I-spy quilt

Just a quick post to link up with the Elm Street Quilts December One Monthly Goal and share my most recent quilty finish. My goal for November  was to make an I-spy economy block quilt for the babies room at the childcare centre that my two youngest have attended this year. I manged to finish it up the day before the end of year celebration.

For this quilt I made 6" economy blocks using a foundation paper pieced template. The centers of the blocks are different fussy cut animal prints, many of which were donated by my quilts friends. The outer prints are bright blenders and low volume prints from my stash.

I finished the quilt using a double layer of batting and a heavy linen for the backing. I thought that the extra weight would help the playmat lie nice and plat on the floor and the double batting would make it softer for the babies to lie on.

I'm still working on one for my kiddos, but I plan to take my time with it and perhaps finish it for their birthday in May (or more likely, next Christmas).

I'm also linking up with the 2018 quarter 4 finish-along, as this quilt was on my list of proposed finishes for this quarter.

Kat

December One Monthly Goal

It's time to set my last One Monthly Goal for the year. As I am sure is the case for many crafters and makers, my goal this month is to complete some handmade gifts.

For my Elm Street Quilts December One Monthly Goal, I'm hoping to finish an economy block quilt for the babies room at the childcare centre that my two youngest have attended. The staff there have done a wonderful job looking after my babies this year after I returned to work and I thought it would be a nice way to thank them.

I've already made about 50 blocks, but have another 50 to go. I'm using fussy cut animal prints and  blenders to make bright blocks that I hope the children who attend the centre will enjoy. Here are a few of my favourite blocks so far.

I'm already thinking that I am going to need to make a second quilt for home. Perhaps that will be my January goal.

Kat

Glisten quilt top

Another month has flown by in the blink of an eye. It's hard to believe that we are already up to the last day of November.

This morning I got up super early so I could achieve my One Monthly Goal for November, which was to finish my Glisten quilt top. I managed to get it done a few moments before I needed to rush off to work (which is why it hasn't been pressed).

Hopefully I'll be able to finish it off in the next few days to allow more time for some festive projects.

I'm linking up Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - November Finish Link-up.

Kat

November One Monthly Goal

Just a quick post to link up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal  and share my goal for November.

This month, I hope to finish my Glisten quilt top. It's one of my oldest quilting WIPs and currently the one taking up the most amount of storage space. I started it about 3 years ago during a quilt-along (the Glisten-along) and it has been collecting dust in these serving trays ever since.

I've definitely fallen out of love with this project, but I know it will be so good to finally finish it up.

Kat

A birthday quilt for Rupert

My little man turned 6 last weekend. As has been the tradition for the past few years, I spent the eve of his birthday finishing a handmade gift while my husband baked the cake (we are total last minute crafters).

 

Rupert is a big fan of all things space at the moment, so this year I made him a small version of the Milky Way sampler. I used prints from the Cloud 9 We Are All Stars collection for the front and a cool solar system print for the back.

We play to hang it on the wall in his bedroom above the bookshelf where he keeps his telescope and space books.

I'm linking up with the Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal finishes and the 2018 Quarter 4 finish-along, as this project was my goal for October and on my proposed list of finishes for this quarter.

Kat

2018 finish-along: Quarter 4 proposed finishes

I can't believe we're in quarter 4 already! 2018 has gone by at lightning speed.

At the start of the year my WIP list was over 50 projects long so I set myself a goal of only working on my WIPs (no new projects) in order to try and get that number down to less than 10. While I've been good on the 'no new projects' front, I haven't been able to keep up with my target of 14 finishes per quarter and still have over 30 projects on my list.

So this quarter I am going to try and blitz my WIPs to see if I can at least get my WIP list to under 25 (half it's original size). I've picked 21 of my closest to completion projects, including a selection of Christmassy ones. I've deliberately left out all of my hand-piecing and longer term projects (such as a big selvage quilt).

Here are my first 13 'regular' quilty projects in the works:

And here are the Christmassy projects:

All the details are in my embarrassingly-long WIP spreadsheet. Here's an extract describing each of the pics in the collages.

Here's hoping for a new personal best in productivity!

Kat

October One Monthy Goal

Just a quick post today to link with with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal October Linkup.

My goal this month is to finish the Milky Way sampler quilt I started last year. I've got half the blocks already made so I just need to make 6 more and finish the quilt. I think it would make a nice birthday gift for a space-loving boy who is turning 6 later this month. Luckily his birthday is not till later in the month.

