Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle competition

I'm slowly starting to visit my favourite blogs again and I found something I just cannot miss.
You will find all the details at Laura's blog - Quokka Quilts, I'll just tell you that in order to enter the competition you need to make your own dream bundle (12 prints and 3 solids) choosing from the heaps of fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop.
It was a hard choice but lots of fun, too. And it's going to be useful as well, since I really needed to choose fabric for one of the quilts I'm planning to start.
Here's what I ended up with:

1. Puttin' on the Ritz Pink Baby's Breath Yardage SKU# 2807-50
2. Michael Miller Orchid Cotton Couture Solid Yardage SKU# SC5333-ORCH-D
3. Garden Party Brown Vine Stripe Yardage SKU# 5371-N
4. Oval Elements Key Lime Yardage SKU# OE-909
5. Lily & Will Pink and Brown Swirls Yardage SKU# 2808-18
6. Domestic Bliss Pink with Cream Beaded Curtain Yardage SKU# 18077-18
7. Bespoken Orchid Jacquard Yardage SKU# BE-7102
8. Kona Cotton Taupe Yardage SKU# K001-1371
9. Meadow Friends Cotton Grass Green and Girl Curly Swirls Yardage SKU# 19484-14
10. Lily & Will Pink Babies Breath Yardage SKU# 2807-11
11. Indian Summer Cream Tiny Daisies Yardage SKU# C2616-CREAM
12. Oval Elements Crocus Yardage SKU# OE-908
13. Lily & Will Brown Cottontail Toile Yardage SKU# 2802-14
14. Kona Cotton Zucchini Yardage SKU# K001-354
15. Floral Collection Rococo and Sweet Rose Damask Yardage SKU# 30225-30

Can't wait to see your choices.

P.S. Just rearranging the fabric squares to get a better feeling how they work together:

"I ate'nt dead"

(as you could read on Granny Weatherwax's notice - sorry, I couldn't help myself)

I'm sorry I'm late with Christmas greetings but I hope you've had a wonderful Chistmas.

December is always quite hectic at work (and catching a bad cold doesn't help) so this was one of the reasons for my absence.The second one was much more pleasant - a secret Christmas project.
It was a close call but I managed to finish it just in time to put it under the Chistmas tree.
So let me show you my sister's Christmas quilt:

(fragment of the back - photo courtesy of my sister)

Actually the secret part was the timing - my sister expected this quilt in May or June. Seeing her joy when she received it now was one of the best Christmas presents I got.
As you can see my sister is a great fan of French General and the choice of fabric is mainly hers, I just helped to narrow it down a bit. She also took an active part in choosing the design, sending me links to quilts she liked and approving (or discarding) the layouts - it was fun. In the end it came out quite similar to these twin quilts by Bec of Chasing Cottons although the only part of the quilt I intentionally applied to my design was the pieced border.

permission granted

so I can show you the little quilt even though it's still here.

Ready to go:

the top:

and the back:

Mam nadzieję, że się Wam spodoba.

November round-up

It's been rather quiet here, with me sewing things I cannot share yet.
But I miss sharing my projects with you, so let me at least show you my November mosaic.
I probably have said it before, but one of the things I like about sewing is that it's still full of "firsts" to me and so the mosaic contains some of them, too.
I'm linking this to:

and I'm off to see your entries.

One secret revealed

Now, as it has reached its new home, I can finally show you:

the scrappy pillowcat.

Another secret (without sneak peeks this time) to be revealed this weekend if everything goes well.

of geese and kites

This was fun:

If you want to see all the 18 (plus 2) block from the Skill Builder Sampler, they're here.
We're half way through and I'm looking forward to the second half.

As for the kites - maybe we should keep them as a curtain?

(it's still going to be a quilt, but I like the stained glass effect)

Today's WIPs and a sneak peek

I'm hoping for a long day with my autumn wonky kites and a circle of geese for Skill Builder Sampler:

As you can see I've just started pulling out scraps for the geese. I still have to decide whether to make them totally scrappy or in just three fabrics plus background.

