A little bit behind...

I'm running a little behind with the quilt along. I had meant to sew up my pieces this weekend, but a short notice visit from my parents on Friday night/Saturday morning, shopping and a bit of a hangover on Saturday afternoon and a job to apply for on Sunday and it just didn't happen. Sunday was definitely supposed to be the sewing day, but it took me about 5 hours to sort out the personal statement and a new version of my CV for the job application that had to be done by today, that I just didn't have the energy or time in the end... *

What I did manage to do, however, was work out the arrangement of the quilt top. I used our bed as I'm not sure how clean the floor is and I didn't want to totally disrupt Flâneur who was trying to write some lectures, and started roughly in the middle, as it seemed to be the easiest way... I tried to do it in a considered way, trying to make sure that none of the edge fabrics repeated in any rows or columns, but in the end held a pile of squares in my hand and stood thinking, 'Right. Where will this one go...'

This is the final layout I ended up with:

I didn't quite manage to get all the squares in the picture as our bedroom isn't big enough for me to stand far enough back!! But you get the general idea...

When I see it like that I'm rather pleased with it. Up close some of it does mess with your eyes a bit, but I must say it's turning out pretty well for my first go at a quilt that isn't just made up of ordinary squares!

*I don't want to say too much about the job I applied for, other than it's a permanent one, which would trump the temporary one I have at the moment. Fingers crossed eh?

Quilt Along update

Having cut out all of the pieces last week, this week's task in the Fat Quarterly Quilt-Along was to piece it. With 80 blocks to sew, not small feat! I had meant to do a little each evening, but after a trip to the gym on Monday evening left me knackered I was slow to start... I then got a cold at the end of the week, which saw me taking two days of work, so no chance for sewing then either. Boo hoo... I had matched up all the fabrics into their blocks at the start of the week, deciding on a random approach. Well contrived random (as Flâneur put it), as I went to great lengths to make sure that a border fabric wasn't used as the centre fabric for any of the borders made of those fabrics. Hmm.. convoluted. Basically I tried to make sure that over all the 80 blocks I never got the same pairing of fabrics. Tricky, but I managed it!

I think this took me most of Monday or Tuesday evening to do! It was tricky trying to make sure the fabrics went well together whilst not repeating the pairing - and some I'm still not entirely convinced work... No doubt it will look better when it's all finished.

I was feeling better yesterday so I decided to take that as a signal that I should start the sewing. I was still pretty tired after the cold (they tend to hit me with major lethargy regardless of how severe the cold actually is), so only managed to sew 28 of the blocks. Which is pretty good going really. As the next stage starts tomorrow, however, and I didn't want to get behind, it did leave me with the hefty task of sewing up the other 52 blocks today! Phew! Still, the weather was typically Mancunian (rain, rain and oh, more rain) so I had no intention of leaving the flat anyway. So I chained myself to the machine and set myself a sewing. And this was the outcome:

A neat little pile of 80 pieced blocks. I'm pretty pleased with them, especially having never tried this style of patchwork before. Here's a picture of a selection of them:

I think you'll agree that some look better than others, and that some really do mess with the eyesight:

The two top left and one bottom left are among my favourites and some of the ones that I think work particularly well. The other three, well, let's just say they'll take some getting used to! I think the whole thing should look pretty good when I'm finished though. Fingers crossed!

All cut up and ready to go...

The diet can take a back seat for the next few weeks (I'm bored bored bored of it). I am mostly going to concentrate on the sewing project. I am still trying to lose weight, as ever, and still logging all the eating and exercise, but it just bores me to talk about it at the moment. On the sewing front, joining a quilt-along, I have realised, is fantastic motivation not only to do more sewing, but also to do some fabric/sewing related fun in the evenings and not just at the weekend or on a day off. Hurrah, just what I hoped.

This is week 1 of the quilt-along and that means cutting up the fabric. Something it often takes me some time to get round to plucking up the courage to do! But I have followed the instructions and my lovely Moda jelly roll (Hello Betty) is now ready to sew:

(The lovely jelly roll bought in New York on our Honeymoon 1)

(All the pieces cut up - 12 2.5 x 2.5 inch squares and 8 2.5 x 6.5 inch rectangles in each fabric)

I'm loving the colours, the teals, the reds and browns. Hmm... lovely! (That dark solid colour is brown, by the way, even though it looks black).