Kat

Scrappy trip around the world quilt

I finally managed to get some better pictures of the trip around the world quilt I finished in July.
I started this one as part of a quilt-along last year (the #summertripwithme2017) and finished it as part of a similar quilt-along held this year (the #scrappytrip2018).

For my version I made slightly larger blocks, using 8 strips to make 16" finished blocks. I found making bigger blocks was a more efficient use of the strips (almost no wastage), and faster overall, because I didn't need to make so many blocks.

I finished it with a simple diagonal crosshatch in a soft pink thread using my walking foot and hand-sewed the binding. It's already been put into use several times as a backyard picnic rug for my little ones. You can find a few more photos on my original post.

I'm linking up with the third quarter finishes party for the 2018 Finish-along, as this quilt was on my list of proposed finishes for this quarter.

Kat

Homeward Bound quilt

Today I'm linking up with the quarter 3 finishes linky party for the third quarter of the 2018 Finish-along and sharing my biggest finish for this quarter: my homeward bound quilt made using prints from the Botanique collection by Joel Dewberry.

I started this quilt several years ago when testing the pattern for Keera, but stopped about half-way when I realised that there was no way that I was going to be able to finish a 96" quilt on my tiny domestic machine. However, I'd been wanting to make a quilt for my sister and brother-in-law, and they have a super king sized bed, so I added this WIP to my list of proposed finishes for this quarter.

I've been sewing away in secret (my sister follows me on instagram, but hopefully doesn't read my blog :)) and finally finished it last week. I've now got a slightly bigger sewing machine and managed to FMQ it myself.

I can't wait to surprise them with it when they come to visit next month. Hopefully I'll be able to get some better pictures too (they are experienced quilt holders :)).

Kat

Numbers baby quilt

Last week my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Jackson. Before his arrival, my eldest son and I worked hard to make him a couple of baby quilts. One of the quilts we finished was a number quilt, made using the Spell it with Fabric pattern (from the Moda website) and some leftover jelly roll strips from a cute kid's collection.

I started this project a while ago, intending it to be a matching wall hanging to the alphabet quilt I made my son for his birthday a few years ago. However, I thought it would be much better used as a baby quilt (and also a quicker finish than starting a new project), so I added it to my list of proposed finishes for quarter 3 of the 2018 finish-along.

Rupert insisted that we make the numbers 1 through to 10, so I had to play around with different sashing widths to end up with a square quilt.

I used a print from an older Cloud 9 fabrics for the backing (I was pretty pleased with how well the colours matched) an quilted it a free-motion loopy design.

As with the other quilt for Jackson, we also made a matching mini for big sister's dolly.

My attempts at getting my boys to hold the quilts for a photo were a complete disaster, but a lot of fun.

We managed to the quilts washed, dried, bundled up, and in the post a few days before he was born.

I can't wait to be spammed with photos of Jackson on his quilts.

Kat

Fabric storage trays

I finally got around to finishing up a project that has been on my 'to-do' list for a long time; some fabric trays for store my smaller pieces of fabric (fat eighths etc.)

I'd been on the hunt for a while for pre-made trays that would fit nicely on the shelves where I store my fabric. When I wasn't able to find anything suitable, I decided to make my own, using a great tutorial for making custom-sized sturdy fabric baskets by Lillyella Stitchery. I made a prototype in late 2017, but then the project sat on the backburner for a long time.

Over the past month or so I've been making some QAYG panels for the remaining trays and finally finished them up over the weekend. I'm too embarrassed to admit exactly how badly I fluffed these up. Let's just say that I wasn't supposed to quilt my fabric directly onto the interfacing. But it was a good exercise in creative problem solving and another reminder why it's not a good idea to start a project and then leave it a year before picking it back up again.

They are a bit dodgy in places, but I'm a big believer in 'finished is better than perfect' and think they don't look too bad sitting on the shelf (there's raw edges hiding underneath).

They also do the job they were designed for, which is organise my bits of fabric so I can easily pull out a colour when I'm hunting for prints for a bee block etc.

I'm linking up with the Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal September link-up and the quarter 3 finishes linky party for the 2018 Finish-along, as this project was on my list of proposed finishes for this quarter was was my specific goal for September. Now I need to decide which of my long-term projects I'll tackle next month.

Kat

Blue and white baby quilt

My sister is expecting a baby in less than a week and I promised I'd make the baby a few quilts. In my usual fashion I left it way too late to begin (#lastminutecrafter), and so I'm been picking some current works in progress that could be quickly finished up. My sister suggested that navy would be a good colour (her husband is a Geelong supporter), so I pulled out my Sewcial Bee Sampler blocks from last year and have been busy turning them into a baby quilt.