As for the kites, with the help of my design...ehke... bed I decided on a layout, snapped a photo and stacked each column separately with a label on top. I hope I won't get lost in the middle of sewing all the blocks together, especially that I want to chain piece them.
Do you know any tricks on how to keep track of the layout?

And I'm leaving you with a sneak peek of something I finally made and will hopefully post on Monday :)

Starry Night in Minnesota

I really like how the Starry Night turned out but the Minnesota block is rather wobbly.

And my prize from Lynne's giveaway has just arrived, I can't wait to try it out.

ta-da

So I've sewn myself a skirt:

I still can hardly believe it, but actually it was quite easy with Anna's explanations and hints and photos:

As the fabric is thick flannel, it was a bit harder to gather the skirt and so my gathers are rather less then perfect but I don't mind.
I'm quite proud of the hidden zipper:

(not so proud of forgeting to match the pieces of the skirt back. I had a narrower piece of fabric and had to place the pattern pieces in a different way than indicated in the pattern, so I should have checked it)

Anyway, it enjoyed sewing the skirt and I've learned a lot and I want more.

On my table this evening

Just arrived, guess who is going to be happy.

And a result of Anna's sew-a-long Day 2:


If it works (and if I don't look too awful in it) I have a piece of olive corduroy...

A lot of firsts

First of all, this is the first time I'm joining:

The quilt I want to show you is my freshly finished Australian quilt:

Here are some reasons the quilt is special to me:

• I got the Aboriginal prints from my Australian cousin, who is a quilter and whose quilts were the first quilts I'd ever seen, and whose quilts still remain the only quilts I've seen "live" (apart from those I've made, obviously).
• The design is mine - I know it is very simple but I'm still very happy with it.
(I like the little runaway square)

(And here is a fragment of the back)

• It's the first time I used white fabric in a quilt and I like the crisp feeling it created (I'v taken the photos in warm morning light, so I'm afraid they don't show it so well)
• We're keeping it and it's actually big enough to cover our entire bed

And I learned that if I really want to I can quite successfully baste a quilt in a space that can fit only about 2/3 of it, although I wouldn't really recommend it.

It's the last picture (I promise) and I'm off to admire all the beautiful festival entries.

SBS - caught up finally

I've been rather behind with block 13, i.e. crazy quilt block, but it's finally ready.

Not too crazy, I'm afraid, but still fun to make. I even tried one fancy stitch along some pieces, but since it's in cream thread it's hard to see it.

And let me show you the last three block together:

Winter stitching list

A bit too late to join, but still intended to have been a list for:

I'm afraid my winter stitching list is just long enough for some of the projects to become summer stitching projects, still, here it is:
1. Finish the Australian quilt (actually I hope to be able to do it this week, keep your fingers crossed for me).
2. Sew my first ever skirt (just couldn't pass this sew-a-long).
2. Make lots of 241 totes as gifts my friends.
3. Make mugrug for Quokka Quilts Mug Rugs of the world - if I manage to think up something with a Polish theme.
4. Prepare more blocks for the wonky kites quilt (just waiting for more grey fabric to arrive) and of course make the quilt.
5. Make the red/pink/brown diamonds picnic blanket/smaller quilt with the ex-hexies from Lynz.
6. Make a baby quilt for our friends' little boy (I think I've chosen the fabrics, hope they will become available soon).
7. Make a new quilt for my sister - this time with the fabrics she's chosen and the design we've chosen together ;)
8. Make a quilt for my little sister's wedding (she's my cousin really, but I hope she won't mind me calling her little sister ;)

(To be updated with some pictures)

a quick peek

almost halfway through

just to let you know

The first tutorial is ready, you can find it through the tutorials page just below the blog title, or simply click here.

It's my very first, so I'd appreciate your honest opinion - whether it's clear enough, what to add or not to include in future ones. It would be a great help.

