Squid Eye Quilt Finished!

I finished this week the quilt that is known as "The Squid Eye". So named by my beloved husband because he commented at the start "that looks like a giant squid eye". I am not too sure what a giant squids eye looks like exactly.... bloodshot and big?

Despite the edges of this photo, it does lie flat! It measures 48 inches square. The larger squares in the center are 11 inches. And the ones around the outside are 5.5 inches.

One of my favourite blocks. The black and white print is from Prints Charmings range as most of you will know. It is so soft! I brought that fabric on our Sydney trip back here, nearly 2 years ago. Must be time for another trip soon. I wish!

I like this one too. Lots of spots.

The back I pieced together. The spot in the bottom left is the label.

I decided to give the quilt to Daz, well make the label out to him. I finished it on the night of his birthday. He was sitting next to me on the couch as I sewed the binding down. One of the best things about sewing at night is that you can snuggle under the quilt. I finished the binding and pushed all the quilt over onto his knee and said "Happy Birthday!" and pretended that the plan of starting here and taking 18 months to finish this quilt was all on purpose so I would finish exactly on his 38th birthday. He didn't believe me though! I did the label on the computer and printed it out onto fabric and then blanket stitched it into place as usual.

Here we all are about to cut his birthday cake! Happy birthday Daz! We love you lots and look foward to the next 38 birthdays together!

WIP Wednesday - Week 36 - The Return of the Squid Eye Quilt!

According to my label thingy function, I haven't blogged the Squid Eye Quilt since January this year! Back in WIP Wednesday, week 1. That can't be right? And now it's week 36 of the year.... With my flickr dolls quilt all finished - thank you all for the lovely comments. I got the answer I needed..... - I thought I would take a mini break from the machine and do a bit of work on this quilt. I knew I should rest the hand and arm but I just can't sit on the couch in the evenings and watch telly without doing something, it just doesn't feel right!

So I pulled out the Squid Eye quilt. I don't think I have touched it for a few months, I sometimes take it somewhere like Mother's Group and work on it for an hour. I thought I had ages to go on it but was very pleasantly suprised to find that apart from one square on the border, I have finished all the hand quilting! OMG! Only started back here in November.... So I sewed the binding on.....

And now have it already to hand sew down. I think I may do one little silver row on the black and white near the binding, just one more row around. That may stretch out to November then it will be a year exactly from start to finish.

WIP Wednesday - Week 1 - Welcome to 2009!

What a start to the year, I am already a day late with the first WIP Wednesday post for 2009. But I have the best excuse, we have just returned home from 9 days here.

Such a magical part of the world. Our days were spent at the beach, building sandcastles, admiring the boats in the bay, picking out which one we would like if we had the money.

We also rode everywhere. That is really the only way to get around the island, that or on foot! See the zooming blobs of white in the photo? That is the girls, riding away in the distance. Grace is cautious, she applies the breaks when needed, doesn't go too fast. Matilda on the other hand, gets on and starts peddling, weaving her way through people and other bikes, going fast. And of course she can't hear me over the clatter of her training wheels calling out " Millllllllly! STOP!"

We also ate way too much of food that one shouldn't eat too much of...... I became a lunch time sandwich maker, I had a production line going! 12 sandwiches on average a day, phew! Being the only one in the family not officially working over there, I'll quietly mutter into my keyboard here if looking after the girls for 13 hours a day straight isn't a job, I don't know what is, anyway, I was on lunch duty! Ham, cheese, spanish onion, lettuce and mayo in my speciality! The girls are easy and just have promite!

And amungst all that I still managed to do some sewing! I took over the Squid Eye and hand quilted during the quieter parts of the day. I realized that when I would go into our room and sit for 10 minutes by the window doing some stitches, if I was at home here on the mainland, that is the time that I would normally pop on the computer. So much more productive doing sewing instead! I have run out of silver thread, totally finished the middle 9 blocks and done a stitch nearly in the ditch on the 2 one inch borders outside that. Started on the smaller blocks, done two so far. Getting there......

Which leads me to New Year's Resolutions for 2009! I want to finish some projects started in 2008. Grace's Log Cabin quilt is still sitting up folded ready to quilt from back in March. I have some lovely rainbow verigated cotton to use, don't know to meander stipple it, or stitch in the ditch around each log cabin strip. That actually scares me, to be honest, all that turning.... stippling may be the safe option although it is a huge 127 cms by 209 cms. Hopefully by her birthday in April I'll be done.....

And I really need to finish this. 50 x 9 inch blocks of this Jan Mullen crazy daisiez. For our bed. 2009, year of finishing big projects, bring it on!

WIP Wednesday Week 44 - Squid Eye Quilting Close Ups.

The last few times I have posted a WIP shot of this quilt I have freaked out a few readers of this little blog. They thought the colours I outlined in photoshop on the quilt's photo too show what I had done, was the actual quilting! LOL No girls!!! Funny chickadee's! Above is the real quilting. Getting there, slowly.....

