Last quilt of 2013 :)

I finished and posted this cute baby quilt for Aunty Ruth this week and that brings my quilt-making of 2013 to an end! We'll be heading off for a week with family soon - lots of Christmas parties and good times ahead :)

 

So here is my final quilt of 2013 - number 17 - made for baby Esme (probably shouldn't have photographed it against a bright red background?!):

 

Backed with anti-pill fleeced fabric:

 

 

My Juki went in for it's first service yesterday but the shop said it could be up to two weeks before I get it back so, bless him, knowing I couldn't not sew for 2 weeks, DH has bought me a sewing machine to have as a 'workshop spare' ... all wrapped up so I'll show you later!

 

Linking up for the last time in 2013 with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Thanks to Amanda Jean and Sarah for hosting their link-ups throughout the year and to all the lovely quilters who pop by, take a look at my posts and leave such encouraging comments. Merry Christmas xx

Christmas finishes - am getting there ...

I started making this Christmas Throw for my niece at the end of November and finished sewing on the binding this week - not bad going. Not bad at all :)

 

Before starting the quilting, I have my routine  - I get all my bits together, then give the machine a bit of a clean (it always needs it!) Ewwwww:

I have two ways of joining the binding ends. The 'quick way' - hiding the end in the beginning - and this way:

Which do you prefer? Here's the front:

And the back:

And the label:

 

 

 

Also, I made this little Pants Bag (for ballet shoes) for the daughter of my 'frolleague':

And over the weekend, I shall be quilting and finishing this baby crib quilt:

 

Did someone mention wrapping Christmas Presents? Pah! Plenty of time yet :)

 

 

Linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday) and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict:

A couple of newbies :)

I can't believe myself sometimes! I still haven't written any Christmas cards - I will do them tonight! But I have started making two new quilts and they're nothing to do with Christmas!

 

The first one is another teddy bear baby quilt - this time for Aunty Ruth (no, she's not having a baby ... she is 89!) She has asked me to make a quilt she can gift to a family friend who's due any day. We don't know whether it's going to be a boy or a girl so have started with a baby girl quilt and - well, there's a 50/50 chance I'm right!

 

Nell helped out too:

 

 

Newbie #2 - although I wasn't planning on starting this new quilt until after Christmas, it needs to be finished by January 23rd as it is my gift to a friend who is retiring and that's the date of the leaving party. She loves pinks and greens, here's what I'm thinking - mostly from my stash (and with some recent purchases):

 

 

And, instead of making it easy on myself, I am 'designing my own pattern' ... again ... why do I do this to myself? I have no idea if it will work! More to come on this over the next few weeks:

 

 

If you haven't already, please take a look at the post for my Pants Bag tutorial - these little bags will take you about an hour to make if you need a last minute Christmas Gift:

 

 

Linking up with the lovely Lee @ Freshly Pieced who's sharing some delightful quilts from her new book Vintage Quilt Revival ... sadly, not available in the UK until March :'(

 

 

3 finishes, a WIP and a new start ...

Happy weekend!

Why stop at one teddy bear baby quilt when you can make another? Having made the blue one for baby Matthew, last weekend I started on a pink one from these fabrics:

 

This was made for Jacki; our families lived next door to each other in Skelmersdale, Lancashire in the 1970s. We were very close back then, we'd go off on camping holidays a couple of times a year, our Mums and Dads were great friends and Jacki's sister Mandy was my first best mate! We were also part of a dance troup trained by my Mum and their Mum, Aunty Brenda. Here we all are in (I think) 1973/4. That's me in the bottom row (with the end of my arrow on Mandy and Jacki in the centre with the end of her arrow on my older sister, Debbi):

 

When I was aged 7, our family moved to Wales and we still met up for camping holidays and visited for a few years but, sadly, over time we lost touch :( until the end of last year when, out of the blue, Aunty Brenda rang my Mum and through Facebook, I'm back in contact with Mandy and Jacki ... got to love social networks, hey?

