Bagged it

The bag bug has bitten me and I have given in to it. I have a sister who loves bags and has to buy one every time she takes a trip. I carry something I bought almost thirty years ago. So I thought I was not a bag person until I came across patterns sewn up by quilters. And I find I have the bug too except I need to make bags not buy them. Here are three that I made recently. The first was a pattern by Bagstock - the Everyday Tote and I made a matching clutch with a swoon pattern.

The second set of bags are from swatches given by a cousin to be made into bags. I like the way they turned out.

Linking them with the Elm street Quilts Bag it entry

Let's s face it.

Last month I never even attempted my OMG though it was meant for a certain special event. My machine came back from servicing a bit too late for me to sew anything. But I did prep a lot of work and this month have been working on them. Two are close to be finished - they will be the gifts for dh for his 60th birthday on saturday. I had intended to one more wall art for him - all birds as he is a avid birdwatcher but I think I may not get it done in the next few days.
Anyway finishing four wall arts that are in various stages is my November goal. First is to add a sleeve to this quilt that I just finished facing yesterday.

Cover up those walls

I think without OMG I might give in to my laziness and not blog at all. Not that I don't have anything to write about. It just never gets prioritised and before I know it the month goes by. I must admit that OMG has also increased the number of blogs I follow and I am constantly amazed by the talent on display. The upside of it is the desire to emulate or at least attempt to emulate. It feeds my desire to make some more art quilts. I was quite happy with these two that I made recently.

And so this month's s OMG will combine my desire to do some more art quilts with the need to make a gift for dh. He is celebrating his 60th this year and it is usually a big celebration in my part of the world. But since dh hates fusses of any sort we will not have the customary celebrations.
And so it seemed I should make an attempt and do something special for him. I am planning to try and make an art quilt out of a photograph of a kingfisher. Bobby was a special bird and one of our first feathered friends here at the farm. He used to follow us as we watered plants waiting for insects to be disturbed and swoop on them. I think we used him as a subject for many of our photographs. It is one such photograph that I hope to render into fabric.

Finding space on a wall will be a problem though! The living room walls are already taken with my framed cross stitches and also paintings by my step- daughter and well loved purchased art. Looks like we may need to build more walls in the house to hang stuff!

And that will be my October OMG! Did I forget to mention that I am hoping to send my machine to be set right next week? I might get a stand-in from a friend on condition I get it working. It should be something minor I think as it is a hardly used new machine!

Cover up those walls

I think without OMG I might give in to my laziness and not blog at all. Not that I don't have anything to write about. It just never gets prioritised and before I know it the month goes by. I must admit that OMG has also increased the number of blogs I follow and I am constantly amazed by the talent on display. The upside of it is the desire to emulate or at least attempt to emulate. It feeds my desire to make some more art quilts. I was quite happy with these two that I made recently.

And so this month's s OMG will combine my desire to do some more art quilts with the need to make a gift for dh. He is celebrating his 60th this year and it is usually a big celebration in my part of the world. But since dh hates fusses of any sort we will not have the customary celebrations.
And so it seemed I should make an attempt and do something special for him. I am planning to try and make an art quilt out of a photograph of a kingfisher. Bobby was a special bird and one of our first feathered friends here at the farm. He used to follow us as we watered plants waiting for insects to be disturbed and swoop on them. I think we used him as a subject for many of our photographs. It is one such photograph that I hope to render into fabric.

Finding space on a wall will be a problem though! The living room walls are already taken with my framed cross stitches and also paintings by my step- daughter and well loved purchased art. Looks like we may need to build more walls in the house to hang stuff!

And that will be my October OMG! Did I forget to mention that I am hoping to send my machine to be set right next week? I might get a stand-in from a friend on condition I get it working. It should be something minor I think as it is a hardly used new machine!

Never too late

It seems like there is some kind of jinx whenever I set a goal for the month. Last month I had no internet service and could neither blog or upload a photo. This month I completed the quilt top very early in the month and spent a week making gifts and stuff for family. I was going to my hometown and nowadays feel like nothing can compete with a handmade gift. Trip over and I was back to quilting the Old McDonald quilt top or flimsy as I believe it is called.