Christmas at the moment means work, work, work. I have a small part time job in a big retail store as some of you know, and this time of year my hours go crazy! We don't usually have Sunday trading in Perth either but for December we do, so my sewing time is limited at the moment, sewing when I can, thats all a girl can do isn't it?

WIP Wednesday - Week 42 - Labels and the Twin DQS#5

Well I have sewn these labels down and have this quilt all packaged up to send tomorrow for this swap. All done till round 6, which will be when? Who knows, after the fuss and excitment of Christmas is over I hope. I made a twin for the one I am sending off, of course! I can't bear to send anything away without having a twin for me. Pink and a Micheal Miller Floral. Another addition to Milly's bedroom wall.




I was really happy with the quilting on this one. I only quilted on the white, if I sewed really close to the wonky squares, not quite in the ditch, just really close, it sort of made the squares puff out. Cool!

And finally here is this weeks progress photo of the Squid Eye. Nice chunky yellow quilting this week! Two more squares completed, onto the 5th. Not that bad for a girl with a puffy sore finger.

Thank you for all your comments and well wishes about my finger. My GP decided not to cut it off and has put me on antibotics and some presciption only pain killers. Much better already. :)

WIP Wednesday - Week 41 - A pinwheel!

I must admit I haven't done much sewing this week but I have whipped up four of the above blocks. I dusted off the instructions for AJ's Mystery Quilt finished back on WIP Wednesday, Week 9. (Embarrassingly enough in that same post is another quilt top finished and still waiting to be sandwiched! Ek!) These blocks are going in the corners of the Mystery Quilt, then just a wide long plain border of this Valori Wells fabric purchased back in April and then all done, ready to sandwich. That's the plan anyway..... I'm really hoping to get this done for a shhhhh shhhhh secret squirrel occassion early in the new year. I'll say no more!

I promise I won't bombard this blog with a photo of the Squid Eye quilt every time I take a stitch, but thought it would be fun if I made myself a little mud map to track my progress, just to keep my interest up. So all the wobbly drawn lines in Photoshop? That is where I have quilted.....

Let the Hand Quilting Begin.....

Ohhhhh, this is going to be harder than I thought. This metallic thread is a PITA to work with! Each strand frays into 6 seperate strands again... Its fiddly, took me like 2 hours just to do these 4 outlines, can you even see them in this photo? Am I imagining they are there??

WIP Wednesday - Week 40 - The start of hand quilting the Squid Eye!

Just a small ekkk as I typed Week 40 as the title of the post! Ekkk! Look at this view into my sewing room! This is what I see as I stand at the door. My flickr dolls quilt ready to wash and label. Lisa's lovely mini of triangles. A stuffed doll Grace has been asking me to sew the arm back on for months! That blue and green quilt top I made in August for no real reason, waiting to be sandwiched and quilted. I thought I might use it to practise stippling on? Or just diagonal lines? Anyway, something for another day.

With the end of the year approaching I want to finish two projects before starting 2009. Being a bit ambious maybe, but you have to start somewhere. I had a mantra in high school, the sooner you start something, the sooner you finished it. And I want to finish this quilt and the Squid Eye Quilt!

All I had to do was sew an inch strip around the top and it was finished and then spent the day sandwiching it and hand basting it. I want to hand quilt this one. I have never attempted hand quilting before, I'm after a long term hand work project to take along to the girls swimming and gym classes, something to work on when we go to Rottnest and I can't take my machine, something to do at night in front of the telly when I don't want to do any machine sewing. So I have decided to tackle this one as it will most likely be a wall hanging, its big, 50 inches square. Wonder how long it will take me? I picked some pretty metallic DMC threads to contrast.

I have hand basted it with just a strand of DMC thread, that took 2 nights! I figured I couldn't use pins as I'll need the pins before I am finished I am sure. Daz was watching with interest as I was doing it at the dining room table, although he had his "she's crazy but I'll support her in her little hobby" face on and when I said I'm hand quilting this, he raised his eyebrows and I made him promise to remind me what a good idea I thought this was in a few months/years when I am cursing myself for even attempting this!

WIP Wednesday - Week 33 - Emma's RR finished! Yahh!

I finished this little baby last night! Yahhhhh! Here is a sneek peek as I can't show the whole thing! It looks much, much, much better than the first attempt. I feel better about it. I didn't realize when I signed up just how challenging a Round Robin would be, sewing to other people's colours and preferences. Emma, I hope you like my effort, the points are all sharp and punchy, I think you will. :) I did each block foundation peiced and was pleasantly suprised that it lined up exactly when I sewed them on!

AJ, its on its way to your house...... again! And back to the Squid Eye Quilt I go, which hasn't been touched since WIP Week 29!

WIP Wednesday - Week 30 - A Twirly Skirt.

The Squid Eye is finished! Well sort of.... I have finished blanket stitching all the mini eyes around the outer, now I have found my missing fat flat (and how about the irony of my own sister having the material I needed in her stash! Thanks Ad!), I just have to sew an inch sashing around the quilt top and then its finished, ready to sandwich. But was thinking I might do some fancy big squares for the backing. Am liking the idea lately of backing doesn't have to be the same fabric, you can make the backing a simplified quilt in itself. Thinking around the squid eye!

