FNSI- A New Project

 My friend Julie and I bought the kit to make this quilt about 4 or 5 years ago!! It was an absolute bargain at the time. We still love it.

We got together for FNSI to cut it out so we can sew it next weekend at a quilting retreat we have planned. We wanted to be able to focus while cutting this one out as the chances of buying more fabric in that range are slim after so many years.

Below, a sample of some of some of the fabrics. All French General. The one on the left is for the large outer border. It is meant to be fussy cut. But we discovered that we were not sent enough to fussy cut and centre the tree and bird design down the length of the border.

As it was Friday, we did relax over dinner and a couple of wines and didn't start cutting until 9pm. Big mistake. There is a lot of cutting in this quilt. We stopped at 12.40am for a cuppa and slice and then soldiered on.

By 3am, we stopped cutting...too weary. We decided we would not use that border fabric, but would use it for backing fabric. There were discussions about options to solve our dilemma. At 4am we decided it was bed time.

 Next morning we decided we would add an extra row of stars.That plan was shelved when we went to cut fabric for the extra stars only to find that there wasn't quite enough.

Plan B...contact the closest quilting stores for supplies...no luck there. 

Plan C.....shop on line.

So, we are now ready for our quilting weekend with our project cut out and more border fabric on its way to my letterbox.

Pop over here to see what everyone else was up to.

Friday Night With Friends

 Last night I joined the virtual sew in known as 'Friday Night With Friends'. I worked on my 'Toes In The Sand Quilt' that I have been hand quilting. 

  I have quilted about 5 or 6 flannel quilts prior to this and found the needle on the left fantastic for gliding through multiple layers of flannel with Perle 8 thread like a hot knife through butter. So I had started quilting this cotton quilt with some Gutterman hand quilting thread a largish needle, but wasn't happy with the size of  my stitches.

I asked a few posts ago what size and type of needle others use. Thanks so much for your responses.

After trying a number of needles suggested, I have settled on the needle on the right. A size 10 Piecemakers', so small by comparison. Took so long to get used to such a small needle, I felt like I had five thumbs. But I persevered and have found my quilting has slowly improved with these.

I am pretty excited to say that I am now up to row six of seven rows of triangle blocks. I started this early January and have certainly not worked on it everyday. I am surprised how quickly I have been able to quilt this by hand. It will be about 80" x 65" when finished.

 Don't forget to look here to see what everyone else was doing last night.

Have a great weekend.

Emergency Sewing

Do you take 'Emergency Sewing' with you whenever you leave the house? 

You know, some sewing to fill in those times you are held up or kept waiting...usually unexpectedly.

 Our car broke down a couple of weeks ago, about 9km from the nearest town, 30km from home and no mobile phone coverage. When I was finally able to call NRMA (Roadside Assistance), I was informed that there would be a 45 minute wait for someone to tow the car back to town. Well.....how lucky was I that I packed some Emergency Sewing? 

What a shame it would have been to waste a perfectly good sewing opportunity if I had left it at home.

I had just enough time to stitch another star and a half for my EPP Star Quilt.

My tally with this project stands at 78 stars cut out...

thirty six stars stitched...

...and 11 stars stitched together.

I was just thinking how my Sun Visor Sewing Caddy (shown in my last post), would be perfect for storing Emergency Sewing in the car. 

Emergency Sewing: Don't leave home without it.

Linking up with Jess at Life Under Quilts for the Monday Morning Star Count.

FNSI Sun visor Caddy

Last night I made a quick little project called a 'sun visor caddy'. I found the pattern years ago in a Homespun magazine No. 92 (Vol 12 No.1).

WARNING: The pattern has some errors for cutting instructions and general instructions were a little difficult to understand....or... maybe a was a little too focused on the tennis as I sewed. It's been a great tournament for our young Aussie tennis players at the Australian Open. Either way, I threw away the magazine and worked out the assembly myself.

 DS No. 3 told me I was 'channeling my inner male' when I did that. He had a tone of pride in his voice as he said it.

This caddy attaches to the sun visor in your car. 

And folds up out of the way.

Mr Stitch and I are planning a road trip at Easter. He likes driving really long distances and I like sewing while he drives. It's a win-win situation. But, the console in the car is not very conducive to the storage of scissors, threads etc.

So the scissors are safely kept in place with a press stud.

There are pockets for packets of buttons, reels of thread etc. and the split ring holds embroidery threads.

It even has a little needle case. 

The Velcro straps keep it attached to the visor.

Just need to start preparing the portable projects now.

I had a finish last Friday too but haven't had time to show you. I made this sign for DS No.3's bedroom door. He is slowly setting up a little recording studio in his bedroom and I keep walking in at crucial creative moments. No, he doesn't have plans of being a rock star, just likes recording and mixing sound.

This project is from Annie Downs' book, 'A Boys Story'. The sign is reversible and as he is about to commence those last two years of high school studying for his HSC, I thought this was appropriate for the other side.

 The felt stars were appliqued onto self covered buttons. Sorry, photo is a little fuzzy.

Today I am linking up with Friday Night Sew In and Finish It Up Friday. So pop over and take a look at what everyone else was doing.

Sign up for OPAM 2015 have just opened and close 1st February, click here to find out more and join in.

Happy Sewing.

A Sewing Day In

Saturday saw the Cassilis Quilters meet at my house. Linda at The Plough Inn takes a well deserved rest during January.

Susan had show and tell...

and did a little quilting on her mini.

Julie finished a long term project by machine quilting her Christmas tree. 

 She's already for Christmas 2015 now.

Kylie finished binding a quilt.

Lea was doing some secret stitching, so I can't show you a photo of her project...sorry. This despite her recent eye surgery. You've got to admire that women's commitment to her craft!

My quilt frame doesn't have a small turning circle, so I left it in the family room while we stitched in the lounge room. I started a new project.

This will be a tooth fairy pillow for my niece. I ordered a little star to go on the end of her wand today. Just waiting for the postman to deliver it to my letterbox. The little white dots are tiny seed beads, hard to tell in the photo.

I've made good progress on my assessment task for the course I am studying this year. So my reward is to sit at my quilting frame tonight and do a little more hand quilting on Toes In The Sand while watching the Australians play well in the Australian Open.

A Long Forgotten Project

Last night was Friday Night With Friends. You can join in here.  

I am really enjoying hand quilting on my new quilting frame. But, just wanted to work on a small project so I can experience the satisfaction of a finish. I stitched this many years ago, last night it transformed into a pin cushion.

First I made a twisted chord.

Found a bag of silica sand to fill it.

Now I can also link up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

I've been experiencing a big learning curve using my new Grace Hand Quilting frame. I have a new chair, a Christmas gift from Mr Stitch so I can sit for long periods without an aching back.

A little side table made in woodwork class by Mr 16 holds all my tools of the trade with room underneath for a few quilting books.

 I know the hand quilting police will be 'tisk, tisking' at my large stitches. But, this quilt has been an experiment from the start with the patchwork construction. So why be any different with the quilting?

That includes experimenting with needles. I am generally happy with the one I am using, but feel there might be a better choice out there that could give me a better result. 

So, finally a question....

What types of needles do you use when hand quilting?

 More photos of quilting progress coming up in my next post.

Zipper Pouches

I made these zipper pouches last Friday for Mr 21's girlfriend. Her family went on a special holiday mid December and we have just had a chance to catch up with her to exchange gifts.

I matched the lining with the zippers to brighten up the black and white colour scheme. 

I used the pattern from Noodle Head available here.

Have sorted my Leader Cloth problem and will show you my first quilt on the frame soon.

Happy stitching.