It might be quiet, but...

... I'm actually sewing, cutting and planning for lots of different projects (yay to a week off)
Here are some of the results so far:
- two new pillowcats
 

(I think I need to improve the design next time, but they are quite funny at least)

- SBS block 15 - Diamond Dash

(I still need to make block 14 which is a crazy quilt block, but I'm afraid it's going to be a not-so-crazy version with just cotton and not too many crazy stitches)

- some more triangles for my pink/red/brown ex-hexies diamond blanket

just playing around with possible layouts; there's going to be some more solid cream and brown diamonds (and yes, I know my rug is not the best of desing walls)

- blocks for the back of my Australian quilt

one finished, four to go


- phone cozy tutorial (in progress)
(no photo here, but if you are interested please check my tutorials page tomorrow evening now).

Not so bad, don't you think?

why I am jumping with joy today

Some time ago we agreed with Leanne on a swap, and yesterday evening I received these lovely coasters:

I just love this colour combination. If you want to read some more about it, check out Leanne's blog, especially here and here.
And can you see that the lovely card I got is a perfect match, too?
No wonder I think I got the best deal - thank you so much Leanne.

And if you want to see what I sent Leanne, here it is:

Scrap Republic Blog Tour Winner

Well, one of the winners of course, but a very nice surprise it is.
Anyway, I won this great pattern.

another beginning

Do you know this kind of days when you don't really feel like finishing even the most exciting WIPs?
It's been this kind of day for me today.
So instead of shortening my WIP list (and I assure you I'm really excited about every single project on the list) I've just made it longer with this:

This is going to be my version of Film in the Fridge kites in the clouds quilt (actually more similar to Teaginny's wonky kites).
Ashley from FITF posted a great tutorial on making the blocks here, but I made them more like you make flying geese, so that I could use the grey corners too:

Yes, they are mainly "kites" not squares but unless I change my mind I'd like to use them without trimming them down.
The little "kites" and the 12 blocks are how far I could go with just one yard of grey fabric (Kona Coal actually), more needs to be ordered as soon as possible.

Note to self: learn how to take photos of grey fabric so that it looks grey.

crazy?

I've looked at various pouch tutorials and then came up with a combination of them all to create something that would have a flap, boxed corners, lining, an inside pocket, and would be made using quilt-as-you-go method:

I still need to find a place selling magnetic snaps, so it's velcro in the meantime. Very crazy I know, but fun to make.

P.S. (Thank you Sarah and Diane) tutorial coming, not very soon, but quite soon, I hope.
P.P.S. Would you prefer a tutorial sooner but with drawings, or later but with photos?

Saturday sewing

Well, just a bit of sewing, but so enjoyable.
Some finishing touches on 241 tote (take 2):

(inside out to show you my only addition to the pattern - the pocket flap)
I like this pattern so much that I'm going to sew some more for presents this year :)

And I'll leave you with the SBS block 13 - another fun one to make:

Slightly unbalanced

Catching up with the SBS blocks again.
You've already seen the Ohio Star.

I like how the Beacon Light turned out. It could have been a bit more wild but I followed the advice of the wise and made the "points" from regular fabric (my blocks are 9" not 12" so it might have been a bit tricky to sew the with the "made" fabric).

And the Improv Trees are slightly unbalanced.

phone sewing

Guess who asked me to sew something for him. And he practically designed it, too.
I still need to figure out a general way of calculating the size, to be able to sew without a phone. (I didn't really measure the first one and came out rather narrow, but it fits my work phone perfectly).

Anyway, the idea is that you pull the strap and the phone slides out (magic, isn't it?)

And to do it, you attach the strap inside the cozy on one side, sew a loop on the other side (also inside) and thread the strap through the loop. This prevents the strap from sliding out of the cozy completely while allowing it to lift the phone out of the cozy.

The cozies are already in use and work quite nicely, although a wider strap (and a bigger piece of velcro) for the wider cozy would work even better.