Emergency table runner

These past few days have been crazy hectic. Our house is on the market and the first open home is this weekend. A few weeks ago there was an incident involving a bottle of '30 Seconds Indoor Mould Remover', a kitten, and my French oak dining table. I thought I could polish out the offending blemish, but the finish was gone and there was bare wood showing.

What's a girl to do? I had a quick run to some nearby shops looking for a suitable table runner to cover up the problem. I could find nothing so ended up foolishly deciding to make one - how long could it take?

Inspired by the Coke-bottle coloured glass tiles in my kitchen, I made a runner in similar tones mixed with grey. The brick pattern also matches the tiles. I decided to buy some insul-bright for batting to make it heatproof.

I admit that this whole project was doomed from the start: I was rushed, I did straight-line quilting which I am surprisingly bad at, I overlooked things I should have redone... So, my stitching is crooked and the binding is wavy. I'm hoping if I toss it in the wash it will sort itself out, but I think that unlike my usual cotton batting that has some give, the insul-bright is giveless.

The runner was on the table in time for the photos for the ads and signs. I have yet to decide if I will keep it there for the open home. Sometimes projects just don't meet up to my standards and in hindsight I should have done something different - like hemmed a nice piece of linen as a runner - maybe there's still time...

Tea towel quilt top finished (maybe?)

I finally got my sewing machine back and set it up yesterday. I had cut out the equilateral triangles for the (maybe) last border over a week ago, so it was nice to get it sewn together. I love how the triangles look like pennants hanging off the pink skinny border.

I wasn't sure what to do with the corners, I was left with a 30-degree empty wedge. I debated removing the last triangle on each side and creating a 120-degree piece but decided that it would be too large a chunk of one fabric. So, I chose to put in pink wedges which were a little tricky because of the tight y-seam. Still, I managed well enough and am satisfied with them.

Now I need to decide if I am done or if I want to add a white border. I am imagining a white border quilted with owl silhouettes in pink-orange-teal veriegated thread. Crazy talk, I know. As a compromise, maybe a thinner white border and then the orange binding. I just feel like there's a lot of white in the center and none in the outer borders. I'm also wondering if I want it bigger. Currently it's 42x48 - I can't decide if it will be a wall hanging or a throw quilt. Any opinions?

Back from Craft & Quilt show in Christchurch

I spent the past few days in Christchurch attending the Craft & Quilt Show. We had our Juki machines and Swiftquilter frame on display. Poor hubby had to drive down with the 4x4 packed to the ceiling and I had the luxury of flying in and back out with only my carry-on bag.

The stand looked a lot like the one we had at the Auckland Festival of Quilts. Hubby did all the unpacking and setting up so I did not have the heart to ask him to move the quilts around so that my most recent creation had pride of place. Instead, my scrappy warm/cool diamonds were covering a trestle table in the corner with the PC and accessories on top of it.

I spent the three days doodling on my 'short-arm quilting machine' (my new name for the Swiftquilter setup). One can only do so much stippling before it gets very old. After a few questions about using a template, I thought I would create my own as an experiment.

I drafted a little bird and when I was happy with it, I did some paper folding and layering. I took the stack of paper to the sewing machine and without any thread I sewed around my sketch. When I unfolded it all, I had 4 birds in kissing pairs. I used a marker to trace each one following the perforations made by the machine needle. Not perfect by any standards, but I figured it would give me an example of how the templates can be created. (Sorry, they are upside down in the photo)

To use the template, I drive from the back of the machine and use the stylus to follow the template. My biggest problem is taking my eyes off of the stylus to take a peek at the stitching - this only leads to disaster!

I admit that I prefer to do everything freehand from the front of the machine, but acknowledge that there are times when a template like this is useful. I have even made a promise (to myself) that I will use this technique on my next quilt.

