Continuing with curves

Having been caught short with no quilt to give for a 4 1/2 week early baby girl, I needed to make something quick so managed to make this one over a little more than a weekend.

My weekends are snatched hours here and there so don't be under the misguided illusion that this is a whole weekend's worth of quilt.

It's not.
It would probably be very doable in one whole day of uninterrupted quilting bliss.

Actually, I'm just going to go off-topic here by saying you know your children are growing up when you go to download the pictures off your camera to the computer and you are convinced that there are only quilt pictures on there until up pops this on your computer screen:

And very nice they were too

 I used Jenny's curved ruler again. Just looked at the three YouTube videos she has on her blog and sort of went from there really.

Had to be pink.

Thought it was slightly too safe with the same pink for the background so did alternating rows of two different coloured pinks.

And because I used a pink fabric with black writing, thought that gave me the green light to use a black and white spotty dotty fabric for the binding.

Used another one of my quilt labels again

The back is a piece of flannel which just feels so soft and snugglesome.

And spring has sprung in this corner of the world.

Look closely at the beige fabric which curves round the centre fabrics. Too kitsch and not 'me' any more but definitely usable when added to more contemporary fabrics.

The fog has now lifted with a welcome return of the sun.

Just got to snip all the loose threads off this evening and then off it goes to its new owner.

Linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday

Who says number 1 never wins?

I do.

I have been known if I really, really want to be in with a chance of winning a giveaway, not to comment first because I always thought number 1 never wins.

That theory is now out the window as I just drew for the Denyse Schmidt fat quarters and who did Mr Random Number Generator Thingy pick?

 

Which was:

 Do you want to let me have your address please Jan.

AND...one clever clogs even guessed where the first part of my honeymoon destination was:

Yup - New Orleans. I had wanted to go there for what seemed like ever. My husband put together a secret itinerary for our honeymoon. You can't fly direct to New Orleans from the UK so I (rather ungratefully) thought we were going to St Louis when we first boarded the plane. No offence if you live in St Louis but it wasn't top of my honeymoon destination list.

If you get a chance, go to New Orleans - fab food, fab music, wonderful buildings, you've got the Mississippi - loved it.

'Wordmama' I shall email you for your address and then some fabric will be on its way to you.

However, it might take a while.

We are now into DAY THREE of this...

Fog.

No planes have taken off or landed for three days.

No mail plane. (Think of all my fabric orders, circling above me and then diverting back to whence they came)

No national papers plane.

Nothing.

Unfortunately my husband is one of the 6,000 :(

Save for the intermittent sound of the fog horn, the skies are eerily silent.

I have never known it to go on for this long.

It's definitely quilting weather.

Fifteen days

Fifteen days. That's how long I lasted into 2012 before signing up to a swap. I had told myself 2012 was to be the year of no swaps, no bees, just mindless, relaxing sewing of what I wanted, when I wanted.

But then sign ups for round 7 of the Pillow Talk {Swap} on Flickr opened up and I caved in. Has to be just about my favourite swap. You can never have too many pillows/cushions right?

And then I got my partner.

And then I panicked a bit because I am a huge admirer of her creativity. We were told to bring our A game to this swap but I felt I had to bring my A+ game for this partner.

For me, the easy part is picking the fabric. I take note of their likes in the sign up information, I trawl through their Flickrstream and read their blog and after a few days, I know which fabrics I want to use.

But what pattern to make?

I recently bought this and was itching (figuratively) to try it out. And then Jenny posted this tutorial on her blog and I knew that was what I wanted to make with the chosen fabric.

The tutorial was very easy to follow with the exception of my understanding the instructions for squaring up the blocks on the 1/8th mark which I think are less than perfect.

Yes, I know it's the same backing as my last Pillow Swap but I like it and it fits in with the colours and it's the right size!

However, I don't think it detracts from the overall look of the cushion/pillow and I am keeping my fingers crossed my partner likes it.

What it has done is completely whetted my appetite to see what other patterns and shapes can be made with the ruler. The curves are indeed very gentle ones to sew yet they create such dramatic and interesting effects.

Machine pieced and quilted with a little bit of perle hand quilting for good measure

I have a baby quilt to make next for a new arrival that caught me by surprise by putting in an appearance 4 1/2 weeks early so am hoping to do a curvy quilt for her.

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday

?????

Does anyone know why the numbering of comments has disappeared from blog comments?

Why a U.S. skiing holiday is the best (and a giveaway)

Because when the sun shines you have all this:

Note the lack of snow on neighbouring mountains. The eastern USA has had a very mild winter so far and not much snow

Snow making has featured heavily this year

Not exactly sure it is possible to look glamourous in a helmet?

Breathtakingly fantastic views and US half term is a week later than ours this year therefore slopes not crowded

But some days the weather is less than stellar

Yes, there is a mountain in there somewhere

Which means if you are on a US skiing holiday there is always one of these within striking distance

Eat your hearts out Alps, Dolomites etc. Where are your quilt shops?

I was actual very abstemious - just went to soak up the atmosphere of a real life quilt shop.

I didn't think I would be able to get to a Jo-Anns this trip so tried to make an order online and have it delivered to the hotel. It doesn't work as they will only deliver to the address that is registered to your credit card. So I sent them an email, asking what I could do if I wanted to order online as I couldn't get to a Jo-Anns store.

Here is the ingenious reply from the lovely Mary:

"I suggest visiting a local Jo-Anns store and purchasing a gift card. You can use this gift card to place an online order."

I predict a bright future for Mary at Jo-Anns.

Anyway, as luck would have it, we spent a night near a Jo-Anns after skiing so I did get to visit one. And what did I discover in the discounted section?

Yup, discounted Denyse Schmidt. It's in Portland, Maine Jo-Anns if anyone is passing.  But more importantly I got these:

Cost me an absolute fortune if I buy in the UK. In Jo-Anns, $31.99 for a pack of five.

Bargainiferous.

See those Denyse Schmidt fabrics? They are half yard cuts. I'm going to make them quarter yard cuts and send a set to one of you. You can leave one random comment if you already follow. For a second bonus comment (and I am completely and unashamedly copying this one from Kristie because I think it is such a fun question) have a guess in which US city I spent the first part of my honeymoon some 19 years ago. (Edited to add: and if you get that one right I'll throw in some bonus fabric too...as of comment number 13 no one has got it right!)


Givewaway stays open till next Saturday 25 Feb after which time I'll use Mr Random Number Generator.

Have fun!

It is what it was....

...a product of the Christmas rush. No real time to hide away upstairs in my sewing room but time enough to spend each evening being sociable downstairs.

In construction terms that meant a snatched half hour upstairs to piece some strips together sans ruler, making sure to include both pick and blue so all bases are covered.

And then time in the evenings to just randomly hand-quilt it however I wanted without much thought.

Nothing pre-planned. Just mindlessly relaxing hand-quilting.

And the back.

Now to wait for the recipient's arrival.

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday.