Starstruck

A friend of mine from the US of A by name Cindy Ellerbe remarked once, ‘You Indians jump in with both feet.’ She was commenting on the fact that many quilters in our group would embark on something complicated their first time out, something she felt quilters from her country never did. I have to plead guilty to that charge. I always seem to take on more than I ought to. The proof of that hangs before me – my peacock tapestry which took me three years to complete. And I have a crocheted runner that would add weight to the charge. And now here is my ‘starstruck’ quilt done over a period of one and half years. I must admit that now when I see it in full I wonder how I managed it.

 Madhu Mathur, a fellow quilter has designed the blocks on a free software called Quilt Assistant. The blocks were all paper pieced and were released fortnightly. ( You can find the blocks here). I was doing a quilt practically every month and so my blocks were often relegated to the backburner! Until I decided the quilt was going to be finished before the curtains rang on 2015. And I just about managed to keep my promise.

 The layout for the blocks were also designed by Madhu. I chose this as it was easy to break into panels and do it qayg.

 Details of the quilting. I wanted the blocks to shine and chose to quilt densely to make them stand out.

The spiked dresden framed by the border. I was thrilled to design the tiny compass in the corner something I would never have ventured if  Madhu had not encouraged me to do iṭ

 The first block and for me the most difficult.

 Geese at the pond. this was the second time I did it the first done as a tester and used in another quilt.

 The mariners' compass on the right was easily the most pretty and I cant think the colours could be any more perfect.

 The blocks are quilted using decorative stitches rather than fmq. You can see that here.

 And in this Card trick block too.

 Winding ways was a block Madhu used in her Saptapadi quilṭ The quilt went on to win a prize at Husqvarnaś competion for quilterṣ

 I did go overboard on the quilting I freely admiṭ

 The easiest block!

 Dozens squared glowing amidst the orange yellow flames !

 Quilting in between blocks.

This quilt was a journey as I learned to paint fabric to suit the blocks, paper piece and sew a little more precisely and even design a tiny block for the quilṭ. The journey would not have been possible without Madhu and I hope the other quilters who have put their blocks on hold will take it up and finisḥ It is really worth the effort. What do you think?
Linking this with ALYOF and Friday Spotlighṭ

Lovely end to the year

It is always nice when the year ends in style and though not intended my best quilt will be the finish that will round off the year. I am calling this quilt 'Starry dreams'. I mean one cannot sleep under this quilt and not have wonderful dreams or so I think. The quilt itself has been a long journey, a lesson in paper piecing designed (and with hands on help in the making also) by fellow quilter Madhu ( the patterns are still available here but may be retired shortly).  This is also the first quilt I am making for myself and I suspect it is the 25 the quilt I am making so it has been a long wait.
I am almost done with the quilting but it needs a little ripping and some cleaning, burying threads before the panels are joined. Yes it is Qayg, which I prefer as I can do a lot of fmq and then of course I have to bind. Maybe dye some fabric for the binding in keeping with the blocks! So this will be december' s ALYOF.

Bookshelf quilt

There are times when what should be a simple finish just drags on. Tiny mistakes, fabric shortage and just that lack of will power to sit and complete made my book shelf quilt a long drawn out affair. Finally I have it all done and have exciting words to quilt on it. Maybe some favourite quotes and since it is meant for a Harry Potter fan something from those books too. That is if I can find enough pins to baste it!! Another hurdle looming up as all my pins are in another quilt that has been basted but not quilted.
 Anyway here is my quilt top for ALYOF.

October quilts

I have a lot of work queued up for this month - so what is new you ask? Well for one I am not able to prioritize. I am dithering about which project I should take up and letting the days slip away. Having to chose a project for a ALYOF is going to help me this time around. So I am choosing this month's goal as the bookshelf quilt I have undertaken to do for a cousin. Hoping to get the quilt top finished by end of the month.

Classic beauty

One of those impulsive things that I do and sometimes kick myself for it is joining up SALs. The ideas is to do a block a month and have a quilt at the end of the year but if you already have a lot on your plate, it becomes one more task that often does not get done. Last year I had a lot on my plate but still could not resist doing the classic blocks with Caroline Fairbanks of SewCanShe. The blocks were pretty with a timeless charm that makes them classic and I did manage to make about 6 blockṣ And finally I put some of them together and made a pretty child's quilt.

. Now I wish I had done the other blocks too.

Doubly lucky

Quilting and binding this double nine patch quilt was my target for AYOLF for September. I finished it by the middle of the month.Sometime things come together quickly and this quilt was that for me. I am particularly pleased at the way the back has come out. It was a pieced back because I ran short of the blue fabric! The result was a double sided quilt! There is a doubly lucky kid out there.

