second ever quilt, and with only a vague pattern in my head, there was so much I was expecting to go wrong. I was expecting wonky. I was expecting it not to line up. I took it very slowly, enjoyed each step and wasn't in any particular hurry to get to the finish line. Which was a good job really, because over the last few days I have been watched, chased, shouted at and occasionally, hunted. Every time I sat at my sewing machine, these two mucky miscreants would spy me through the patio doors, hop over the fence designed to keep them IN their run, and bolt for the patio doors. I put them back. They got out again. *Sigh* Violet, not pictured here, is in hard moult and has been huddling in the run with a faint air of embarrassment - she has a decidedly bald bum as we speak. I'm trying to decide if they're just hunting me down for food (likely) or are angling for a quilt for inside their chicken house (not so likely.)

Anyway, now for the back of the quilt - I have no idea how patterned or plain to make it, so will have to wing it again. Hopefully unaided by rampant chickens.

Talullah and Ruby, neck and neck.

Obviously, having thighs like a Russian shot putter has its advantages, even if you are a chicken.

New Year - 1st proper project.

 In truth, this quilt was started over Christmas, but has really only come to life in the last week. After my first project I'd looked around the internet and in some of my quilting books for inspiration, and this quilt is an amalgamation of a couple I'd seen. Firstly, I wanted to do a stash busting quilt, and by far I have more blues and greens then anything else. I'd seen these shaped blocks sewn on to muslin backing, but  since I didn't have a pattern and was making it up as I went along, and frankly because I'm lazy, I decided to just sew the strips and see what happened. Somewhere around block 46/7 I started to hear that little voice that seems to  originates from somewhere between my head and the sewing machine, that whispers - this is going to be rubbish! So, mildly panicked, I and my daughter set out the rough blocks on the living room floor and watched the pattern develop. I felt pleased with it - smug if truth be told - and I had to remind myself that soooo much can go wrong between here and the

finished article. Like getting it all to line up for starters - something I'm really not confident about! Hopefully when I get started on that part later today there will be more yay moments then wailing and gnashing of teeth. We'll see.....

New Year's to do list:

 For those that know me, it will come as no surprise to see that I am sewing feverishly again. I simply have to craft, for my sanity - and possibly that of my husband. Several years ago, I made bags at Christmas for the ladies in my life, very simple totes, little skill involved - but this kick started an obsessive bag making frenzy. Coming out of my ears type stuff. Frankly everyone I know was now sick of getting bags as gifts from me - and I wanted another challenge, something with more longevity, a craft that will go the distance. So, before Christmas, I decided to make a patchwork quilt, lap sized, for my children. Something they could snuggle under on the couch, I liked the thought of them being warm and comforted by it. I bought a  great pattern from Sweetjane on Etsy which I thought would be a good starting point, some Riley Blake fat quarters, and set to. What I found was that this is sewing, Jim, but a whole different set of skills to those I had developed while making bags. It was difficult, and I made mistakes!

The sections don't line up, the quilting is wonky and frankly a total pain to master on my machine - but I love a challenge! So, for 2012 this is my challenge myself to do list:
Learn to piece accurately.
Learn to quilt and free motion quilt on my little machine.
Make better quilts!

There are so many immensely talented quilters out there, looking at blogs and reading other peoples experiences has been exciting, and a great inspiration. And like crafters in general, it is a supportive community that I am looking forward to being part of. Let the journey begin!