I made a couple of extra blocks to balance out the layout (the blocks have different sized frames) and added some navy blue sashing and borders. Here it is expertly held up by my 5 year old, who is super excited about getting a new cousin.

I quilted it with a serpentine stitch using my walking foot and used a nice blue cross-hatch for the binding.

When I asked my sister if I could make anything for the baby's big sister, she suggested making a matching smaller quilt for her dolly. I chose my favourite block, added a navy blue frame and finished it exactly the same as the larger version.

I tried to get my younger son to hold up the mini quilt for me, but he wasn't having a bar of it.

He did test out the baby quilt for me though.

The quilts have now been through the wash and are currently drying outside. I'm hoping to get them in the post tonight. Luckily we have some good drying weather today.

I'm linking up with the quarter 3 finishes party of the 2018 Finish-along, as this project was one of my proposed finishes for this quarter.

Kat

September One Monthly Goal

The months are rolling by really quickly and it's already time to link up my Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal for September.

We moved house a couple of months ago but with three little ones and full-time jobs, unpacking is going really slowly. I'm setting up a new sewing space bit by bit and it's slowly starting to come together. I'm hoping to have it fully set up by the end of the month so my goal for September is to finish a project I've had on the go for ages; some fabric baskets to organise my smaller pieces of fabric.

I've made a prototype using my aqua scraps (using a modification of the sturdy fabric baskets by Lillyella), but still need to make another 14 or so. I've started making the patchwork panels for the next batch, and have been really enjoying the improv QAYG technique.

The next step will be a trip to Spotlight (the Aussie version of Jo-Ann's) for some more extra firm interfacing. I wonder how many other items I'll come out with :)

Kat

Wild Goose Chase quilt top

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - August Finish Link-up and sharing my progress on my Wild Goose Chase quilt. This month my goal was to get the quilt top pieced, which I managed to achieve today.

It was actually quite challenging to put the quilt top together because I was working with different sized blocks. About half of the blocks were sewn two and a half years ago, on a different machine, and by practically a different quilter. And before you think that it must be that my sewing has gotten better, my seam allowance is more accurate etc., it's actually the other way around. Early 2016 Kat was well rested and patient, took time to use pins and didn't hesitate to get out her seam ripper if the points were slightly off. Current Kat hasn't slept through the night in a very long time, doesn't even know where her seam ripper is, and even if she did, wouldn't use it unless she'd sewn a piece on upside down (which happens quite a bit). She's more of a 'finished is better than perfect' and 'close enough is good enough' kind of gal.

It's definitely not perfect, but it is a finished top and I'm happy with that. It's now off to the quilter for her to work her magic.

Kat

August One Monthly Goal

I seriously cannot believe how fast this year is flying by. August already!!!

Last month was a busy month with a big move, but now that we are somewhat settled into the new place, I am hoping that I can be more productive and get a few WIPs finished. This month my One Monthly Goal (hosted by Elm Street Quilts) is to finish piecing the top to my Wild Goose Chase quilt.

I unpacked my WIP boxes on Saturday night and was pleased to find that not only did I already have a lot of the background squares already cut, I had also written down exactly what fabric I was using for the background.

I've got 9 blocks already sewn up, so only another 23 to go!

I'm actually planning to get this one quilted by a longarmer, which I've never done before. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Kat

A not-so-scrappy trip around the world quilt

Just a quick post today to link up with the Elm Street Quilts July One Monthly Goal link-up and share my completed goal. I managed to finish my not-so-scrappy trip around the world quilt with a few hours to spare, thanks to some help from my cute little assistants (a.k.a children).

 

Unfortunately it was a bit too windy for an outdoor quilt photo shoot, so I'll aim to try again later in the week.

In the mean time, here's a look at the whole quilt top before it was quilted.

My fingers are crossed for some better quilt photography weather!

Kat

Quarter 3 finish-a-long goals

Just a quick post tonight (as we move house tomorrow!) to link up my proposed finishes for quarter 3 of the 2018 finish-a-long.

Here's the extract from my WIP spreadsheet (the pics start in the centre, then go clockwise starting from the top left.

Last quarter I only managed to finish four quilts, and all of them were small ones, so this quarter I a hoping to finish a few bigger projects. On the top of my list is m scrappy trip around the world quilt that I am working on at the moment.

As always, I'm listing quite a few to keep my options open - I really don't expect I'll finish a project a week :)

Kat