Monday 30 December 2019

Handiquilter Ruler of the Month Club 5

I cannot believe I signed up for another ruler club, but I did. The temptation was just too great! There are a few rulers in this lot that I really like and I kept telling myself that this will definitely be the last one. Famous last words...you can find the Ruler of the Month Club details on the Handiquilter website HERE (this includes videos on how to use them)

So here is the first ruler, the small Hexagon Ruler 
The ruler makes a 1 1/2in hexagon and you probably wonder what you can do with this...

I stitched out this little sample to use up my bobbin thread. This is the first time using this ruler and you can definitely see that I initially struggled with aligning the hexagon properly (i.e. first row)         
 The diamonds are supposed to be connecting but somehow I could not get this right until the latter part of the second row. In the next few rows I just played around with different ideas. I particularly liked the fourth row where I shifted the ruler 1/2in along and created this very intricate looking diamond design. Could imagine this in a small sashing. Looks labour intensive but is very easy to stitch out.
After this I stitched the diamond length-wise and then filled it in...lots of options.

Very handy little ruler!                               

Karin

Saturday 28 December 2019

Best of 2019

Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs is hosting the Best of 2019 Linky Party. Going through the blog posts of the year, here are 5 of my favourites. If you want to read more about the quilts, just click on the heading for each quilt to be taken to the blog post.

1. Pastel Baby Quilt

I loved making this quilt...particularly mthe making of the scrappy backing. Used up most of my Fat Quarter bundle for this quilt

...and the back

2. HST Quilt

Made two of those to be gifted to newly arrived twins. This is the citrus version

3. The Funky Bird Quilt

One of my favourites...a bit work intensive, but so worthwhile in the end. The block used in this quilt is the Fancy Foot block which is an old and almost forgotten block...suited the birds perfectly

4. Festival of Quilts 2019

My entry to the Festival of Quilts 2019. This was a slightly insane idea and I had a definite vision of this in my head when I started. The end result came close and it got me third place in the 'Other' category of the show.

5. The Fox Quilt

Another of my absolute favourites...Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Fox Quilt. I so enjoyed making this quilt. Every time I pieced a face, as soon as the eyes were included I could see their cute little faces...I used my favourite Shannon Brinkley Dryad range fabric for this and have lots left over for another one. This is definitely on the list for the new year.

Linking up to the Best of 2019 Linky Party. Click on the image below to be taken to the Linky Party and check out the the amazing quilts on show. Just stunning!



Karin

Wednesday 11 December 2019

Exciting News

Image of the HQ Capri machine beauty shot


Have you seen Handiquilter's new machine, the Capri?

It was introduced at the Houston Quilt Market and will come to Australia in the New Year.

I am super excited about this as it has got stitch regulation build into the table and a few other modifications to make life a bit easier (like more lights, light in the bobbin area, machine is slightly longer). You can see the stitch regulation in action in this You Tube video by Handiquilter.

This was actually really weird timing as I had just researched stitch regulation with the competition and had wondered whether Handiquilter would bring out a machine that would be an equivalent. About two weeks later I started seeing it on FB.

So, I pre-ordered the new machine and will be selling my machine. I did have a very long think about this and thought that this new machine is the best option for me. During my time over the last two years at my local Handiquilter group I have learnt a fair bit about longarm machines and often wondered whether I should go down the path of a machine on a frame. When the Amara came out I fell in love with that machine. WHAT A TOY! However thinking about this again, I came to the conclusion that a sitdown machine is the best option for me because
- I do not actually produce that many quilts...my passion is wholecloth quilting, the type where you spend a good 2 month on one little section. In terms of quilts, I cannot see myself piecing those enormous King size quilts. Beautiful to look at but not for me.
- I have no experience in quilting on a frame. Possibly could learn it but reluctant to then quilt all my projects on a frame. Would be ideal to have a sitdown machine and a machine on a frame 😆 to just play a bit.
- I think I actually prefer to quilt on a stationary machine using my hands to guide the fabric.
- cost and space is obviously a factor with sitdown machines being much more affordable.

I feel that the new Capri offers me the best of both worlds, being able to continue to quilt on a stationary machine while at the same time having the option of using stitch regulation. This will be very handy...
I have had my Sweet 16 for 2 years by now and obviously have become used to it and with continued use have become faster in my quilting. Stitch regulation will be great to keep consistency up to scratch. Also with rulers I think it is very handy. I have a habit of doing tiny, tiny stitches as soon as I am concentrating on hitting a particular point. Again stitch regulation should make that theoretically easier. We shall see. I am fully expecting that stitch regulation will initially completely throw me, however as with anything, it will be a matter of getting used to it. Should be very interesting.

