Wednesday, August 20, 2014

String of Pearls flimsy complete!

Excited to get this done this weekend! I have had it on my to-do list for about 18 months.
It was such an easy pattern, thanks Christa! Just a couple of hours of sewing and ironing of seams and my soul (see last week's post comments below) has certainly been soothed! I am half way to completing this for my QAL#3 challenge list.

I had already made the main squares last weekend so just needed to add the grey background blocks.
 
Now I just need to find a backing and get it quilted and bound. 

Linking up with Lee's Work In Progress Wednesday at her Freshly Pieced blog!, Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday and with Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday. I love sharing with like-minded crafters! Welcome everyone!

LAST WEEK'S POST: On Saturday I took a very necessary couple of hours of time-out from trying to sort the annual finances report for the local swimming pool society (of which I am secretary-treasurer, but an accountant I am not, so that is an entirely different story altogether!)

I put my brain onto getting these squares together instead, as well as the sashing/block filler strips for the String of Pearls quilt, with the Remix ovals that I collected up last month. 

I'm looking forward to getting it all put together this weekend hopefully!! My soul needs to sew!!

Friday, August 8, 2014

'Adorable' baby quilt panel

This is one of the projects on my to-do list for the Littlest Thistle's Q3 QAL Finish Challenge.

Sold 2015 to Jackie Hamlin for her daughter Mel's new baby daughter.
Ahh, the bonus of a snow day closing school!! I had most of the binding on this last night and figured the rest would have to wait until after netball tonight...but spent all night listening to a winter storm bringing rain, wind, hail, and snow...not enough to fully cover our land here on the flat, but enough to disrupt all the buses and close the schools.  Obviously I was not too upset as I knew exactly how to fill my day!
This panel measures about 29" x 39". (I have no clue as to the maker of the panel, sorry - just that I bought it at Spotlight on special about two years ago.)




The binding is actually a Paddington Bear design (I still have the original book that I had when I was little)  - when I first pulled it from my stash I figured it was just a stylised flower or tessellated design and it wasn't until I read the selvage label that I realised it is Paddington with his hat on!



I wanted to keep the quilt quite soft, so it has a flannel backing and is only moderately quilted (another good chance to practice FMQ skills, thought I kept it pretty basic!)















Some scallops for the pram hood and basket, with some stippled loops and hearts in the background.
Pebbles, echo stitching or in-the-ditch stitching for the motifs.
Echo stitching around the words.
A daisy petal stitching over the flowers.
I was reading about quilt thefts in the USA and in Australia, one blogger mentioning that many quilters hide a strand of hair or sliver of special fabric inside their quilts.  Going through my stash boxes I had found this old pair of pink gingham overpants from when I was a baby (now 4 decades ago, sigh) and thought it would be perfect to use as my 'identity marker'. I have cut a tiny piece and slipped it inside the binding. I don't know if quilt theft is a big issue in NZ but I do like to think a tiny piece of my history is in the quilt too. 



Hi to my crafty visitors from the Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday!!  And those from Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday!!  Thanks for visiting!!