My biggest finish ... with love from UK to USA xx

It's just like me "last minute Jen" to finish this quilt by the end of January with only hours to go! But I have done it :)

I have blogged about making this quilt here, here, here, here and here ... but you probably just want a little précis (I don't blame you) so, to recap: the lovely Tonya of Crazy Mimi Quilts for no other reason but that she wanted to, sent me a bag full of Moda charm packs last year and I immediately knew I had to pay it forward. 

I know there are many genuine causes that would be very grateful for a quilt but I was really moved by the stories around Hurricane Sandy and so I decided to make a twin size quilt for a child who had been affected. I used two of the charm packs (Cape Ann - ideal for a little girl) and added some pink Benartex fabric in the front and bought the same fabric but in a soft brown for the backing.

Did my usual 'make it up as I go along pattern' so it's finished at 82" x 58" which I don't think is a standard size twin but is definitely big enough for a little girl to keep warm and snuggle under. It's the biggest quilt I've made so far and my little Juki really did a good job. 

I wanted to try straight line quilting but I'm still really not very good at it so I did a little bit around the centre panel, then reverted to my stippling FMQ around the pink fabric and side borders. I used a raspberry pink cotton to quilt it which, being darker than the fabric, didn't forgive any of my 'mistakes' but quilting needn't be perfect to be beautiful ... a bit like life, hey?

I had enough of the backing material for the binding - 310" of folded 2 1/4 " - machine sewn on the front and hand sewn on the back - 4 hours! I'm not an experienced hand sewer so I'm sure others could do it quicker but I think this is my favourite part so I don't rush it. I also love burying all my threads during this phase - sat in front of the TV ... it's so relaxing :)

So, I will wrap and post this lovely quilt and say goodbye to it and hope that whomever it says hello to has a brighter future and knows that someone 4 thousand miles away cares about them and hopes they stay warm and safe. God bless you.

Sharing my finish over at:

and at Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday

And she's back ...

"My point is, life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada.”

― Ellen DeGeneres, Seriously...I'm Kidding

It's not that easy sometimes to fit everything into 24 hours, hey? Back from a fabulous skiing holiday to a full week at work and dear Mutter was with us until she went home on Thursday so today was the first day back in the loft at my sewing machine ... and it was truly W O N D E R F U L :)

I spent the day working on my Hurricaine Sandy quilt - I'm sure it's the biggest quilt I've ever made at 82" x 58" so basting was a bit of a drama this morning (sorry DH for snapping at you!) but we got there in the end.  I did some straight line quilting and some FMQ (stippling) too. Took me about 3 hours to quilt it (without a break ... naughty, I know!) I've made the binding too - all 310" of it - which I'll attach and hand sew in front of the TV in the evenings after work next week:

Come back later in the week to see the finished photos - I've joined Shanna at Fiber of All Sorts  - A Lovely Year of Finishes - so I have to have this baby all done by Thursday!

WIP Wednesday - a few Christmas gifts :)

Updating this post today (06/01/2013) to link it up to Fiber of All Sorts 2013 - A 
Lovely Year of Finishes. This month, I am going to finish the twin size quilt I started in November (please see below) which, when finished, I will send to America so that it can be given to a Hurricane Sandy survivor.

Original post:
Brrrrrr ... It's turned cold in London today - definitely time to get the winter woollies out! It's so cold, I didn't even venture ino the loft after work to sew so not much to share tonight.

I am making 7 Pants Bags as Christmas gifts and did all the cutting yesterday in one go. I planned on having a couple of hours in the evenings doing solid chain piecing in one hit:

... but I couldn't help myself and made two first, I just need to tidy the sides and insert the ribbons:

 

And remember all this lovely fabric I got from the generous Tonya? Well, I'm going to make a quilt for a young person and find a USA link that can donate it for me to a hurricane Sandy survivor. I saw this pattern by Colette Cogley in the Nov/Dec edition of Love of Quilting:

and whilst I'm not doing strip blocks, I liked the simplicity of the pattern. Here's my centre piece - 56 charm squares (from Moda's Cape Ann):

Linking up to Freshly Pieced Quilts WIP Wednesday and definitely recommend having a look around the others - there's some great work out there! Here's a few posts I looked at today on blogs I haven't visited before - good on Lee for hosting this link up every week:

Julia at Life as a Quilter

Mrs Pickles at Mrs Pickles Garden

Tessa Marie at The Sewing Chick

 

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