Remember this?

This is my blue and white Kaleidoscope quilt which I started during Don't Call Me Betsy's QAL in Summer 2011.

Admittedly, for various reasons, it took me until late Spring 2012 to finish this one but it's one of my very favourite quilts ever.

I've gone and entered it in the Quilting Gallery's Show and Tell for two colour quilts this week.  So, if you fancied voting for it you might just hop on over there ....  If you do, you will need to scroll quite a way down the post to find the thumbnail photos of the entries and then a little bit further down again is the voting list.

Thanks for your votes last time for the Sweet Sixteen Disappearing 9 Patch quilt in the Teen Quilts Show and Tell.  It wasn't a rip-roaring success (bottom 25% placement) but it was fun to see all the entries and have a go!

Photo Finish

I love it when I unexpectedly find some time for stitching!  It did look as though this week would be another bleak stitchless week, but courtesy of staying up late, I have two quilt finishes to show you tonight.

Firstly, I have at long last finished my Kaleidoscope quilt from last summer's QAL with Don't Call Me Betsy.  In spite of resurrecting this quilt from the UFO pile a couple of weeks ago I did have visions of her returning there, but she is a UFO no more, not even a WIP, and I love her!

Look at the quilted crinkly loveliness!

Next up is a special Bee Blessed quilt that I stitched up at Easter from a charm pack and fabrics kindly donated to Bee Blessed.

Crazy life took over for a bit, and throw in a lost fabric order, and I didn't quite get around to finishing this one up.  Last night I took the bull by the horns though and decided to piece a back together because Bee have identified a young man as the recipient of this quilt and we would like to gift it to him sooner rather than later.

Pieced back.

Generally speaking, I have avoided piecing backings at all costs and this one is actually a first for me.  I think it looks quite well, but it is a doozie trying to keep everything straight both on the top and on the back.  That bit I didn't enjoy, but the rest of this quilt I have loved making and it's nice to know it's going to a good home.  Hopefully the recipient won't inspect it with a spirit level, and just enjoy the comfort it is intended to bring.

Quilting close up.

Kaleidoscope Resurgence

There is more than one UFO in my sewing room but thankfully as of last weekend there is now one fewer to count.   It's not completed yet, but it has been promoted from UFO to WIP.

Last Summer I joined the Kaleidoscope Quilt-A-Long on Don't Call Me Betsy's blog and promptly cut what seemed like a zillion pieces only to discover that I had printer issues with the templates and my zillion pieces did not fit together as they should (all my fault not the QAL's).  Determined not to abandon all hope, I rescaled a Kaleidoscope block paper piecing pattern to allow me to make use of my ready cut pieces.  Eh voila, one Kaleidoscope top.

Then, throw into the mix one surgery and long recuperation and sadly said top ended up neatly folded on a shelf awaiting her turn for attention after the Christmas pressie fest and subsequent retirement quilt, gift quilt and Bee Blessed activities that have been keeping me busy.  But, as of Saturday morning she has had to wait no more.

I picked up my quilting plan

which thankfully I had already decided on(am generally a bit useless at deciding how to quilt), loaded up some bobbins and got to work.

I'd love to tell you that all my lines are straight and that this was a breeze.  But I won't lie on either count.  This is the biggest quilt I've ever quilted and, even though it's not that big (approx 50" x 60") to some of you more experienced lovelies, I can honestly say that this one nearly beat me.  Not sure if the problem was just the size or if it was the design.  Manoeuvring this much quilt through the machine and switching the angle every 10" was almost overwhelming.  But sheer stubbornness and brute force finished this baby -

You can see the quilt design better on the reverse.   Not perfectly straight but not so awful really.

I need a rest (and new shoulders too) to regain the energy to bind this one, but she's nearly done. Woohoo!

And, for the record this quilt will be mine - mainly because I have always wanted a blue and white quilt, but also because although I enjoyed the Kaleidoscope quilt-a-long I will probably never feel inclined to make another full kaleidoscope again!

Zips and a Tin Hat

This weekend had a lot of zips in it.  Some better than others it must be admitted, but these are the fruits of my labour -

pencil cases

coin purses and

cosmetic purses.

All these little bits join my other recent makes and will hopefully make themselves useful in a Bee Blessed fundraising bid later in June.

Feeling the need for some crochet fun this weekend too, I stitched up this 'tin hat' with a view to giving Bertie a makeover.

Much as I love Bertie, I want to smarten up his tin for the sewing room shelves.  Hope to finish his revamp soon.

