Shirt quilt challenge

There's nothing like a good shirt challenge to pull me out of my unofficial blog break...farm, family and all the rest has kept my head down and tail up for the last little while - oh and a couple of quilts that needed finishing ... but more about those in another post :-) {Apologies to those of you I haven't visited lately, I have some catch up reading to do.}

Last year Tracee of Farmgate Creations invited us to join her (in a cyberly way) in the shirt quilt challenge her quilt group was doing. Her group shared a bunch of shirts so they all had the same fabric but us on-line challengees were able to do it our own way.
It took me a while to decide what to do. One day though the penny dropped - I had a stack of Dad's old farm shirts in my wardrobe and we had our first grandbabies on the way.

Aha!!!

Out came Dad's shirts, and a couple of hubby's old shirts as well.
Yes, Dad's were well worn, collars turned and mended
and cuffs frayed but I couldn't bear to get rid of them!

These shirts made their first appearance on my blog way back in early 2014 when I used them on my Pop Monkeys. (More about them *here*).

Unpicking released some interesting debris... goodness knows how long this
hay has been hiding in the pocket!

I decided a heart block would be perfect for a baby quilt.

I had quite a challenge working around all the worn pieces and the warped plaids after years of wear and washing. I really couldn't get it any bigger as I was running out of decent fabric!

Completion :-)

Simple piecing, flannel on the back and simple quilting.

And simple binding too; all machine sewn, the first time I've done it this way.

My idea with this wee quilt is that it will do the rounds of what would have been Dad's great grandchildren, as each one arrives it will move house.
The first babies have christened it, these photos were taken in September when I visited. The girls have grown a bit since then.

Thank you to Tracee for inspiring me to make this quilt. Tracee has photos on her blog from her quilt group's challenge and also a link up for the blogger challengees. They are over several posts so just scroll through to see them all - it's neat to see what others have done.

Thank you for visiting, 

till next time,

♥

Cushion Challenge

Tonight I'm linking up with quiltshopgal to join in with this month's fmq challenge.
An expert each month shares a tutorial or similar and we need to complete a cushion/pillow showcasing what we have learnt.

This month' s tutor was Patsy Thompson and there were several different options for the cushion - I chose to make mine using techniques from her Craftsy class, Ultimate Free-Motion Quilting' which I already had in my library (keep an eye out for the Craftsy specials!).  A fun, inspiring class where Patsy shares techniques for hyperquilting, feathers, trapunto and more. Very visual techniques that really show off your quilting........
Ahem... a challenge right from the start for me who likes to quilt in fine matching thread so that those 'not quite up to scratch' stitches remained relatively hidden! Uh-oh!

I decided I wanted to applique something on the cushion, rather than do it whole cloth style. This helped give a starting point for the quilting, I don't think I would have known where to start otherwise. I drew up the sloping teardrop design in EQ7, appliqued it then started panicking!!
I used another piece of the main fabric as a practise sandwich, experimenting with the threads I'd collected which I had thought might be suitable... in the end I really only used 2 of them, in the photo below you can barely see my first thread - I thought a green on the beige would show up more but it didn't.

The hyperquilting involves stitching out a design, then going back with another
colour and adding more detail... then more detail, etc.
This piece has 3 passes, green, light pink, dark pink.

I'm pleased I had the play on this piece as it helped me decide what to do on the main piece.

The flower in the centre is trapuntoed with two layers of batting - the first was
too flat - now it sticks out a mile!
Only ended up using 2 coloured threads but I enjoyed the playing.

This is how I finished the border. Just straight lines and something a little fancy
in the corners.

And this is the finished cushion.
I used 60/40 wool/poly mix batting which really does give a nice puff.

I used the practise piece as the backing. Leeanne shared the idea with me recently and I love how it snazzes up the back, and you only need a bit of binding on the edges.

My practise piece was large so I had a big overlap...may - or may not- come
back to it with a button or two.

I've just realised this is my fourth year of sewcalgal (now quiltshopgal) challenges!! I love them, they always stretch me.
Visit the blog *here* to see what amazing creations others came up with. (You need to scroll down a little bit to get to the mr linky section.). There will be another challenge next month, feel free to join in as anyone can take part.

♥

And while I am here in blogland, I thought I'd quickly share this stitchery I completed last night. It was sitting in a basket of traced stitcheries and at the moment I'm not sure where it is from... I have a suspicion it's from one of Gail Pan's Christmas books. I'll find out for next time I post it, when I've added the borders!

See you next time, happy creating, and thanks for visiting, 

...and Happy Easter!...