So here's the quilt I made this week for Jacki, she's thrilled with it:

 

Love making these teddy bear quilts - I could seriously make baby quilts all day long, couldn't you? My other two finishes are the Christmas Tree mug rug for Pam at work. Made from scraps and a penguin fat quarter, I free motion quilted some stars and loops and straight line appliqued the Christmas tree, star and tinsel. It really didn't take very long to do. I even hand sewed the back of the binding but then, that is my favourite part of quilting:

 

The binding fabric for both of these came from my little binding basket. This is where all my leftovers go until I reuse them:

And the advent calendar made out of a Makower Christmas panel. This was a fun project to sew - the instructions were very clear (half the battle when doing anything for the first time) and this one's actually for us! I have two more to make which I'll be gifting to friends with children:

 

My WIP is a Moda charm square lap quilt for my deputy at work, who's going to be off sick for a few weeks :( started on Wednesday, here's where I'm up to:

 

 

And this weekend, I'm starting on my niece's table runner and mats from this bundle of gorgeousness:

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE my hobby! What are you up to this week? I'll pop over and take a look as well as drooling overall the beautiful things shared at Amanda Jean's Finish it up Friday and Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict:

Baby Quilt quick finish ... meet Ted!

I started making this little baby boy pram / crib quilt for Laura (a friend at work) on Saturday afternoon and finished it (late) on Sunday evening - I'm well chuffed!! Isn't he a cutie:

All the fabric was from my stash, except for the baby fabric fat quarter. I do like Makower Spraytime fabrics, I think they're my favourite 'blender' and this orange was just perfect for the quilt and binding. I think my tortoise-slow hand stitching the back of the binding probably was the longest part of the quilt making but I LOVE the whole process of making and attaching the binding, do you?

The backing fabric is fleeced and was thick enough, I thought, so I didn't add any extra wadding / batting and it FMQ'd like a dream  - with one bobbin and in less than an hour ... I know!!! (Doing a little happy dance!)

His cute little eyes and nose were made using a cotton reel as a template and appliqued with a small zig-zag stitch:

The pattern is from this book by Pam and Nicky Lintott of The Quilt Room - I have used this book before and find their patterns really easy to follow:

I can't remember where I read this tip (might have been Carla or Julie?) but instead of just discarding the cut off triangle bits, I sewed another 1/4" seam at the same time so no wastage and 26 little HSTs for another project ... yay!

Although it was meant to be made using a jelly roll, I upped the sizing a little bit as I only wanted to make one teddy bear, not 4 as the pattern called for. But I might just make it with 4 in the future if I wanted a larger quilt.

I am so looking forward to giving this to Laura and baby Matthew - she doesn't know I've made it so it will be a lovely surprise. Linking up with Quilt Story - Fabric Tuesday :)

You made me 'do a Gwyneth' !!

Yes, you lovely followers you, when I woke up yesterday morning and immediately grabbed my iPad (as you do!) and read all your wonderful comments on Friday's post about my quilting and blogging, I must confess I ... large GULP ... got a little teary :'-)

It woke DH up so I read him some of your comments and then, being the drama queen I am, I did a bit of this:

With my own, "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for xxx and I also want to thank xxx so much for their help and support"... it made us both laugh ... you probably had to be there but take my word for it ... it was funny! Thank you x

And so, drum roll, please ... who is the lucky winner of the Christmas FQs: 

It's: 

Congratulations dear Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts who left me this sweeeeeeet comment:

Oh, Jennifer you are a fabby quilting blogger and we love you! Congratulations on your 200th post! That is exciting! Love your house blocks pants bag. Regarding the quilting across and bumping up..... I wish I had an answer for that one. But I am getting pretty good at burying knots!

Thank you for the opportunity to win those festive fat quarters! I have been on a Christmas project kick and would sew love to use those on a table runner or stocking. Did you know there are only 74 days left until Christmas?

Isn't she a darling? 

And, as promised, I have spent a lot of time sewing over the weekend! After a quick trip into Rochester to buy some batting and a little bit of fabric, I made a start on a baby boy quilt for my friend Laura at work, who has given birth to Matthew - pleased to say Mummy and baby both doing well. Inspired by the new fat quarter I bought, (bottom left), I pulled all the other fabric from my stash: 

It wouldn't be me if I chose something easy peasy! Also, why keep it simple and follow the pattern exactly when you can shake it up, add inches and have to work it all out because you want one bigger teddy bear rather than four small ones?!

It's actually been lovely to work on and here's a WIP photo: 

And, just because I could, I made a start on this Makower Advent Calendar (bought the panels weeks ago): 

I've had the best weekend, hope you enjoyed yours too :)