A baby quilt in progress

If you've been keeping up with me on my Facebook page you'll know that last week I started another quilt.  I know, I know - I said I was going to give the quilting a miss for a while, but once we'd finished decorating the baby's room I couldn't resist making a quilt to match the bunting (more on that later).

I'm now desperately trying to get this quilt finished before the baby arrives at the end of the month.  Well, I do work best with a deadline!

I cut 10cm squares from a selection of fabrics in greys and pinks and arranged these in a random pattern, 11 squares by 15 squares.  I then machine-sewed the squares into rows, and then stitched the rows together to form a cot-sized quilt top.  No real skill or fancy patterns here!  All I need to do now is assemble and quilt it, then apply the binding.  I've got a lovely red fleece blanket to use as the underside of the quilt, so it will be lovely and cosy.  I'm really hoping to have this finished by early next week, all being well - but I always underestimate just how long the final stages of quilt making take!

My bunting was finished and was looking fabulous - until my husband hung it up for me and it was really too long for the space I wanted it to go.  So I need to do some unpicking and re-assembling to get the flags the right distance apart - the bunting is personalised with the baby's name, so I can't just drop some flags, unfortunately!  Hopefully I'll have this completed early next week too.

My To Do list seems to be never-ending - no matter how hard I try to tick things off, more gets added to the bottom!

Best wishes
Debbie

Finally - another finished quilt!

I finally finished the little quilt I had been working on for Lizzie - I'm working my way through my unfinished projects and I'm delighted to show you the finished result of this quilt!  This was my first attempt at quilting blocks and I'm very pleased with the final article - the pattern came from a book I borrowed from the library.  I used an old fleece blanket as the reverse of this quilt, rather than cotton fabric, to make it more snuggly and cosy - being striped made lining it up a little more challenging, but overall it looks pretty good!  I used an old white fitted sheet cut up into strips to make the border for the quilt top and some leftover fabric from the blocks stitched together into strips to make the binding.

Lizzie was delighted with it, and that was the main thing as far as I was concerned!  She's been watching me working on it (on and off) for months, and was beginning to get slightly impatient waiting for it!

Here's Lizzie modelling the finished quilt.  Most nights she sleeps with it over her duvet, but it is often brought downstairs to snuggle up under on chilly days - and we seem to have had a lot of those of late!

I now just have two quilts left to finish and then I'll allow myself to make a start on some bits and pieces for the baby's room.

Best wishes
Debbie

My pregnancy - 23 weeks

With less than 15 weeks to go until we meet our new arrival, I'm beginning to feel as though the reality of bringing home a baby might be just around the corner.  So my thoughts are turning to the To Do list - and, quite frankly, there's a LOT to do!  After Daisy died and we packed up all our baby things into storage, the baby's room became the spare room and from there it didn't take much time at all to become the junk room... and we're now at the point where there's barely space to squeeze in amongst all the "stuff" that has accumulated in there over the last 9 months.  We made a start on clearing the room at the weekend; a trip to the tip later and some items stashed up the loft, and we seem to be making some progress.  There's still plenty to be done though, clearing space and finding a proper home for everything, before we can make a start on re-decorating and furnishing the room.  All of this at a time when there seems to be so much happening with work, school, activities and so on, that there doesn't seem to be many hours in between to make much headway.  And all of this with just 14 weekends remaining, and I'm starting to feel just the tiniest bit of pressure!

I'd really like to have the baby's room ready before our baby arrives; although it will be some time before the baby will be sleeping in there, I'd like to have a proper room set out with all the baby's things organised and accessible.

When I finish at work I was thinking about starting a sewing project or two (I know, I know - I haven't finished the last one... or two, or three!) - I was going to make bunting to hang on the wall in floral fabrics with letters spelling out the baby's name, along with a matching cot quilt and a patchwork cushion cover for the chair in the corner.  Something pretty and pink, that I can spend time concentrating on in the run-up to the baby being born.  I've never tried making bunting before but a friend of mine gave me a pattern and I'm hoping it will be straightforward.  I'm not sure how to go about the lettering, though - I've seen iron-on felt letters online which might be an idea, unless you have any other suggestions?

In the meantime I seem to be adding more to the To Do list than we are completing - my husband is going to be very busy over the coming weeks, as my expanding bump is beginning to get in the way and I need to take it easy more and more!

Best Wishes
Debbie

Craft Projects

My absolute worst habit is starting a new craft project before I've finished the last.  At any one time, I've got several cross stitch projects on the go, as well as a quilting project or two (or three).  I've made jewellery, I bake, I like to take photos of pretty things... there's always a new idea for a new project and I'm always keen to jump in and start something new before wrapping up the last one.

I recognise this in myself but I cannot seem to change this habit!  This is only likely to get worse now that I have discovered Pinterest; I keep finding lots of fabulous, creative ideas that I'd love to try.

Despite the fact that Lizzie's quilt remains unfinished, I've started another - my stepson has been asking me to make one for him, too, and I wanted to have made some progress on this before the weekend.  I decided to go for a simple patchwork design to keep it easy and speedy - here's where I'm up to so far!

