Building Blocks Quilt- 2014 Quilt Along #6

This week I decide to catch up on the last 2 quilting blocks- Circles and Wiggly Pasta. I shall start with the Circles. Guess what I don't like them! I can't believe the trouble I was having. More practise will be needed to master them. I just couldn't find the flow point so I was stopping and starting all the time creating some rough edges. On the upside I have learnt my machine doesn't like going backward and I still need to get my hands to move a little faster in time with the machine. Don't look too close I may redo this block at a later stage if I can't live with it.

Now for Wiggly Pasta, I found this an easier block to quilt and by the time I finished the wiggly pasta lines in the blocks, I could see myself using this design in future quilting. The border quilting was a little rougher I'm afraid. I got a little carried away and a little wayward but there was improvement as I went. My main trouble was not seeing my tracing clear enough to follow and my hands moving too slow so my stitches were really small and I snapped my thread a couple of times because of it. At least I know what I am doing wrong so I can work on it. Right.

Keep practising is the key I think. We can only get better, not worse I hope.

To see what others are up to go to

 http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/fmq-project-link-up_28.html

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Wishes Quilt Along 2014 - February Block

February has come to an end so quickly. I just finish this block just in time. The double windmill block was a little tricky  keeping the pieces in the right order. I did the first 3 quarters not a problem but the last one I must of twisted a couple of pieces and sewed them together wrong. It is so annoying when I stuff it up. But it is all fixed now. All happy and ready for the next block.

                                                   Until next time
                                               Keep Stitching Cynthia

What is going on?

What is wrong with me? I can't believe it. Once again I am sewing away on the last section of the Wish Along BOM this time. I lay out the 4 sections ready to sew,  and then I spot it. I have sewn the last quarter together wrong. Out comes the seam ripper and I unpick it. I keep doing this, nearly finished and I stuff it up. This has been happening a lot lately. Why do I keep do this? Ok I'm the first one to admit I'm not perfect. It will happen from time to time, but at the moment it is happening every week and on all different projects. None of my current projects are technically challenging, so you would think I should be able to complete simply piecing without too much trouble. So in the end I just unpick the latest block stuff up and stopped for the day. Though I had only been at the machine under a hour and was hoping for a couple of blissful hours at the machine to complete some blocks for a couple of projects. Oh well maybe  I have a couple of screws loose in my head that need tightening before I sit down at the machine next time. LOL

See the mistakes simply twisted the pieces the wrong way when I sewed them together and yesterday's mistake was unpick before I could think to take  a unhappy snap of it. I did go back and fix it so it is now completed.

Until next time

Keep stitching

Cynthia

Scrappy Time- Pattern of the Month Club

Starting in February we have Zoe Clifton Scrappy Time starting. This is a Pattern of the Month Club.
 We all have fabric at home that we should use up. Zoe Clifton has a solution to this problem. Each month there will be a new pattern just perfect for Stash and Scrap Busting. The pattern of the month projects will include quilts, table runners, cushions and Christmas projects. 

This is February's Pattern and it is now available at www.cynthiasark.com.au  in a couple of different options for you to purchase it. So head over to the shop and look in the Site News for more details on the options and join us on our Scrap and Stash busting adventure this year. I will be taking on this challenge and I will share my projects as we go through the year.

Don't forget to have a look at Zoe's book Melon Magic with the melon templates, it is now available in the shop in the Patchwork Notion Section for $35.00.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

It is my birthday this week.

To celebrate my birthday on the 28th February our webshop is going to be giving away presents all week. All you have to do is place an order at www.cynthiasark.com.au and you will automatically be entered into the daily draw to win your own birthday present. I have put together some lovely fabric bundles for presents and I know we all love getting fabric presents.

Some of the fabric presents ready for me to wrap. I just thought I would give everyone a sneak peak of what they could get in their order.

So pop over and have a browse. There is a shop tab at the top of the page that will take you to the shop.

Until next time keep stitching

Cynthia

 

Building Blocks Quilt- 2014 Quilt Along #5

Some how I am a week behind. Never mind, no point stressing over, is there. I got my nine patch blocks made and I am ready to trace the design on. I still haven't found a suitable marker and I am still having trouble seeing the design through the fabric. In the end I copied the design instead of tracing it with the lightbox and I used a different marker(a frixon pen) I only have a blue one so it was a little hard to see but at least the lines stayed on. I might try a different colour for the next block.

One of the first things I have learnt through this Quilt along is I do like to FMQ straight lines and this block went a bit better than Gridlines block did. I'm so happy to see there is more improvement. Just had a little drifting in my straight lines and  a few on my travel lines were a little wobbly.

