Sprout Blocks for Paintbox Quilt

Managed to get another batch of blocks done for Tori's Paintbox quilt. The deadline is looming ... September 16th is her 3rd Birthday and I want to get it done by then. I still have to sash each piece and I have ordered minimum of Kona White and Snow to see which one matches my colour scheme from Pink Chalk Fabrics.

If you have ever worked with the Kona brand of solids, you'll understand why I am going for the more expensive materials for Tori's quilt. Lovely quality, tight weave and it just triumphs all over the "homespun" that you normally purchase for patchworking.

The material for these blocks are an Australian designer, Sprout Designs. A bit on the expensive side but good quality printing and fabric, and so a "joy" to work with.

The Sprout toy bikes were easy to work with, evenly spaced and I have lots of fabric left over from a 25cm cut to do other things with. I matched this print with some Kona Indigo, nice and dark and almost black.

The Sprout Owls in a Row were a bit more fiddly, but I think that the blocks worked out well. Again, enough to make a pillow with from the minimum yardage that I purchased.

The giraffe's were a pain to do. The design was probably much too large for the Paintbox Blocks and I had to do lots of fussy cutting because the design is so large. Not sure I am happy with the block on the right .. but I will hang it up on my bookcase and look at it for a few days before I decide to un-stitch.

I'm thinking that when I get her quilt done, I might do a little mini-quilt from the Sprout fabric for the shop.

I purchased all my Sprout Design fabrics from the lovely ladies at Kelani Fabric (fast service!). And my Kona Solid Jelly Rolls originally came from the Fat Quarter shop ages ago!

I also managed to chase down a Kona Solids Color Card, so I am hoping that it arrives soon so that I can start to colour match some of the harder prints that I have for the Paintbox quilt.

Nearly there ... such a long project, but it is going to be so worthwhile to see her face on her birthday (crosses fingers that I get it done by then).

Paintbox Quilt Update

I decided to go with the current block design for the Paintbox Quilt. I spent far too long fiddling with colours from my Kona roll and the fabric I had, and then decided to take the advice of Elizabeth and go for monochrome prints. I think that they look better than what I started with, vibrant. I might not be able to use all the quilt fabric for Tori's birthday in this one, but it will look good and I have other ideas for a picnic blanket for her with the rest of the fabric.

The bat fabric is a Kokka Echino print from a few years back, I generally use this print to do baby shoes.

So I have done 5 sets or 10 blocks so far. The first one took me ages, until I found my rhythm. Now it takes me about 20 minutes to do 2 blocks, providing I don't get distracted! I am going to do the 32 colour Paintbox Quilt, with the new design ... so 5 colours down!

I do two blocks at the same time. Using two 2 1/2 inch strips I cut out 3 pattern and 2 block colour squares and then I sew them in tandem. Measure, Cut, Pin, Sew, Press, Trim if needed.

I work from the inside out and then with the left over pieces of fabric I quickly stitched them together and pressed them out so that perhaps I can make a mini-quilt from them one day.

I took the blocks along to my inlaws on Tuesday night and my daughter took a liking to the mini-blocks that I had done and spent ages sorting through them on the table and playing with them. I figure by the time the Single Bed Quilt is finished, I will have enough mini-blocks for either some matching cushions or perhaps a cot quilt for my shop.

More material for Tori's Paintbox Quilt

Tori's painbox quilt is progressing slowly ... the great thing about patchwork is that you get through the project one block at a time. I finally got around to making the blocks from the Sprout Design fabric that I got a while back.

Looking through all my blocks, I noted that I had a lot of generic patterns. And since Tori responded so well to the Sheep blocks, I thought I would buy some more Sprout fabric to fill in some of the gaps. I think I am about 10 sets of blocks off finishing enough to start sashing.

So I ordered more more fabric from one of my favourite online fabric stores Kelani Fabric from some of my favourite Aussie Designers, Sprout.

First, some Orange Toy Cars ...

Then some red Owls in a row ... we have lots of red blocks in the quilt, but one more won't hurt .. will it?

And some Toy Bikes ... again, we have two other navy blocks but this one I will sash in dark indigo fabric.

And some Giraffe's ...

Lots of fussy cutting required to make these designs work in the Paintbox Quilt, but I think that they will set it off quite well.