As you can see from the photo it is all applique and I had decided that I did not want to quilt it all over. It would interfere with the applique I felt and decided to tie the quilt using single stitches by machine.
That should have been a simple exercise except my machine started acting up. My needle was going beyond the slit in the needle plate and after breaking about half a dozen needles I am at a standstill. Straight stitch is no problem but for some reason when I thought I would fmq small flowers again a needle broke.
There is no sound more jarring than a needle breaking I feel. I have set aside that quilt for the day and am just catching up on my Splendid Sampler blocks. I often notice that when my machine has issues in fmq going back to regular sewing seems to make my machine sane. Tomorrow I will try the quilt again. I still think that I should be able to complete the quilting at least as this month's target though not the binding.
Linking with OMG
And the good news is that I managed to coax my machine into cooperating and the quilting is done. The quilt is still in need of cleaning and so I won't post a photo of it right now. Like I said it is Never too late to meet your goal. Just got to keep at it.

Come September

I have become quite lazy about writing blogs. Perhaps it is because the keyboard on my laptop has issues and writing on a tablet is not very easy. Last month I waited till the last day to pen out my monthly target and as luck would have it had no internet starting from the 7th till almost the end of the month. Not that I learnt a lesson. This month we are on 7 the and here I am writing my blog!!! But on the other hand I do keep up with my sewing which is all that matters ultimately.
I did finish the train quilt and it has reached the intended recipient!

This month I am working on another quilt for a child and again it has a lot of scope for creativity! The theme is the Old McDonald song and I expect it to be very colourful! Hopefully I will finish it and make a start on a gift for dh who will celebrate his sixtieth this year!
Linking with OMG

July - a train to catch

It is time to share and thankfully this month I have something unlike last month when I did not even attempt to have a go at my target. This month I was to do a train quilt for a two year old and though I would have liked to have finished it in total, I am content that the top is done to my satisfaction. I am waiting to get my hands on batting and so the quilting was delayed.

Linking with OMG

Plans for July

Last month I did not get to do my monthly goal. Forget not finishing I did not even start it. I think it some kind of mind block for I did do other stuff. Anyway this month I have already started a child's quilt and quite realistically if I finish it I would be happy. I have already changed the dimensions of the strips and also some of the design elements and since there is a lot of applique involved it is going to be a protracted project.

So that then is my OMG for July. Linking up with Red Letter Quilts.

OMG it is June!

Time to set myself another target again. I do have a runner to quilt and finish for a birthday coming up this month and my Splendid samplers to catch up with but those are not going to figure as my OMG. I find that the only way to do the ones on my to-do list is to put them on my OMG. That way it won't be years before I get to do them. So here is something I have been wanting to make - a passport holder. There are so many travellers in the family and I should be making them all one of these. But I will start with my mom who is also celebrating her 80 the birthday this month. And she is visiting my sister in UK right after that. So a passport holder would be great for her. ( And also a wallet to carry her meds but I don't want to get too ambitious)
So that is my OMG for June. Linking up with Red letter quilts OMG.
Oh and before I wrap this up here is a look at my ' Sunset in Africa ' all done!

Hanging in there

End of a month again and that is half the year gone. It is a year and a half then since I decided that if I really wanted to do art quilts then I would have to stop making bed quilts. The constant pressure of deadlines to finish was a real issue to start anything creative, anything that required one to stop and think and play with ideas. So this year I finally got around to saying 'no' to bed quilts but there was always other stuff coming in the way. If it was not the house getting painted it was tamarind to be harvested and processed, or a workshop to prepare for.
So I gave myself a deadline - not for a finish but for a start. So here is my work so far on a wall quilt. I have done the piecing after painting the fabrics in colours that seems right and have partly finished the quilting too. If I don't get distracted I should finish it in about three days. The theme is ' An African Sunset' and it is meant for my oldest sister who turned sixty in March and who celebrated it with a week in S.Africa. I could not take up her invite to join her but with this piece I hope to be part of the trip.

