Finally Finished! Summer By the Sea Borders

I finished the final border for Salt Air Summer by the Sea (new and improved name!) back in January! Yay! The double cable border has been really fun to quilt and my hand quilting has become so much more consistent over the course of this quilt. I'm so glad that this one is going to be mine to keep.

Summer by the Sea - finished borders! Yay!

As I have come to realise, however, the blue marking pens that I was using have proceeded to wear off rather badly over time. I suppose it's my own fault for taking so long to finish quilting the damn thing. I finally gave in the other week and spent an hour going through boxes until I found the stencil. I am so looking forward to having a place for all of my things once the builders finish my new cabinets. It will be so good to know exactly where everything is and not have to go hunting in 5 different places anymore (I suspect this might be slightly utopian, but one can hope, right?)

Summer by the Sea - double cable & shell borders

I spent ages agonising over how to quilt these borders and I'm so glad that I still like them after spending so long stitching them up! As you can see in the photo above, there are a couple of places where the threads aren't quite tight enough as it took me a while to figure out how to properly secure them but I'm fixing those as I go through.

Summer by the Sea - double borders (back)

Next up: finishing the diagonal quilting on the body of the quilt (oh yeah, that's still not done. Blegh). But then: Binding (!) and quilt labels(!!)

Really need to get back on this one but have been distracted by other projects, both sewing- and non-sewing related. More on my new curtains soon!

Hand quilting love,
xoxo me

P.S. Linking up to Finish it up Friday and Finished or not Friday (because it's kind of finished, and kind of not)

Finally Finished: Forest Friends Baby Quilt v2: New Addition

After a hectic 6 months (new house, new job, a lot of work travel, and several pretty serious family emergencies) I've finally settled in with my needle and thread. My sewing things are still tucked away all over the new flat in various boxes but that will change in January when the builders come to build some exciting custom storage cabinets for me (need to save up my pennies first).

I finally unpacked my trusty Singer in October and finished the second iteration of the Forest Friends Baby Quilt, "New Addition".

New Addition Baby Quilt in my new living room

I machine quilted this over the course of several evenings because, guess what, the new job means that I actually have time in the evening to do things that aren't work. This is a complete novelty and, as it turns out, I need to re-learn how to have hobbies. SO exciting! I've got so much stuff done!

Anyway, I digress.

Started: April 2016

Finished: November 2017

Size: 107 x 107 cm (42" x 42")

Quilt Top: Les Amis de la Forêt by Patty Slongier

Backing: Think this might be a Tula Pink fabric but can't remember

Batting:100% cotton

Quilting:Machine quilted in the ditch around and varied geometric designs within each cross. Top thread YLI machine quilting grey. Bottom thread YLI machine quilting teal

Binding: some grey fabric I'd bought to make a blue & grey quilt but given how many project I have on the go it'll be years before that happens

Label: none

I'm quite pleased with the way the teal thread shows off the quilting on the back even though I had to piece it together from leftover fabric. I could have sworn I had enough of the multicoloured/yellow one to back both of the Forest Friends quilts, but apparently not. Although, come to think of it, it's entirely likely that the rest of this fabric is hidden away in one of my unpacked boxes somewhere *sigh*.

New Addition Baby Quilt - back

I used grey thread for the front to match the grey binding and the grey in the various prints. I have a weird obsession with grey - it's just the perfect colour. I machine stitched the binding because I was in a bit of a hurry to deliver this one and while it's not perfect, it'll do (and do better next time!).

New Addition Baby Quilt - front

In other news, I've made some progress on Salt Air Summer by the Sea and various other projects but more on that later. 

Quilting love,

me x

Finally finished: Tiny's quilt(s)

So, remember how I was working on this quilt for a special little lady who was due to arrive on May 23rd? Well, she decided that she couldn't wait any longer and came 3 weeks early!

I saw her briefly in hospital but am going over for a proper visit this coming Sunday. Her quilt isn't quite finished (if you remember, it got a little out of hand), but I've made her a proper baby quilt instead, which I finally finished last night.

Finally finished: Tiny's baby quilt
Miserable weather - need to get a photo in better light

Started: May 2016
Finished: May 2016
Size: 110 x 110 cm (approx. 42 x 42")
Quilt top: Patty Sloniger Les Amis in coral, white sashing from RayStitch in Islington
Backing: Old duvet cover from my grandmother's house
Binding: Patty Sloniger "Les Amis" Star Pods in coral with scrappy top section made from off-cuts of all Les Amis coral fabrics
Batting: Cotton
Quilting: Machine quilted in offset squares (YLI machine quilting thread 40/3 in white), with randomly placed, hand-quilted hearts (YLI glazed cotton hand quilting thread in white)
Label: Sublime stitching "Kurt Halsey / Best Friends" embroidery pattern

The design couldn't really get much simpler - one big piece of fabric with some sashing. It's possibly the fastest quilt I've ever made; I managed to cut, piece, baste, and quilt it in a single afternoon (because what are you going to do while your sister is in labour - sit at home and quilt for your new niece, that's what!)