So with that one nearly crossed off the list I was thinking about whats next. The weather here is warming up slowly, low 20's and sunshine, girls wearing twirly skirts at yesterdays show, whats a Mum to do? Sew a twirly skirt!

I'm using this pattern online from here. Easy peasy to make and the only seems which you can see are the side ones, I love how the hem is all tucked under and sewn down, so you don't see any threads. This Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric is soooooo soft, I grabbed a few metres for myself before the rest went for sale in the shop. I think I'd like to make a few more for the girls, bring on spring and summer please!

Grace and I had an interesting conversation this morning. She was finishing brushing her teeth, sighed and said "Mummy do dreams come true if I wish really, really hard?" And I said "If you wish for something with your whole heart and believe in yourself then dreams can come true" Something inspirational along those lines. She nodded and looked happy. I then asked her what was her wish? "I wish for a white unicorn Mummy" Ahhhhhh okay, maybe that one isn't going to quite come true soon. :)

WIP Wednesday - Week 29 - I Spy a Squid Eye!

Well it has been an interesting 10 days to say the least. Mum has had what the doctors call a "mini stroke" and was hospitalized for a week while she was put through all kinds of tests to work out why. Everything came back clear, she is home now, has to have some physio and start eating more fish, but otherwise the same old Jules as always! Milly has broncolitis and is on antibotics, coughing like she has a 10 pack a day smoking habit! And Grace came home earlier this week uttering her first F word!!! They were singing the nursery rhyme Old Dan Tucker which she had heard on the Wiggles that morning. Funny I thought they were singing Old Man Tucker, anyway not to hard to work out what swear word rhmyes with tucker!

So amungst all that I got to put together some mini squid eyes. 28 of them in full, or rather 28 big, 28 medium and 28 little eyes. Used nearly a whole metre of visofix making these! Then I lay them out on the quilt, then started blanket stitching it.


If I ever make this again, the trick is to blanket stitch the eyes on the 6 inch squares before you sew the squares togther. Much, much simpler! I'm shoving this quilt through the neck of my machine on each turn and there are 3 times I have to blanket stitch each square! Thats whta you get for making up a pattern as you go along I suppose. Which is why I need more of the below fabric!

I'm putting out the call again! If you live in Australia and have this Fat Flat amunst your stash, love to do a swap with you. Just need a little bit more. Anyone??

WIP Week 10 - Squid Eye quilt top progress.

Well, here we have all 9 blocks sewn together. Not the best of photos sorry, I took two and then my camera battery died, always the way hey? I trimmed the blocks down to 11.5 inches, so my seams are spot on exactly. Which feels nice that I am not out for a change!

I'm liking it so far, its working. And I think it will be staying in this house. Which will be also be a change. A lot of changes in the air in my sewing world at the moment. :)

Lost with a giant squid eye!

Must admit, I have felt a bit lost with my quilting recently, lacking some oomph. I look through other people's blogs in the evenings and see all sorts of beautiful, inspiring work and think how boring my quilts are. The two I have made this year were made with love and have gone to appreciative homes, but they just haven't been works of pizaaze. The work I am producing is nothing like the work I would like to be producing. I don't want to make quilts that are works of art, just quilts that are stunning and make you drool. I've been a reader of Sam's blog for awhile, and seeing these photo's the other night of this quilt of her's here and here, just got me thinking about it all. So I mulled over how stricking simplicity and effective colour can be combined, I think sometimes I try and make my quilts too colourful.

So I decided to stick to a few strong colours and have been leaning towards red, white and black lately, so out they came from the stash. There was an edition last year of Patchwork and Quilting that had a similar dot on square type quilt on the front cover and I remeber buying this copy without even opening the plastic to check out the rest of the mag to see if it was worth purchasing! I brought it on the wow factor of the cover alone. So suitably armed with that I set to work.

The background squares are 11.5 inches, so big! I think I used about 2 metres of vizeofix! Each circle has vizeofix (how do you spell that word!? I never know where to put the z or is it a x?!) on the back to hold it in place. When its assembled there is a lot of material underneath that isn't seen so I was a bit sneeky and cut another circle from those layers to keep as if it looks really cool I could make another or rather I was thinking of adding a boarder of smaller circles. The ones below are what I have put aside.

I felt terrible cutting into my precious Prints Charming black snowflake fabric. So new! But hey, its better being sewed into something than just sititng in my stash unseen, right?


I have made up 12 of these blocks, above are just two, its going to be 3 rows of 3. I'm going to do a simple blanket stitch around each circle in a matching thread colour. I have had them hanging on the design wall, I think they look like giant squid eyes! When I showed Daz, he commented that they look like giant bloodshot squid eyes! He did throw a WOW in before that, isn't he fab?!

I'm happy with how its looking so far and hopefully this little project will be the start of a path of pizaaze!