Building Blocks Quilt - FMQ Along #13

I am still working on our Cheater Drunkard Paths blocks with 2 left. I got the second one done with a few wobbles here and there and that was mainly because I couldn't see where I was going, the lines were a little too light as I have misplaced my yellow marking pencil. I wonder if 1 of my cats has stolen it. I will have to look for it before doing the next block. The wiggly curves in the arches  are looking better at least.

Here is the link to see what others have been working on.
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/fmq-project-link-up.html

Until next time 

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

EQ Jump Start Sew Along # 2

This week's lesson sees us playing with the fabric library. I have added some of my own fabrics to the fabric library over the years but I have never downloaded from EQ though I have known they were there. Why I don't know? I suppose I have the fabric picked out when I start designing so I just use my scanned fabrics or just use fabric similar to what I have in mind. Also I wonder if the delay of those fabric being available in Australia factor in to that. When I design a quilt I want to start it as soon as possible so waiting for the fabrics to be available in quilt shops here, is too long a wait.

 The other thing in this lesson I haven't used and I can't believe I haven't played with it, is the spray can option. This one blew me away, why was I colouring patches in individually when I could colour them in with 2 clicks of the mouse. I know I like to change some of the patches to different colours but from now on if I am to change all the patches I will do it the easy way.

Also in this lesson we looked at printing templates and this is something I haven't done before either I always use the rotary cutting option. So now understanding what I can do with the template options I can see a new hand piecing project being created to satisfy my need for a portable project but for this block I still used the rotating cutting option.

Here is the link to EQ7 Blog to see what other have done with block 2.

http://doyoueq.com/blog/2014/05/eq7-jump-start-block-2-link-up/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eq7-jump-start-block-2-link-up

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia 

What has been happening this week.

 Not a lot of sewing has been happening this week, but that doesn't mean I haven't been playing with fabric. This week has been spent cutting fabric into 30cm (12 inch) strips for my fabric boxes that I take to craft fairs, exhibitions, special events and more. I have the Salisbury Craft and Hobby Fair on the first weekend of June. It is held at The Gardens Recreation Centre, Corner Kings & Martins Rd, Parafield Gardens, South Australia. So if you are in Adelaide over the long weekend I would love to see you there. There are over 80 stalls with a wide selection of goods on offer, food and entertainment, so why not join us.

 I am planning some specials for the weekend, at the moment I am thinking charm square packs will be on special and maybe a fabric freebie offer.  Here is a preview of the delicious fabrics for sale.  

Until next time 

Keep stitching

Cynthia

Spring Sampler Quilt # 1

I was cruising around my favourite blogs on Thursday and I always check the Let's Bee Social Post at Sew Free Quilts as I like to share what I have been up to and see what others have been doing. There is a link in the sidebar on the right handed side of my blog, have a look later there is plenty to enjoy. This is where I found Cora's Quilts post on their Spring Sampler. It started back in early April and they are up to block 5 this week, but I am always looking at new projects and what they would look like in batik fabrics. So I am going to have a go there is some catch up work to be done. They have included a square in square tutorial and a flying geese tutorial to aid us in the block construction. I haven't used this flying geese method so I am looking forward to give this method a go. You can find the link in the sidebar on the right handed side of my blog if you are interested in this project. I know it isn't Spring here in Australia but it may be Spring when I finish it.

 Here are the fabrics I am going to use. I used Shelley’s post on fabric selection to help me choose my fabrics.

 From the top left 3 medium darks and bottom left 2 neutrals. Top right white solid and bottom right my dark fabrics.

My vibrant fabric selection I add 1 extra after I took the photo.
Now I just have to catch up.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

New Project

As I have caught up momentarily I took the opportunity to play around with a block design I have been playing with in EQ7. At www.cynthiasark.com.au  we sell Batik Mystery Sampler Packs.  We make these packs from the batik fabrics in stock and the packs contain 30 x 4 inch squares all different and no two packs are exactly the same. I have been playing around in EQ7 with some patterns using  these 4 inch square to give quilters some ideas on what they can do with them. At this stage the fabric requirements for this project stands at a light neutral batik fabric, a dark batik fabric and a Batik Mystery Sampler Pack.  This is an easy block to piece and I will put together a tutorial for the quilt once I have finished it.

