slow coming spring - forest QAL

My forest blocks are growing as slowly as the spring was coming this year, so Julka's name for the most recent block in the forest QAL seems doubly fitting.
Still, the spring is here, and so is at least this block:

My plan now is to sew first the blocks that fit best the idea of a quilt I'm planning to sew with the forest blocks, but then my sewing plans are often changing  evolving.

aspen grove - forest QAL

Yesterday I finally managed to sew the aspen grove block, which is block 3 of the forest QAL.
It's not very hard to sew, it just has lots of pieces. Naturally, it's taken me a long time to put together - I'm a rather slow sewer (gosh, it looks wrong - sewist? seamstress? /for those reading Pratchett - no, not that kind of seamstress/)
But it was quite relaxing and enjoyable.

You'll find the more "official" looking photo of the whole block here, but I like this one taken just after sunrise, although I had to crop my ugly hanger.
I was hoping for an early spring look, with bare trees and flowers blooming before the grass even shows, so I altered the pattern a little to add some branches to the trees and stuck to just one fabric for the forest floor.
I think with a bit of imagination and goodwill we can say I succeeded ;)

Small finishes - part 2

The little sampler quilt only needed binding, so it's finished, too.

in tricky morning light

a simple back

I'm very happy about finishing the next item from my Q2 FAL list, but I think it's a sign some new projects need to begin.

Small finishes - part 1

Last weekend I was planning to tackle the aspen grove block from the forest QAL, so it's very logical that I sewed the reversible apron from my Q2 FAL list instead.

I know what some of you think about brown fabric, but it's warm reddish-brown and it matches my new red hair nicely (which is a bit of a lucky coincidence).

2013 FAL - Q2 list

Before it's too late, here's the list of projects I'm hoping to finish this quarter. Short again and hopefully completely achievable this time.

1. Known to you from Q1 list, this is the second little quilt I've been making from the Skill Builder Sampler blocks. As the batting arrived I was able to quilt it, so now I only need to prepare and sew the binding.

2. Also known from Q1, and this one still needs almost everything: borders to make it bigger, backing, quilting and binding.

On a technical note  - this might have to wait till May, at least as far as quilting is concerned, since the shops here in Poland I buy batting from will have it only in then. I started investigating the possibilities of buying the batting abroad but I still have to compare the costs. I only ever tried quilters dream cotton batting in select loft but I like it very much and wouldn't really want to use anything thinner, I'm also not convinced about polyester. 

3. This is not a true UFO, but I'm already behind with sewing these two blocks in the Forest QAL and since I really want to see them finished, I thought adding them to the list will give me some additional encouragement. Hope they still qualify.

4. This one has been started only recently, but I've been planning it for ages. I don't care much for aprons, but every time I've had a pile of dishes to wash or bread to bake I've been dreaming of the perfect apron with just the right shape and a pocket (I love listening to audio books). I've found what I hope to be the perfect apron shape in Lotta Jansdotter's book, and a pocket will be easy enough to add.

It might a be a bit hard to see in the photo, but the other side, which I still need to cut, will be reddish brown (shh, I know, I know).

Q1 FAL finishes - sampler quilt

Before I show you the second (and last) finish from my Q1 FAL list, I may have some explaining to do.

Do you remember that in the description for this project - the last item on the list -  I said how I couldn't see the blocks working together in a quilt and wanted to try making baby quilts with just 2-3 blocks in each?
Well, I changed my mind. Once I laid the blocks in two groups, they seemed somehow better, so two little quilts were planned, one 3x4 blocks and one 3x5 blocks.

Here is the longer one, just waiting to be washed:

As you might guess from the top photo, the other quilt already has the top and the backing finished. I might have managed to complete it too, but I've run out of batting.

Anyway I'm so happy that I've finally used the blocks. The result is quite nice, don't you think?

Q1 FAL finishes

There is just time enough today to show you what I managed to do with my rather short list of projects to finish this quarter for

You can find my original list here and this is what came of it:

1. The Soft Kitty quilt is done and in use.
Unfortunately, I haven't managed to snap a photo of the whole quilt yet, so apart from the shot of it covering our bed

let me show you a some more details:



trying to show you a bit of the backing - it's basically the stamped map fabric with a double strip of big squares from the shirt fabrics



hand quilted around the low contrast letters

2. The wonky kites quilt - still as unfinished as it was, I'm afraid.
3. Quilts from the Skill Builder Sampler blocks - one finished, photos coming in the next post.

So while you could view it as not much, I still think it's not too bad. And let's hope for some more sewing time next quarter.