Linking with ALYOF

Come September

I am hoping to get a lot  done this month - a baby quilt using up some blocks, fmq of my quilt blocks done qayg but this one is the target for the ALYOF. A double nine patch block quilt. The top is done but I want to fmq it and bind and finish it. Here is a picture of the top.

Chasing the blues

I managed to meet the August target well in time. Feeling happy. I finished four sets of dresses that are cool and comfortable to wear in this hot weather and I finished the borders on my quilt. I ran out of fabric right at the end with two small pieces of border to be attached and had a near heart-attack when I went to the shop and was told they were out of that colour. Thankfully it turned out it had been just misplaced and I did not have to resort to using another shade of blue. Oh did I tell you that  my quilt is blue and so are all the dresses I made this month. Weird coincidence right?
Here is a photo of my quilt panel with borders. ( Don't have enough floor space to spread all four panels out)

And here is a photo of my dresses.

Linking this with A lovely year of finishes

August borders

I just managed to remember in time that I should decide on my project for August. Hmm I plan on seeing four cotton tops. The heat is unrelenting. But I want to get some quilting done too. So will do the borders for my quilt. The one I finished piecing last month. Getting the sandwiches ready would be a bonus!!. Sharing this with ALYOF.

An extraordinary quilt

This has to rate as the toughest and of course the loveliest of the quilts I have tried to make. Right now I have done only the blocks and have to make it into a quilt top and then of course quilt it. But happy right now to have got to this stage. Especially as I know no one else has done as much. Many have lagged behind or given up or never tried. So I do have reason to feel on top of the world.  And of course not to forget that at last I would have a quilt for myself.
I set this as my target for ALYOF and managed to finish it all but for the last block. I am out of the background material and will be getting it in the next couple of days. Will finish it definitely before the month ends.

 Tagging it for ALYOF at Sewbittersweet designs

Madhu's blocks and my quilt!

I did have a lot of finished projects the last four months and all of them lovely but somehow kept missing linking it to A Year of lovely finishes. Thankfully remembered it this month. July is going to be my 'me month'. I am going to work on my quilt. I plan to finish setting all my MMDQ blocks into squares and also finish the ones I am yet to do. Making a quilt top now that would be wonderful but am not setting that as a target. Here are some of the blocks. Paper pieced, designed by fellow quilter Madhu Mathur - you can find the free patterns here -https://betukbandi.wordpress.com/one-stop-page-for-the-round-the-year-quilt-blocks/

 

Linking this up with ALYOF

Promises to keep

It's time to redeem my pledge to myself - to finish that bag promised long ago to my niece and to also complete the task I set for myself this month - my goal for the 'Year of lovely finishes' but looks like I may have left it too late! I have the fabric all cut out and even the interfacing fused but cannot progress as there is a power outage here. No power since morning and it is late evening now with no signs that it will be restored. I am hoping that I can sew tonight and finish it and perhaps using the fact that I live in the East to get it linked.

 And yes I managed it. Thank God it is Pacific time for the linky party or I would have not made it. Made a silly mistake and had to go for the seam rippeṛ Sewing at midnight is not my thing and next time i am finishing a week ahead to avoid this kind of mess-up.

Linking it with AYOLF at Sew BitterSweet Designs

Feb goals for A lovely Year of Finishes

 Keeping a target really worked last month though I messed up n posting the link at SewbitterSweeṭ Well this month I do have a lot of projects going on but there is one that I have to do for my niece - a library bag and a pair of pencil poucheṣ That will be the target. My niece has a penchant for owls and so I have got this lovely fabric for the bag.

Hoping to finish and link it by the end of the month in a year of lovely finisheṣ

Springtime quilt

This one has been in the making for a while. I had to put it away couple of times to accommodate other quilts and projects and also because my sewing machine had minor fits of tantrums when asked to do a lot of FMQ. Well I am not one to give up easily and after multiple changes of needles and thread and freshly wound bobbins, It is all done.

Linking this with 'a year of lovely finisheṣ Hope I can do it the next 11 months too.

A year of lovely finishes

A year of lovely finishes

Now that is a great thing to aim for and a little nudge is always welcome when one sets a goal like that.

So  I aim to link up with so many others aiming to do the same. My target for January is to finish the tulip quilt that I am doing for my niece. I still have to do a bag and couple of pencil pouches for her but maybe that can be my target for the next month. 

I have done quite a bit of the fmq and the panels for the top and bottom are also ready. Hoping to finish it fully by the end of the month.