                                    Here is the block I am playing with.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Leaders & Enders Challenge Update

You may have seen some of these lozenge blocks in some of my Sewing time posts. This is a Leaders & Enders challenge set by Bonnie Hunter on Quiltville. As a terrible scrap quilter I am doing this challenge to free myself from my need to keep fabrics under colour control and break free of my restricting my quilts to 4-5 fabrics only but I do love them so it is going to be hard. As I went through my scrap boxes I was able to choose plenty of fabrics for the main body of the block (3 1/2 x 6) there is lots of variety in patterns, colours and styles in medium tones but looking for lights and darks for the corners seem harder. There were few more light neutrals than darks and I am trying to keep to the blacks, dark navy blues and dark greys. Am I being too controlling again?

What should I do, this is a scrap challenge?  I really want to make a dent in my scraps and I know my scrap stash isn't as large as some quilter's I have seen but should I buy fabric for a scrap project. I obviously follow a don’t waste policy to keep my scraps to 2 boxes so I attacked my fabric stash and started cutting strips of fabric from the stash to add to the scraps. So that got me out of trouble for a while and my blocks started to pile up but in the back in my mind there was this little voice saying is this scrappy enough, you need more variety in your lights and darks. So when I was at the Salisbury Stitchers Exhibition I made the decision to buy a few fat quarters to top them up and add the variety I was seeking. Here they are and I have cut some up and they are being used to create May's batch of blocks.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Layer Cake Sampler Quilt Along # 6

We are at the stage of assembling our sampler top together. I spent some time on it last week so I only needed to finish joining the rows together. This is where I got to last week.

It was a big job to join the rows together, the picture doesn't do it justice. To take this photo I had to stand on a ladder to get the whole quilt in.  It is took me all afternoon to join the rows together and add the borders.

The top is now finished you can only just see the borders as the floor is nearly the same colour as the border. Now comes the hard part quilting it as I haven't quilted a quilt this size before, not sure how I'm going to quilt it.

To have a look at other Layer Cake Sampler Quilts follow this link.

https://materialgirlquilts.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/layer-cake-sampler-qal-final-week-quilt-top-link-up-and-giveaway/

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Building Blocks Quilt - FMQ Along #12

Here we are in May already and time seems to be flying by so fast. In our Free Motion Quilt Along we have a new block to piece and quilt - the Cheaters Drunkards Path and we get to quilt the first one  with Lines and Grids. I haven't tried raw edge piecing before and after hearing mixed opinions on this topic I decided to just follow Leah's instructions and it worked out better than I thought it would. 

Now we are at the quilting part so I marked the block and watched the tutorial. I decided to try sewing the curves in one go instead of stopping and starting, so I don't get the pointy bits. I also decided not to turn the block around as much as I have been doing, as Leah suggested if you are working on a large quilt we will not be able to turn our quilts easily. There is some wobbles in the curves, travel stitching and in the triangle sections and I think I lost one of my triangle points in the small curved section but I did it with only a few pauses. It could have been a lot worse. At least you can see the design I was aiming for, I didn't break my thread and my stitches are looking a lot more even. I think I have found the sweet spot on the throttle. Not too fast or too slow.

Until next time

Keep Stitching 

Cynthia

EQ Jump Start Sew Along #1

On the EQ blog www.doyoueq.com/blog last week the Jump Start Sew Along started. As a fan of this software since EQ5 was released. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to learn EQ7 as I received it as a birthday present from my LSH in February and I haven't used it very much yet. 

The first lesson was released and we had our first lesson on EQ7 to set up a basic quilt and print our first block pattern which will be our first block to sew- the Greek Cross block. I am going to make these blocks from my batik fabric scrap stash, there is a box full to work with. I think this is a good way to use up some of my fabric stash so I can make room for some new fabric.

I have some questions running through my head about EQ7 so I am hoping for some answers as we work through this project. I want to know 

What is new from earlier versions?

What features have I not used?

What little tricks can I learn?

How can I utilize EQ7 better?

How do I use some of the custom features better?

How to create my own blocks better? (As I have only created simple blocks so far.)

 I am sure there are a few more questions that I haven't thought of yet. 

