The Camelot Quilt

I've taken the plunge and decided to start working my way through all 16 blocks of the Camelot Quilt.

You can find a better view of it here and if you are so inclined, buy the pattern here

It's definitely going to be a slow burn project.

Initially, I thought I'd do it in muted colours

And there is a Flickr group here of other Cameloters

But I decided it wasn't 'me' and it lacked a sense of vibrancy.

So I redid Block 1.

And felt happier about that.

I then moved on to Block 16 because, well, Block 2 scares the life out of me with too many inset narrow circles.

So then I felt a bit more confident and decided to tackle Block 3.

Which has a centre 'circle' that looks more like an octagon so I'm going to pretend it's supposed to be like that and then no one will be the wiser.

I need to get my big girl's pants on and tackle some of the more intricate blocks, especially as 16 blocks makes for a square quilt and I'm not a fan of square quilts. I have it in my head that I am going to make four new circular designs to bring it up to 20.
There, I said it.
Which means I will have to do it.

At some point.

Liberated Llamas

I started with this...

Laurie Wisbrun fabric available here

...which, with some help from my stash became this.

Some of the stash is quite old.

I just cut and sewed, only squaring up to a 9 1/2" unfinished block when I thought 'that looks OK.' The only planning was the addition of the three bits of brown and blue fabric, just to add a bit more interest to the proceedings.

For the quilting, I used this stitch on my sewing machine.

Stitch no. 160 on the Bernina 440QE

Which I lengthened as far as possible to get a shallow bend, starting in the middle of the quilt and working all the way to the right side. No measuring between lines, just random eye-balling.

I then flipped the quilt round, positioned the needle in the middle of the quilt again and worked my way to the right again.

What this means is that half the scallop shapes face one way and the other half, the other.

Quite possibly today's most boring quilt photo but hopefully you get the gist.

I used monofilament thread in the top and a white cotton in the bobbin.
Monofilament because the contrast between the white and the brown is so high, either shade of thread would have been too visible. Monofilament gives the texture of the shape without the colour.

The pattern the stitch makes is possibly not as visible on the front, as the quilt has already been washed, owing to The Incident With The Hot Cup Of Coffee when the binding was part-way sewn on.

I thoroughly enjoyed this random exercise in sewing and I love the richness and variety that all the shades and hues of brown bring to the quilt.

If you would like to get liberated with some llamas let me know, as I still have a bit of the fabric left and I think I'm all llamaed out now.
Happy to post anywhere.

Hanging around hand stitching

Hanging around at music lessons...

...which results in hanging around at music exams.

Ant then there are the dance classes...

...ballet...

...modern...

...and tap.

So that as long as I have hanging around to do this quilt will keep growing.

Concept for this quilt pattern is from the book Material Obsession Two although I'm not sure I'm going to follow the layout

Especially as I am fascinated how this particular one shape, when sewn together, can create so many different looks and new shapes.

Siblings Together quilt - take two

First Siblings Together quilt is here.
Information on the charity is here.

So I took the second charm pack that Katy kindly offered up on her blog to those who were prepared to make a quilt for the charity, cut it up in to half square triangles and got as far as this

The spotty dotty fabric is my own

So thinking cap went back on to work out how I was going to make it bigger and that was with the addition of various black and white fabrics which got me to an end result of this.

I'm thinking it's suitable as a gender neutral teenagers quilt

Just to try something different, I did wavy diagonal lines either side of the seams and make sure the stitch length was set to maximum so the waves were very gentle.

It probably shows up better on the lighter back.

Both quilts will be off shortly to Siblings Together.

Meanwhile, for those of you in the British Isles wondering what has happened to 'summer' - I think I have found the answer.

Pillow Talk Swap Round 8

If there is one swap on Flickr that is guaranteed to get me interested, it is the Pillow Talk Swap and when Round 8 was announced and all the spots were filled in just over 24 hours, I got one.

I started with this.

Tutorial is from here

Which today, due to the interminable rain, has become this.

Which has a zippered back.

Which I am secretly rather chuffed about.

All of which I hope my partner likes too.

A little light distraction?

After the mammoth that was the last quilt, I was after something less taxing so 'whipped up' this thingy.

Things I learnt about making this thingy:

• decide from the outset what colour threads you use in top and bobbin thread. Don't realise some way through that you've got blue in the top and white in the bobbin and change the top for a yellow only to realise a further bit on that you'll also be sewing on the red fabric so let's now change it to red
• remember to reposition your sewing machine needle as far left as it will go when you attach your zipper foot
• remember to reposition your sewing machine needle back to its original centre position when you take off the zipper foot and put your regular foot back on
• instructions are only useful if you actually understand them
• there comes a point, when you've got the pockets on upside down and inside out, when it is wise to stop pouring over the instructions and let the visuals of commonsense prevail
• there is a fine dividing line between a handmade and a homemade look

and finally...

• there is 'organic' straight line sewing and then there is plain old 'good grief this is shocking' straight line sewing
• alcohol is sometimes the answer.

Absolutely NEVER EVER again

A little recap.

I bought this pattern about 10 years ago

Having a clear out a couple of years ago I rediscovered it and wavered between putting it on the 'never going to do it, need to find a new home for it' pile and the 'oh go on, I'll give it a go' pile.

It ended up on the latter pile.

I kept doing bits of it, getting tired of it and putting it to one side.
There were just so many itty bitty pieces that I kept getting disheartened with the whole process.

A jigsaw of over 1,200 pieces to sew together.

The smallest square on point measures just 1 1/4 inches.

I have loved and loathed the process of making this quilt top in unequal measures.

To the point where I am a little bit out of love with it.

Colours are probably most true to form in this picture

Plus there is still this little lot to remove

Next quilt is going to be a whole lot more simple me thinks.