I think I need a bit more practice with my camera though - it was new before going away in March and I still haven't quite got the hang of it beyond auto shooting. It was a total lust object, an Olympus Pen EP-1 , a micro four thirds interchangeable lens, retro beauty. Ideally I'd like to do a beginners digital photography course so I can learn (in a class room based environment) how to use all it fabulous features, but I am scunnered by there being no such course in central Manchester. I don't want to rant, but this town is so rubbish for interesting evening classes. The art school has decided that it's too good to do that sort of thing and the local college is only interested in getting you back into work. What happened to learning for the sake of learning? Honestly... If we lived in Didsbury, there might be more going on, but that's a half hour bus ride from us, and after the train ride back from work I don't want to then head off somewhere on a bus!

Anyway, so I need to practice more at the moment, at the very least. Meantime, roll on next week and the start of the sewing!

Sewing Motivation!

Having spent some time sewing over the last week I am determined to do more. So much so that I'm going to try and join in the Fat Quarterly Quilt-a-long (see new button on the side bar). In an attempt to drive me on to actually doing something!! Sewing motivation for once (rather than exercise motivation!) Ah, if only I didn't have a full time job...

Just have to hope that neither of us goes crazy over the next few weeks with my sewing machine constantly being out on our dining table... dum di dum...

Will consult my stash and get a started tomorrow and hopefully have some progress to report on the old blog shortly!

(On other progress notes - I am now nearly 6 pounds lighter than when I started my latest eat less and exercise more regime. Not bad, eh, particularly given the weekend away in Edinburgh and a week off and a weekend in London...!)

Holiday sewing projects

(Warning - lots of pictures in this post!)

Have just had a week off and as well as spending one weekend in Edinburgh and one in London, I also spent a little bit of time doing a little bit of sewing. I finally got the quilt for H and CMcM's wee one finished (I only started it, what a year ago??):

(The finished article, laid out on the table.)

This is only the second quilt I have every made, and the first one that I have actually properly actually quilted. I'm still not confident enough to do binding yet - hopefully with the next one, but I think it looks ok without it. I love the colours in this - always a wrench to give it away! I stitched in the ditch to quilt it, which helped keep my lines straight, but not always very straight:

(Spot the slightly wobbly lines...)

The back was a single piece of teal fabric. I'm pretty pleased with it all in all. :o)

(I quite like the squares on the back caused by the quilting, as well as the colours!)

(The final item, all nicely folded and ready to be given to the new owner. I hope she loves it as much as I do!)

I also made myself a ring pin cushion. I saw some (frankly much more finished versions) at the V&A quilting exhibition, which were lovely but £35, which was really just a bit too much for me to pay. After a wee search online, I realised that it wouldn't be that hard to make. All I needed was a bottle top from a 2 litre bottle of coke or lemonade (Schweppes in my case), some stuffing and a bit of fabric and some elastic (and some glue) and I'd have a rudimentary version.

(Not bad eh? Can you guess where the little fabric scrap came from for it?)

To really finish it off I ought to cover the bottle top itself in fabric, but that's perhaps something for another day (and I sort of like it in its raw state). Anyway, it's very very useful. And anyone who doesn't have one, should - they're so easy to make!

And then, finally, I made one more project. We've needed a new door stop in our flat for our bedroom door, since we moved in a couple of months ago. I have a great pattern from a Lotta Jansdotter book Simple Sewing, that I have used twice before, so I broke it out and a cool bit of fabric from my stash that I was just waiting to know what to do with. I mostly stuff them with soft toy stuffing, but then add some rice at the bottom (in food bags) to give it the necessary weight. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out though:

(Loving the funky fabric)

Here it is next to the other two that I made:

(They look cute all lined up, eh?)

The robots on the right was the first one I made - a present for Flaneur for Christmas a few years ago - and I clearly went crazy on the stuffing as it looks very 'comfy' next to the others! The chickens was used in the kitchen in the old flat. Unfortunately the freezer leaked a bit once and it got a little wet. I use it in my 'utility cupboard' now (the cupboard in the hall with the washing machine in it - it's great to keep the cupboard door open so I can use the blinking thing). I'm pretty pleased with my little family of door stops. And I think the last one I made is definitely technically the best.

Just need to work out what my next project is going to be now!