Are you methodical when it comes to crafting projects - or any projects around the home, for that matter?  Do you manage to finish off one before moving on to another?  Or are you like me - easily tempted by the thought of starting something fresh and new?!

Thanks for reading!

Best Wishes
Debbie

Quilting Progress

I've been spending a bit of time at my sewing machine lately, working on a new quilt.  I got the quilt blocks finished and arranged, and spent an afternoon assembling them as carefully as I could.  My technique is far from perfect, but I'm getting better at lining up my blocks and making the squares sit as neatly as possible!

This little quilt will be for Lizzie once it is finished.  I love the girly colours in the fabrics - although they've not shown up as vibrantly in these photographs as I would have liked!

That's the quilt top almost finished - I'll be adding a border around the edges when I have determined what the finished size needs to be.  Next is to find some suitable fabric for the reverse of the quilt!

I've also spent a bit of time working on this quilt I started for Lizzie way back earlier on in the year.  At the time, I thought it would be a good idea to make a quilt that was single-bed size; it probably was a good idea, although I underestimated just how long it would take me to finish!  I am so nearly finished it - all that remains is to finish off the corners of the binding and complete some diagonal lines across the quilt - it seems to have taken me an age and I think it will be a while before I attempt a bed-size quilt again!

Assembling the quilt top is definitely the most inspiring part of a quilt project!

Thanks for reading!

Best Wishes
Debbie

Feeling creative again...

Lately I've been feeling like creating again. 

I pulled out my fabric box from the bottom of the wardrobe and unearthed my sewing machine from the clutter in our spare room.  I sorted out my threads and sewing accessories and I bought myself some lovely new fabrics online.  I went to the library and borrowed some quilting books to give me some fresh inspiration.

I'll use some of these pretty fabrics to make a cute little girl's quilt for Lizzie.

I love the daisies in this fabric.  I love to have reminders of Daisy in my life.

I had a go at creating my first quilting "block".  It's still a fairly basic technique, but for a beginner like me, it's perfect!

For me, sewing is a way of creating something personal and unique.  I find the process of creating the patterns, deciding on colours and combinations, and watching the piece come together very therapeutic.  I'm looking forward to seeing how my next quilt will turn out.

Best wishes
Debbie

Another finished quilt!

Yesterday I grabbed the bull by the horns so to speak and decided I wasn't leaving the kitchen table until I had finished off my yellow cot quilt!  I've been working on this one for a while but after a set-back the last time I was sewing it up, I put it away again (fed up!) and I've been trying to decide whether to unpick part of it or carry on as if that little mistake wasn't there!

I decided to carry on as though the mistake wasn't there - after all, it's ok for the quilt to look homemade - isn't it?!

The backing fabric and the binding came from this lovely Laura Ashley tablecloth I picked up in the Salvation Army charity shop for £1.99.  A good wash in the machine and it came up a treat.

I really liked the pattern on the tablecloth and there's plenty of fabric left over for another project.

I used an old fleece blanket as the "filling" for this quilt. The stripy outer sections came from a pair of cotton curtains (£1.75 from the charity shop) and the central stripes and squares came from eBay (99p).  I bought the stripes quite a while back, before I had my own cutting mat and rotary cutter.  I can make my own strips of fabric now!

I added some teddy ribbon tags too.

I'm happy to have this quilt finished and have learned from the mistake I made with this one! 

The next quilt I start will either be pink or blue - once we find out whether our baby is a boy or girl!  Just a couple of weeks until my due date now, so not too much longer to wait!

Best Wishes
Debbie

A finished quilt!

As is probably the case with many crafters, I have lots of half-finished projects on the go at any one time.  I'm full of enthusiasm and ideas to begin with, but I'm easily distracted by the next good idea and off I go to start on that!  Well, with the baby's arrival due soon (5 weeks), I am trying to finish up all my "sewing machine" projects, so I can move my Singer and my fabric box out of the living room and tuck them away in a cupboard for a while.  I suspect with caring for a newborn, I'll have little time for big sewing projects for a wee while at least!

This was one of the first quilting projects I started; I wanted to make something for the baby that was both brightly coloured and practical.  I'll probably use the quilt more as a playmat than a cover for the baby's bed - but we'll see!  Up until last week I'd got as far as sewing the squares together for the central panel.  I'd wanted to add some ribbon loops to my quilt, so the project was put on hold until I'd had the opportunity to purchase some red, blue and yellow ribbon.

I used red thread to quilt so it shows up really well, and I used a diagonal pattern rather than "in-the-ditch".  I pretty much make this up as I go along!

I'm really happy with this cheery, colourful quilt.  It's not perfect; but I made it myself and I'm proud of my efforts!

The moses basket is now set up and ready in our bedroom for the baby's arrival.  My daughter donated a couple of her old soft toys from her baby years - she thought it would be nice for her new little brother or sister to have something that was special to her.  I was very touched!  These well-loved toys have been freshly laundered and are waiting patiently on the baby's arrival too!

Now, on to the next unfinished project...!

Best Wishes
Debbie