FMQ progress

I can definitely see progress here.  I bought some gloves at the weekend, as several of you suggested, and I think they helped. The first photo is the front, and the second shows the back.  My stitches are beginning to be a more consistent size, shame I can't say the same about my loops!  All in all though, I'm feeling optimistic today that one day I might become almost a passable quilter.

More playing ...

... does this woman ever do any housework/cooking/etc?  How come she gets to play so often?  That's what you're all wondering isn't it? Well the answer is that when you've got the builders in it's not worth doing things like dusting or vacuuming and it's best to plan meals for the slow cooker that do two days.

So, now we've sorted that out, let me show you what I've been doing. Yesterday was our monthly meeting of the Yorkshire Modern Quilt Group that both Scrappy and I belong to, and I decided to carry on with my ideas for the slice and insert block that I've been playing with lately.  This is what I came up with

By the way, they're not really all puckered, they're creased from where I had them all scrumpled up in my bag when I came home last night and I couldn't be bothered to iron them before taking the photos, sorry.  I'm not sure I like either of these versions, but I had to try them didn't I?

Oh, and Just in case you think I've given up on my free motion quilting, here's a little pile of sandwiches I've just made

Today's playtime ...

... resulted in this block which is a variation on yesterday's.  It uses 14, yes 14 different fabrics.  I love it.

I made it by cutting strips from different fabrics, sewing them together and then sewing them into a tube, cutting rings from the tube and opening them up at various places on the rings and then slicing and inserting them.  I really had fun with this.

It's playtime ...

... in my house.

We've got the builders in, refitting our en-suite.  They're making lots of noise and creating absolute havoc, so, what's a girl to do?  Go and play with her sewing machine, which lives at the opposite end of the house.  So, this is what I've tried out today. (Oooh, I've just realised the strips match the colour on my book cover and also on the blog background - I must like turquoise.)

It's a little bit puckered, but that's cos I forgot to change the tension back from where I have it for my free-motion quilting adventures.  I really like this block and I can see all sorts of possibilities for it.

So, in the last month I've had a go at machine applique, free-motion quilting and now this.  I'm obviously in the mood to experiment.  What next I wonder?

Free Motion Quilting ...

... I'm planning to regularly shame myself by showing the results of each lesson from my Craftsy course as I complete it.  I am hoping that over the time I am doing the course, I will get better at it. Heaven only knows, looking at this first example, there is plenty of room for improvement .  This was almost finished before I decided to quilt my finger in as an additional design feature.

I am very happy with the tension, but not so happy about the fact that the fabric is drawing in a lot, and unevenly.  Maybe that's something to do with me not pinning enough, or is it something else?  If any one can make any suggestions, I'd be very grateful.

I am finding it tricky to work out the relationship between the speed of my hands and my machine to give me decent sized, consistent stitches, but I hope that will come with time.  I am also giving myself shoulder ache if I do too much at one time as I guess I'm tensing up too much.

Anyway, without wittering on any more, here is the piece from Lesson 2.  The first photo shows the top, and the second shows the bottom.  There are good bits and there are bad!

Well, who'd have thought ...

... that free-motion quilting can be a dangerous sport?

Well it can.  I managed to try and quilt my finger!  I just missed the nail but went through my finger. It hurt, but I was very brave and luckily I didn't break the needle. 

It did put a stop to my FMQ antics for today cos it keeps bleeding, so, since it's cold and raining here today, I decided to console myself with a lovely cup of hot chocolate with some cream on top, and a good book

 

Free Motion Quilting ....

Who? Me? Yes that's right, me.

Last weekend I decided it's time I really tried to do some FMQ rather than always relying on Big Bertha to do my quilting for me. I know, I must be mad, but there we go.

So I bought a Craftsy class called Free Motion Quilting Essentials by Christina Cameli and off I went.  I watched the first lesson (twice) and made my sandwiches and played with my tension until I was fairly happy.  I decided to really ask for trouble by using two different colours of fabric and two different colours of thread, so that I would always be able to see if my tension was good, so I used white fabric with a burgundy thread for the top and grey fabric with white thread for the bottom. Then I watched Lesson 2 a few times.  I did the muscle-memory training thing that is always recommended, and then off I went with my machine.  Here are the ugly results that prove a) I have a long way to go, and b) that my muscles seem to have a very short memory!

 Hopefully the next time will show some improvement.

Create something ....

Edited: apparently some people can not see the picture on my blog, I am sorry for that.  I do not know the reason but will try and find out.  In the meantime, if you can't see it, click here to go to this sale.

Craftsy want to encourage everyone to create something that defies all expectations, both our own and other people's. Therefore, for this weekend only, they are giving us the chance to learn something new, by offering great savings on ALL their online-video classes, and don't forget, once you've bought a class, you will be able to access the lessons for ever and ever. Don’t delay though, this sale ends on Sunday - shop now by clicking on the picture above! 

another Handy Household Hint ...

... this is a good one, and well worth taking note of.

Do not, EVER try stirring a mug of coffee with one hand while shaking an aerosol can of cream with the other.  Unless you're one of those clever people who can pat their head and rub their tummy at the same time, that is.

Take it from me, the result is a mess.

And if you're looking for the photo of the resulting mess, you're going to be disappointed.  I was to busy trying to mop up to remember to take pictures.

Calling "Jacawe"

Can anyone help me please?  

I had an email from someone called "Jacewe" a short while ago regarding my design called Tubix. 