Have you made a paintbox quilt?

Paintbox Update

As of late, other projects have taken me away from Tori's Paintbox Quilt. But last night I managed to do 4 blocks. I shuddered at the thought of a brown block, but since it *is* a paintbox quilt, I need one!

The thing about patchwork, is that when you do it one block at a time, it doesn't seem so bad! I did these yellow ones a few weeks ago, but forgot to blog about them.

To make myself feel better I laid out all that I had done to see what colours I still needed to do.

Tori couldn't help herself, she wanted to be in the picture. She did help me lay out the coloured squares!

I have some lilac, hot pink and light green blocks to do and then we need to purposefully fill in the gaps rather than just using what I am finding in my stash. Getting there, one block at a time.

Paintbox update

I finally found a few minutes to sit down and make some more blocks for the Paintbox Quilt-a-long that I am meant to be doing. I am not quilting as much as I should be because I am busy doing writing and school stuff at the moment. My goal is to get it done by winter .. we are slowly edging towards winter and I am about 75% of the way through the "block phase".

I am WAY behind on where others are, but I will get there eventually! So here are my latest blocks, I love the colours (especially the middle one!) and I want to make a quilt full of these colours!

This is where I got the colours from .. look at these jelly strips! Aren't they gorgeous!

The colours come from the "Hello Betty Retro" collection from Chloe's Closet, a Moda Jelly roll. I recently got this jelly roll from Green Fairy Quilts, fast delivery, professionally packaged. Have you seen the Moda Bakehouse, a good quilting site to add to your RSS feeder.

Red for STOP, green for GO!

In a moment of reflection this afternoon I found myself sketching out the following quilt idea in my notebook. I haven't been into my sewing room in ages. School work and manuscript writing is gobbling up my time and energy. The closest I come at the moment is sketching a few ideas here and there.

But I know that in two weeks time, I have a "student non-attendance period" (school holidays) and I will have some time to tidy my room and hopefully complete a few projects. I am not looking forward to next week when I have two parent teacher nights in the one week. It is great to meet parents, but two 7am -9pm days in a row is quite taxing.

Anyway, inspired by both Ms Curlypops and my daughters current love for cars, I have been playing around in my head with an idea for a 4x4 9 block quilt (plus sashing) that would double as a play space for her cars and imagination. If you know me, you will know that the things that I make have to be functional ... Other ideas for playmats here and here!

Tori is currently playing with a few strips of black cotton drill for her "roads" and then she likes to "build a city" around her roads.

So the idea that has been kicking around is a basic quilt block construction, 16 blocks in total and then over the top of the different sections there might be a selection of things appliqued on; hotel, garden flowers and trees, houses and water waves. Then some complimentary sashing around the outside. With each square being 2 inches squared, the quilt should end up being 32 inches squared.

Still working out in my mind how to do the curved road, but I need it in there for the challenge! Not sure if I would put batting in it .. the function would definitely be as a play quilt rather than one for warmth, but I can imagine it being used in the back of the car as blanket on long drives.

But most importantly, there needs to be traffic lights, crossings and a round about. As Tori would say "Red for stop, green for go!".

I haven't done the calculations yet for the material that I need, but I suspect that I might use some of the left overs from her paintbox quilt and a dark grey for roads rather than a harsh black. Any opinions? Who would be interested in a quilt-a-long for this project?

On the quilting front. I have one baby quilt waiting for binding, two baby quilts waiting for stippling and Tori's Paintbox Quilt is slowly coming along. Her "big girl bed" arrives this weekend at long last, so I need to get on my bike and make sure that it is done for winter. I am hoping to get it professionally stippled when it is all finished.

Crochet Granny square a Day

Meet me at Mikes has thrown out the challenge to make a granny square a day. So here is my version! No pattern, just me and a crochet hook.


I used 8ply "sports support" from Spotlight. It is a 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic yarn with a Milward 4.00 crochet hook

My plan is to make a crochet version of the Oh Fransson Paintbox Quilt, but with crochet and a black background. Tori can snuggle up in the blanket while she watches Bear in the Big Blue House ...

Colour Wheel Quilts

I love quilts with lots of colour and I love seeing colour wheel quilts.

It goes with my whole practical angle on quilting. I guess that is why I love the concept of Oh Fransson's Paintbox Quilt or books like City Quilts.

