Treats for me

I have had very little time to devote to sewing over the last couple of weeks.  I got a fix this evening though by watching the final of the Great British Sewing Bee.  I have dinner with my grandparents every Wednesday and for the last few weeks I have been watching the programme when I get home.  There was only really one outcome, wasn't there?  Ann was so good!

Today I also had twenty minutes to spare alone in a bookshop (dangerous territory for the bank balance) and bought these, mainly to look at the pictures.

I am also prone to buying shoes I know I will never wear just to look at them.

In a bid to start making sure I update my Blog more regularly, I am joining in with Work In Progress Wednesday.  I present the completed quilting on the Under the Sea quilt!  I am so happy with how it turned out (despite the fact there is at least one stitch which is 0.5 cm and some are barely visible to the human eye).

Next steps: squaring up and binding. 

What's your stipple?

Today I quilted the Under the Sea quilt.  I had intended to be a bit more adventurous with the quilting and do wavy lines across the top.  However, it soon became apparent it was difficult to get them even and the piece I was practising on soon became a mess of lots of wavy lines in all directions.

I don't know what happened, but I decided at the last minute (foot poised over the pedal, presser foot down, actual quilt in place) to stipple it.  I have not done this on a proper quilt top before so I really don't know what possessed me to make a last second decision like that!  I have done it on little pieces so it wasn't a totally new experience but I've never done it with any success.

However, by some sort of miracle it went well (i.e not a ruinous disaster) and I'm glad I gambled. The stitches are of slightly varying length but the recipients won't pay any attention to that will they? 

Then disaster struck! I had read free motion quilting was thread hungry (see this excellent tutorial which I found immensely helpful) but I wasn't prepared to run out of my newly purchased spool! Obviously I bought it at a shop miles away so will have to go on a trek tomorrow if I'm going to get the binding on this weekend.

The Stitch Gathering

I signed up for the Stitch Gathering in Edinburgh yesterday after much deliberation.

I'm very excited but I am going to have to do some serious practising!

Life it is better, down where it's wetter, take it from me!

This weekend I started the Under the Sea quilt for my marine biologist chums.  Am feeling a bit smug about how much I managed to get done, the neat seams and the (almost) mistake free process.

This is my favourite block (but stars are my favourite so I would say that).

 Next the backing, in which I shall be attempting to add a feature strip, and making an inevitable trip to the shops to buy more fabric having wasted metres of it.

Pink fence rail - DONE!

I have finished sewing the pink fence rail quilt binding on and it is now officially finished!  I can't wait to meet the little one and give her wonderful Mum and Dad the quilt.  I hope they approve of pink for girls - not sure I do but hopefully using a bright pink cheers it up and makes it less babyish.

Other good news came this week as the safe arrival of another friend's amazing baby boy was announced!  I am going to start his quilt this afternoon and WILL complete it in less than three months.

In other news, I saw some amazing tapestries this week at Stirling Castle.  They are doing some restoration/remaking of tapestries similar to those which would have hung in the castle.  The weavers work on site - wouldn't it be great to sit all day being creative (even if you did have a stream of folk watching you)? I took this picture of their wool before noticing the "No Cameras" sign....

I also watched "The Great British Sewing Bee" and think I will have to have a shot at dressmaking too.
Now this is definitely NOT a wedding blog, but I am so excited I will still include the news our wedding venue was officially BOOKED this week.  I have a really firm idea of what I want to wear and so think making the dress (with help obviously, I want it to look good) should definitely be a project for 2013.

I realise this is a crazy ambition for someone who can't guarantee success in mitred corners.