Up and Running

I forgot to let you all know that my machine is up and running again.  I actually got it back very quickly from the shop (only one day!).  It seized up because the last place that serviced it oiled it instead of greasing it apparently.  Anyways, it now runs way better than it did even after the last time it was serviced.  The tension is just perfect as well! On Monday I finished quilting the quilt that I was working on when it died.  In fact, the quilt is completely finished, but I need someone to help me to take some photos.  It's pretty big.

I also quickly stitched together this little baby quilt on the weekend.  It's nothing intricate, but I do love a simple patchwork in pretty colours.  I'm going to finish it off next week with some simple quilting.  It's for my cousin who had a baby girl on March 1.  You can also see the Rambling Rose Meets Jamestown blocks that I've finished so far.  I need to get back into making some, as I haven't done any in awhile.

I also tried out my first New York Beauty block.  I designed in in EQ6 and it's really little - only 4" finished.  I had a difficult time with the inner curve.  I think I should have practised with something a little bigger. Maybe I'll turn this little guy into a pin cushion or something.  

Oh, and Carla recently gave me the Liebster Blog award.  It goes to some inspiring little blogs with less than 200 followers.  I'm supposed to nominate 5 other blogs, so here they are, in no particular order.

1. Quilting Barbie :: I was in a Canadian quilting bee with Barb a couple of years ago and she make some really beautiful stuff.  I admire how she manages to create with 3 little ones at home.

2. Cynthia F :: Cynthia is a fabulous artist and designer.  I won a Spoonflower print from her awhile back and I love seeing her current 'quaintings' (quilt paintings). She is also a fellow Canadian and member of the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt guild, and I am currently in an improv bee with her.

3. Holly's Red Bike :: She is the founder and current president of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.  Holly has some wonderful ideas and also recently did some cross stitch.

4. Venus de Hilo :: Stephanie is a quilter in Hawaii.  Her amazing and colourful work is very inspiring, and I am pretty sure that she is heavily influenced by her environment.

5. Sew Domestic :: Kristina has exquisite taste in fabrics and colour combos.  I pretty much love everything that she makes.

I hope you enjoy visiting some new blogs!

xo Nicole

Some WIPS

This is a very terrible picture that I snapped on Saturday evening.  I spent my day making up these improvised blocks to make a toddler quilt for a friend's little girl.  It has progressed further than this.  All the pieces are now filled in and sewn together.  Unfortunately, it's a little bit smaller than what I was aiming for, so I need to add a border.  I don't think I can add a regular style border due to the nature of the quilt.  It calls for something created in the same manner as the piecing.  I also have run out of some of the fabrics, so it will not be an easy task.  I hope to get this finished completely next week.  

This quilt is something that was started a year ago.  It is all sewn together and then I was waiting to find the perfect backing fabric.  I found it and then basted it.  It has been sitting ready for quilting for a few months now.  I'd really like to just finish it up!  I'm a little stuck on what to do for the quilting.  I think I want to try something new and a little fancy.  I just need to work up my courage.  This probably won't be finished next week, but sometime this spring.  I think its a great spring quilt.

My sample for the Quilting 101 class I'm going to be teaching is just about done.  I basted it on Friday and now just need to get it quilted and bound. I will be getting that done in the next week as well.  I was planning on it being done at the end of January.  

I think that I have more time in my mind than what actually happens. We'll see if that is the case next week.  I do have two weeks off from work at school and I plan on sewing for a large chunk of that time.  Most of what I want to do is finish off projects that are nearly done. I think that is attainable.  I'll check in again later and let you know how that all works out.

xo Nicole

A New Swap

I joined the Doll Quilt 12 swap on Flickr last month.  I'm going to make a little quilt for a secret partner for whom I get some information about, but she has no idea that I'm making a quilt for her.  In return, I will be getting a great little quilt from someone else.  We have some specific rules to follow, like it must have at least 6 pieced blocks and one of them must be a churn dash, New York beauty, log cabin, drunkard's path or flying geese.  It is also required to have a solid in it, but not white or any derivative of white.

I participated in round 11 last summer and it was so awesome!

This is my inspiration mosaic.  I made it up to let my partner know what kind of things I would love in a mini quilt.  Check out my Flickr photostream for the credits of these pictures.