Now it is just a matter of waiting for this machine to arrive in Australia.

Karin

Sunday 8 December 2019

The Challenge Quilt

 I am continuing on my goal list for the 2019 Finish-A-Long.

Currently working on my Challenge Quilt. This is a quilt that our local Handiquilter group has been stitching along for the entire year. I loved doing this. Although I am an experienced freemotion quilter, there is always something new to learn. This time it was the size of the designs in the block. I am used to smaller blocks and was surprised how difficult it was for me to quilt in bigger spaces. For example doing a simple loopy design would not work for me because the space was just too big. My muscle memory did not allow for this and I had to pre-draw them otherwise I was running the risk of them falling over.

Still got a fair bit to do...have arrived at the zig-zag sections filling them with lines and pebbles. Again, my wonky piecing made this a bit of a challenge at times and my channels are not exactly 1/2in in parts and I just had to overlook this and continue on.
I decided that I love doing lines with the ruler. For this I used the Handiquilter Ditch ruler...placing it on the left side of the foot, stitching against it and rounding it up on the bottom by approx. 1/4in. Then I just shifted the ruler over and did the same thing going up. Not always totally tidy but a hell of a lot tidier than doing it freehand.

This provides a lot of texture
Once I finished all of the zigzag lines sections I will have to fill the remaining zig-zags with feathers
Looking forward to the feathers!

A fair bit of quilting to do though before I can get to the feathers 😒

Karin

Wednesday 4 December 2019

Second Finish For the 2019 Finish-A-Long Fourth Quarter

I am on a roll...finished my second project for the 2019 Finish-A-Long.

You can find the information about the 2019 Finish-A- Long on  Leanne's blog She Can Quilt. There you will find more detail on how this link up works and also find the list of bloggers who are hosting this great event. The link up for this quarter opens on 1st January 2020.

You can find my Goal list for the fourth quarter HERE

This little table runner is from the leftover fabric and test blocks from my Fancy Fox quilt that I finished in the last quarter. I thought that those foxes were just too cute to throw away. Each of those test blocks were ironed slightly differently and on some blocks the points were a bit cut off due to squaring them off, however I figured that this was good enough for use on the coffee table.

 I used every available last scrap of fabric that was left over from the quilt. Very satisfying indeed!

For the quilting I decided to do a bit of a grid over the foxes to practice consistency in terms of aligning the ruler correctly. That worked well, staying within my 1in grid more or less. Then did some straight lines at 1/4in intervals in the woodgrain fabric to accentuate the lines of the woodgrain.
For the border I thought I try a fern type pattern...have wanted to try this for a while. I used the HQ Wave ruler first to stitch in the spine using the very gentle curve (drawing the corners in very loosely). So, very little marking for this piece which was great. My fern design worked well although, must say, it looks a bit like  one of those caterpillars crawling around the border 😆
Easy to get around the corner if you watch that you fill the available space as there is little consistency other than the consistent S-curve (which makes it look very consistent overall).


Very unlikely I can keep up this pace of finishing things, but for the moment I am feeling pumped!

Linking up to Midweek Makers over at Quilt Fabrication.

Linking up to the 2019 Finish-A-Long over at Marci Girl Designs

Karin

Sunday 1 December 2019

First Finish For The 2019 Finish-A-Long Fourth Quarter

My latest baby quilt is finished!

This is the first finish from my (last) 2019 Finish Along goal listYou can find the information about the 2019 Finish-A- Long on  Leanne's blog She Can Quilt. There you will find more detail on how this link up works and also find the list of bloggers who are hosting this great event. The link up for this quarter opens on 1st January 2020.

The quilt measures 36.5 x 43in and is made out of a Charm Square pack called 'Corner of 5th and Fun' by Sandy Gervais for Moda Fabrics.
I had some fun quilting this on my Sweet16 stitching simple arcs combined with the Ribbon Candy design in the sashing.
I used one of the Pro Echo Arcs for the squares and then moved across the quilt from side to side stitching some echo lines in the sashing traveling along the ditch to keep it continuous. This worked quite well. At first I lightly drew in the Ribbon Candy in the smaller sashing, however found that it was easier for me to stitch the design without any marking. Somehow I was more consistent if I had just the white fabric in front of me.

Now onto the next project...almost done, just need to sew on the binding.