She has seen the quilt on Pinterest, and contacted me to ask how she could buy a copy of the pattern. 

Unfortunately, she is a "no-reply" blogger, so I can't reply.  

If you see this Jacawe, or if anyone knows who this is, please contact me with an email address.  

Thank you.

A beginning, a middle and a finish ...

... except I'll show them in reverse order I think.

A Finish: this is the charity quilt that Scrappy and I made together.  I love this (yes, even though it's scrappy) and have suggested to Scrappy that it should stay with me, but she doesn't seem to have heard my hints.  Anyway, here it is:

A Middle: this is to be another charity  quilt.  I used some of the leftovers from the quilt above, and made this very quick and simple quilt.  It's all pieced as you can see, but not quilted yet. I like how it's turned out though. 

A Beginning:  Remember those yummy fabrics I showed you here?  Well, now they've turned into lots of dots.  Don't they just look gorgeous together.  The next bit of this quilt will be the tricky bit. It involves machine applique for a start, which I've never done before.  I've had a practice though, and played around with stitch length, tension etc, and found that I can get quite a good result using invisible thread and a small zig-zag stitch.  I'd have liked to use a blanket stitch, but my machine doesn't feel that I should, so that is not a stitch option that's offered!  Wish me luck with this quilt, it's a challenge on a number of different levels.

As you can tell, I'm having fun again and I really think my quilting mojo, which went AWOL for a few months, has returned.

I seem to have Picked more than Four .....

....what on earth am I thinking?

Personally, I blame Scrappy for this.  She was here yesterday and we had a great day, during which I planned my next quilt and I was encouraged to use all these fabrics in it.  Think I can do it?

It's a long weekend ...

... and to celebrate it Craftsy have decided to have another of their fantastic sales.

You can enjoy up to 70% off all kits, fabric and yarn, up to 60% off all sewing project kits and up to 40% off art, paper craft and cake decorating supplies. You’re sure to snag the items you’ve been eyeing at major savings.  Simply go here to shop now or, but don't wait too long - this sale ends at 11.59 MT on 25 May.

Note: this is a sponsored post.

Decisions, decisions ...

... Scrappy and I loved our joint quilt so much that we are both making smaller versions now.  These are destined to be charity quilts and we have been asked for cot sizes.  I've made my blocks, and then I had to decide about the layout. I  decided not to go for the original layout that we  used, but to play around a bit and see what happened.  Well, this is what happened:

With a little help from Scrappy,  I think I've settled on the middle layout, although I'm tempted to go for the third version, but with the fabrics swapped around a bit. Any thoughts anyone?

Ouch ...

... Mr Fixit is now home again with his infection and his fever under control, and a load of strong antibiotics. The reason for his fall is not clear, but may have been caused because of his extremely high temperature. His bruises are multicoloured, and I still don't know how he didn't break any bones, but he says he's not in any pain. Thanks everyone for your thoughts, wishes and messages.

Mother's Day gift idea ....

Here's a great gift idea for you from Craftsy ;

Note: this is a sponsored post.

Well, I'm home ...

... in fact, we came home last Saturday, (just half way through our holiday) as Mr Fixit was not well. Things went from bad to worse then.  Mr Fixit had a fall, and came from top to bottom of our stairs, round two bends, all, thankfully, without breaking any bones.  So along comes an ambulance, and off we went to the hospital.  The hospital were concerned about why he fell, and wondered if it was connected with the very high temperature he was suffering, so they're keeping him in for a few days. Mr Fixit is not a good patient unfortunately, and my son made me laugh when he said that he and my daughter were thinking they ought to send the hospital staff a Good Luck card!  Maybe today we'll get some answers from the hospital and Mr Fixit can come home.

Check list

Washing and ironing all done? - check
Housework done? - check
Dishwasher emptied? - check
Tickets ready? - check
Taxi to station booked? - check
Embroidery work ready? - check
New books on my Kindle? - check
New batteries in the camera? - check
Suitcase packed? - oops, I knew I'd forgotten to do something!  I'll do it in the morning, before we chuff off on our holiday.

We're doing our usual steam train trip round Britain with our old friends from Cornwall plus Scrappy and her husband.

Make sure you all behave yourselves while I'm not keeping an eye on you.  Bye for now. Chuff, chuff, chuff, chuff.

Sale time....

Spring is sprung

The grass is ris

I wonder where

The birdies is?

I reckon they're all with the quilters at the Craftsy Spring Sale, where there are kits, fabrics and yarns at up to 60% off. If you want to join us you'd better hurry though, the sale finishes at 11.59MT on 26 April.

Note: this is a sponsored post.

Another Handy Household Hint ....

... here's another good way to avoid doing housework.  This one's better than my last one, as it allowed me to be too busy for housework for six days.

So how does this work?  Well, I'll tell you.

Day One: think you might like to buy a new car, and spend some time working out whether it's a sensible thing to do.  Finally decide that, sensible or not, you're going to do it.

Day Two: start researching which car you'd like.  By the end of the day you should have a short-list of two or three cars.

Day Three: carry out on-line research into models, prices, etc.

Day Four: visit dealers for test drives and decide which one you want. Negotiate and agree the price with the appropriate dealer.

Day Five: do nothing apart from arranging insurance for the new car.

Day Six: go and pick up your lovely, shiny new car, drive it home and spend the rest of the day showing it off to friends and family.

and here it is - my housework avoidance result.

I hope you've found this helpful.