Plus one!

Happy Easter everyone. As if a few days off wasn't enough, we have also had some rainy days perfect for sewing and movie watching. So my Plus quilt is finished. I was down to using scraps of backing to get enough for the binding, and managed with about 2" to spare. It started out sunny and clear this morning, and then another lovely storm rolled in.....the perfect backdrop.

After some misgivings about the fabric, it has turned out softer with quilting. Have I mentioned before how much I love big stitch quilting? It has even found a home on someone's bed.......for now.

Next in the hoop is my nine patch swap quilt. Found a lovely soft flannel backing for it, just the right colour to complement the solid squares. Laid it all out ready to baste, and aargh, the backing wasn't quite big enough. I can only blame my own maths on this occasion. So I had a little tantrum about it and then remembered the unused nine patches.......problem solved. One strip of nine patches down the back......and not really as loose and rumpled as the basting looks. I did a lot of extra pinning in the hope that the quilting on the front will correspond with the blocks on the back. Thank you Cheryll for my WONDERFUL safety pinning tool. It got a real workout yesterday and saved my fingers.

I'm off to enjoy the last of the long weekend by putting a roast in the oven and stitch the afternoon away.

Happy stitching,
Susan x

Quilting

I love Autumn for so many reasons, a main one being that it's cool enough to quilt again. I made a small start on my plus quilt a couple of weeks ago, but really got into it this weekend. Big stitches in straight lines really come together quickly.

I was disappointed with the cheap Spotlight fabric I used on this one, but quilting is making it softer. The simplicity of this design and colour palette is quite relaxing after tiny clamshells and DJ pieces. The greys are not coming out right in this light, but you get the idea.

And there's a bonus, I love the back as much as the front. I don't usually think too much about how my quilting looks on the back as long as it goes through the three layers and holds everything together. But white quilting on dark backing fabric hides absolutely nothing.

We have been tidying up my Dad's shed, and I was lucky to bring home two sets of Singer sewing machine drawers. One set will stay whole, but I think these drawers make a great place on my desk for my DJ fabrics. So much prettier than just in piles.

Sitting here in my sewing room wishing I could sew all week....but alas....back to work tomorrow. Hope you find some time for a sneaky sew this week.
Susan x

Plus Quilt top

It didn't take very long to sew it together either. I think I like it, it's just so different to anything I usually make.

I think I'll go back to my hand piecing and little clamshells tonight, I need something more traditional.

Hope you have a great week.

Susan x

Something new

Channelling my inner modernist today. I have been drooling over plus quilts on a few different blogs, particularly this one by Karen at Pieces of Contentment, and this at Crafty Blossom. So beautifully simple and elegant.

So after a little bit of maths and sketching I decided to make my own. I'm not sure of the destination for this quilt, so I didn't want to spend too much. I found a nice grey shot cotton at Spotlight yesterday, which unfortunately didn't feel or look as nice after I washed it, but I soldiered on. The cutting out has taken me less than an hour......

I think it will look better sewn together, so I'm off to spend some quality time with my machine.

Happy Sunday stitching,
Susan x