New projects

Now I know that I promised myself not to start anything new, until I had finished up outstanding projects, but there is only so much of this that a girl can do in any one day. 

Quilting in rows.

Going up and down a quilt to produce rows of quilting 1/2" to 1" apart can become tedious. This is a quilt I have never blogged about so I will let you see some more photos once the sun comes out and I can get some decent photos.

To relieve the boredom I have decided to join a QAL. There are a few around at the moment and there are two that I would really like to do. I am still undecided about one but I really wanted to join the one being hosted by Lynne at Lily's Quilts. I had had the thought that I could make a giant UJ quilt for my son as an 18th birthday present until his younger brother pointed out that he wasn't very patriotic and probably wouldn't want UJs on his bed. This was a bit of a spanner in the works so I then changed tack and thought I would make it for me! It may be selfish but I really want to make this quilt. I have bought some fabric from a new fabric shop that has opened up in one of our local towns. I was quite constrained in what to choose but here are a few shots of progress so far.

Detail of first UJ

B block

Gone wrong!

As you can see, I have had a few issues with getting my UJ lined up and looking as it should be. I have had to do a lot of unpicking and also buy an extra FQ as I mucked up on the cutting (I didn't make a practise block!). All was back on track until I tried to get ahead and attach the quarters together. Yep - I have put the vertical strips over the horizontal ones and not vice versa. Guess what I was doing sitting in the car at my son's drum lesson last night!!!! I think that, in the future, I will wait for Lynne's posts before I race ahead! I am really loving this quilt as it is not made up of lots of blocks and the maths is keeping me on my toes so there is a challenge involved too. I really enjoyed making the UJ pillow cover that I started in Lynne's class at the Fat Quarterly retreat back in June.

UJ pillow cover [June 2012]

Another little project that I need to think about is the pincushion swap that the Bee A Brit Stingy  bee is going to do. Now listen up Catherine…. do you like this little selection of fabrics?

Possible fabric for a stingy pincushion swap.

We are to use fabric from our own stash and are not allowed to buy any new fabric. Well, I don't know if I have broken the rules but I did buy the floral fabric today. It isn't new fabric as I bought it at a charity shop. It is old fabric but new to me. Do you think that I will get away with it or will the Bee Mamas be after me? Help… I may be out before the bee has begun!

Di x