Working on my good intentions

In the past I have written about blogging more often and I had such good intentions this year of doing just that but as with all my good intentions they seem to elude me.  So, here we are almost half way through the year and I have nothing really to show for it.  Can someone please tell me where this year has gone.  :-)  I seem to have been suffering a loss of mojo for a while now however, I have made a few things this year but haven't blogged about them and I thought I would tell you about my most recent make.

When my daughter informed us that she was expecting her first baby she asked me to make her not one but two quilts.  Now quilting is something I did in a past life and haven't done in quite some time.   Anyhoo, I agreed.  The conversation went something like this; I want pale yellow, pale pink, pale blue, pale green, pale purple and pale orange - read a pallet of those baby pastel colours used years ago when I was having children.  I want triangles.  Do you want any borders?  No! maybe just a little one.  Do you have any particular pattern in mind?  No just triangles.  OK.

Now, thats pretty restricting but at the same time quite liberal and very vague.  Bearing in mind that she has never taken much interest in my quilts and doesn't sew herself I could tell she obviously had something in mind.  This could definitely turn out to be somewhat of a hit and miss situation.

Deciding on a design and shopping for fabric proved to be a difficult task.  I mean, really, what shape triangle do I use; somehow I feel half square triangles are what she has in mind.  And how do I get all those colours to work together.  Have you any idea how hard it is these days to find the colours requested?  Well, let me tell you - it's hard!  Let's just say I think I know every patchwork shop within a one hour radius from here. :-)  Suffice to say, I finally had enough fabrics to make this work.

Sorry but morning sun is very harsh and does nothing for the pretty colours I used

I quilted it diagonally in the ditch and then cross hatched.  I also found a really cute gender neutral Winnie the Pooh fabric for the backing which worked well for a baby.  For the binding I used two fabrics at random lengths joined diagonally.  I'm really happy with the end result.

When I gave the quilt to my daughter I asked "Is this what you wanted?"  Her answer "Yes, exactly!"
I was so pleased to be able to achieve what she had in mind having so little information to work with.  Definitely a hit!

Hopefully I will catch up and post about some of the other things I have actually made this year soon.  Good intentions and all that, you know!

On a final note let me introduce you to my new little grandson, Lincoln.

Mum and baby (21 hours old)

Till next time...

Brown paper bag quilt...

For the next installment of quilts I decided on this one. Windblown Leaves.  I know this is a sewing blog not a quilting blog and I promise I will show you what I've been working on soon but in the meantime...

Windblown Leaves

This quilt was made in an extended class my friend D talked me into attending with her several years ago.  I can't remember now, but it was something like about 12 hours for this class.  Lunchtime till midnight.   Aaaand, I just might add, that is way too long - we were delirious by the end,  so tired we had no clue what we were doing.  Still, it was fun!

As this was a brown paper bag (read - mystery) quilt there was no class description so we had no idea what this quilt would look like until we had finished it.  We were required to bring along one dark fabric, one light fabric and a contrast fabric.  As you can see (you can see can't you - it's not a very good photo) I chose a very dark chocolate brown -yeah I know; it looks black but take my word for it it is brown, a white and teal blue for the contrast.  We were instructed to cut each of the fabrics into strips then stitch certain lengths and colours together.  The design eventually became obvious as we progressed through the steps.  The final step was to add the contrast border then the larger border.  I decided to use up my scraps and add in another two small borders.  Finally, I had it machine quilted by my friend D of Addicted to Quilts and it now hangs on the wall of my sewing room.

It was amazing to see how different each quilt made in the class looked depending on everyone's fabric choices.  This was a simple quilt and a lot of fun to make as it kept us guessing what the end result would look like.

Have you ever made anything that was a mystery right to the end?  Experienced the thrill of not knowing the outcome and the satisfaction of achievement when you reached the end...

You should try it - I have!

Memories

When I first started this blog it was my intention to post regularly about the garments and things I've made for myself, in my mind that was to be at least once a week becoming more frequent as I got into the habit of finding things to blog about.  Now, let me tell you this has not been the case.  I have been very slack lazy remiss and I need to remedy this RIGHT NOW!   So...to get back on track with blog posts, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and occasionally show you some things I've made from years ago.

In a past life I was a quilter (that was in the time before I came back to sewing clothes - a couple of years ago) and I thought,  that perhaps you might like to see a few of the quilts I've made.

Today I will show you one of my favourite quilts.  I had bought some flannel charm squares, as you do, don't you, or is that just me?  I can't be the only one who buys fabric just because... can I?  Surely not.   Anyhoo, I decided to make a very simple quilt with them.  I randomly joined the squares, added a small and a large border, then I quilted a crosshatch pattern on the squares and several straight rows around the large border.  Its so cozy and warm - it's very comforting to snuggle up under in Winter.  I just love the rich colours of the fabrics which seem to give it extra warmth.  It's well used and loved but, sadly, starting to look a bit faded but then, I guess, that just makes me love it all the more.