Works in progress

I often have the feeling that I take on way more than I can ever hope to achieve - even given a few rare hours of sewing time, I think that I'm going to get done way more than actually ends up happening. Not sure what the solution is, but part of it is probably about being more organised and having things ready to leap into when the opportunity strikes, rather than having to start with the preparation - fabric selection, cutting etc.







Anyway, having said that, my few hours of sewing time did see some achievements today and I do feel like I'm making a small dent in my pile of commitments.

First up a couple of blocks for quilts being put together by Sarah Fielke for her friend Amy who recently lost her husband to cancer. Such a terrible thing and he was so young. It's wonderful to be able to share the gift of a quilt with a friend and Sarah has been able to pull together blocks from all around the world to turn into quilts for Amy and her daughter. Amy is a big Kaffe Fassett fan, so this is what was called for. I'm more than happy to spend a little time cutting into my Kaffe stash.







Next up - starting on a Dresden plate block for Kelly in the Sew Australia bee. Lots of fun making this - I don't know why I haven't done one before!






What are you working on this week? Do you also think you're going to get more done in a set time than actually ends up happening? Or is it just me?...


More works-in-progress over at Lee's

Small bloggers unite!

Here I am again, with nothing new to show but a hello to everyone visiting via Lynne's Small Blog Meet. I've known Lynne since I joined a bee - Fresh Modern Bee 2 - that she was setting up over a year ago. Lynne is an amazing, inspiring quilter - she hasn't been quilting for all that long, but has such an eye for design and colour, and is always coming up with the most amazing concepts that you've never seen hinted at anywhere before. She's truly original. And she's very funny too, as you would know if you've ever read any of the slightly off-topic threads in her Flickr group.

So thanks Lynne, for the inspiration and the encouragement. My little blog has been idling along, often neglected, but I'm almost at 50 followers so theoretically won't be eligible for the Small Blog Meet anymore :( But I will still enjoy visiting other new blogs and meeting more of you. Seeing so many new projects just inspires me to keep going and sewing! Hopefully there'll be something on my blog that will give you a little inspiration too. That would be lovely! Please let me know if there is!

Anyway, the picture you see above I say is not new, but I guess it is new because I haven't shown it here before. It is a quilt I made for my Mum's 60th birthday back in June. It bears the dubious distinction of being the quickest quilt I've ever done from start to finish. But that's a story for another time.

I love hand quilting

Here's a little milestone - I started this quilt all the way back in January, and now I've just finished the hand quilting of it in red and pink Perle threads. So enjoyable, I'm a little sad it's finished and will have to find another hand quilting project to take on. Think, think, think!





Please excuse the poor quality photos - my camera battery is of course flat, so these are taken with the iPad camera which is, shall we say, fairly ordinary!



This one is destined as a housewarming gift to my sister and her husband who have, after months and months of searching, finally purchased their first home. They pick up the keys tomorrow - so excited for them!



Now for the binding....

I'm linking up to Lee's work-in-progress Wednesday for the first time in ages. Hi Lee! Lee has done the best flying geese block I've seen in a long time - must try this one!

What's your work in progress this week?

Trim, trim, trim

We are still in the same busy predicament, but thankfully there was a little time for sewing this week. I have fallen behind with my bee commitments and must rectify!

First up is a half-square triangle based block for Kelly. I do love me a half-square triangle or two. Such a simple concept, seeminly limitless possibilities. The only part I don't like, however, is the trimfest that has to happen on each little square, to relieve the square of its dog ears and make sure it is, in fact, a square. Otherwise you end up with wonkiness, which we don't want, in this case.

While trimming these little ones (and aren't they pretty - I'm not sure which fabric line this is and perhaps I'd best not ask because it might force me to purchase some), I experimented with a few different methods of squaring up. I don't know about you, but I need to find some more techniques that save time!