For now I am adding my project to the Favorite Finish Monthly Link-up hosted by Meadow Mist Designs. Don't often have a finish that coincides with this link-up.

Linking up to the 2019 Finish-A-Long over at Marci Girl Designs


Karin

Sunday 17 November 2019

Progress on Baby Quilt

Still doing my baby quilt...this is taking forever! Did not expect this at all as it seemed so simple...a few arcs and a few lines!
Quilting with an unfamiliar thread...Fantastico from Superior thread (40/3wt). For the bobbin thread I am using white Bottomline thread (60wt). Had to do a bit of fiddling as the top tension kept being too low...something was just not going right. In the end, I cranked up the bobbin tension to a point where one would think it was too tight. This seemed to be working for me, so I decided that this must be right.

Finished the all the arcs and lines...in some spots the tension is a bit sus, but I am going to leave that as I am running out of time and energy for this quilt. I used one of my Pro Echo rulers for the arcs and the straight skinny Handiquilter ruler for the lines. As I am a bit lazy I also did all this in a continuous fashion travelling along the ditch which initially was a bit of a challenge but then I got the hang of it.
See how crinkly this has become...I will now do a Ribbon Candy design in the sashings to quilt all this down. This should go quickly as that is just done freehand. And then it is done! Binding is ready to go, so hopefully this will be done by the end of next week.

Karin





Wednesday 13 November 2019

Quiltshopgal's Virtual Fall Craft Fair

Welcome!

I am so pleased to be participating in the Virtual Fall Craft Fair that Quiltshopgal is hosting this week. Check out Quiltshopgal's blog to see the list of crafters who are participating throughout the week. The event is sponsored by a number of businesses and there is a chance to win daily door prizes for visiting the participating vendors.

              fall craft show logo generic                                               fall craft show sponsors
A little bit about my journey...I have been quilting since about 2006 and quickly became addicted. As the years passed my second obsession - freemotionquilting took hold and to this day that is what I do 80% of my time. At the same time I did need to produce quilts and so I started to make mainly smaller and baby quilts in order to be able to get back to my freemotionquilting. At the same time I ventured out into pattern writing, around 2010, mainly for publication in the magazines over here. However, in 2013 I set up shop to sell my patterns and that has been quite successful so far.

I love the brain drain of pattern writing. I do not use pattern testers but make the quilts myself to be clear on where people might experience some issues and might need further explanations. So far, this has worked very well. Anyway, coming back to my little virtual booth...

I only recently decided to sell some of my handmade quilts and have added them to my evolving Etsy shop (I swapped to Etsy in late 2018). I have been making baby quilts for some time by now and usually gift them to whoever needs them, but as time has gone by, I actually need to make some room. There is only so many quilts that one can hang on to.

At the moment I have two very sweet quilts for sale

Sweet Baby Boy Quilt
The quilt measures 36.5in x 36.5in and could also be used as a play mat or security blanket. It is made from 100% cotton fabric, quilted in an overall clamshell design and has a light, soft feel to it.

Funky Bird Quilt
This brightly coloured patchwork/applique quilt is 40in x 49.5in. Having robust use and frequent washing in mind, this quilt is heavily quilted - I want my quilts to be pretty but also usable. All fabrics are pre-washed, however I would always recommend a colour catcher in the first wash just to be on the safe side. While firmer in touch due to the quilting, this quilt will soften with use. If you are interested in the process you can read some posts about this quilt under my blog archive from May to June 2019.

Postage for both quilts is free in Australia and indicated in the shop for  the US. Please contact me via email if you would like to find out postage to other destinations.
I will insure the quilts for posting at no additional cost to the customer.

Please also check out my patterns which will be on sale at 10% off for the duration of the Virtual Fall Craft Fair.

If you are unsure about what to expect when buying a pattern, please feel free to download my free baby quilt pattern under the tab 'My Patterns' at the top of the page. This will give you an idea on how I structure my patterns and the diagrams that I include.

Enjoy the event and come back often. I am planning to re-make some of the quilts from my patterns to offer for sale in the beginning of the next year to mid-year.

Thanks for visiting!

Karin

Monday 11 November 2019

Virtual Fall Craft Fair

Have you heard?

Quiltshopgal is running a virtual Fall Craft Fair showcasing various vendors selling their handmade craft items.

fall craft show logo generic
The event runs for the whole week and is starting today with the first five vendors. I am very excited because I am a participant ...will showcase my stuff on Wednesday!

