August goal achieved

Here we go again. This time I'm catching up with deadline for August ALYoF. My goal was to finish this Ballerinas quilt and I made it!

You could see me hand quilting it. Machine quilting is fairly simple since the thick batting is PITA. Just a few straight lines across the quilt to keep the layers together.

Once again I used polar fleece for the back. As you can see I sewed the binding on prior trimming. It prevents the polar fleece edges from stretching and you end up with no puckers. Yay!

I wanted some pink binding but I didn't have enough so there were few other alternatives in game but my girl picked this green with pink dots. Honestly I just wanted to finish it so if it works for her, works for me too.

The binding is machine stitched. Do you also count the corners while sewing?

It is like one, we just began.
Two, you half way through.
Three, keep going and breath! At that point I'm getting really excited about being almost done.
Four, here we go! Almost there, few more stitches and DONE! Yippee!

That is obviously good news. The bad weather helped since it kept us inside but on the other hand I'm not able to take proper outdoor pics. So that's it for today. I'll talk more about the quilt within few days so stay tuned if you interested. It'll be my project for Craft Book Month.

Preschool cushion

Some time ago I got these cute fabrics from my friend. Decent scraps, mostly strips. When I saw them I knew they will become cushions one day.

As the preschool is starting Monday and the kids should bring their own little cushion it was just about time to make one. Well, I made one with butterflies and because it was pretty quick I made replacement cover as well.

This way my girl will always have cushion from her mommy, right.

The back is just pieced strips with hidden zipper. Remember how I told you I don't match hidden zippers? I only do that when the right one is not on hand, lol. 

Linking up with TGIFF and Crazy mom quilts.

10 quilty little secrets

I'm having fun reading all those posts. I can relate to many and I have put together some as well. Here you go:

1. I don't get the fuss about Liberty. Yeah, it is sooo soft.

2. I'm not keen on patterns with strange to me size like 3 15/16

3. There are quite a few patterns which you can buy but I seen them previously as free tuts. I'm talking about triangle quilts, half hexagons, HSTs variations. I don't get it.

4. I don't like quilting kits. Why would I make exact same thing like someone else?

5. I'm not good in measuring. I make things bigger since I round the numbers a lot.

6. I'm lazy quilter.

7. I don't feel guilty when not touching my machine for days.

8. I find pictures where people sew on vacation ridiculous. I took some sewing on vacation but I haven't even unpacked it.

9. Combination of blue and yellow is my least fav of all.

10. Squares bigger than charm square are boring but you already knew that, right :)

Around the World Blog hop

Last Monday I was tagged by Yvonne - Quilting Jetgirl so it's my turn of Around the World Blog hop. Check out her post to learn more about the hop and Yvonne.

I took the opportunity to introduce myself a bit especially to new followers but now I struggle with what to say. Why don't you just see my About page and my intro for New Blogger blog hop.


1.What am I working on?

I'm trying to behave and I'm working on my FAL Q3 list. That is sneak peak of my super secret project which I'll share soon. I'll be probably working with those bright batiks until I use the very last bit.

2. How does my work differ from others?

You will hardly see latest fabric lines. I like to combine what I have on hand with what is available locally. I also like to twist patterns to make it my own. I keep things simple and I'm not driven towards trends. My style still evolves but I'm having a bit of rainbow phase.

3. Why do I create?

I think. I think a lot. I think about things I shouldn't be. Creating is one of the activities when my brain switches off. It switches into pleasant mode when I only concentrate on matching colors and when I dream about new projects.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I usually have way too many ideas. As deadline approaches I narrow them down. I try something out and adjust as I go. I don't plan or sketch too much as my ideas are changing a lot. I don't schedule my posts either. I just write whenever I have time or project to talk about. I also have to have the right mood. If I'm not feeling like doing something I just don't. You see, we are back to SIMPLE :)

As part of the blog hop I would like to introduce you to some lovely ladies. We need to keep the blog hop going!

