The last of the pink.

July has been in the pink for the participants in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. In just a few days Angela will reveal the colour for August.

In attempt to use some of the scraps in my stash I made these ten pink bow-tie units:

Each unit finishes at 6" square. Most of them were made as Leaders and Enders, but yesterday I cut off the bonus triangles from the last four and put those bow-ties together. Now I'm wondering what to do with 1.5" unfinished HSTs. Any ideas?

and these are just the pink ones!

I'm linking up to

       

Click on the buttons to see what other people are making.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

Clam-Up Pouch

 

This is my second finish for the 2019 Q3 FAL, and the third on my list. My projected list of finishes can be found here.

I started the Clam-Up pouch at a workshop at Quilters Palet in The Hague. The pattern is by By Annie. I almost finished it at the workshop, did a little more when I got home, and then left it to mature for ten days before sewing down the bindings on the inside by hand - 15 minutes work at the most! I think it's a useful pouch, one that really opens wide.

It has a light fabric for the lining; I really dislike bags, of any size, that have dark linings: I can never find anything, and what you really need is always right at the bottom in the darkest cavern.

I shall be linking this to 

at the end of September.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Overlapping Octagons is a top!

In January I started making this following a suggestion by Sujata Shah. I've forgotten where I first read about it, but immediately found it intriguing. The U&UQAL uses the photos in Roderick Kiracofe's book, "Unconventional and Unexpected, American Quilts under the radar." This book is a history of lesser-known American quilts from the first half of the twentieth century; there are no patterns just excellent photographs. Every participant in the QAL chooses a quilt from the book to copy. The puzzle is to work out from the photo exactly how the quilt was constructed.

While we know from the notes that the original was pieced by hand I chose to piece using the machine. Not a fast task as only the strip sets could be pieced easily. Assembling the octagons requires y-seams everywhere. I did wonder near the beginning if piecing by hand might not be faster, but persevering with y-seams has paid off, and I got both faster and more accurate.

My plan was to use 19th Century reproduction fabrics in red and blue and finish that stash. Unfortunately the reds were largely almost brown and didn't contrast enough with the blue, so I introduced flashes of other colours from the scrap bags to liven things up! When I finished those blues I had to use other, modern fabrics, and added modern reds too.

I tried hourglass blocks in the small squares between the red centres, but wasn't happy with them: they detracted from the octagon effect, and they made for excessively bulky joins. Removing them made it possible to continue the last strip into the triangle which gives less bulk, and enhances the octagons. Hourglass blocks would have made quilt assembly more straightforward, but they were giving a sashing and cornerstone effect - emphasising the squares, and not the octagons. More photos of the process can be found in my posts to A Basket Full of Scraps

Now I have to decide on the quilting, and having pieced by machine I think I'll quilt by hand. I would like to try doing Baptist fans, spaced fairly widely, maybe as wide as 1". But first I have to reduce a few wobbles in the piecing:

The joins above and to the right of the dogs in this photo are just refusing to lie flat. I will try pressing them again so that they do lie flat, and then sew along those creases by machine. If that fails I'll try by hand, and otherwise rely on the quilting to fix it. Not very scientific!

Have a good weekend.

I'm linking this to:

                
    

Click on the button to join the party.        

Happy sewing

Marly.

Two crocheted cuddly toys

 
 
This is my first finish from my FAL list for 2019 Q3.

For my new-born twin grandchildren I wanted to make something special. They are no longer new-born but seven months old and the toys are only now finished! I hope they haven't outgrown them already.

The pattern is a free one from the online yarn shop Hobbii based in Denmark.

I had a problem with the hats. The pattern suggested finishing off with a pom-pom but in my experience babies (and toddlers) pull pom-poms apart and eat them! I don't want to be responsible for that kind of mishap! It took me quite a while to think of an alternative that could be safely anchored. Now they have a sort of rosette in a contrasting colour to cover the finishing hole at the top of the hat. They don't have mouths, so they won't be answering back!

I shall be linking this post to

at the beginning of October

Happy sewing, and crocheting

Marly.

Finish Along 2019 Q3

My list for the FAL in the third quarter is:

1. Crocheted cuddle cloths 

 This looks finished, but only one arm is attached. And then there is the one for her twin brother!

2. Sweater for DH 

 Just needs sleeves and the neck ribbing

3. Clam-up pouch

 I only have to sew a binding down on the inside.

4. Sewing machine cover

using these blocks:

5. Cats and Dogs wall hanging

 - secret sewing -

6. Overlapping Octagons

All the vertical columns are joined, as are columns 3 and 4 to one another. Here is a detail from columns 3 and 4:

I'm linking up to Sandra Jansen at Studio Sew of Course for the FAL Q3 planned finishes link up.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge pink in July

A short post this week on just one topic!

Each month Angela posts a different colour and this month she has chosen pink.

pink bow-ties

I'm not making the RSC sampler this year, although I like the blocks, but making the same blocks, bow-ties, each month. I have four more pink ones in various stages of completion waiting next to the sewing machine; I'm using them as leaders and enders.

I'm linking up to



 Click on the button to see more scrappy  (pink) delights.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Summer Sampler and Clam up

My scrappy theme this year is bow tie blocks. I didn't get much sewing done at all in June as I was away for most of the month touring Eastern Europe, visiting cities that for most of my life were not accessible. I had some knitting with me as I've found knitting is very good at distracting the back-seat driver in me!

The last two weeks I caught up on my Rainbow Challenge blocks for June  (dark blue):

Even though I've never been to the United States some 4th July fabric has crept in there! I received it several years ago in a giveaway, and am gradually using it. I think that's it for blue this year, and I'll move on to pink this weekend.

I've also joined the Summer Sampler QAL  hosted by Lee Heinrich but couldn't start until I returned from my travels. Over the last two weeks I made four blocks

1. Spring Fever: Lynn Carson-Harris

2. Pixelations: Lee Heinrich

3. Curious Crossing: Krista Hennebury

5. Rope Twist: Amy Friend

but am still four blocks behind schedule.

Thursday I attended a workshop at QuiltersPalet quilt shop in The Hague to make a Clam-up pouch.
I didn't finish because my 35 year-old Bernina Nova refused to sew through two layers of foam plus the zip and four layers of quilting cotton! Not surprising really. My Bernina 404 managed with some difficulty, even when using the walking foot. Now I just have to finish some hand sewing on the inside.

Looks finished, but there's still a binding to sew down!

This was my first time putting in a rounded zip. Although I've made lots of pairs of trousers in the past, they have a much more gentle curve. This I found tricky, maybe due to the machine's difficulty in getting through so many layers of fabric, but I think to my inexperience.

I'm linking to 

 

 Click on the button to see more rainbow projects.

Happy sewing

Marly.