Red and White Challenges

You may recall that SewCalGal is inspiring us with a year of Red and White challenges. As you (could) know I am a sucker for challenges, especially ones that stretch me out of my comfort zone, so I here I am, taking part :-)
A bloghop and phase one have been and gone but the links are still up if you want to spend some time visiting and viewing some gorgeous Red and White quilts. Visit the bloghop and phase one here.
Now we are into Phase Two. For this we design a quilt!
Yes, that's all!!!
I have used EQ7 for mine but computer software is not necessary.
Anyway, here is what I have come up with......
During the EQ7 bloghop, I took a simple block and played with it, seeing what happened; my Bears Paw became this 'serendipity enhanced kaleidoscope' block.

I really loved this new block and decided I would like to use it as the basis of my quilt design. Examining the block, I am sure the best way to sew it would be by foundation paper piecing. Even that would not be a 5 minute job but I think it would be so worth it! One setting I tried used 4 of these and looked really neat with its secondary patterns emerging, but it would take forever to sew so I ditched it!
Because of the nature of this block I decided it was best suited used as a bigger block; the settings below use it from 12" to 24".

Quilt One -This version has a simple border which I think frames the
main block nicely.
(22" finished, EQ7 estimates I would need 1/2 yd white and 5/8 yd of red).

Quilt Two - In order to make the quilt a little bigger, this version has a
simple chain block to frame it, and an outer border.
The Bears Paw in the border acknowledge the block's beginnings.
(52" finished, estimates 1 1/4yds white and 2 1/2 yds red).

Quilt Three - Here I got even more complex. I really do like the way
the chain blocks frame and mimic the shape of the centre block.
(60" finished,  estimates 1 3/4 yds white and 3 3/4 yds red). 

Quilt Four - This is the same quilt with the addition of the narrow borders,
which I guess could also be red.
(63" finished,  estimates 2 1/8 yds white and 3 3/4 yds red). 

Quilt Five - Inspired by the previous attempts I also came up with this version.
Less complex to sew. I decided the Crown and Cross blocks in the
outer border suited the centre block better than the Bears Paw.
(28" finished, estimates 1/2 yd white, 7/8 yd red
48" finished, estimates 1 7/8" yd white, 7/8 yd red)

Something I do a lot when I am playing around like this is to do print previews to check the cutting requirements to see if a block, size, design is feasible. All of the above 'worked', but of course differ in their complexity. They are all different sizes too, it really was a case of having to do the maths to get everything to fit right.

These designs all passed my 'go out of the room and view it' test. If they didn't look good from 6 metres away, they didn't last.

SewCalGal is amazing at getting great sponsers for her challenges. Island Batik is a sponsor of this particular challenge. They will select their favourite design and the winner will receive fabrics from them to make up the design! (To be eligible for entry to this, I needed to state the estimated yardages of my design/s.) 

If you go *here* and scroll down, you will see the link-up to see what other 'designers' have come up with. I am enjoying reading the stories that go with every-one's designs.

This challenge ends on March 23rd so if you are interested in taking part, it's not too late. The next phase of the year of Red and White Challenges is the 'make it' stage so I would love to know which design you like best - and your thoughts on them all too  :-)

Thank you for reading along,
Happy creating,

Monkeys, Birds and a Hop!

There's been a bit of top secret activity in The Palace lately...
We were being invaded by critters but now that they have been re-homed I can share about them :-)

They started off looking very odd — take Dad's old socks, sew and stuff —

Is there hope?

Add a muzzle made from one of his favourite woolen jacket's/zip up cardigan — 

Printing got a little difficult ....

Next came dressing, using Dad's old shirts, lined with fruity fabric leftover from the quilt I made him.

Dressed and ready for a photo shoot

You cant quite see but they are also wearing lapel badges, little souvenirs Dad collected in his travels. One even needed mending - you can see the patch on his head!

Some fought a little when it was time to be bagged.

This guy tried to escape (several times).

 We've just had a family weekend at Mum's, marking (nearly) one year since Dad's passing with a headstone unveiling and scattering of ashes. It was special to be able to give each of the grandkids a "Pop Monkey". Even though they are all mostly in their 20s I think they really appreciated them and I hope they will treasure their little piece of their 'Pop'.

Off to his new home.

[FYI the tutorials I used for my Sock monkeys can be found here and here. The first one was very detailed but had too many pages to scroll through once I got the hang of what I was doing!]
FOOTNOTE - I meant to give Mum the credit for the great stuffing job she did while she was up over Christmas. Thanks, Mum :-)

~~~~~~~

We also had a sprinkling of Christmas over the weekend as my brother and sister were both here from overseas.

This is a belated present for my sister.

Table topper using hexie-flowers from NZ fabrics.
Something to remind them of home.
(Should have taken a full photo sorry, it's roughly the size of a
 FatQuarter)

Had fun of course with some quilting!