Quilt update

The cinema having failed us this afternoon, I spent part of the time working on my quilt. Where I left it last time was:

I had sewn up the pieces in strips and then sewn all the strips together. This took me pretty much a whole day, but part of that was all the ironing that I had to do. Iron all the seams of the long strips down the way and then all the long seams to one side. God it was tedious. So what you see above is the result of all that effort, laid out on our King Sized bed! Raw like that it was bloody massive! Not that it's much smaller now...

So, having done that bit I just need to get some fabric for the backing and some wadding for the middle. My favourite fabric shop is Mandors in Glasgow, which I drag my Flâneur to whenever we're through. It's fab, full of loads of great upholstery fabrics as well as a massive amount of 'crafting' fabrics. It's where I got all the fabrics for the front side of the quilt. Joyously from my point of view they also had cotton wadding (Warm and Natural, an American needled cotton batting that is soft and warm and crucially comes in big enough amounts for my project!). So I got a lovely red cotton for the backing and a huge amount of the cotton wadding. And I'm talking huge! Here they all are laid out on our floor ready to be cut to size:

Bear in mind that the quilted bit will fit on top of our king sized bed... This was a tricky stage as it turned out. As you can see from all the wrinkles the fabrics kept sticking to each other and it was very difficult to get them flattened enough to be able to pin and cut them. But I managed it, and then just had to sew up the edges. Phew! Like most bits of long straight stitching that didn't take me that long, so here is the (nearly) finished quilt!!

That's it being held up by my 6ft Flâneur, just so you get some idea of scale!! It's not quite finished yet as I have still to sew up the hole at the top where I turned it and then quilt down the gutters, but I must say I'm really pleased with it so far. :o) Until next time...

Lazy slug...

That is what I have become.  I haven't even checked back on this thing to see when the last time I actually did some exercise was.  It would be too depressing.  I have been walking a bit (though lazy, drag me from bed mornings mean not as much as I should be), including a nice long walk last Saturday with my Flâneur, Wastrel and SAM, the latter of whom had come down for dinner the night before.  But other than that - zilch.  I haven't even been to the pool, and I love swimming!

Eating has been a bit of a theme as I cooked a lavish three course meal for my Flâneur for his birthday on the 19th.  It was a little stressful as I had chosen to be a little bit more complicated than my usual "shall we have pasta...".  I made goat's cheese and red onion tarts to start (served with some salad to pretend it was healthy), following by shoulder of lamb stuffed with an apricot stuffing (which was much nicer than I had anticipated).  Was a bit pissed off that the annoying butcher, who pointed out it's called shoulder in Scotland when I asked for neck (which I'd seen used on Masterchef, how was I to know that's what 'the English' call it!), that he had said to me - oh if you're stuffing it, with this piece you wont need to tie it.  Well that was not true and as I checked on it part way through I realised it had sprung apart and the stuffing was starting to char.  So I had to take it out the oven and try and tie string round a hot piece of meat in a desperate attempt to make it cook properly.  Anyway, this was accompanied by dauphinoise potato (recipe on the potato council website, of all places), and asparagus (cooked in butter...hhmmm...).  By this time I was pretty well stuffed as we just don't eat that much anymore, having cut our portions down quite considerably.  But we weren't done, as I had decided to have a go at making chocolate mousse.  

The recipe for the mousse came from Jamie Oliver's "Happy Days" book, and apparently served "4".  As I wanted some for the next night too, I thought I'd do half the mix again and therefore have enough for 6.  Six piggies that would be!  It was a huge amount of mousse that I put into frankly the most enormous glasses I have (they're champagne bowls), and there was still some left over to make two other reasonable sized portions.  I felt really quite ill half way through, but ploughed on none the less.  ;o)  Maybe this is why I am so large....

All this was washed down with some very lovely Californian Zinfandel and some yummy Prosecco.  Hmmm....  Thankfully had taken the next day off, boy did I need it.  My tummy felt a little sore.  Spent most of it cleaning the flat though.  Just don't get the chance to give this place the clean it needs what with working and everything...

Had a lovely visit from Wastrel and SAM and was very pleased that my Flâneur was cooking and that he was doing fish!  He did a fine Japanese spread including gyoza (yummy), sake glazed salmon, greenbeans with a soybean paste and toasted sesame topping, Japanese potato salad and of course, rice.  Washed down this time with a nice Sake and green tea.  Oh, and of course, finished off with Mousse.  That's what we all were - fished off by mousse!!  Only SAM and I managed to finish ours.  Urgh...

