WIP Wednesday: the one with baby showers

It is Wednesday, I have WIPs, and I have a fabric swap proposal for anyone who happens to have some Mendocino Mermaids fabric and would like to swap it, possibly for a different print in the collection.

More on that after the WIP.

Baby Season

Two quilts for a Baby Shower next weekend (after Easter):

One is probably a he. The parents are 99% sure, but they keep repeating there's always the possibilty that the check is wrong! The other is...unknown. But I decided I'd just make them gender-neutral ones anyway. Gender neutral is always safe, and either way ze (gender neutral pronoun) will be sure to get plenty of other 'colour-coded' stuff from family and friends!

Disappearing Nine-Patches are nice and easy. And yet so effective!

I've reserved around half the layer cakes for the backing - simple squares, I think, nothing fancy. Although maybe I could do a stack-and-whack...? That could be interesting...

At any rate, lots of sewing together this weekend and quilting next week!

Mendocino Swap

I'm looking for some Mendocino Mermaids fabric and am willing to swap more Mendocino Mermaids fabric for it!

These are the ones I don't have and want (these are scraps):

And these are the ones I have and will swap:

Not selling any right now, although later in the year, most definitely! (And there will be giveaways.)

Finally, have a picture of a kitty 'approving' the mermaid fabric. Kitteh Buttstamp of Approval!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

How about you? What's your WIPs looking like this Wednesday?

Mendocino Mermaids Swap?

Public Announcement Time

I'm looking for some of Heather Ross' Mendocino Mermaids fabric, Yes, I know, it's impossible to get, shy of paying quite a bit of money over ton Etsy. However, I was wondering if anyone who happens to have some (yardage, or FQ) would be willing to engage in a swap?

I have the following fabrics I'd be willing to swap, up to half a yard.

willing to swap

That's:
- Mermaids on Gold
- Swim sisters on Fuchsia
- Kelp forest on Blush
- Seahorses on Gold (Dark Gold and White)
- Seahorses on Blush (Orange and Pale Pink)
- Giant Octopi on Fuchsia
- Kelp Stripe On Blush

I'm looking for:

That's:
- Swim sisters on Gold
- Swim sisters on Purple
- Swim Sisters on Blush (Pink Octopus)
- Swim Sisters on Blush (Fuschia Octopus)
- Seahorses on Fuschia (Purple and Gold)
- Seahorses on Gold (Dark Gold and Pink)
- Seahorses on Blush (Gold and Pale Pink)

Finally, I'm not up for selling any yet, but I promise that when I do, it'll be rather less than $60/yd here on my blog.

WIP Wednesday: the one with fairytale forests

Finishes

Books And Blocks Bee

Last block done! Thank heavens! Not that it wasn't fun or lovely to do, just that I don't think I'm cut out for Bee blocks. And it's been a tricksy and busy year, difficult to get them done.

The last one is 'Four Acres' from the 99 Modern Quilt Blocks book. There are some lovely designs in there, and when I finish putting together my quilt from the bee blocks I received, you'll see what I mean!

I didn't join any Bees this year - I think it's for the best.

WIPs

A very long time ago, there was a Dead Simple Quilt-Along, where the point was to pick fabrics, cut them into squares, and sew them together without any fancy piecing.

On the frame, set and ready!

I did a kind of 'winding vine' pattern around the border, and tried to do some pretty stuff in the insets. (It didn't work very well.)

The centre was pretty much my trademark 'fiery curls':

I was beleaguered by problems while doing this quilt. To start with, I didn't have the right colour Aurifil thread, and while I had a pale grey, I didn't want to use it. The shop with the longarm has thread, but the best colour match was the Mettier brand. A bit expensive though.

And not very good. It frayed and broke a lot. As in, a lot of a lot! So, yeah not going to use that brand for quilting again!

So thread issues. Resulting in tension issues on the back of the quilt. Bother! And then after all that, I got to the end of the quilt and realised...I hadn't left enough space at each end of the backing - or I hadn't matched the quilt top as closely as I should have when I started.

So, yeah, the bottom of the quilt is 2" shorter than the top. Luckily, this is not going to be a competition or display quilt. But I'm annoyed at myself for not planning it better.