And also this weekend, my Kaleidoscope quilt (pieced last summer)

has officially moved out of the UFO category and back into WIPs - more on that during the week.


Hope your weekend had some stitchy goodness too!

Kaleidoscope Progress

Those of you who have borne with my Kaleidoscope drama will know that my progress is way behind on this quilt, but you will also appreciate that I am delighted to make it this far, given that at one stage I wasn't sure if it was redeemable.

After spending some time crawling around the living room floor (my poor knees) I finally positioned all the blocks so that no fabrics were matched to themselves.  This was a bit trickier than I anticipated, but I think I managed it (bit late now if I've missed one).

Laying this out was a bit of a surprise. All sorted and laid neatly on the floor it began to look a little overwhelming as it's quite a bit larger than any of my previous quilts.  Anyway, onwards ....

I pieced the blocks together and now I have a fab blue and white quilt top!  Woohoo me!

Hanging sideways to avoid trailing in the wet grass.

I just added this pic because I liked how it billowed in the wind.

I am delighted that my quilt top actually looks like it's supposed to.  It's even possible to catch a glimpse of that secondary circular pattern that you're supposed to get with the kaleidoscope design.

I would be lying if I tried to tell you that all my seams and points matched up perfectly but adopting the "blind man on a galloping horse wouldn't see it" approach, I'm actually very happy with the outcome.  I am a little anxious about how I'm going to manage the quilting on this bigger piece than I'm used to, but chuffed that it looks good at this stage.

Post Hols Hello!

Hello again!  Just got back from two lovely weeks holidays in the Lake District where it felt like going cold turkey with no access to blogland!

Me and my Bean at Sizergh Castle.

All ready for his big climb!

Stunning view from top of Helvellyn which the boys climbed while I sewed!

I am beginning to realise that I have a problem.  These two -

were taking bets on the return ferry yesterday afternoon as to how long it would be from arriving home until I turned on the Mac to check out the blogs again!!  What started in December as a tiny toe in the water of blogging has somehow, without me really noticing, become a big part of my week - that's a bit crazy really!

Probably a good thing then that I took the sewing machine on hols as I'm not sure what state I'd have been in if I'd had to survive two weeks with no internet AND no sewing machine!  So, on the rainier days or just in the peace and quiet created when the men in my life went to be adventurous in the great outdoors, I did manage to catch up on some sewing that had gotten a bit behind.

I stitched away happily in the evenings at Little Miss Shabby's Birdie Stitches.  The pics all have a slight blue sheen to the embroidery because I haven't just gotten around to washing out the transfer pen yet - sorry about that.  So here they are ...

April

May

June - redrafted from the original a little

July - redrafted from original 4th of July design

August

And, I spent a LONG time beavering away on the kaleidoscope blocks which you may recall I messed up and then have had to re-work by paper piecing in order to make the most of the 360 pieces of fabric I had already cut (wrongly).  I wish I could say it was fun and relaxing, but it wasn't.  The kaleidoscope blocks and I developed a hate-hate relationship.  Suffice it to say, I reached a point of frustration where I had to decide that I was either going to stop and never EVER touch them again in my lifetime or I had to just plough on through the hatred to get them done.  I ploughed on and they are done and maybe, in a few weeks time when I come to sew the blocks together I will actually like and appreciate them, but the wounds are still a bit too raw!  (Melodramatic enough for you?)

There are 30 blocks in all
but that was too many to lay out for this photo.

I also worked a little on my hexagon quilt (no pics as it doesn't look much different from last pics).  I started this quilt top in the Lake District last summer and it was the project and the holiday which made me decide I needed to find more time for sewing in my life.  I think looking back over the past year I can certainly say I've done that (and more).  There are some practical changes about to impact our work and home life routines around here and I'm not sure how much time I will find for my sewing this coming year, but perhaps now that this hobby is part of the fabric (apols for the pun) of my life, I'll at least be able to create a little space for it and benefit from the therapy it provides amid the chaos!

Good to be back and looking forward to catching up with everybody else's blogs soon.

Kaleidoscope Recovery

I'm happy to report that with a little patience I think I will be able to rescue my kaleidoscope blocks.  Yippee! Doesn't this little block look much happier than the travesty I posted yesterday?

It's not going to be the speediest recovery but I am so delighted that all is not lost.  And, since it's just for me there's no big deadline for this quilt anyway.

Kaleidoscope QAL - oops

It's definitely exciting and inspirational to watch all the beautiful kaleidoscope quilt tops popping up on the flickr group for Don't Call Me Betsy's QAL.  So in my excitement to keep up (now that I had finally caught up a little) I started putting together those lovely kites I had assembled last weekend.  Remember them?