So, yes, eating has been a real feature of the last two weeks, but not really exercise.  On the plus side it is now Lent, when traditionally I give up chocolate and sweets.  It's been pretty tough these first few days as I begin to realise just how much of a habit it has become!  This is the 9th year (I think) that I have done this and usually by Easter I don't really want chocolate, so hopefully this will be a real chance to cut right back.  I shall have to just make sure I don't gorge on Easter Sunday and therefore fall with a bit fat bump off the wagon...  Flaneur is under instructions not to buy me more than 1 Easter egg and to make sure it's a really good quality one...  

Lent should help with the weight loss though which appears to have very frustratingly stalled.  Not exercising probably has something to do with that, but I am bumbling along still at the X-1 stone 3lb mark, sometimes a bit lower, occasionally a bit more (v. depressing), but mostly just at the 3 mark.  That's still my stone marker, but it would be nice if it went down a bit, at least to get me into the X-2 stage... Sigh!  Am determined to get back to the exercise this week coming though - I will be at the pool on Monday, I will!!

On the sewing front, I did finish the front of my quilt, which was very satisfying.  Sorry no pics at the moment - have to down load them from the camera, which involves using a different computer...  Anyway, it doesn't look much different from the picture of it all laid out on the floor!  It's blooming massive, but looks great.  I'm really really pleased with it and now just need to get the wadding and backing fabric and finish it off.  It really hasn't taken me half as long as I expected...

Quilt...

Well, the exercise has been taking a bit of a back seat these last three weeks or so, which is pretty shocking.  Never going to lose the next stone if I don't get back to it, so will be back at the pool tomorrow, snow willing!  Well, that's a bit of a hope really, because although it's snowing quite heavily now, it's unlikely to get so bad as to stop me getting to the pool tomorrow, this is Edinburgh, not London!  I did try and go swimming this week, but was hampered by the queueing system at the Uni pool - they only let 30 people in at any one time, so if you go at a busy time you have to wait.  The queue was too long that I decided to try again another time.  Monday's are particularly bad apparently, so I'll just go back to my usual pool tomorrow.  

I do love the snow though - I am like a small child, getting all giggly and excited by it.  Was very jealous of all the snow down south.  I live in Scotland surely it's supposed to be worse here! 

Anyway, what I have been doing in the meantime, while not exercising, is starting work on my quilt.  I bought the fabric in the middle of last year to make a patchwork quilt and it has taken me this long to finally get round to doing anything about it.  The fact that I had to cut nearly 200 pieces out was probably a big factor putting me off...  It's an Amy Butler design and is her 'brick path' quilt from her fabulous free patterns she puts on her website (www.amybutlerdesign.com).  As well as liking the look of the finished design it appealed because I thought the structure would be easy for someone who has never made a quilt before and who is still getting to know her sewing machine.  I picked some fairly muted colours for the quilt, mostly creams with some goldy colours, but just to make it a bit more interesting there are some really nice reds in there too.  

It took me several weeks to cut all the rectangles out (mostly because it was as tedious as I had imagined it to be and back breaking stuff), but it was a fairly impressive stack of bits when I was done... 

That's them all stacked up after I undertook the mammoth task of laying them all out on the floor to work out where they should go.  As there were, I think, 7 different fabrics and the quilt is 11 rows by 18, it was important not to get two of the same piece of fabric next to each other, and also to make sure that it has an element of the eclectic about it, so that it doesn't follow too much of a prescribed pattern.  I'm very lucky that our living room has a big floorspace so I could undertake the laying out exercise being able to see the full quilt and get a sense of what the finished piece will look like:

It's a big old quilt being roughly double bed sized (it should be 72" by 72" when finished).  I pretty pleased with how it looked laid out on the floor (it took several hours to complete that).  Here's a close up of some of the fabric:

I'm particularly fond of the bits with birds on (you probably can't appreciate them in the picture), but love all the fabrics and how well it will go with whatever bed linen I put on the spare bed.  Our spare room is also the fiance's study, so anything to make it less of a work space when we have visitors is a big bonus!

I completed the laying out stage two weeks ago and now am on to the sewing stage!  I have so far completed the sewing up of the first 9 downward rows, sewing the short ends in each row together, creating 9 long strings of fabric.  I'll not sew the downward rows together until I've finished them all, but it's nice to see it starting to come together already.  Very excited to see the finished thing!