Let's just say that putting this quilt together was a PITA. Ironic that the Eternity Quilt was hell to piece and a dream to quilt; this was the reverse!

But finally we are finished!

And some detail along the border. Not as good as I'd like - it won't win any prizes - but decent enough.

No progress on a lot of other projects, and I'm going back to work tomorrow. Drat!

What have you been doing this week? Have you linked up to the linky party?

Free Motion Quilting Day!

No, it's not anything official, but that's what today is for me: Free Motion Quilting Day.

I'm going to FMQ these two quilts:

Santorini Sun & Sky

The Dead Simple Quilt

I've been reviewing Angela Walters' Free-Motion Quilting patterns for most of the morning, trying to work out what to use and how to do it, and also checking out the Free Motion Quilting Project - although those seem to be mostly fillers. I'm thinking something with waves and pearls on Santorini, and maybe a leafy design on Dead Simple - still haven't quite worked that one out!

I figure that after the Eternity Quilt and the tricksy difficulty of doing the Eternity Quilt (I did not start with an easy quilt), these two should be relatively simple...

Relatively...

Pics on the other side!

Quilt Show Choices!

The Sydney Craft And Quilt Fair is on again this year, and I'm submitting a quilt to the Quilt Show. I've never put a quilt in a show before, so this will be an experience!

We can submit at least two.

Quilt 1: Eternity

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Quilt 2 is a question mark right now.

My options are:

1. Crooked Summer Sampler

I'd submit this one mostly just to imagine their faces when they receive the submission.

2. Santorini Sun And Sea

I like this one, it's been finished for a while, and all I have to do is get it backed and quilted, which I could do myself, easily enough.

3a) I <3 Kona - without borders

Latest work, up on the design board now, trying to work out if I should just go borderlerss like this or...

3b) I <3 Kona - with borders

The black border is pretty dramatic. Not sure I want to go with it - a better option would have been a range of subtly tinted 'blacks' - alas, for I cannot find my Kona Colour Card and so I don't even know if they have that.

I thought the border would give an opportunity for the colours to really pop - but black looks like it blends too well into the dark colours, and would just make the light ones really obvious.

Your thoughts? On the quilt choices, on the borders/no borders, on the whole submission in general?

WIP Wednesday: The One With New York!

Finishes

After what feels like a lifetime of effort, I finally got the New York Beauty Mini done!

I used it for FMQ practise - lots of radial line, bubbles, snail-shells, and my trademark 'fiery curls'

Funny story: I broke the needle just as I was starting to edge this, and so I had to lever up the plate under the foot and needle. And found...quite a lot of lint.

Had a go at it with the good old vacuum... :)

Books And Blocks Bee

These are ridiculously late. But done and in the mail!

Blue Lagoon:

Parisian Star:

And I still have the last block to go! (January, I believe.) I also stuck a bit of Mendocino Mermaids in there as compensation for lateness. I hope they like Heather Ross!

WIPs

Coloured Charms

Sewn into columns, but not fully together yet.

Looking pretty good, though, I think!

Sydney Modern Quilt Guild

You remember those hexies I've been doing for the last, oh, FOREVER?

Well, at the end of last week, we abrutply realised that the submission for the Sydney Quilt Show in June this year must be done by the end of this week. Cue panic. And several days of Sit 'N Sews to get most of the blocks done so we can lay it out and take a photo to give an indication of the design. It doesn't have to be finished just yet, they just want to see the design!

So we sat, and we sewed. And we sewed. And we sewed. And after two days sewing with Penny Poppleton and two other lovely ladies...we had this!

Isn't it magnificent? Pretty damn awesome, isn't it? If you're thinking it looks familiar, that's because you've probably seen Tascha Bruher's Hexa-Go-Go book, from which the pattern comes. Tascha has been wonderful about giving permission for the Guild to make the quilt from her pattern, even if not all the members could buy the book. And it is a wonderfully dramatic quilt - and looks even better with the sashing, posting, and borders on! (I don't have that photo - if you check out @pennypoppleton on instagram, it'll be there. I'm @seldear on instagram if you're interested in following me.)

Lily And Will Baby Quilt

I have the binding fabric cut and sewn and ironed and ready to sew on...I just haven't done it yet!

To be done by Sunday.

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Anyway, that's me. What about you? What have you been doing?