Well, happily assembling away, I was impatient to see one finished block and so instead of being a good little chain piecer I made four quarters into two half blocks and then lined them up to stitch into one block.  Uh oh!

Not looking good!

In a futile attempt at denial (it will be okay, it will be okay!) I tried to join those two half blocks - yikes!  I couldn't even take a photo it was so depressing.

In the vain hope that this problem would only occur with one set of pieces, I tried another four quarters to two halves only to find the same kind of discrepancy!  What on earth had I done?  I retraced my steps - yes all the seams are scant 1/4", all the pieces are cut to size of templates, template is 6.5" tall - what else?  With a little prompt from a friend I checked the template for symmetry - no, not symmetrical at all! How did I miss this?  I read all the posts about checking the scaling on the pdf templates, measuring the height of the template to make sure it was right etc, etc.  Why on earth didn't I think to check whether the thing was symmetrical? I could have cried.  Clearly the issue is mine (or my printer's) as Elizabeth's great instructions and templates are working for so many others.  Do I feel like a dummy or what?

Anyway, after an afternoon of despair, I decided not to give up hope and definitely not to let all my precious blue & whites go to waste.  So now I'm in the process of adapting a foundation pattern for a kaleidoscope block and making it large enough to make the most of the fabric pieces I have already cut.  Yes, the overall block size (and consequently quilt size) will drop a bit but that's much better than wasting all that effort and fabric.  Wish me luck as I start to unpick all those pieces and then foundation piece them back together!  I guess in essence I'm now departing from Elizabeth's fun QAL in order to rescue my quilt, but fingers crossed I'll still have a kaleidoscope top at the end of it all!

Notes to self:  when using pdf templates check, check and treble check everything is exactly as it should be before cutting 360 pieces of gorgeous fabrics AND always make a practice block first to check that I've got it right!

PS If you stuck with this whinge right 'til the end you are truly a dedicated reader of this blog and I thank you for your fortitude and perseverance!  Hope to have more joyful news next time I blog about this quilt.

Kaleidoscope QAL - catching up

I've been playing catch up today on Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope QAL which I joined and duly fell ill and therefore was unable even to make a start.  But after a big effort today, I'm on the way to being (almost) on track for the next set of instructions coming this Thursday.

First off there were 120 HSTs and 240 kaleidoscope triangles to cut -

Phew! that was a lot of cutting.

Then, I tried to pair up the HSTs with the kaleidoscope "arms" so they would  be in keeping with the pattern I'd designed for my Kaleidoscope.

Draft of my pattern - mixing darker blues with lighter.

Lights and darks paired alternately.

 Next came the biggest chain I've ever pieced - 120 joined pairs!

It just kept going and going.

Joined and pressed - these look like little kites to me!

 And finally some laying out to try to keep the values of my design correct for the final blocks.

It's all coming together, though I must admit to a little trepidation as I started to join the solid triangles to the blue kites and I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to lose a few points in the final make-up.  Might just have to live with them on this occasion though.

Kaleidoscope QAL - fabric selection

Well, I've scrutinised my stash (didn't take long as it's more a pile than a true stash) and chosen these for the Kaleidoscope QAL.

Makower - Blue Danube (and one or two extras)

I had been saving these fqs for a mini version of Dear Jane, but alas that plan has bitten the dust (for now at least).  And, while I had hoped I might be able to gather enough more modern fabrics for the Kaleidoscope and keep these for a more classic sampler type project, there just wasn't the scope in my little stash.  So, here they are all waiting for the kick off.  I'm sure they'll be lovely with a wee bit of kona snow and I'll have my blue and white quilt a bit sooner than I would if I were waiting on making the Dear Jane.  So off to the cutting table ...

Kaleidoscope Quilt A Long

I spotted Elizabeth's Kaleidoscope Quilt A Long on her blog a few days ago and have been valiantly trying to pretend I didn't.

But I'm afraid I did see it, and now, encouraged by my quilty partner-in-crime Judith, I am exercising absolutely no will power at all and am signing up for what I'm sure will be a fantastic and fun experience.  I shall now spend the next week justifying this sign up in the face of everything else that's going on as something I really do need to do as parting of the learning curve - lol!

If you fancy having a go check out Elizabeth's blog and sign up there and to the flickr group.  Things have kicked off but the first cutting instructions will be posted on 23 June so there's still time to talk yourself and a few friends into the fun!