The end result was fine, although if this were a real quilt, and not a demo on the cheapest cotton fabric I could find, I would have tweaked my design a bit. I think that they came out much better after I filled in the background. Here you can see one set filled in with some swirls and the back of another surrounded by stippling.

Other than hours of demonstrations, I have done no sewing this week. The Monday Moderns had a sewing day on Saturday that I missed (bummer) and all the sewing machines including mine were packed up last Monday. I will hopefully see them again tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, I have cut out the next border for my tea towel challenge and am expecting the first round of the Cotton Robin round robin any day now. Check out the centre blocks here. I don't know which one I will get and it's all secret squirrel until they are all finished and sent back to their owners. Try to (secretly) guess which one is mine.

More owl progress and some lilies

I finished making the crosses to echo the owl feet in my tea towel. At first I was going to put them all side by side, but found that the secondary pattern that appeared when the orange/pink crosses touched each other diffused the 'crossiness' of the blocks. So I added a 1-inch border on each one to give those crosses some breathing room. I like the two rows that I made, but think that they are very dark compared to the half circles and the tea towel center. This means that I'll need to lighten up the final border to balance things out.

Right now, the quilt is 35 x 39. Although I planned a small wall hanging quilt, I'm starting think that the scale of the owl design needs big and bold around it. Maybe the next border will be 6 inches bringing the quilt up to 47 x 51 which is more lap-sized than wall hanging.

I definitely want to do some triangles - probably equilaterals to reference the little triangle beaks. I do have two problems:

• I probably don't have enough fabric for a big border.
• The math is a bit tricky at 35 and 39 - there's no common denominator except for 1. I might need another narrow border - maybe 1/2" to bring it to 36 x 40 which are both easily divisible by 4. But, what color?

Neither problem is insurmountable. Although this challenge is supposed to run until March, I am keen to get as much done now as I can.

I am also working on a piece that my mother started and has asked me to finish. It's done with iron on pieces that are appliqued and quilted in one go to make a wall hanging. I admit that it's giving me some grief - there are some spots with multiple layers of fabric that have been ironed on and they are thick and hard to sew through. I am using a brand new reinforced needle on my Juki TL-98 which can sew through anything. Even still, it's hard to maintain even stitches and maintain good tension...

As always, I have concluded that even if each individual stitch or line is not perfect, the overall look is good. Let's call it organic. I have the quilting finished and am trying to decide on the biniding. The only thing I have on hand is the fabric I used for the backing that matches the stamens. Although I could use it, it detracts from the design. I think I'd prefer a more subtle color.

Earlier this week I saw some really inspiring quilts at Monday Moderns. I am trying very hard to keep myself from starting anything new. I have quite a few small things on the go including a round robin center block that I should see in the next week or two.

From 13 February, I will be down in Christchurch as a vendor at the Craft and Quilt show. This show has not been to the south island since the earthquake, so I am hoping that there is a good turnout. Poor hubby will be driving down from Auckland - I will be flying down.

Owl tea towel progress

I have made a start on my tea towel challenge. My first task was to stabilize the tea towel since it is made of a looser weave linen than the usual quilting fabric. I decided to baste some light weight interfacing to it rather than use iron-on. I've had some bad luck with iron-on stuff lately.

My plan is to use shapes from the tea towel design, so I drafted a half circle block to go around the first orange border.

This morning I made a prototype of a cross block that will be a top and bottom border - this should square it up a bit more. This is a fiddly block that I drafted to match the shape of the owl feet. I have to cut it "old school" using a template because of the odd angles. These will take a while to cut, but they go together quickly like a crooked 9 patch.

I will probably make one more pieced border, no specific plan yet. The beaks are equilateral triangles and I might take my inspiration from them.

One of the parameters of this challenge is to do something that I've never done before. I guess everything I do is somewhat new since I rarely use patterns or do the same thing twice. But, that seems a little weak.

I have been pondering the ultimate "thing I never do" - hand quilt (EEEEK!). It seems appropriate for a little retro quilt like this. I am envisioning chunky stitches in bright colors...hmmm...