Linking this with OMG!

OMG it is May already!

And a week gone too. I have been dithering over my goal for the month! Imsaid yes to a friend who wants some painted fabrics and that takes away the mornings. With thunderstorms disrupting everything in the afternoons most nights we end up with no power. So do I even set up a goal!for the month let alone something that I have been dodging for months now?
Well if I don't pin myself down I will never get it done. So here I go - this month I want to make a start on a wall quilt meant for a special person. She has turned 60/ and celebrated it with a holiday in Africa. I could not join her but wanted to make myself part of it by making a quilt that will echo Africa for her. I have bought shades of red paints and fabric to be painted and will push myself to have a go at it!
That is my goal for the month!

Just made it!

I was sure I was going to miss my deadline this month. Had my machine out for servicing and though I got it back two days back we had long and frequent power cuts. It really put me off my stride when I am interuppted. As it there is a lot of demand on my time and I hate it when I finish all my work and sit at my sewing machine only to find there is no power! Yes it happens all the time and yet never ceases to frustrate me.
In case you are wondering I left it so late, I was caught up teaching a workshop ( a first time venture) in the middle of the month and preparing the kits took a lot of time.
Well I did finish the tote I planned for this month. I have a few more planned and this was to set the mood. I liked the way it turned out and that it was a fairly simple sew.

This was made following a tute by The Inspired Wren and she has made it easy to follow.
Linking this with OMG at Red Letter Quilts.

Too hot to quilt

The thought of handling batting in this weather really makes me feel like giving up quilting. But I still have to keep some promises. Like that matching pillow covers and cushion covers for my sis! I am doing those currently and cheating a little by hand quilting in the comfort of the air-conditioned living room. I also have to prepare kits for a workshop I have promised to do. That's a first  and I am keeping my fingers crossed.
But no quilts this summer which of course could translate to a few more months in my part of the world. But for my OMG I am going to do a tote. I have quite a few fabrics stashed as suitable for totes and I recently stocked up hardware and faux leather. So tote it is this month!

Organised sewing

And so after about two years of procrastination, I finally made myself an organiser. I have to admit putting it as my OMG target really pushed me to do it! And when I saw a pattern as part of the bonus projects in The Splendid Sampler I decided to get it done. I took the bare outlines from that pattern and just changed it to suit my needs. With some favourite fabrics and trims I ended up with a pretty organiser.

I also finished the quilt I was working on for my sister and heaved a sigh of relief. Still got to do matching pillow covers and a pair of cushion covers for her.

And one more project that I managed to complete was a wallet in faux leather for dh. All in all a productive March!

Linking it up with OMG.

As the month marches by

Last month I failed to keep my target. It was a combination of circumstances like running out of fabric for the backing and the shop not having the colour in stock, receiving the border later than I had expected and so spending ten days doing other stuff - yet it is a fact that I could not finish on time.
And already a week has gone by in March and I am still doing free motion quilting on that quilt for my sister.Did I tell you I chose a really close pattern to quilt and it has consumed 2000 metres of thread already! I must be adding to the warp and weft of the fabric I think. And I still have to do a pair of pillow covers and cushion covers to match the quilt.
 I am not going to make these my goal to finish this month though! I will certainly finish them but there is something that I want to sew and have been wanting for a couple of years. An organiser for my sewing stuff! I had drawn the specs last year,kept aside some see through vinyl and yet have-not got around to sewing it. Every time I drop pins and my scissors and other stuff off my sewing table I tell myself I need to get my organiser done. So this month I am doing some selfish sewing. Hoping to share a picture then!
Linking with OMG and Red letter quilts

Sharing is Caring

There are so many quilts I have made that I wish I had written a tutorial on the process as I soon forget how I arrived at my measurements. But I am always lazy about taking pictures as I work and often start with good intentions that are forgotten down the road. And so those tutes never get written. And yet I am always so grateful for all those well written tutorials that spare me doing complicated math and are well illustrated too. This time when I drafted a simple board game and then a second one to go on the back I thought it was time to show some caring. A sort of thank you to all those who share freely. I managed to take pictures of almost all the steps too. Yes almost! Some did get missed out so you may have to guess a little. Here is the finished board - this side

And that side.

