Open Block Surgery!

Surfing the Web

Spot the deliberate mistake with this 'Snail's Trail' Block! I unpicked it just enough to turn the two patch around in the centre and then had to carefully piece it back together again to make it right. Better to spot it now, though, than after it was quilted!  

Now I am assembling Christopher's Rainbow quilt in sections and I am following one of Bonnie Hunter's techniques of 'webbing' the units together. This is where you lay out a block (or section in this case) and sew the pieces together in columns leaving the short thread in between to hold them in position until you finish it by sewing the rows together. In theory, you can do the whole quilt like this, but this will be a large  quilt and the layout is quite complicated and I knew I would get it wrong. I now have 20 sections to press and sew together and then it will be ready for quilting! 

I do love Storm at Sea - It is so versatile. It is coming along really well.

Bye Bye Bonnie!

Talking of Bonnie Hunter, I have to say farewell to my version of her 'En Provence' mystery quilt which I have just sold on Folksy! 
And ... 
I have just discovered that she is coming to Festival of Quilts 2018. Could be my first overnight stay if she is doing a workshop.






This is the latest masterpiece from Sue Mashmoor, which I have been up in the loft with for all the daylight hours this week. A much happier experience with the 'Fantastico' Trilobal polyester thread in variegated black/grey/silver that I ordered especially for this project. 

So much less aggravation than the metallic thread and I really love the way it has stitched out my 'passion flower' motif. No hours of unpicking this time, thankfully!













Happy Quilting Everyone!
Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

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Side by Side by Sold One Already!

And a Scrappy Quilt by Studio Quilters 

This week Susan F and I set out our stall at St Andrew's Parish Hall in Totteridge Village, for an Autumn Bazaar in Aid of NSPCC. We had all the group quilts out  (as well as mine) and had some interest, but didn't make any major sales. I had finished off these little nursery quilts from my UFO basket, in time for the sale. They were only small, so I had them set up side by side on my frame and quilted them at the same time, but with different designs.

We did sell a few of our odds and ends from Studio Quilters and Connecting Threads, so we managed to make a small contribution to the cause! We would do it again next year and will be better prepared next time. 

Later in the week, I Iisted all my quilts for sale in my shop and within 24 hours the turquoise one was sold!









I have another BIG quilt to do for Susan M and I am waiting for the special thread to arrive (NOT Metallic this time - a shiny polyester thread called Fantastico). 
In the meantime, I have cracked on and finished this 'scrappy quilt' put together from 'Itsy Bits and Wonky Strips' blocks, made by the ladies at Studio Quilters.  

There's a bit of my influence here - the scrappy border was pieced on to phone book paper and trimmed to an even width. Looks effective!

 Guess who made the pink block!

All the Snail's Trail blocks are finished now for Christopher's Rainbow. That's all the units prepared and now I am ready to start putting them all together. I'm going to have to concentrate if I am to get them all in the right place, but I am really looking forward to it.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Rainbow Rising!

Klingons on the Starboard Bow!

My progress on Christopher's Rainbow has been steady these last two weeks. I have taken it one colour at a time and I now have a very satisfying pile of Diamonds and Square in a Square units all carefully ticked off against my coloured layout diagram. I got it wrong a few times when I lost concentration -  but that's what you get for sewing in the early hours!









The next stage should move along more quickly and I'm really looking forward to assembling them all. Storm at Sea is such a versatile block and I am hoping my design will look stunning in these rainbow colours.



The week after next (Tuesday 19th Sept) I have been offered a stall at the Autumn Bazaar in aid of NSPCC to be held at St. Andrew's Church Parish Hall, Totteridge Lane, London N20 8PR. Studio Quilters like to support this cause so we will be offering some of our stock that we might otherwise sell at the Christmas Fair at Allum Hall in November, particularly some of our larger quilts as well of some of my own quilts. 

We don't want to leave ourselves with no stock for November so I've been trying to finish off a few little quilts I have on the go. 

So where are the KLINGONS?

Here - one of those little leader/ender four patches 'clinging on' at the end of a row! Just ready to be snipped off and added to my stash to start off another project.

 

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc