Quilts made in 2013

Doing a little bit of house keeping on my blog today and thought it would be fun to show a post of all the quilts I have made this year.

 

If you want to see more pictures of a particular quilt, then just click on the photo and hopefully it will take you to the post.

26 Inch Swoon Cushion

The last time I went on a trip to Minneapolis not only did I go to my favourite fabric store but I also went to IKEA, I had a plan in mind and dragged along hubby to be my helper!  I wanted some cushion inserts and knew that they were pretty cheap at IKEA.  Well I hit a jackpot they  also had duck feathered cushions.  I bought 6 of the 20 inch cushions and also bought a 26 inch cushion too.  I had plans to make the 26 inch cushion into a swoon pillow for my bed.  After using up some of the half square triangles the other day I was on a roll with making cushions so decided to make a Swoon Cushion and here it is

This time I fussy cut the centre square of the star using the same fabric I used for the border on my quilt and then incorporated the binding fabric into the star and used up a fat quarter I had left over from originally making my swoon quilt.  I think from now on when I buy fat quarters to make a quilt I will buy a few extra just in case I want to make cushions or I mess up cutting.



This cushion is just perfect for relaxing in bed and reading a good book. I am currently reading 40 Love by Sophie Kinsella, a completely easy read that requires no effort the sort of book that you read just before bed. What are you reading at the moment, have you a favourite book you can recommend.

Swoon–Cut, Pieced, Quilted, Binding

So I finished the piecing of my swoon quilt back in February and there it has sat since.  I had plans for this quilt, plans to make it into a King sized quilt, well a couple of weeks ago I went on a little trip to Minneapolis again! You know! the fabric shop, where I am in fabric heaven, you can read about that here. (I have been a few times since that trip, it’s a little addictive)

I bought some fabric to make a border and also bought fabric for the backing.  I eventually got the borders sewn on and it was delivered to my LAQ last Tuesday, we discussed pantographs, thread etc. and I got it back on Friday!

Yes you read that right, my LAQ is fantastic, she has such a great turn around, and is great to work with, and if you are looking for a LAQ then I would certainly recommend her, you can find more information here !!!!  and see examples of her work on her facebook page here

In the meantime I made my binding in anticipation for getting it back.

I picked it up on Friday morning and on Friday afternoon I sewed the binding onto the front by machine.  On Saturday I went all over town looking for the perfect tools to hand sew my binding onto the back. See the gorgeous quilting the pantograph is called Sparkle!

LETS TALK THIMBLES

I had a regular thimble already but I have never really got on with it, not only that it makes your finger SMELLLLLLLLLLLL!  So this is what I bought

Thimble It – Complete and utter waste of money, they are so slippy that you might as well put some packing tape on your finger, they are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard and I certainly do not recommend themNext up leather thimble, I found this to be restrictive and clumsy and I have heard good reviews, but personally I just could not get on with it,

So I persevered with! wait for it

BANDAIDS

and the occasional use of my metal thimble,

The thing you need to remember is I was sewing binding onto a KING sized quilt!  I anticipated my fingers getting sore and wanted to avoid it, but what do you expect when you have that amount of binding to sew! It’s a labour of love!
I started it on Saturday morning and had the occasional break to eat! and finished at 9.00pm Saturday evening.

sOn saturday evening I slept under this beauty, (sleeping under the stars) WOW did I sleep well.

Thread used: Signature Cotton in Pearl
Batting Legacy 80/20
Pantograph: Sparkle
Quilted by Sue Tuma

I am Swooning

This post is going to be photo heavy!  I am so excited to finally finish the piecing of my swoon quilt.  I have yet to add a couple of borders to it, but I thought I would share it with you anyway. .

I had my very helpful assistant (UKdad) hang the quilt from the deck, there is no way I would have had the arm span to show this to you.

This is one big quilt! at the moment it measures 90”x90”, and I hope to make it even bigger, I just need to decide how, then it will be off to the quilter, hopefully that will be sooner htan later.re it with you.

Swooning and Sneak peak!

Life has been a little busy here recently, which is why the lack of blog posts.
But I have been sewing when I have had the time.
I have also been working on an upcoming project with one of my blogger friends Fiona who blogs over at Celtic Thistle. this is something that I hope to share with you all very soon, so keep checking up on me so you don’t miss out!  Here is a little sneak peak!!

I have also been swooning again! In fact I swooned 3 times yesterday! and completed the last 3 blocks of my Swoon Quilt.
So here are a few more blocks that I have made since the last time I blogged.

Now all I need to do is attach the sashing and borders. I want to actually use this quilt on my bed, the only problem being is our bed is a California king, so I need to figure out the best way to make it big enough. I think I will add a couple of borders, maybe one plain and one patterned, this is going to be one very large quilt.

Still Swooning

I am on a roll, here is the next block!

So I have seen yet another quilt pattern that I would love to make, in fact there are  two but they are both more or less the same so I need your help, have you ever used any patterns made by either of these people and which would you recommend.  In truth all quilt patterns are not written the same, some are wordy, some have great instructions, some don’t.  So I am not too sure which one to buy. So if you can give me a point in the right direction I would really appreciate it.
The patterns I am looking at are
Spin Cycle by Cluck Cluck Sew and The Labyrinth Quilt by Red Pepper Quilts