Lookie What I Found

Change is afoot in the House of Bella. More to come, but lets just say it involves a lot of packing and cleaning.

But in the meantime...

I dug up a snap lock bag of fabric deep in the recesses of my stash, and found all the off cuts from Swoon, already stitched into HSTs. What to make?? Perhaps a little quilt...

My little bit of Cuzco arrived and the binding is on the quilt; just awaits hand stitching. 

I caved in and bought the Ikea cart I was admiring; so cute with all my sewing supplies right at hand.

And for something a little cute...I found these toadies while out browsing in 'the country' yesterday. Not sure where they'll go yet but I love them.

Clearance: Central Park by Kate Spain

It's time to clear out the last of the gorgeous Central Park by Kate Spain. $12 per meter, you can buy all or some. Postage is $2 for 1m, $6.20 for 1-3m, and $10.55 after that.

From top to bottom:
1m zoo print
3.95m little flowers
2m violet print
5m yellow print

Nine-Patch Pin Cushions

I felt like I needed a little break from the endless straight-line quilting, so I dug out my bag of Central Park scraps from when I made Swoon and started cutting out lots of little squares. A bit of shuffling and I've got myself a cute little pile of 9-patch pin cushions.

I have another market coming up so I think these will make a welcome addition to my table. If only it wasn't so tempting to keep them all!

I'm slowly making progress on Hopscotch, but this quilt takes a serious number of lines!

I got an early delivery of Honey Honey and Noteworthy pre-cuts today; these lovelies weren't due until January.

 Now I think it might be time to go and bake a banana cake....

A Spoonful of Swoon

Done!

Now I just need to find my quilting mojo...

Swoon Blocks 8 & 9

Block 8; love the contrast of the blue and yellow.

Block 9: Lucky last! Was worried there wouldn't be enough contrast, but it has turned out way better than I expected.

Swoon Blocks 6 & 7

Block 6, a yellow and green combo (and that spot on the yellow near the top is just some water from the iron)




Block 7; purple and blue combo. That purple is my favourite fabric from the collection.

Swoon Block 5

Another day, another block. I really do love the purple & orange combo.




Seam-Pressing
Like a lot of patterns, Swoon doesn't have any instructions on how to press the seams. If you're an experienced quilter it's not too bad, but if your a bit of a newbie, it can be a bit daunting. These are my tips.

HSTs: For the blocks that are half colour/half white, press towards the coloured triangle. For the block that is colour 1/colour 2, press towards colour 2 (the colour of your centre star). That way your seams will go together nicely when you make the corner blocks (shown below).

This gives you an idea of how I pressed the seams, starting with the HSTs as described above. I tended to press the seams in the direction they wanted to fall which helps minimise bulk.

The other component is the unit made of of the flying geese and solid rectangle. No matter which way you press the seams, they don't fit with the corner units. So I found it easier to press them open. There is still enough bulk in the seam to allow the seams to butt up against each other fairly well, without being too bulky.

Swoon Blocks 3 & 4

Block 3; not such a striking contrast but I love it anyway.




Block 4...its so sunny!

Swoon Block 2

Another block, and I LOVE this one. I'm not usually a fan of orange but it's quite striking against the deep purple.

Do you think Bella could be any more of a sticky beak?

Swoon Block 1

Boy is this block bigger than I expected! Lots of seams, and no pressing directions, but it seems to go together pretty well.

And it looks like this is my 300th post! I see a giveaway in the future...

Colour

The bit I find hardest about quilting is choosing colour combinations, even within a line of fabric. Sometimes I think two fabrics will go together, I stitch them up, and it just doesn't work. It's hard to visualise how the fabrics will look in a particular block before you've seen it.

I'm trying to pick 18 Central Park fat quarters for Swoon, and I'm finding that I'm really drawn to the purples and blues, but not so much a fan of the greens.

This is the first combination I had, but thought it might be too much yellow.


I subbed out one of the yellows for a brown.



Thoughts? Is there too much or two little of any of the colours? Do the combinations work?


Update: my latest combination...I think this works a lot better.

Swoon

Who doesn't love Swoon? This quilt has been popping up all over the internet since the pattern was released...and it's next on my list. I've had a bundle of Central Park stashed away and I think this might just be the right combination.

Sugar Twist is all quilted up (with no thanks to my stubborn machine) and ready to be bound....the end is in sight!

A Walk in the Park

Plan C is all finished; quilted, bound and ready to use. Thanks for all the comments about the binding.

I've also finished the central block of the BOM. As yet I haven't decided if I'm quilting the red border or not...I'm open to your thoughts and suggestions.

I've quilted the first of the sashing; stipple for the green section, and a matching flower-type design in the centre of the stars. I'm leaving the star points unquilted.

I finally upgraded my camera yesterday; hopefully you can see the difference! The macro function is just amazing, particularly for taking pics of flowers.

Warming Up

It's been so long since I've done any quilting (as opposed to sewing), that I'm suprised I hadn't forgotten how! I've had the 2009 Mystery Bom sitting basted and waiting for ages, but haven't had the time until now.

So I did a little warming up, quilting my Central Park Plan C Schnibble. 30 mins and I was done! Though my Janome seems to be having a few speed issues...

I'm after suggestions for the binding too: I'm thinking either the purple dandelion print, or the blue and purple flower print...thoughts?

Update: I've chosen the blue and purple flowers. Photos coming soon!

Plan C in Central Park

A couple of afternoons and this little Schnibbles is done. I'm totally in love with the Central Park fabrics, and look forward to making a bigger quilt once I have a bit more free time.

A New Friend

I seem to have made myself a new friend lately, and while I sit at the dining table sewing, the juvenile Magpie sits on our outdoor table and sings for me.

I've finally found a little time to do some sewing for myself; between uni and market stuff, there has been very little of that lately. But with only one day of uni left before the Easter break, I've got a little more free time and I'm making the most of it!

The Plan C schnibbles has been on my mind for a while, as has Central Park...the perfect project to work on in my spare time.