Snakes and Ladders tute

Fabric in two colours preferably  solids as it gets too busy otherwise.

10 strips of 2.5” x 20” in each colour.

Strip sew them alternating the colors and keeping  a seam of ¼”.

Cut them across at 2.5" intervals.
Arrange the strips so that it looks like a chess board and sew again with ¼ seam allowance.

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Press with hot iron to make it lie flat.  Add a light interfacing to give the patchwork some stability. That is the basic board. Now for the embellishments
 I googled the game and used an online image to decide where the ladders and snakes would go but I am told there is no hard and fast rule. Just make sure you distribute them evenly over the board and use the same number of ladders and snakes. For the ladders I marked them first and then used narrow satin stitch to do the sides of the ladder and straight stitches for the rungs. I did sew the rungs twice as I had to travel back and it looked better that way.

The snakes were a little more of a challenge as I decided to use HeatnBond Lite for the applique. Now I think that needle turn would be a better idea as long as you cut the fabric on bias. If you are fusing you will need to draft the board on paper, draw the snakes, cut them out and trace them after reversing on your preferred brand of fusible paper. Bond it with fabric and lay it in the right place and press. Then sew over it. Add your embellishments like a red tongue and beady eyes. I did use beads. I also painted the snakes for the heck of it. And then go back to kindergarten and sew the numbers or write or paint them. Make sure the path of the numbers is correct though. I used the font in my machine. Do the numbers at the end as often the snakes may end up hiding them otherwise.

And that is your Snakes and Ladder! And now for the Ludo board!

Ludo board tute

You can do this with scraps so I am not giving any fabric requirements. You need a neutral colour and the four colors that make up a ludo board. You could of course change them around if you feel like. I have gone with red, green, blue and of course yellow and used white as the neutral. Since I was backing the Snake and Ladder with this board, I made sure the measurements were the same.

Cut 4 nos of 4.5” squares in white and 4 strips each in the four colors of 1.5 width. The strip length can be wof as you can trim and use it as needed. Like a log cabin or courthouse block sew the strips around the white square. You will do this for each of the four colourṣ

The next step is a touch less simple. If you see the picture you will see that the first step out is in the color of the square you start out with. And the centre path is again in colour. The finished size of the pathway is 5x3. So for every color cut 1 strip in white measuring 5.5” into 1.5”. One in the color (red, green etc) measuring 4.5” x 1.5”. Add a piece of white measuring 1.5 into 1.5 at the bottom end. The third strip is a white one with the color as a step not quite at the bottom. Cut a white strip 4.5” in white, trim off a piece that measure 1.5” inches from this and add a piece in matching colour measuring again 1.5 x 1.5. Now sew back the white. Sew all three strips together.
For the centre which is made of all the colours, cut 5" squares in each colour. Lay any two colours, right side facing and sew up to make a half square triangle as described here. Do the same with the other set of colours. Take one each of the resulting HST and again following the same method sew up to get a QST in 4 different colourṣ. I missed taking pictures at this stage. Trim carefully to get a square measuring 3.5". You can see that I trimmed too much on one side and too less on the other. Make sure the diagonals meet at the corners.

Layout the board and double check to make sure your colors are all in the correct place. Sew up like you would any patchwork.

Now mark every 1 inch in the pathway and sew in black to mark the squares. Also in the centre of the squares mark the spot where one would keep the counters. I painted the circles but you could simply applique it You should have something that looks like the picture below.

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I added stiff interfacing so the board would not flop and also added a 1 inch border. I placed the two boards wrong sides together and finished off with binding. You can also sew the two boards together after placing them wrong sides together. Leave a gap and turn it inside out. Sew up the gap and also topstitch.