The event is sponsored by a number of businesses and there is also a chance to win daily door prizes.
fall craft show sponsors
I had a quick look earlier and will sit down in a minute to have a good look over the first day...there is lots to see and some lovely items on offer...very tempting indeed.
Thanks  Quiltshopgal for again bringing us a great event.

Karin

Wednesday 6 November 2019

New Baby Quilt

Having some trouble with the baby quilt I am currently doing.

I am using an unfamiliar thread (to me): Superior Fantastico 40/3wt  (with Bottomline 60 wt in the bobbin) and  ever so slightly variegated. Cannot seem to get the tension quite right (always almost there but never quite right). When I set the bobbin correctly the top tension is too loose. When I tighten it then I have flat lining on top...and so it goes.

This is what I am doing and I reckon I will have to un-stitch a few rows because of the flat lining on the top. Not sure I can handle this
In parts the stitches look alright, possibly due to how I am holding the ruler, but the more I kept looking at this I thought this is just not right.

So today I spent some quality time with the machine...did not get angry with the machine rather went calmly through different scenarios, i.e loosening the bobbin tension (going by what is suggested in a chart on the Superior website). Now that just did not work for me at all...definite flat lining happening! Then played around with the threading of the machine and decided that I will use only 2 holes...yep, that did not work either really. Some improvement but still not quite right.

I think I knew all along that the bobbin needed changing for this thread. I believe that this is a fairly strong thread used for high speed quilting. Thinking about it I thought that it made sense then to tighten the bobbin tension beyond the 'normal' spot to put some muscle into the bottom thread. Cranked up the bobbin tension to a point where it does not slide down anymore and you normally would say that it is too tight. That seems to be working better, so I am cautiously optimistic...

Did a lot more playing around with the thread on different settings and speed. Also changed neeedles in between and cranked it up to 50%...my stitches looked heaps better at the higher speed. However, for the rulerwork I will need to go much, much slower  and obviously tighten things up.

Don't really feel like undoing my stitching, but I know it will annoy me. Might start with undoing the last row and then continue on the areas that have not been quilted yet, then re-evaluate...

Karin

Sunday 27 October 2019

Winning!

Got an email from the 2019 Finish-A-Long host Marci of Marci Girl Designs the other day telling me that I had won the Hillstitches $30 Fabnric Voucher in the Q3 link up.

WHAT A TREAT !!!

Did not expect this and was really surprised. A very public 'thank you' to the hosts of this great event, the 2019 Finish-A-Long, and also to Hillstitches for their generous sponsorship of the event.

So off I went to have a look at Hillstitches. Did not know this online business and was even more surprised when I found out that the owner, Emma, hails from Australia, based about an hour away from Melbourne. This was of course great as it meant that my postage would be reasonable (although you can never be sure with Australia Post).

I thorougly enjoyed going through Emma's little shop. There was heaps of eye candy of course and I went through the whole shop several times as I could not decide what to get. In the end I settled on a Fabric Bundle of Fat Sixteenth (most bundles had a choice of Fat Quarter, Fat Eights or Fat Sixteenth). After some thought I decided to give the Fat Sixteenth option a go, possibly using this for another Fox quilt. A Fat Sixteenth should be just enough to make a face. We shall see...if that does not work, I came up with another few options.

This is what I ordered (actually ordered a little bit more as some items were on sale, but this is the main thing)

IMG_5552.jpg
Image from Hillstitches.com.au
How beautiful is that fabric! It has a number of different designers in there and I really liked the colour arrangement.

Must say I went several times through the shop filling up my cart with possible choices, then going back in and taking stuff off again as I was getting overly greedy, then adding more fabric on again...spent several hours doing this going through the fabrics by designers, fabric bundles, wall of colour and some of the other options on the web site. The fabrics were a mix of modern and traditional, carefully selected it seemed, and beautifully presented. Loved it! Definitely will be coming back.



Thanks again to Emma from Hillstitches for the voucher and the 2019 Finish-A-Long  for hosting this great event

Karin

Saturday 12 October 2019

2019 Finish-A-Long Proposed Goal List for Q4

The Fourth Quarter of the 2019 Finish-A-Long is starting. Can't believe how quick this year is going.

You can find the information about the Finish-A- Long on  Leanne's blog She Can Quilt. There you will find more detail on how this link up works and also find the list of bloggers who are hosting this great event.