~~~~~~

This week SewCalGal launches 'A Year of Red and White Challenges', which is something I am excited to join up for. Click here to find out more about it.
She starts the series of challenges with a Bloghop to, hopefully, get the inspiration juices flowing. The hop is based around using EQ7 to have fun creating red and white quilt designs. I am sure that even if you don't have Electric Quilt software and are interested in the challenge, you will find them interesting.
Here is the schedule for the Bloghop —

 Monday, January 27th

- SewCalGal 

- Behind the Mouse, the Electric Quilt Blog

Tuesday, January 28th

- Kissed Quilts

Wednesday, January 29th

- Freemotion Quilting By The River 

Thursday, January 30th

- Beaquilter

Friday, January 31st

- Love to Stitch

(that's me!)

As always, SewCalGal has got sponsors and prizes for this year's series of challenges - always a good encouragement to take part :-) And a great way to stretch yourself and learn/try something new!
Until then,
Happy Stitching everyone,
Have a great day,

Bordering on Madness

aka  2013 FMQ Challenge #5
*Madness* because I have had several months to do this challenge but I left it to the last minute (always too many deadlines and things to sew-start-finish-dream about)
*Madness* because a tiny centre with many borders GROWS rather larger than you imagine
*Madness* resulting in the invention of a new mantra - say to self before doing ANYTHING - Think twice Sew once (actually it wasn't too bad but there was the occasional reverse sew at the corners)
*Madness* because it was a lot of fun
*Madness* because the moment I rinsed this out to remove the markings with the intention of hanging it in the 'gentle' breeze it started raining (yes, it was forecast and had been threatening all day)

It's all about Borders is the last challenge for me in the SewCalGal 2013 FMQ Challenge.
(These photos are all of a 'slightly damp' top - I guess it helps to show the stitching!!).

Design and make a quilt with 8-10 borders, all of them to be different. At least two of them need to be designs shared by Patsy Thompson in last year's border challenge. 
A few posts back I shared an EQ7 layout diagram of the quilt I was making for this challenge. I decided to make mine whole cloth style so I drew in all the borders before I got started.
I went back and studied the tutorial from last year. Patsy had used worms, spirals, loopy things and feathers. I saw/remembered how she had varied the motif size and style of each border so it contrasted with its neighbours.
I used these ideas and designs as a basis for my quilt.

In case you think you only see 7 borders, the first one is the Half Square
Triangles and worms around the central block.

My border widths went from 1'' through to 2" and the final border was 4". I inserted ½" 'empty' borders in between every second border. Of course these also increased the total size of the quilt so the last few borders seemed to take forever to get around!! The final size (at this stage) is 36" x 38". I may finish it off with some echo-ing around the outer feathers and then...??!

I also used this as an opportunity to try out some of Lori's tutorials; if you haven't visited her blog, you must, she has great quilting inspiration.
Here is the resulting top  —

The photos don't look very exciting sorry, I used a beige fabric which of course looks very washed out in the photos. But you get the idea at least.
So a final thankyou to SewCalGal for coming up with more fmq challenges for us this year. I have enjoyed extending my skills and using them in different ways.
Thank you for your visits and comments on my last few posts. My apologies to those of you who I haven't replied to or visited. I've been pretty focussed on getting this challenge completed. Normal transmission should return soon!
In the meantime,
Happy stitching,

Free Motion Mail

aka 2013 FMQ Challenge #4
Another of the opportunities offered by SewCalGal for this year's challenge was the Postcard Swap. I did not join the swap that she mentioned but have been taking part in the swaps run by Sheila, as well as doing a couple of private swaps. Regular readers will have seen the postcards dotted around my posts over the last few months, so I have kept the photos to a minimum.

These shots show proof that I fmq-ed my cards :-)
A nice little challenge deciding what to do and how to do it.

My two yellow cards. The top one has quite a few pebbles
in the background, the bottom was echoed.

The red cards. Again, echo-ing and swirley backgrounds
completed each card.

I had a lot of fun doing these cards and have joined up for another, Christmas, swap. It took me a while to work out how to make them but ended up by backing my front fabric with a soft, slightly padded iron-on stabiliser. I then did all my free-motion stuff. I found that using my embroidery hoop (top picture) at times was really helpful. Using Quilters' Muslin for the back, I then ironed on layers of interfacing, giggly cloth and visofix until I was happy with the firmness (using up scraps from days gone by!). Satin stitching around the edge finished them off. Here I found the heavier quilting threads were better to use. For the one that I used a standard sewing thread I went around twice to get the finish I was happy with.
My nephew, on the other hand, used cardboard and glue in the middle of his postcards. We needed to develop a method that he could use at home, away from a stash of years of sewing's leftovers! A couple of his were 'scenic' (note the cows in the paddock in the photo below, complete with rays of sunshine and fences!) the others were 'appliqued'.

His parents, Nana and sister were all going to be unindated with cards. Thank you to Sheila and JoAnne who also agreed to swap cards with him :-)
Thank you for visiting, happy stitching, have a lovely day,