You could personalise it with the name of the kiḍ I opted not to do iṭ

My sister's quilter

This month' s OMG target will be my sister' s quilt. I have dragged my foot a lot on this one just because she was not in a big hurry. She also has asked for matching pillow covers and cushion covers.  Even if I don't get those done I would like to get the quilt done. I am waiting for the borders, which are going to be block printed. Can't wait to get them. I also had a request from dh for a wallet in faux leather as he had to throw the one he was using.  He does not think I can really do it but give me a pattern and i can do a decent job. I will be googling the net for a pattern as i dont have any saved. I would like to do that this month but as I have to give only one target I would make it the quilt! Here is that picture again.

Linking with OMG Red better Quilts for February.

Sleep sewing

Yes sleep sewing! After sewing about 50 circles to the background fabric, I am almost sleep sewing them. It does get boring to sew circle after circle down! I knew it would be so and that is why it took me two years to agree to do this for my sister. We discussed so many designs but she would keep coming back to it and so I gave in. Well at least the tough work is over. Just need to put the blocks together and then think about how to quilt it. I did want to use a nice pink thickish crochet cotton and sew around the circles. But 300 of them makes me wonder if I would be spending the next two months hand quilting. Not sure if I can devote so much time even though there is no deadline to finishing the quilt! What do you think. Should I machine quilt bubbles in the spaces between circles or hand quilt?

Linking this with the OMG finish party for Jan hosted by Red Letter Quilts.

Looking back

Someone' s idle remark had me wondering about all the work I did last year. Truth be told I don't quite remember the number of quilts I made. So I pulled up the photos and took the time to have a second look. When one is making quilts to order there is hardly any breathing space  and so there is no time to dwell on a finish. So taking time now to do it!

This was Mira's  springtimequilt. I never expected it to look so good and there was one happy girl to receive it!

It seemed like everyone wanted a springtime quilt after a look at it. Thankfully I could convince the grandmother to modify the theme. This was Nora's once upon a time quilt!

Another fond grandmother decided to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary. Y gifting her four grandchildren quilts made by me. This was Sanjog' sweatpants quilt.

This was for the grandma' s sister's grandkids. Aditi wanted a log cabin quilt without any pink! That was challenging not log cabin but not using pink!

Asha's trip around the world was the second quilt for that family.

This was the third quilt for the same family - I loved the back and would have used it as front given the chance!

The front was pretty too and Asha' loved that her name was written many times!

And this was the fourth for the family.Meghna wanted a bookshelf quilt and I loved writing the book names as also the names of a lot of Harry Potter characters as she was a huge fan of the book!

A baby quilt for someone in the family. I used blocks made a while ago to do this. Pretty pleased with the way it turned out and on having used some blocks!

The last one for the year was starstruck! This was a quilt that saw a lot of hard work but the end result was worth it!

And there were a lot of little things that I sewed party purses, car organiser, sketch pen pouch bags and more bags. All in all a pretty decent year!

Oh my goodness

I have to admit that a promise made publicly seems to prod me more into action than most other things. I suppose that it is true for most people as there are quite a few link ups for finishes every year. Last year ALYOF helped me stay the course for so many of my projects. I was feeling a bit lost to know that they no longer were sponsoring it but relief is always there. OMG or One Monthly Goal is filling the void. So here is my goal for the month and I especially need it as I have not sewn a thing since the start of the year.
DH decided to get the sewing room painted as it was growing literally because of water seeping into the walls from the water tank which was directly above and so he came home with a brush and couple of cans of paint on the last day of the year. Did I tell you he is a die-hard  DIY. And like Tom Sawyer he had me roped in from the word 'go'. The first room to be played around with was my sewing room and once that was done it seemed the natural thing to do the other rooms too. So I am yet to sew a single stitch! Oh and to add to my woes I chopped off the tip of my forefinger on my right hand. A kitchen accident!
I really need then to set a goal and achieve it this month for fear that I may get into the habit of not sewing! God forbid! I am working on a quilt for my sis. It has been on the cards for two years and she has been reminding me of it in so many different ways. It needed some 300 plus circles to be readied for applique and I managed to do it in the last week of December. So this month I will hopefully get the appliques sewn to the background squares. I would like the quilt top ready but that might be too ambitious considering there is still half the house to be painted. Here is a picture of the appliques!