I hand-stitched the binding on the train on my way to see the little lady in hospital and then decided to spend a little more time making her a pretty quilt label. I'm really pleased with how this turned out (and really hoping her black hair isn't replaced by, say, blonde like her Mummy's, when it falls out)

Sublime stitching quilt label

I embroidered straight onto the finished quilt, which was a massive faff! I really struggled to bury my knots in the quilt sandwich and was really worried that it would all come undone. I've washed it twice now though and everything seems to be fine. The markings have almost all come out as well - a couple more washes and some baby vomit ought to do the trick.

I then decided that it was a bit too boring and decided to hand quilt some random hearts into the squares. There are about 12 of them in total.

Hand quilting: getting more consistent

My hand quilting is getting better - I can comfortably load 6 or 7 stitches and they're becoming more consistent in length. Now if only the back were as pretty as the front is.

Finally, here's a photo of the scrappy binding I made - it's actually the coral star pods fabric from the same fabric line as the quilt top on three sides of the quilt. The fourth edge has an insert of these scrappy offcuts I ended up with from the original quilt. While I really like this style (I trialled it on the Charity Auction baby quilt), I think it'll look better if I make my binding a bit wider. I think I'll try 3" or 3.5" double fold binding next time. What do you think?

Scrappy binding insert <3

Quilting love,
me x

Finally finished: Forest Friends Charity Baby Quilt

I've finally finished the first of the Forest Friends quilts. This little baby quilt will be donated to my company charity auction in aid of mind, the mental health charity and the British Red Cross.

I'm hoping that with all the recent new babies in the office it will raise lots of money for these two great causes.

Forest Friends @ the Tower

 
As it turns out, a week's worth of tube journeys is enough to bind a 42" x 42" (107 X 107cm) baby quilt. I couldn't resist a quick photo of the finished product when I hopped off the tube at the Tower today.

I used some of the thread from the sewing box I inherited from my grandmother to handstitch the binding. It's basically invisible, which pleases me greatly. I bought these really great needles in this handy-dandy case, probably about 10 years ago. At the time I wasn't really thinking about stitching on the go in particular but I can really recommend them - so useful!

Supplies for binding on the tube
John James needle "pebble" and vintage MEZ thread

When it came to binding I noticed that I'd screwed up while I was basting and the backing fabric wasn't quite centred, leaving a gap on one of the edges. I can't believe I didn't notice this earlier. At first I thought I could just about get the edge into the binding but in the end I bit the bullet and hand-stitched a extra 2" of backing fabric the the edge. So annoying!

All fixed: backing fabric issues

Here's another photo of the finished product - will probably use this one for the charity auction.

FINISHED! Forest Friends charity baby quilt

I'm currently debating what to do about a quilt label. I could go all out and make an embroidered one (I particularly like the idea of using this gorgeous sublime stitching owl pattern), but I'm not sure if I can be bothered. On the other hand, it might encourage people to bid more if I offer to embroider the baby's name on it. What do you think?

Onwards to more forest friends - next up: finishing up Tiny's quilt.

Lots of sewing love,
me x

Finally finished: Hidden Stars

It's finally finished!

I started this quilt as PhD write-up procrastination and now, two years after submission, it's finally done!

Hidden Stars: Done and dusted

Started: June 2013
Finished: October 2015
Size: Originally 135 x 135 cm now 190 x 190 cm (with sashing) 
Quilt top: Oak Leaves and Reel by Moda
Backing: Old duvet cover from my grandmother's house (pieced together as it wasn't quite big enough)
Binding: Dark red lining fabric
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom wool batting
Quilting: Machine quilted in the ditch and diagonals, borders in diamonds and stripes.
Label: Foundation pieced 8-pointed star, hand embroidered

I'm very pleased with how the quilt label turned out and so glad I took the time to make a proper one this time - it turns a rather boring, plain backing into something rather pretty, if I do say so myself.

Hidden Stars: Quilt back and label

I also really like the way the centre star is iridescent in the light. It's difficult to photograph but you can sort of see it on this photo:

Hidden Stars: shiny shiny star!

One last photo just because it was such a pretty day to go for a walk with a quilt:

Hidden Stars: Going for a walk in the park

I will endeavour to find some sunnier spots for photographs next time the sun is out on a weekend (might be a while then...)

Love, me x
P.S. I am linking up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts because I've finally got something 100% finished to show off :) :)