Distraction...

Still thinking what to do with the Midnight quilt. I have been walking on air reading all the nice comments and emails! I mean, I never think of my own quilts in terms of 'fabulous' or 'stunning' :)
(more like 'mwa' or 'nice' or 'could be better') So a 'thank you' is in order.

Still contemplating what to next. The problem is that a medaillion quilt is a square. The Midnight is too small for a bed and too large for a wall in my relatively small home. I thought about repeating the orange peel border, but when I discussed that with a quiltshop owner, she suggested it would be better ending with a black background border. I think she has a point there, but that means adding TWO more borders. Am I willing to do that? Don't know....

Instead of making a decision, I bought some bright fabrics. Always a good idea when at a quiltshop!

Since I was with C, a Fasset made it to the stack too....
At the shop we saw some very nice embroidered biscornu pincushions. C said she wanted to learn how to embroider and since I did that a lot in my pre-patchwork era, I was happy to teach.To get my mind of the Midnight...
After the first embroidered square, C said she loved doing it and she thought it was addictive. I knew then we were in trouble!
I made a biscornu

 and a square, that's folded in four. Here's the front

 and back

 ...and another tiny biscornu

 And while I was cleaning out my sewingroom, I came across another pincuscion I made a while back. How about some hot chocolate?

Meanwhile, i have a embroidered needle case to finish, C and I ordered a bunch of new skeins and I STILL don't know what to do with the Midnight. *sigh*

A good start of the year!

First: a very happy newyear! May your fabrics be happy and your quilts be bright...

I started off with a FINISHED Midnight at the Oasis quilttop!

So I DID make the deadline of january 3th of the QuiltALong. Linking up with a completely finished quilt on january 31th is not going to happen though, since I handquilt and it's impossible to get that done in 3 to 4 weeks,

I enjoyed this project só much that I just couldn't stop sewing:)

I'm even considering to make a gazillion orange peel blocks to add as yet another border...

 

Sewing like

..there's no tomorrow...

Happy Christmas everyone!

I keep forgetting to link the hosts of this qal:( So here it is : http://fabricsandflowers.blogspot.com.au/

Twinkle twinkle...

 

 More Midnight progress. I was determined to add stars and the five pointed star didn't make it to the quiltcenter; it looked like a Converse Allstar billboard, so I ripped it of.
After the applique border the pattern said to make churndashes. Unlike other participants in the Quilt Along, I don't like churndashes that much, so.... I cut, sliced, trimmed STARS!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 As you can see,the applique is not yet on in this pic, but I made progress there too!

 So far, the project has been fun to sew although accuracy is down the drain, challenging

 Not one point from the orange peels match. I checked pattern and background measurements and I decided they were not competable! Even in the original pic of the quilt, points mismatched. They look like giant flowers now, and you know what? Fine by me!

 One more applique border left, but I'm saving that. I need a portable project for my next patch-appointment with C... That's why the small innner borders can't be sewn on yet.

 Next border: tiny squares. Quiltmania says to cut a gazillion and sew them together one by one. Uhhhh, NO! There are better, quicker and more accurate ways in my humble opinion.

The QuiltAlong is hosted here. Ofcourse I'll never make the deadline; I "discovered" this project when the group was at border 4 or 5, but it's not a race and it's fun to see hoe others do.  I really really like sewing this!

Sewingroom OCD

 As today is my day of, I decided to spent some time sewing. First i had to de-clutter; I simply cannot sew a gazillion stars when there's stuff all over the place. I searched for sewingroom ideas the other day and came across these...

,,a dream for many, a nightmare to me. Wááááy too much going on. I would go mad if I had to sew there!
About a year ago I tossed my old and worn wooden cabinets out and replace them with white ones. This was in the midst of the make-over :)

  I DO have too much stuff (or a too small room...)

 Now I sew here. Painted the mini drawers blocks white..

I have a constant struggle between the need to display things and the need to keep it as clutterfree as I possibly can. The fabric on the table is what I'm currently sewing. When i'm done, it has to go again.

It's much better now, but still I would prefer everything behind doors or in drawers and just a very few things out in the open.
I'm thinking about a way to organise my threads. i constantly mix up cones and bobbins. A pegboard? Oh shudder....

5pointed star any size you want!

Thinking about progress on the MidnightATO quilt, I couldn't get "stars" out of my mind. A quilt with such a pretentious title SHOULD have stars! Maybe in the middle block? Anyhow, I started playing and decided on a five point star. How to draw that with no circleruler thing in da house?

 

Ha, my triangle ruler had circle degrees!

First I put a tapeline from 72 degrees towards the ruler edge..so there won't be any mistakes.

 

 Then, draw a circle (any size you want) on a piece of paper (like cardstock)

 and put a line from the circle edge towards the middle

 Align the triangle 0 (zero) to the middle point , and put the edge of the ruler on the starting line. Mark the 72 degree (where the Arrow is!)

 Draw the second line

Again: 0 in the middle, ruler edge against the second line and mark the 72 degree point

 

 Repeat untill you have the circle in 5 parts

 Connect the points (dotted lines)

 Cut out and you have a 5 pointed star!

 If you cut the coloured area and add seam allowances ,you have a template for a pieced star.

My math teacher would be so proud...

Now, how will I use this in my quilt? Could use it for Xmas purposes too....