New works in the making

Here are a few things I've been working on during the last weeks.

While working on Nelly I started a kind of experiment. I picked a patterned fabric and solids of similar colors. I cut them into strips and started to sew them together forming blocks with the same solid color. I sewed the strips together as leaders and enders while working on the top for Nelly. You know how people use a "mice" as leader and ender to save thread instead of clipping it when you are done with the seam you are sewing? You just keep sewing on a different small piece of fabric and don't have to cut the thread. You leave the piece under the needle and just continue from there with the next seam you want to sew. Like chain piecing but with a different piece of fabric that keeps beeing sewed over times and times again. So I thought what if I use this trick to sew strips together instead? I'll be making blocks that I can use for a next top!

Now that Nelly is finished and I've not been at the sewing machine for a while nor will I be there too soon, these blocks are patiently waiting to see what will become of them.



Meanwhile because I needed a hand sewing project I started a new epp quilt. I still had revolving in my head the intended design that didn't work out for Crux resulting in a totally different layout. So I thought of giving it another try. Looking through my stash I found that I had enough blues and yellows to start with and here I went.

It has been growing since so that I had to take the strips blocks down.

In the meantime I've decided to add some greens.

Now this one too will have to wait for a while as I'm traveling again. For that trip I prepared another hand sewing project to go.  I'll post about that tomorrow.

Nelly // 2 and last !!

Back in May I started to work on Nelly as a special birthday gift. As I anticipated finding the final layout has proven to be a challenge. Originally I intended a more even distribution of the colors but it wouldn't work. No matter how hard I tried. Only when I started to arrange them by color groups it started to please me.
Now that it is finished and gifted I'm quite happy with it. Even though it is not what I had envisioned. But once I abandoned my original idea things got easier. I shouldn't put too much pressure on me!
Or maybe I should as only so I'll get better.

So here is finished Nelly. All machine pieced and machine quilted. Measuring 180 x 142 cm.

It is my fifth disappearing nine patch and I'm thrilled that I was able to again find a totally different layout and look. A challenge I imposed myself. Go to my quilts page if you want to see and compare with previous ones. You'll have to scroll a bit to find the other four. A little challenge for you as well.

And here in its new home!

Qara // 13 and last!!

It's been a little while but I couldn't make time for publishing. I have a lot to share including some travels. But first things first!

Qara is all done!

I'm very happy with how it turned out. It all started with the printed and solid triangles. Those were scraps from another project of a friend that she gifted me with. I decided to just add white fabric and started to make flying geese blocks. Then I continued designing on my wall as you can see in previous posts.
Once the top was finished I had a hard time deciding how to quilt it. In the end I'm very satisfied with my decision. It is the first time I combined machine and hand quilting. I'm glad I did. It is also the first time that I made a square quilt with the exception of T1 which because of its small size I do not count.
I had a short moment of doubt about my binding choice. Now I think it is just perfect.
Isn't it fun and marvellous what scraps can become? No piece left behind!

148 x 148 cm

Qara // 12

There was a moment when I thought that I was done hand quilting Qara. But then I looked at it and decided to add a few more details.

And I'm still doing it. Nevertheless I squared the quilt and machine sewed the binding. Now I can finish hand quilting and hand sewing the binding. This quilt is surely coming to an end.

Qara // 11

I am still busy sewing away with Nelly that I can't show yet. Thus the only very sporadic posts these days. And I'm still hand quilting Qara in the evenings at home. So not much new stuff to share at the quilting front. I'm sharing a little more over on Instagram in case you want to see more of me. Link on the right side bar on this page.

Here is another detail of Qara where I like the colors especially!