What worked quite well I think, was to simply snip off the ears (not too precisely, to begin with). Then lay down the square with the diagonal running upwards from left to right, with the bottom side square against a line on your cutting mat. Hopefully the left side will also be square against its cutting line, but don't worry if not. So, with bottom squared up, trim the right hand side as necessary - in the case the squares were trimmed to 2.5 inches. Then rotate clockwise so the just-trimmed edge becomes the bottom edge, and trim again. With any luck that's all the trimming you'll need to do, but it's quick enough to check with your ruler.

I ended up trimming two squares at once and this seemed to work quite well too.




And here's the final layout for the block. Unfortunately there wasn't enough white fabric to complete it, so I'm going to sew as many rows together as I can and then Kelly will complete it.

Next up - a dresden circle which will be interesting!

Yes I'm still here!

Hello everyone! Thanks for bearing with me through that extended break in transmission. Its so nice to see in my visitor stats that people are still dropping in regularly. Hopefully from now on there will be a bit more to see than posts that are 4+ months old!! Let's just call it a winter blogging break, shall we? I know I always seem to be saying this, but I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by. My lack of blogging is certainly not due to there having been nothing happening here in the Petitselefants house!

Winter has been really cold this year, or maybe it's just that I'm getting old and am feeling it more?.... But at last there's a little hint of spring in the air and I can't wait!

There are also some exciting things happening which I will share with you soon. But for now, just a little taste of a couple of new projects...

Some Sherbet Pips in progress - there are some plans for this quilt so this is all I can show right now.





In a moment of weakness I joined Lynne's hexalong - English paper piecing, inspired by this quilt.


At this rate (this is all I've got to show for about three weeks of occasional evening TV sewing - yes it's slow!!), I could be finished in ooh about 27 years.

I'll be back with some more WIPs soon.

In the meantime, I've also become a Pinner and a Twit so please come and follow me!

It's a chocolatey weekend... for some

Yes, because a few weeks ago we bit the bullet and decided to go on a "diet" (I only need to lose a little, maybe 3kg, Craig a bit more than that), I guess we won't be having chocolate this weekend... much. Some might think you can get the same kind of endorphin rush from fabric! Is that true? Maybe...

Anyway, here's what I've been up to.


I finally found a spare moment(s) to piece together the petals for the very large Dresden circle. Hooray! It looks beautiful, don't you think? I then enthusiastically launched into the next step which involves piecing a circle into the centre. It actually is not as hard as it sounds. However.... because I failed to measure the inner circle formed by the Dresden petals before sewing in the circle piece, it ended up as a big puffy pillow in the middle. Oh dear. I'm not even going to share the photo. Lynne suggested I could leave it in and "quilt out" the puffiness. But I'm not taking any chances and have unpicked it (oh the pain!) Turns out the circle is half an inch smaller than I thought it was (hence the circle going into it was half an inch too big). So, starting again on that one.

I also made these fabulous bee blocks for Allison in FMB2 - I can say fabulous because the design (and of course the fabric choice - Central Park) is all hers. I loved making these blocks and have added this to my list of projects to make for myself. Ahem.


Then I whipped up this bag for my friend - it was supposed to be a Christmas present. Last year. Oops.


And finally - look what the postman brought! My doll quilt! From Safieh in Texas. Beautiful colours and an amazing design. And some sweet extras as well. And meanwhile my doll quilt has arrived safely at its destination too - Shayla!


And now we're off on a bike ride around the lake, enjoying the tail end of the lovely autumn weather. Traditionally from next week it just gets very cold!

Happy Easter!

DQ - finished!

DQ - finished!, a photo by Petitselefants on Flickr.

It is done! This little quilt is currently mid-air enroute to its partner. Can't wait to hear that it's arrived and hoping that she loves it! Meanwhile I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of a parcel from somewhere in my letterbox.

It's been quiet on the blogging front recently due to a few technical disruptions. I've been catching up on some commitments - 3x6 bee included - nearly done!

Oh and did you know Sherbet Pips is finally here! Dreaming about what to make and what I'll need to make it with. But then there's still my Bliss quilt to make, not to mention, Lilly Pilly to finish, and a birthday quilt for my mum (not yet started).... and, and, and! Help!