Now I need to get my act together and trace the next block and jump in to the next one Not sure about all the circles in the next one.

See what other have been working on this week at  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/fmq-project-link-up_21.html 

Until next time

Keep stitching Cynthia

Globetrotting Block of the Month #2

With all the hot weather we have been having I just haven't been motivated to do any machine sewing. Finally a cool change with rain came through. The rainwater tanks have been topped up and the vegie patch has had a good drink. I got to the sewing machine on Sunday and did some sewing. On top of my list was the Globetrotting BOM, February's block is Venice. It wasn't a hard block to make but the last seam of the block I managed to stuffed up. See my mistake.

 I should have double checked it when my seams didn't match up right but no, I just went back to the iron re press and sewed. So imagine my surprise when I went to snap a pic for this post and saw the mistake.  I should have double checked before sewing. So out comes the seam ripper and another re press and then I sewed it on the right way.

Now I have finished Block #2 Venice, the right way. I wonder where we are going next month!

Block 1 and 2 together. I look forward to next month's block.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Ponchee -Support Crew member #1.

More hot weather here in South Australia today. So I thought I would share with everyone some pictures of one my support crew. I would like you all to meet Ponchee she is my Quilt Comfort Tester. At all stages of quilt production she is likes to test the quilts for comfort. She is also likes to do some typing/editing on the computer and you can often find her tuck in between me and the laptop sitting on my arms.

Next time I will introduce one of the others.

Stay cool and keep stitching

Cynthia

Hooray! My Batik Log Cabin Quilt is finished!

Finally after 3 years in the making I can say my Batik Log Cabin quilt is finished. I started this project back in October 2010. I needed a travel project while we were in the USA. This means a hand piecing project was on the cards. Yes I hand pieced all these blocks on and off over the last three years, using some of my growing collection of batik fabric scraps.

A small  selection of my log cabin blocks.

Guess what I didn't make much of a dent in to my collection of scraps. More scrap projects will have to be added to my creating folder. What can I do with 1 inch strips of various lengths? I am open to any suggestions.

A close up shot of my quilting.

The finished quilt.


Until next time      Keep stitching
Cynthia

Celtic Solstice #5

I did some more work on the Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Quilt this weekend.You can still get this pattern on the Quiltville blog under the Celtic Solstice tab. I really want to finish the top so I sewed all the blocks I had completed together. Which gave me 5 complete rows. The top 4 rows are sewn together .

 Only 2 more rows to go but I need to make 7 more Block 2, all of the Block 1 are done.

Block 2
 The pinwheels are done, I just need to do some more of the other sub blocks.  We will see when I get time to do this. A few other sewing projects need some attention this week. I am starting to think having a plan for most of your sewing projects worked out, may lead to me doing more sewing this year. Last year was a bit light on completed projects or projects even started. I know it is only February and there is time to collapse in a screaming heap but so far it seem to be working. Lol. We will see how I'm travelling a few months down the track.
 Cheer me on to at least finish my Celtic Solstice Quilt.

To view other Celtic Solstice  mystery quilts click this link  

 and I will keep everyone updated with my progress .

http://quiltville.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/celtic-solstice-mystery-link-up-finale.html

Until next time keep stitching

Cynthia

Have you seen the new Inklingo Collection?

This week Linda Franz from Inklingo released their latest collection. It is the Castle Wall Collection and it comes in 3 sizes 4.5, 6 and 9 inches. This is a joint project between Mickey Dupre and Inklingo so you will find posts on both their blogs.  Picturebelow from the Inklingo blog of the Castle Wall block.
 

If you haven't crossed paths with Inklingo it is time you have a look. This technique of printing shapes on fabric using your normal inkjet printer has change the lives of many quilters. I found it makes my hand piecing projects a breeze. No more making templates then tracing around them, adding seam allowances and cutting them out. With Inklingo you print your shapes onto the fabric (sewing lines and cutting lines) then cut them out and sew by hand or machine.  Linda has a number of  tutorials and a free shape collection for you to start with.
I played around with the free shape collection when I first found Inklingo and for my first full project I participated in Inklingo mystery quilt The Case of the Secret Garden. I was off and sewing with Linda and Monkey's help. My current Inklingo project is Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice quilt and this time I have had a go at machine piecing  the blocks.
I have just purchased my Castle Wall Collection in the 9 inch size. So now I just have to pick out the fabrics and I can start. The Inklingo link is on the right handed side of our blog. Go and have a look.

 Until next time keep stitching
Cynthia