Being house bound, found me searching for colour wheel quilts and I came across a few that I think are rather gorgeous!

Gorgeous Queen Size bed quilt by Knit Stitch Click. I love the way they have quilted this one with the radius of the colours.

Judy Villet has made this gorgeous Quilt called "Hue". Her homepage is here, but I got this image from the Common Threads Vancouver Web Site. The only thing that I don't like is that the stipling on the black is not darker.

Colour Wheel Ticker Tape Quilt by Flossieblossoms. This one looks like an idea stash buster. The colours are laid on with applique and I love the scrappy feel of it. The blog is gorgeous as well .. I have definately become a fan!

Not quite a colour wheel, but a colour palette quilt. I love the scrapy nature of this one and the fact that they used a $3 walmart sheet as backing.

via flickr

Have you attempted one of these colour wheel quilts?

I'd love to know how it turned out!

Re-covering a lamp Tutorial Part 1

For a while now I have been looking for a lamp for my daughters room. Something that fits in with the robot themed wall and paintbox quilt (yet to be finished). I thought that given that it was Christmas time, that there would be plenty to choose from in the shops. But the choices were limited and the prices ridiculous.

When I saw this lamp at Kmart, I knew that it was crying out for a "hack". The lamp is a 38cm Lotus Lamp, which cost me $11 AUD, bulbs were aout $2.

First thing that I did was trace the shape of the lamp. Laying it down and tracing and rolling it along some paper to give me the basic shape of the lamp. Allowing some space at the top and bottom to fold the fabric around the lamp. My measurements are not exact, drawn free-form.

Then we cut out the fabric for the lamp. Giving it a nice steam press and running a small 2cm strip of interfacing along the side that would be folded under to give it a bit of structure and strength. I chose not to interface the whole lot as I thought that the heat from the lamp might play havoc with it. I got the fabric from GJ's in East Brunswick. If you bought a fat quarter, it would cover this lamp shade.

Once we had cut the fabric, we sprayed it with low-tack quilters spray so that we could re-position it on the lamp face until there were no bubbles. Sewing pegs came in handy at this point.

I used adhesive glue to turn the top and bottom allowances into the lamp then held in place with pegs. The plan now is to use a hot glue gun to secure and some white bias binding to cover the raw edges of the fabric inside the lamp, however, my hot glue gun decided to kick the bucket :-(

So there will be an emergency trip to Spotlight tomorrow (dangerous I know) so that I can glue up and finish the lamp. Then I might make nice matching patchwork placemat to sit the lamp on for her bedside table.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Somewhere in the depths of my inbox, I came across the comment by MissyMaoMao on my Thea and Sami post ... I had won an award! Very excited my first ever!

The deal with this award is that you have to spread the love around!

To keep it growing I have to follow 7 rules:
1) Copy the pretty picture and post it on your blog.
2) Thank the person that gave it to you and 3) link to their blog.
4) Write 7 things about yourself we don't know.
5) Choose 7 other bloggers to pass the award to.
6) Link to those 7 other bloggers.
7) Notify your 7 bloggers.

So ...

7 Things about me you don't know

1. I can tap dance. Started when I was about 5 and did it through to when I was about 18 and then I tried unsuccessfully to return to it during Uni and then during my first few years of teaching. Every once in a while I pop on a vinyl record and tap away for a song or two ... If you want to see me tap, buy me a martini!
   
2. I was born in Scotland, UK and came to Australia when I was three .
3. About 7 years ago I took lessons to learn how to play the piano. I learnt a few songs, bought a second hand piano and every once in a while sit down and have a tinkle with the songs that I still remember.
4. I fear being underwater
5. I fear large crowds
6. I love salt and vinegar crisps (not chips but crisps)
   
7. I have a strange way of saying "film", blame my Scottish upbringing for that one.
   

Choose 7 Bloggers to give the award to and link to them

1. Elizabeth from Oh Fransson
   This blog I guess inspired me to get started on this journey of crafting and blogging. Her creations were just beautiful and inspiring. I spend hours going through and tracing her journey before deciding to start my business. I love her paintbox quilt and hope to make it for my daughter one day.
2. Rashida from I heart linen
   Another inspirational blog which fired me up and got me up off my butt and in front of the sewing machine. She has just released a new book and probably won't have time to read the email that I send her, but her work is just lovely.
   