Tea towel challenge - fabric selection

I've decided on my tea towel - I had two to choose from, both vintage, and both ordered on Etsy. I just couldn't help choosing the cute and quirky owls; the Christmas one will have to wait for some other project.

I looked through my stash and I only had one fabric that matched, so I headed off to one of the local quilt shops on Friday to pick some more fabrics. Easier said than done, but I eventually found a selection that I am happy with.

I have no idea what I will do, but I think I will start with a narrow border of orange and I will finish with an orange binding. I am considering replicating an owl or two in applique - I already have 2 favorite owls (are they marching or dancing?).

I'm in the process of packing up my sewing stuff. I've allowed myself 3 plastic storage boxes for projects and 'essentials' like thread and rotary cutters. The rest will be put into storage for the next few months. I just can't decide which machine to keep set up and which to pack up.

Linking up to Sopie's blog - she is hosting the tea towel challenge.

Thoughts on the past year

Everyone in the quilty-blog-sphere is posting reviews of 2013 or is goal setting for 2014. I have done the same for the past two years but somehow don't feel like it this year. I think it's because I am distracted and am (not) looking forward to a move next year. I have two houses to sell and one that is barely habitable to move into and renovate.

This should be exciting, but I am hung up on all the chores and jobs that need to be done before I can sell this house. My usual long and lazy summer break at the beach was replaced this year with a short 2 weeks at home painting and trying to de-clutter. I have failed to get much accomplished and am back at work on Monday. I guess this just leaks into my creative life and I am having some trouble appreciating this year's accomplishments.

I went through my old blogs and cataloged my finished projects - and there are a few. This year seemed to be full of small projects started and finished and fewer long-term projects finding their way to the finish line. I love the rush of a cute little finish, but I think that I really feel a true sense of accomplishment with larger (and longer) projects. But, the appeal of challenges, round robins, bees, etc. make it hard.

I've continued my participation in Block Lotto and although some months I only made one block, I still really enjoy trying them each month. I also did 2 round robins - the first with my own center block (and contributing to 3 others) and a second as part of a large gift quilt for the organizer of the round robin. I'll be doing another this year and already have my center block ready to go.

The new business, Sew Frisco, took a lot of my time this year and we had our first public outing at the Auckland Festival of Quilts. It's such a thrill when an order comes through, but this is not nearly often enough.

My two favorite projects were the scrappy diamonds that I just finished and the green/black hexagons. These were the two biggest quilts that I made this past year.

Next year will be very busy for me and I've already committed to do a few challenges. At least I am never bored. Did I mention we have a new kitten?

A finish for 2013

Happy New Year. 2013 will end in Auckland in 7 hours and I managed to finish one more quilt with about 12 hours to spare. I started this scrappy quilt in August after tidying up my sewing space and realising that I had (have) too much fabric. This quilt was inspired by one I saw at a show and it seemed like the perfect way to use up some fabric. Yes, I used up some fabric, but I will need to do a few more to make a difference in the stash.

I really love the contrast between warm and cool colours. It really makes an impact.

The quilting gave me some grief (nothing new here). I wish the diamonds were a bit smaller - they were just a little too big to quilt with the Swiftquilter so I had to do quite a bit of adjusting of the frame while quilting. Next time I'll think ahead.

I chose a blue and green polka dot print for the binding. I thought it was a good contrast to the mostly warm coloured diamonds that are on the edge of the quilt. I used a slightly different method for this one - I sewed it on the back and then edge stitched it by machine on the front. I've been experimenting with binding lately and this seems like the quickest approach.

I had to wash the quilt before I put the binding on and I think that has caused a bit of a wave on the edges - I am hoping this will sort itself out when I wash it again. Unfortunately, my new kitten decided to leap onto the bed where the quilt was folded up and vomit his entire dinner. Needless to say, a trip to the laundry room was required.