We are never too old to learn something new.

 Last week I had a chance to learn about longarm quilting and what these machines can do.  The Sewing Cafe hosted  Amy Van Gurp she was our teacher. It was fun to learn something new and creative.






She quilted this antique, hand pieced quilt top. Adding her own spin on it, the end result is a quilt with a new life.

Place mats, no piecing required, it was all done on the longarm. The best part, the binding was attached with this as well.

The back of the place mat.

 An Art Quilt, using funky yarns.

Feathers, with a touch of modern.

Samplers.

 Amy with a few of the ladies.

This was not the expected response, to such a simple action. Always be prepared to be surprised in life, you never knows, what will happen.

Linking to Esther's Blog.

Sunshine!

What a wonderful sight after all that ice, snow and rain.  It is almost completely gone.  The sun is shining and we could go for a walk with no jackets on.  A good day in my book.

T-Shirt quilt.  These are very popular, especially for those who are going to study at College or University.  Mom's are clearing out cupboards to make sure these get a second life.  They will be bringing back and making more memories.

Finished some more border triangles.  A few more to go.

Then the borders can be sewn on.

Baby steps.

Old man winter just do not want to leave.  We have had some crazy weather: Freezing rain, ice pellets wind, snow and rain.  Spring will hopefully win this battle and soon. We have all had enough of this stuff.  Then my shoulder froze, so my best friend became the hot water bottle and some rest.  Everything else came to a grinding halt.
Finding the Way:

 The next corner is done. This is it,  with the triangles closed, from the back.

 This is what it looks like, open.

 All four corner units sewn onto the center medallion. The brown border fabric did not look right, so out came the unpicker again, this quilt has made me make special friends with this tool. Have never used it so much on any one project.

The corners only work with the miter.

Placed it on the double bed to get an idea of what it will look like.  Trimming the triangle squares, definitely makes sewing all the larger triangles a lot easier.

 Baby Blanket.

 Self striping yarn, makes for very interesting blankets.
2018 Stitch-a-long:

 Diane finished April's band. 

Medieval, with wrought iron work?

 2017 Stitch-a-long:

Beautiful stitching, she is doing two in two colour ways at the same time.

Thank you to our amazing neighbour who helped to clear this mess with his snowblower!

An eight of an inch!

Who knew, an eight of an inch could make the difference to a diamond to fit inside all those triangle squares.  When the strips were cut originally, the measurement was not one I was familiar with, so I cut the strips just a fraction wider.  Lesson number one, stick to the exact measurement.

The four corner pieces which will create the square in a square.

All the triangle squares were trimmed before sewing them together. This is crucial to keeping everything on track.

At this point, everything was fine.  I forgot to trim the green strips of fabric by an eight of an inch all round. This caused a number of headaches, preventing these larger triangles from fitting around the center square.

It had bubbles and was not lying flat.  So out came the unpicker and the book, the ruler and then it was a case of going back to the green border and trimming it by that eight of an inch on each side.

The end result, a square in a square which lies flat.

Miters can cause problems, in this case it was getting the measurement right. Nothing more frustrating than trying to quilt a quilt with a bubble in it, down the line. Moral of this story, do it right first time round.

Spring rains and snow?

Funny how the weather in Spring is a mixture of the good things that will follow.  We need the rain and in April we will see snow, which is quite normal. The tulips are up and so are a number of other bulbs which was planted last year.
The Hertfordshire:

Auditioning the strips and squares, next to the completed square.

All assembled and sewn together.

Next will be a border in this black fabric.

This charm pack will be used for the little squares that make up the next border or round robin of this quilt.

Finding the Way:

Played with the triangle squares, which will create a square in a square.

2018 Stitch-a-long:

Diane finished March, with the dragons and sun. She is also stitching the 2017 Stitch-a-long!

Baby Blankie:

Knitting after two balls of yarn.