FINISHED! September Block Swap

have a mentioned that I LOVE being in this block swap!!!!  so much fun!  click on the link in the side bar to join up - US and Canada residents now welcomed :)

this month i had the lovely Irene and Alicia to swap with as the group is growing so fast!  awesome!

Irene requested any block in autumn colours and so I made this "On the Oregon Trail" block

Alicia asked for any block in any colour - wow, talk about freedom!  it made it a bit harder to choose!  but i found some fabric in my stash that i had forgotten about but loved, and so thought i would use that.  i made a "Chinese Puzzle" block...

but it is not good enough to send.  the photo actually does it too much credit!  it doesn't sit flat, the corners look terrible once i squared the block up and the points don't match.  as they say on Top Gear - ambitious, but rubbish.

so take 2, and i tried a "Magic Cross" block using the same material...

which i am much happier with!  so that will go in the post to Alicia tomorrow!

can't wait to see the blocks in return - have seen Alicia's on her blog (see my side bar) but have to wait for it to make the long journey from the US!  will share with you when it arrives!

pugs and kisses
xx

project "let's get to the bottom of this 1/4" thing"

a clumsy title, but accurate - unlike my piecing!

so possible issues that could be leading to my problems....
1. my 1/4" foot is not true

2. my rulers for rotary cutting are not true







3. there is a problem with the patterns at the website

4. i am crap at piecing

item number 3 seems to be not the case - the lovely Alex had a look at the maths and says it looks good for a 12" block. so.....

1. my 1/4" foot is not true

2. my rulers for rotary cutting are not true

3. there is a problem with the patterns at the website 

4. i am crap at piecing

first things first, tape measure onto the rulers, and the mat - they are all the same.  and i figure it can't be this, or that i am totally rubbish at cutting, otherwise none of my edges would ever match up..... so......

1. my 1/4" foot is not true

2. my rulers for rotary cutting are not true

3. there is a problem with the patterns at the website 

4. i am crap at piecing

a quick measure of my 1/4" foot has a devestating result.....

it's WAY bigger than 1/4"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  what's that about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so im quite sad.....i loved that foot - he was awesome.

so a big WHEW! that point 4 wasn't the case :)  thanks for the comments about inaccurate machine feet and measurements etc.  who would have thought that those extra little bits could throw a block out by a whole 1/2"!

so i put the regular foot on, and used the 1/4" mark on the throat plate (which seemed to measure 1/4" on my tape measure too).  and remade the Chain block that i made for Paola, but in scraps

and would you look at that!  it measures 12.5"!!! yay!!

im so sorry to Marcia at the Quilter's Cache for even SUGGESTING that it could have been anyone's problem other than mine!!!

i guess we are at the bottom of this 1/4" thing - Mr. 1/4" foot is in the bin :(

pugs and kisses
xx

p.s. if anyone wants the above block, just let me know! its ready to be posted :)

ummmm finished? August Block Swap II

ok, now for the not so good bit :) (see last post).

because the Quilting Block Swap Australia is growing and growing - join up at Sue's blog - http://quiltingblockswapsaustralia.blogspot.com/ - or by clicking on the button on the right of this blog - some of us lucky people get to do 2 blocks a month for a new member.  this is another good bit, not the not so good bit :)

the not so good bit is below

this is paola's block - she requested any block in country colours - dark reds, greens, blues, yellows and beige.  and this is what i had a go at - a chain block.  i think it looks ok, took me a bit of fiddling to get the points all to match, and all is well.............until..................i measure it up - and find it is 12" now!  argh!  just like cathy's block!!!!

so, i am well and truly frustrated.  not sure if it is a problem with the block sizes at Quilter's Cache as this was a 12" one too - and according to lovely operator of the site Marcia they should be 12.5".  and the first one i did was 12.5".  so not sure if it is me (i don't think i could be a whole .5" out from piecing? but i could be!!!!) or if it is the site.

and anyway, i have NO IDEA how to draft patterns to size myself or even read a pattern and do the calculations to what the size should turn out to be!  so i am not throwing stones at all - i know i live in a glass house!!!!!

so, solution - i am going to make another block for Paola, this one in fact.  this site reckon that it should 12.5" when it is done.....so if it turns out 12" then we will know it is me!  if it turns out 12.5" then ill breathe a small sigh of satisfaction.  :)

ill let you know!!  so paola - sorry!  ill still post you this one - maybe you can use it somewhere else.....or join a 11.5" swap ;)

pugs and kisses
xx

henry's praying bear

the other thing i worked on yesterday in my crafty afternoon was my friend's baby (Henry) present for his upcoming baptism.
they are a catholic family and so i thought a praying bear might be a good idea.
i already had the pattern as i had made the larger dog bear before.

i thought this time i would try the little bear in red

but, as per usual with me trying new things, i was (as they say on Top Gear), ambitious, but rubbish

perhaps not rubbish, but if it wasn't a gift, i would have thrown it out many times throughout the process.  :)  it is drafted like a real dressmakers pattern, which i have no patience with at all!  i want to create something, not trace the pattern, transfer the 1000's of markings, match notches and dots etc.  but of course, if you kind of just wing it, then things go horribly wrong.  so many seams unpicked, i had to resew on both arms and both legs when i realised later on that i had them on the wrong sides, somehow got the whole front muzzle bit wrong and had to redo.  luckily for me the hat will hide a multitude of sins!

on top of this, my sewing machine packed up on the first day i was working on it last week, probably because i was forcing the fabric through the machine to get it over lumps and bumps that weren't fitting.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, but a trip to my trusty LQS that isn't actually my LQS fixed it all up, ready for me to mash again yesterday.

but nearly finished now, just have to stuff him and embroider the hands into a praying position.....will post photos when finished.  i was going to take some of the process, but man o man was i annoyed.  and photos showing me unpicking the seam AGAIN aren't that interesting - he he!

pugs and kisses
xx

FINISHED! Marley's quilt

whew! got marley's quilt finished before her thanksgiving service this sunday

i had an absolute DISASTER of a time quilting the thing - if it wasn't a gift that i needed on sunday i think i would have thrown it away!

the thoughts i had on how it would look didn't really work out. i thought i would use the decorative stitches on my new machine to do some lines through the strips of material to follow the horizontal form of the quilt.

but the thread i used (varigated yellow guterman thread) kept breaking EVERY TWO SECONDS! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. so i ended up using straight stitch, a wavy stitch and a zigzag stitch for most of it. the gold ribbon that is on the front (and on the back by the way!) is on there because one of the decorative stitches got so kerfuffled that i had to stop. i then couldn't get it unpicked because it was so densely stitched on top of its self. so a cover up was all i could do......but i think it covered it up ok :) hopefully the recipient will never know :)

pugs and kisses
xx