3. Beky from Pivotal Xpressions
   She is just starting off on her crafty journey, but hey, look at what she has achieved in a very short amount of time. Every time I see her market stall I am in awe of what she has created.
   
4. Jennie from Mrs Beckinsale
   Another craftey WAHM that part of the Northside Makers crowd. Jennie has a very analytical way of looking at things and you can see from reading her blog that she goes about her craft in a very methodical way. What she produces is inspiring to others.
   
5. Jay from Finki Handmade
   Jay needs to blog more about what she does! I was fortunate to share stall space with her at the washed out Northcote Kris Kringle Market, so had some real-life time to get to know her a bit better.
   
6. Melanie from Kimono Reincarnate
   Melanie makes the most exquisite things with old Kimono's. Not only have I enjoyed reading about her creative process, but also reading about how she copes with it all being a Mum.
   
7. Karen from House of Wilson
   A newby to the blogging world but Karen has shared so much in her short amount of time. Years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to join her in a costuming adventure for the Australian Costumiers Guild Ball. We collectively submitted a range of costumes based on the "devil and the seven deadly sins". Karen does the most beautiful costuming work, creative and meticulous in execution. I am looking foward to seeing what Karen does with her blog and crafty energies.
   

Punctuation patchwork experiments

Remember this baby quilt top?

Yesterday I managed to get an hour to myself in my sewing room (while the jet setters were passed out) and I started to play around with using up the scraps from my Punctuation baby quilt top to construct some more blocks either for pillows or another quilt top.

Rather than a block of 4 x4 2.5 inch squares, I played around with including a 4.5 inch square white block in the middle. Yet again, I am cutting into my Kona Solid "snow" that I have put aside for my daughers neverending Paintbox Quilt.

I am still undecided as to whether to hand embroider letters or punctuation marks onto the white insides or applique them. The appliqued letters use up a 2.5 x 2.5 inch square, but for me, hand embroidery is sometimes much easier.

Quality Control officer Anastasia

I think they would make either yet another cute baby quilt top or some cute nursery cushions.What do you think?

Some time for me

Another crafty friend has organised a craft day today. What a lovely day for it. It has been ages since I have had a few hours of uninterrupted sewing time just for me. So what is on the to-do list?

Believe it or not, I have the final blocks for Tori's Paintbox Quilt to finish and then I have to lay it out and decide where the colours will be positioned. Best done in a room full of other crafters!

I've been chipping away at this project and it has probably taken far too long, but I am happy with the block choices and every few weeks I would come across another great monochromatic fabric that I wanted to include in her quilt.

I also have a great idea for some scrappy patchy monogrammed pillows for her bed from some gorgeous Jelly's that have been sitting for far too long on my shelf.

I have no expectations of achieving anything except sewing and chatting.

A Quilt for Tori

For my little girls Birthday, I asked people to bring along some material that I could make into a quilt for her when she got a bit older. Last night I started making something inspired by this beautiful Paintbox Quilt from Oh Fransson.


The idea is that every time I purchase another colour, I will get 25 cm of a matching fabric and make a block. This quilt uses lots of scraps and I have plenty floating around my sewing room at the moment

2010 My Year in Craft

Following on from the tradition of last year, here is my Year in Craft ..

1. In my twelve months of crafting, my crafty self made all these...

I ended up making way too many bags and I also started to make patchwork blankets which I thoroughly enjoy. I still haven't perhaps found the "killer product" that rewards me adequately for the effort but I will plod along creating and crafting!

2. If my year was a colour it would be...

It certainly started off a bit black, having suffered a miscarriage in December 2009 and all the baggage that goes along with that. But we are now happily looking forward to early February when we will celebrate the arrival of our second child into the world. So the colour now is definately a positive yellow!

3. This year I spent way too many craft hours...

The challenge with my year is that I didn't have as many craft hours as I had hoped for! Having signed up to do writing in mid 2009, I somehow managed to write three chapters of two textbooks while trying to run a house, take care of a toddler, teach part time and sew for a business.