I start with Janeen from Quilt Art Designs. She is paper piecing maniac. She made so many fab patterns and you should check her out. She also recently started new Friday linky party for Paper Piecing. Her post will be up next week.

I was asked by Nesta if I wanted to participate. Her post is also up this Monday so you don't have to wait whole week to read more about her @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room. She makes all kinds of cute things and she is located in Italy.

I would also like to mention Nurdan @ Hug-a-Bit Quilts She is being tagged by someone else (hello Jo!) but she is just starting new Monday linky called Monday Makers. You might want to check it out and join in as well.

Q3 - orange peels finished

When Jess wrote that the link up for Orange peels QAL will be opened tomorrow, I knew I had to finish my cushion.

It is also on my FAL Q3 list which means another tick off. I'm at 4/12.

The background grey appears a lot lighter on pics and I don't know why. It is couch cushion that is why it is wider (20.5x13.5"). I actually put in one of those that came with the couch. Yes we used those but these days are over, lol.

The back is simple. There is just hidden zipper. I love this type of zipper because you can use any color. Secret revealed! I don't match hidden zippers like I usually do with exposed one.

I was thinking about binding the cushion. I even prepared double fold binding in grey but I decided on this simple look and I like it. It is not the first time I used this fabric/color combo. Do you remember my Divided basket?

Oh yes. My current fav combo.
What am I up to next? Another cushion. The front panel is ready to be quilted. More about this one once is done.

Linking up with TGIFF, Crazy mom quilts ...

  

Q3 - pouches + Le Challenge

It is time for Le Challenge! Yesterday I pull out those selvedges again. The theme is era. Those selvedges represents sewing era. Not mine since I got them from a friend :) If I messed up the theme, just blame it on language issue, lol. I'll play dummy and call it misunderstanding.

**update: Le Challenge is taking vacation so the link up for ERA theme will be on Sept 15 if anyone would like to join. I don't even have to play dummy, lol.

It is modified version of Open Wide Zippered pouch. The exterior is made out of one piece so there is no seam at the bottom.

Since I wanted to tick something of my FAL Q3 list as well I finished two more pouches.

You can see the exterior is in one piece as well. One is quilted with orange peels and the brown one is just simple straight lines.

This is my current fav pattern for pouches. This simple patchwork style is also great for scraps. There are 84 pcs of 2.5" squares.

It would be perfect for QAYG technique or FMQ practice panels. There are many options.

Linking up with Crazy mom quilts and TGIFF! ...

   

WiP - hand quilting

There is not much sewing happening at my place. I'm in hand quilting mode.

It was raining in the afternoon so I hand quilted while watching .... have a guess! Yeah, Barbie!

I read many times how people hand quilt in the car. I wanted to try it out. We were only going to my parents' house. There is nothing like highway so there were some turnings and I don't think is worth it since it is only 15 minutes away, lol. Ridiculous is the word to describe my car sewing experience.

I had all the houses quilted around and it was time for pinwheels. I marked circles around and managed to quilt around all of them. I left the quilt on couch to have it cat approved.

I only hand quilted the top and batting together. Now it is time to add polar fleece for backing and move on to sewing machine.

On a way home I snapped this perfect spot for picture taking. I'm afraid these will be gone by the time I finish this quilt.

Linking up with

 

WiP + Purge

I like to do a bit of hand quilting here and there. There is no rush for the Orange peel QAL project but I felt like working on it. I finished the quilting today and I love it.

I haven't ironed the marking off yet. It is cushion cover to become.

I also like the orange peel quilting on squares. I used it on quilt called Ooh la la which I made last year. It makes the square look more acceptable, lol.

You can see the quilting better on back side. These squares also started the idea of cutting all scraps into squares and make Purge quilt.

You can see what the usual scrap drawer look like and one with already cut squares. I precut bigger scraps into 7.5cm square size and some into 7cm strips. We'll see with how many I end up. As you can see I still have some work to do.

Linking up to