My goal list for the fourth quarter:

1. Another Fancy Fox Quilt
I am going through a bit of an Elizabeth Hartman phase at the moment. Also got Hazel hedgehog on my radar, but first I do want to make a slightly bigger fox quilt
I will use the same fabric for the foxes, Dryad fabric range by Shannon Brinkley for Paintbrush Studio. Love the fabric and I think it particularly suits the pattern.

2. Wholecloth Quilt
Maybe, if I put this on this list again, it will do itself. Seriously, this is the fourth time this design is on the list. I seem to have some sort of block going on here, however really would like to finish this to have a momentum of the class I attended with Cindy Needham.
All it needs is a clean up of the design and then it is ready to go.

3. Another Baby quilt
This is already in production...the quilt top is finished by now and I am ready to pinbaste this together. Had a bit of a hold up as I needed to purchase a suitable backing, but basically this is ready to quilt. The quilt is for a work colleague and needs to be completed within the next month or so. Not sure yet on how to quilt this, i.e. whether to just meander over it or do something a bit more fancy.

4. Fox Table Runner
Decided to use up the leftover foxes and make a table runner out of it...just too cute to chuck away. They were my original trial blocks where I experimented with the ironing of the seams and also tested my accuracy. A little bit out here and there, but overall respectable enough. Used absolutely all of the grey and woodgrain fabric up, down to the last scrap (photo only shows three, have made four by now). Will use this for some ruler practice.


5. Hexagon Project
Did not get very far with that, but made a start after having had to order a new glue pen in. Goal would be to make more. Doubt very much that I finish a hexagon quilt in this time frame. This is a bit of an on-going project
I do remember where I got this fabric from but lost the label...I believe the fabric is from a Moda fabric range.
6. Practice Panel
Got this panel at the last quilt show and thought it would be a good piece to use for practice, i.e. outline the major elements with some decorative stitches and then freemotionquilt various designs in the background. 

7. Challenge Quilt
This is a monthly challenge project from our local Handiquilter group that theoretically should be completed by the end of the year. So far, I have kept up with it. Blocks all done and now for something in the zigzags. Will find out next week. This could get very intense

Linking up to Studio Sew of Course

Karin

Thursday 3 October 2019

Another Baby Quilt

Working on another baby quilt and did a bit of fun sewing on the side.

Had a pack of charm squares called 'Corner of 5th and Fun' by Sandy Gervais for Moda Fabrics. Always struggle with what to do with charm squares but keep buying them anyway. Decided to just set this into some sashing and be done with it.
Lovely colours and it is coming along nicely. Not sure yet how to quilt it...thought about just doing an allover design but also looking at the rulers, in particular the arcs and wonder whether I just arc away in the squares and then quilt something in the sashing. We'll see...

Also had two foxes with brown eyes left over. Thought that they were too pretty to discard and made another two, then used up the last bit of the woodgrain fabric. Planning to make a table runner out of this, using up the brown fabric which was a bit lacking in quality as a border. If nothing else this will be nice and colourful and bonus, used every available scrap of the grey, woodgrain and brown fabric.
So enjoyed making the foxes again as I now am familiar with the construction and the best way of putting them together. Definitely will make another fox quilt! In terms of quilting I am thinking of putting a grid design over the faces, some ruler work in the borders...this will be good fun.

Karin

Sunday 22 September 2019

Second Finish of The 2019 Finish Along Third Quarter

My Fancy Fox Quilt is finished. 
This is the second item from my goal list for the 2019 Finish Along. You can find the information about the 2019 Finish-A- Long on  Leanne's blog She Can Quilt. There you will find more detail on how this link up works and also find the list of bloggers who are hosting this great event. The link up for this quarter opens on 1st October.

I did the Baby Quilt version of Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Fox Quilt (had just enough grey fabric for that size). The quilt measures 34 x 46in

I used my favourite fabric for this...the Dryad fabric range by Shannon Brinkley for Paintbrush Studio.

For the background I chose some cool woodgrain fabric
As explained in previous posts I used the backing fabric to follow the woodgrain pattern as an overall design and quilted this back to front, so to speak. Love how this turned out! For the thread I used a brownish-grey SoFine thread from Superior.

So cute! I think I am going through a bit of an Elizabeth Hartman phase...already eyeing out her Hedgehog pattern and definitely will do another fox quilt, this time with a brownish background and slightly bigger.

Linking up to Studio Sew of Course for the Q3 Finish-A-Long.

Karin

Wednesday 18 September 2019

Tension Play

Today I allowed myself some time to just play!