Crafty things have probably suffered as a result of my writing and teaching throughout the year. I started Northside Makers with Jenni and Jay in 2009 with great ambitions to do lots of things. But as each of us pursued different opportunities, the spare time that we had used to run Northside Makers was quickly gobbled up. Perhaps in 2011 being on maternity leave, I can find some time again to pursue this project.

4. This year I wish I'd had more craft hours for...

I have too many ideas, I admit it. My ideas folder is overflowing and my sewing room is a reflection of this. I have lots of ideas for future projects to make my household a reflection of my craftiness, so hopefully I will have time for this.

5. My proudest craft moment of the year was...

The quilts that I have finished throughout the year for orders or personal presents. I have found fulfilment in creating something unique from scratch. I love the mathematical nature of quilts.

6. My biggest craft disaster was...

There was a few presents that I attempted when I was too tired or not focused, they are sitting in my "unpick" box ... never to be photographed, never to see the light of day ...

7. This year I had stalls at/visited this many markets...

I had stalls at many markets Made n Thornbury, Northside Makers, Craft Hatch, Goth and Punk Market and managed to visit many local and country markets along the way.

8. My most enjoyable market was...

The one with the most amount of fun was definately the Goth and Punk Market. How could it not be with The Resignators playing!

9. My best handmade purchase/present/swap/acquisition was...

My hubby got me a gorgeous Victoria Mason necklace for Christmas and a few weeks earlier I had a chance to talk to her about her creations. So the present is very special to me.

10. After this year I swear I'll never again...

I was going to write "take on too much", but I have already done that with baby/house/business already in the works. Hey, I would much rather be busy than bored!

11. Next year I'm determined to...

Finish my daughters Paintbox Quilt. I have been saying this for the last year and every once in a while I get some energy and spend a few hours and then I get bogged down in market preparation, teaching or writing. I have no teaching scheduled for 2011, no writing (except personal projects) and no markets scheduled until I get the baby thing under control. So I will make a large effort to get it finished.

12. But I'll probably do this instead...

I'll probably still be finishing it at the end of the year!

----

I wish you and your craft all the very best for the 2011.

Book shelf Quilt

Last night while watching Eurovision I was doing some top stitching on a quilt. It got me thinking about all the quilt projects I'd like to try.

In particular a book shelf quilt for our Library. A snuggly quilt that we can camp under on a cold night while reading a book

via Flickr

There are lots of variations on this design floating around the internet .. but essentially it is a variation on a stacked strip quilt quilt with some strategically placed colour. Lots of opportunity for some hand sewing and personalisation with the spines of the books.

via GardenWeb

Some people do these quilts in 2D others do them in 3D to make them stand out a bit more.

via Pats Pattering blog

I like the idea of including non-book things, so there will probably be a cat in my quilt, perhaps some pictures of my grand parents in frames (thanks to printable quilting cotton) and other ornaments. There are lots of examples of bookcase quilts once you start looking online!

This idea is of course, just a pipe dream. I haven't started buying fabric or plotting out the blocks, we first have to get the Library fully functional. I also have Tori's paintbox quilt to finish by September and then of course all the "works in progress" for my online shop.

Hello Betty .. I need ideas!

I got myself a Hello Betty Retro Jelly Roll and a layer stack a few weeks back and I have done some squares for Tori's Paintbox Quilt, but I want to use the rest of it to make lovely quilt of teal and rust colours.

So I have been crawling around the net during my work breaks looking at what everyone else has done ...

via TLC Stitches

I love the way this quilt does the whole zig zag stuff, although if I did it I would probably do some sashing around the outside of the quilt.

The back of the TLC quilt looks lovely, I love the way they have put the solid squares up the centre of the piece.

I love this table runner, the colours look great. Candice mentions in her flickr stream that she used a charm square pack for this project. Don't you love the way that she has eloquently used ric rac!

via daffodilhilltoo

Misocrafty on Flickr also has a great coin stack quilt on her photostream that looks great and was made from some honeybuns ...

This is a lovely "sampling" creation by on-cherry-sew. Perhaps I ought to consider one like this if I can't make up my mind!

via Gayatri"

Another gorgeous Zig Zag quilt. This blogger pointed me towards a web site which show you how to do a Zig Zag quilt without the pesky triangles ;-)

Does anyone in bloggy land have any other ideas? I have a jelly roll and a layer cake in these colours.