These are some possible fabrics that I put together last night for the quilt that I will make for my partner.  I'm not 100% sure that they will be the best, but I'm going to try them out.  I also have made it my personal goal to include a New York beauty block in my quilt.  I have never made one and feel a bit intimidated by them.  This is a great opportunity to conquer my fear!  I sketched out some ideas on paper and in EQ6 last night.  I'll have to think on it a little more before I decide what exactly to do.  I have until April 5 to send it out, but I hope to finish it up by March 29.

Its so awesome to see what everyone else is up to in the group.  That's one of the most fun things about being in a swap.  There are some super talented people in our group!

I'd love to know what is inspiring you right now!

xo Nicole

Happy Twisters

Before my machine broke, I finished a quilt last week.  It's called Happy Twisters and I used the Lil' Twister tool to make the centre.  This has been a work in progress for quite some time, maybe October.  Not because it takes a long time to make it, but because of life.

I used a charm pack from Moda called "Happy" (hence Happy Twisters).  I thought it would be fun for a baby quilt.  I sewed the centre together and then stalled.  I wasn't loving it and it was a weird size.  Too big for a doll quilt and too small for a baby quilt.  I also didn't really know how I should quilt it.  I began to work on other things.

I was poking around blogland and saw a quilt that looked like it had the same centre. I liked this one however, and it had a triple border around it.  I decided that was what my little quilt needed.  It would add what I felt was missing and make it big enough for a baby quilt.

I wanted to outline each pinwheel for the quilting, but that would be too much work. I decided to outline just part of each one and I like the zigzag lightning bolt thing it has going on now.  I stitched in the ditch on both sides of the skinny border and did a large meander in the outermost border.  I think it has the perfect amount of quilting.

Katja just got in some new fabrics from the same designers called Twirl.  There was a wonderful wavy stripe that was just calling out to be the binding for this quilt. I sewed it on by machine and had a finish!  Now it is in the Shoppe on display and I wrote up a little info sheet.  If you like the pattern, you can just make a $2 donation to HOPE International, and get the instructions.

I hope you have a lovely day.

xo Nicole

Confound It!

Imagine a lovely Saturday afternoon with loads of time to work on a quilt that you want to finish before next weekend.  You have some tunes to jive to, no hubby at home to worry about, and piles of laundry and vacuuming to ignore.  You set up your machine and grab your quilt that has been prepared since the end of December.  Finally. Let's quilt it!

You even decide to try out a new quilting design.  It isn't perfect, but it sure looks cool.  Somehow you manage to wrangle your giant quilt through the itty bitty space in your machine to achieve this awesomeness. You use up almost 4 bobbins of thread and are quite pleased with yourself with how this is turning out.

Suddenly, your machine makes a terrible noise and jerks to a halt.  The screen reads: STOP FOR SAFETY PURPOSES.  Oh no!  It is jammed up. Not the thread. The mechanics inside! You manage to get your quilt out from the machine and see if you can figure out what is wrong.  You turn the hand wheel and nothing happens.  Confound it!

It. Is. Broken.  That means that your quilt will not be finished for next weekend, nor will the birthday gift or the bee block (from November).  Nor anything else.

I sure hope the shop can fix her up.

I guess that means I have to clean the house now.

xo Nicole

On Hex-A-Thons and Winning

I joined in with the crowd at Katja's for the Hex-a-thon.  We are English Paper Piecing 3" hexagons; one each week in 2012.  I decided to use an older layer cake called Patisserie by Fig Tree and Co.  It has some wonderful soft colours and prints.

This is week 1.  Fairly straight forward, but some of my points were off.  Hopefully I will improve in this area as the year goes by.

Week 2. I liked doing this one.  The fussy cutting turned out pretty well.

Week 3. This one gave me a lot of grief.  It doesn't even lay flat.  Hopefully once the papers are removed it won't be too noticeable.

I also won a prize over at cynthia f.  Cynthia designed this piece of fabric herself and it was printed at Spoonflower. (You can even buy one for yourself if you want.) It is a super cute calendar for 2012.  I better hurry up and make something with it before too much more of the year passes by.  I was thinking about sewing on some bright borders and making it into a wall hanging for my sewing room - a mini quilt of sorts.  (It is fat quarter size, so it will be on the larger side.)  I really love it and I am so thankful for Cynthia's generosity.  I will delight in this all year - and even after that!

xo Nicole

Reminder to self....

Remove pins before sewing over them!

Happy Monday.

xo Nicole