It has been 2 years since I acquired the Sweet 16. After many trials and tribulations in the first few months, I have felt quite  comfortable with it over the last year. I did stick with my one thread rule for a while though. However, now slowly but surely, I am branching out in trying different threads and different thread combinations.

Today I trialed Superior Fantastico (wt 40/3)...I have got a beautifully variegated cone that was part of the box full of thread that Superior had thrown in when I purchased the machine. Still very impressed with their generosity.  Initially I left my So Fine bobbin thread (wt 50) in place to use up the thread that was left over from the Fox Quilt. When that was gone (worked fine), I took my bobbin out and adjusted it for a DecoBob Prefilled bobbin (80wt). Was curious on how that would go...

That worked really well, no problem at all. Spent a bit of time on concentrating on the speed and consistency and noticed that I need to slow down a bit. Have gotten into the habit of stitching faster than what I can control. The stitch quality was good...had a few little pokies here and there as I was mucking around with different tension settings, but really nothing to worry about. Really like that thread and will need to make a quilt to go with that (that could be good for the next Fox Quilt actually).

Then went back to Aurifil thread Mako 40/2, this time though stitching with the DecoBob bobbin thread...good combination! Actually I like the DecoBobs as they are wound so evenly...much better for your tension!

Continued to play and now went back to Aurifil 50/2 in the bobbin. Those are the bobbins that I wind myself...hardly any difference other than that I noticed fluctuations in the bobbin thread. On closer inspection I could actually feel that when I unwound the thread off the bobbin. Probably should pay a bit more attention to my bobbin winding...I suspect that I need to slow down the winding a bit to avoid the thread swinging around like it does at times. Winding it slower would probably also be better to avoid any stretching of the thread. Will adjust this next time I wind a bobbin.

Productive play!

Karin

Wednesday 11 September 2019

So close...

Almost finished the quilting on my Fancy Fox quilt. I decided in the end to do a woodgrain design.
Bit of an adventure as I am quilting from the backing to the front as the backing has a woodgrain design on it.
The idea is good and its working well, however I did have some issues with the thread. I am trialing So Fine from Superior 50/3. So I set my tension for the bobbin and adjusted the top but as I went along the thread started shredding. I had a needle size 16 and did not really want to go higher so I persevered for a while, however the shredding continued to happen. In the end I switched over to a needle size 18 and the problem disappeared altogether. I am not sure it actually has to do with the thread...could actually be the quality of the grey background fabric. In stitching front to back and looking at the stitches they did not look that great in parts on the grey but were perfectly fine on the other fabric.
Initially I thought that it had to do with me or the machine tension but after a while I started to see that it was perfectly fine in the coloured areas...must be the quality of that fabric, I reckon. The above photo is taken directly after the quilting...the stitch will settle a bit and look a bit more normal after  a while. How strange is this!
Anyway, I am quite happy with how this is turning out (minus the thread issue). The woodgrain pattern is lovely and I am getting the hang of it and learning how to do it properly thanks to the backing fabric.

Karin

Thursday 5 September 2019

Fancy Fox Quilt Top Done!

Made a concentrated effort to finish off the Fancy Fox quilt top. Don't know about you but it always takes me a moment to really get familiar with a pattern, so the first few blocks are always a bit out in measurement and I usually still try to work out which way I am going to press the seams. After having done a few I then could go over to chain piece elements together.

On the weekend I did the remaining 9 blocks chain piecing the segments in one hit. These last 9 blocks were much better in accuracy than the first few, so I felt that I was really getting the hang of things.
All the eyes done! I thought I was on such a roll until I noticed this...
I was trying to keep the direction of the fabric the same, but I am so spatially challenged that I got the eye section the wrong way around. Initially I was going to leave this, but then I thought that I was not going to be able to overlook this, so had to slow down and re-do a few eye sections.

Anyway, it got done and yesterday I completed the sashings and top border
So cute! This is the baby quilt size of 34 x 46in. In retrospect I wished that I had made this larger but I just had enough grey background fabric and for the white I used every available piece that I had down to the very last scrap. I think that I will do another one with a brownish background, maybe adding a row in width and length.

Learnings: don't be too over-zealous with cutting the blocks to size...I did on quite a few occasions and forgot that I was cutting into the seam allowance, hence some of the points were no longer points! Hmm...now the fun begins with the quilting. Would like to do a woodgrain design but am really not that good at it...may need to practice for a little while to see whether I can let loose on the quilt. Alternatively, a nice allover design...still pondering.

Karin

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