The first lesson was straight forward to me as an ongoing user. It is a good place to start, at the beginning, creating a quilt layout and selecting some blocks and printing our first block instructions.   Here is my first block completed.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Sewing Time # 3

It is always good when you spend time doing what you enjoy and it is a bonus when you complete projects. There are no completed projects this week but I have managed to complete plenty of blocks and assemble blocks into rows toward finishing 2 quilt tops. Let me show you what I achieved. First we have the Aurifil Block of the Month for May from my scrap box.

Then we have Globetrotting and Wishes blocks for May.

While all this is going on I continue to slip in my lozenge blocks from the Leader and Ender Challenge on Quiltville I am surprise how quickly they build up. Here is some of this batch laid out to give you some idea on what is going on.

Next on my list to share is the rows assembled of my Layer Cake Sampler Quilt. The blocks are all joined into rows with the sashing so I just need to finish the sashing rows so I can join the rows together. This is going to be a large quilt by the time the borders go on. I will have to decide how I am going to quilt it soon.

Finally my Inklingo hexagon project I am hand stitching. It can be done by machine but I just love hand piecing. I am just joining the rows together now so we are nearly finished with the top.

Have a look at what others have been working on this week at

http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/lets-bee-social-20.html

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Globetrotting Block of the Month #5

This month we have gone to London as part of our Globetrotting adventure. Here is this month block completed.

Here is all 5 block together arranged in their spots.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Wishes Quilt Along -Mays Block

It feels like ages since I worked on this project but then I remember we are only doing 1 block a month and it was probably the first one I did last month. So here is my Log Cabin block all finished.

It is a good feeling to complete each month's block I feel I am achieving a lot more this year compared to last year.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

What has been happening around here

Not a lot of sewing happening around here. A lot of other stuff has been though. After the Exhibition I needed to do a bit of a stocktake to account for stock sold and then I needed to cut more fabric to refill the fabric boxes for the next event. It all takes time. This week we have received 2 shipments of fabric, one with Riley Blake fabrics and the other with lots of batik fabrics. All of them need to be checked, pictures taken and uploaded to the webshop. Look out for them during the week at www.cynthiasark.com.au
 I have been putting together more of my Kids Strip Quilt Kits. They have been running out the door. A load went to the post office this morning. The Fairy Magic Strip Quilt Kit has already sold out, but I have created a new girl's quilt called Lovey Dovey Strip Quilt Kit. There is limited stock left of Tractor Time and Critter Magic, so be quick if you want to purchase one. If you have missed out there are 2 new kid strip quilt kits coming shortly. So stay tune for their release but here is Lovey Dovey for you.

Until next time

Keep stitching

Cynthia

Layer Cake Sampler Quilt Along # 5

We have got to the exciting part of piecing our tops for the Layer Cake Sampler, all our block should be completed and we should be focusing on our sashing, cornerstones and borders. I am happy to say I am there after completing the last 2 blocks during the week. It was really the only sewing I managed with the Salisbury Stitchers Exhibition filling my time. So here is the last 4 blocks to complete all 20 blocks.

                   

With the last 4 blocks completed it was time to lay out all the blocks and I was surprised at the size this quilt will be at the end. Though Amanda did give us the final size I really didn't go and measure out those measurement. It will be a stunner when it is finished.

All my blocks laid out in no order at this stage. Hopefully I can get stuck in to the sashing and corner stones on the weekend.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Salisbury Stitchers Exhibition Round Up 2014

What a weekend we all had at the Salisbury Stitchers Exhibition at St Jay Recreation Centre. I am suffering from a bit of a fun hang over today. Just lacking a bit of energy and a bit tired.
 As a quilter what could be better than spending time viewing beautifully made quilts, enjoying good company and selling my wares. There was plenty of variety, something to please everyone I thought. There was a number Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilts on display in a variety of sizes. These took my fancy, as most of you know I am currently working on mine and getting close to finishing all my blocks. So I was interested in what colour combinations were used for sashing, cornerstones and borders as in the book they have used brown and cream. I haven't gone that way, I am using a tan and burgundy for mine and there was a variety of options used in the ones on display. 

                                                    Some pictures of my stall.

My view of the exhibition from my stall.

Another view of the exhibition.

The Salisbury Stitchers did a brilliant job in the organising and running of this exhibition. Everything seem to run smoothly from my point of view. 

Until next time

Keep stitching 

Cynthia