Pink Cardigan Finished

I've finally finished the pink cardigan that I started back here. I sewed it up and blocked it before crocheting the hems (row 1: 3 dc into every stitch, row 2: 2 dc into every stitch) to give a ruffle effect. On the 2nd row I incorporated pink and clear beads spaced out every three or four stitches. Then she wanted buttons so I crocheted small chains to attach large heart shaped buttons and also to make a matching loop. I deliberately made both long so that the cardigan would close so you could see both the ruffle and the buttons. She hasn't worn it yet and I'm really hoping it won't be too small. Overall though I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Our first commission

The third quilt I've been flat out making was a commissioned King Single Quilt for a gorgeous little 3 year old, Amelia. I'm slowly unveiling it over at 2 of 4 but here are some sneak peaks.

I learned so many new techniques putting this quilt together, including raw edge applique and trapunto which were inspired by the amazing work of Kelly Wulfsohn of Don't Look Now, and I've gotten so much better at controlling my free motion quilting.

This little guy is the big brother of the caterpillar I made for Little Sir's baby playgym mat and I've also made a pillowcase to match the quilt.

So far I don't have any immediate plans to begin anymore quilts (I can hear my husband sign with relief) as I'd really like to finish Little Lady's cardigan - I'm thinking of changing the edging to a ruffle rather than a picot/scallop. But right now I'm going to wrap my monkeys in beenies and coats and take advantage of the sun and head off to the park before the weather decides to turn crappy again.

Quilting designs

I planned the quilting designs for the freckled whimsy quilts long before I got anywhere near quilting them. I used google images for inspiration and practiced sketching on paper first to work out how to draw them in one continuous line. Next I made templates in cardboard of the general shape and traced these onto the quilt top with the water erasable Clover pen, then basted the quilt.

On the purple and pink quilt I quilted a meandering pattern of swirls and hearts 

 and incorporated each design as I came to it, including a rose,

 

a tulip,

 

 a handbag,

 butterfly,

bumble bee,

and flower.

On the blue quilt I used a meandering pattern of loops, stars,

and occasional waves

to fill in the spaces between crabs,

octopus,

seahorses,

dolphins,

fish,

boats,

and anchors.

The finished quilts measure 1.2m x 1.5m.

For my gorgeous little niece

and my handsome little nephew.

Busy, busy, busy...

I'm still recovering from a massive 2 months sewing in which I've made 3 quilts. My sisters both had theirs bubs - Tammy had a beautiful little girl and Nicole had a tiny handsome little man, and I actually managed to finish both quilts on time.

I sewed the fronts together fairly quickly and then used a blue fine tip Clover water erasable pen to mark on the designs that I wanted to incorporate into the quilting. I bought and tried many, many chalk pencils and other removable pens and markers and the Clover was by far the best. It completely dissolves in a small amount of cold water even after ironing over it which you're not supposed to do. On the blue quilt I had to use a violet marker (Sew Easy brand from Lincraft) which faded quickly so I had to redraw some designs, it took a bit more to come out and I haven't been game enough to iron over it.

Dreading the thought of having to baste them hunched over on the floor for hours on end I tried a technique I came across a while ago while trawling youtube which I conveniently bookmarked and promptly forgot about until these quilts...and am I ever kicking myself that I didn't try this sooner. It's soooo much easier than pin basting and is actually quite therapeutic tho it does take longer. The videos are long and Sharon talks quite a bit but it's well worth it as its full of tips and tricks - my fav is the quilters knot which I now use for everything. Did you know that thread had a grain?



I sourced my boards from Bunnings - they're just painted 2.7m pine boards found with the skirting boards which they kindly cut for me into a 1.1m and 1.6m length. Even tho my boards are shorter than the quilt width it still worked really well.

Here the quilt is 1.2m wide and I'm using the 1.1m boards. It took me 4 hours to baste the first one and 3 hours to baste the second which sounds like a long time but since then I've basted a king single quilt, 160cm x 210cm so almost double the size of these, in 4 hours. One of my main gripes with pin basting was the fiddling I have to do to get top and bottom smooth often involving repinning areas a few times and I absolutely hate fumbling with taking the pins out as I get to them on the machine. With thread basting I just snip the threads and pull them out as I get near them and if I accidentaly run over them they pull out easily and I don't damage anything.

Next up, the finished quilt and quilting designs.

Progress

As usual I got to the ironing part and am procrastinating again but I have made some progress. How's this for chain piecing?

And that's just the blue quilt.

I have actually been busy with other things. I have taken the plunge and have started working on a handmade craft business, 2of4, with my little sis Steph. I've just finished our first commissioned item for a lady she works with, a customised craft apron with a new design on the neck band to make it even more kid friendly to use. Check it out over here. It's based on my original design for Little Lady's adjustable craft apron with a modified neck strap.

We're making our debut at a local playgroup market in June so have been sewing whenever we can to build stock for it. So far we're making adjustable craft aprons, 50's style kitchen aprons with pot holders, placemat/coaster sets, and picnic blanket/linen sets but hope to branch out into playmats, small quilts, busy books, etc...all aimed at imaginative play for kids so it's all kid sized!! We're chronicalling our journey over here so if you're interested in the birth and growth of a small homebased business, head on over and check us out.

Tip - how to keep a random pattern in order

The pattern I'm currently using for the pink & purple and blue quilts is from a quilt-along hosted by KarrieLyne at Freckled Whimsy back in July last year. Its supposed to be sewn as 9-patch blocks made completely randomly - she even recommends placing all the HST blocks in one bag and the squares in another then lucky dip to make up the 9-patch blocks but if you're like me thats just not going to happen. Relinquish control to a lucky dip? Uh uh, can't do it. I like to see exactly how the whole quilt will look before I commit to sewing all those pieces together.

The problem is how to keep everything in order between laying it all out and sewing it up without dedicating floor space or wall space (OMG I so need a design wall!) to a quilt that may take anywhere from a day to a month or longer to sew up. My solution is this:

I assign each block a grid reference,

write that reference on a little dot sticker and label all the blocks. 

Then I can stack up each row in order and if things get knocked over, dropped or messed up, no probs, I know exactly what needs to go next to what when I sew them up.

If I was able to sew without distraction, which is virtually impossible to do with 2 little ones, I wouldn't bother with labelling them and would just stack them up in the order that I want to sew the blocks into rows. I couldn't tell you how many times these little dots have saved my bacon when wandering little fingers have rifled through my carefully stacked blocks. I also find them really handy for quickly checking every now and again while sewing that I haven't accidentally picked up a block from the wrong pile.

I've had to wait until Little Sir sleeps before I could lay out the 2 quilts I've been working on otherwise he treats the fabric pieces like confetti, ie colourful lovelies to be thrown into the air with squeels of delight (from him) and horror (from me). Here is the layout for the pink and purple quilt

and for the blue quilt

I plan to begin sewing these tonight or tomorrow depending on how distracted Steph and I get with our brilliant plans for world domination...I mean our future financial peace of mind.

Pink and Purple and Blue

I love these little stacks.

I've finally completed the rest of the blues and all HST are now trimmed and ready along with matching squares. I need 844 blocks for each quilt but I've made extra so that I can make matching change mats as well.

My future neice's quilt.

And for my future nephew.

And now for the fun part... I finally get to sew!