540

I've sewn all 540 triangles to a partner in the first round of sewing the quilt for my husband.

The hardest part was trying to keep the pairings random so the overall effect won't look ordered.  I can't wait to arrange them all and decide on the layout. The other element of making this quilt which is proving very tricky is keeping it secret!

Linking up with:

WIP Wednesday 

Lets Bee Social

Needle and Thread Thursday

Brown Paper Packages - 11

This week I started making a quilt for my husband.  I had been collecting fabric to make us a quilt on and off, with no real deadline in mind.



Well, I set the deadline, decided on the pattern and jolly well had to ramp up the fabric buying to make sure I had enough.

He's pretty into yellow and green as a colour scheme, so I adapted it slightly to mustard and teal.

The pile above is from My Bearpaw in Edinburgh, where I spent a very happy half an hour pulling bolts off the shelves while my Christmas gift vouchers burned a hole in my pocket.

This is Teal by Carolyn Friedlander from Botanics and a joy.  I'm already considering buying more just because I love it so.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the quilt is made up of 540 (!!) triangles of various teal and mustard fabric.  Cutting 540 triangles was a daunting prospect, but I got through it faster than anticipated.

I've started chain piecing these together, starting with the edges.

I've got a horrible feeling I've not let enough room between the selvage and the edge, but we'll see.  I've got lots of these edge peices left over so am confident I'll be able to replace a few where it looks a bit tight.  The one on the top of the photo above has already met with the unpicker!

 Linking up with Sunday Stash at Molli Sparkles

Something New

I've embarked upon one of my crazy deadline projects again, this time involving quilting with triangles.  Oh joy!  I've been working with triangles for my Stitch Gathering quilt, but isosceles. This time, I'm going to make an equilateral triangle quilt.

I have a template.....

.....which I used last year to make my bag for my partner for the Stitch Gathering 2014 (during the blogging hiatus).

So I figured having had a fairly successful and uneventful go on a small project, why not undertake my biggest project to date using the triangle template?

This quilt is special as it is a gift for my husband and, therefore, the first quilt I've made which will actually stay at my house.  So far the only evidence of quilting round these parts has been a trail of stray thread wherever I go.

I chose some stash fabric...

...which I added to with a little (to be revealed) shopping.  There's been a fabric embargo for about a year round here, but I had vouchers for My Bearpaw which I received at Christmas time - yippeee!

I sketched out the layout of the quilt, did some dodgy maths and came the conclusion I needed to cut 540 triangles to make a 90" quilt.  540! Gulp, wish me luck.  What could possibly go wrong?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday, Lorna at Let's Bee Social and Kelly at Needle and Thread Thursday!

Buzz Buzz - 7

The Little Blog Quilt Bee has been a highlight of my sewing year.  Last February, Lou of I'm Studio Lou gathered a crew of merry bloggers, each with small numbers of followers, to encourage skill building and blogging friendships.

Over the last year we've challenged one another to make a variety of blocks and there's some fabulous quilts emerging from our efforts.

I've never participated in a bee before, and have loved every minute.  I have really been pushed out of my comfort zone, which has made me better at sewing in the areas I'm more familiar with.  Firsts for me in the bee have included:

• Cutting pieces to 7/8 of an inch - no room for my usual slack approach to a quarter of an inch seam here!
• Flying geese
• Foundation paper piecing (not scary or hard - it makes life easier and points more precise - hurrah!)
• Using white 
• Oakshott (so lovely, thanks for letting us have a go Nessa!)
• Templates

And so much more!

Here's a run down of the blocks I've made:

Wonky star for Lou of I'm Studio Lou

Wonky churn dash for Joanna at My Quilts and Other Stories

Friendship star for Natalie at Love Natalie 

Jewels for Claire at Cor Blimey Claire E Poppins

Posies for Vanessa at Nessa's Place

Pineapple block for Celine at Espiritpatch

Scrap block destined for bigger things for Sheila at Chez Budsmam

Purple scrappy trip for Gina at the Occasional Quilter

Anna Maria Horner feathers for Roseanne at Not a Floral Girl

And the last, for the extremely patient Alison at Patchwork Alley

You can see all the blocks these super folk made for me here.  

The best thing about this bee has been sewing along with lovely people who have all championed and supported one another to get better at an activity we all enjoy.  I've gained so much from this ladies so a massive THANK YOU to you all!  

Dark Star Quilt - DONE!

Another baby boy, another chance to make a fun baby quilt!  The brilliant news that our friends' baby had arrived came about three weeks ago so I set about making him a quilt.

My copy of the latest Quilt Now magazine arrived on the very day I sat down to make it, with no idea of pattern or inspiration, and the very first quilt was the Dark Star.  I loved it and knew it was the one.

I set about pulling out suitable blues.  Blue is well represented in my stash, having made the Ginger Jar Quilt 18 months ago.  I also have quite a lot from my very first quilt, which was a baby quilt for another wee boy and for which I bought these birds.

I cut out all the squares and laid everything out on the floor...

....before chain piecing everything together.  I added pins to remind me which square was the top square, having let everything spin and getting myself rather muddled when making Sister's Choice.

Finally, everything was all sewn together and I laid it out on the floor, ready to share my success with the Instagramming public with the caption "Done! Dark Star tick!".

Would you believe it was only at that point I noticed the glaring error in the second row - I'd omitted two HSTs.  They were of course sitting on my desk and I looked at them thinking how silly I'd been managing to make two extra!

At that point I stepped away from the sewing, and watched the Great British Sewing Bee on the sofa in a huff.

I sorted it out the next evening.  Sometimes you need to walk away.

 Problem solved, it was onwards and upwards to the basting....

And quilting!

And here it is - DONE!  All ready to be sent off to our friends and their new wee guy.

Linking up with Lynne at Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day - what did you make in February?