An update... finally!

I think I promised awhile ago, that I would let everyone see what I've been up to... but I have been distracted. The first trimester of our second pregnancy is nearly at an end, hurrah, and hopefully I will regain some of my enthusiasm for... just about everything! I have been extremely tired and there has been virtually no crafting going on in any form.

However, I have finished the first row squares, and am in the process of sewing them all together. For better or worse, I have decided to sew the whole thing by hand, including all of the borders.

I've been uploading my individual blocks and some triangles to flickr (in fact, Katie caught me out - I did  it a little while ago, with the intention of posting here, but ran out of steam). I still have a few to add, so far I am pretty happy with how things are going. At least two of the blocks from 'A' row had a couple of mistakes (A-2 I turned an arrow the wrong way & A-11 I had a white centre square I had to change over - poo!). So that was a lesson in paying more attention! Onwards, and upwards! Anthea x

needle review...

I'm not sure if anyone will be as interested in this as I was but of all the reviews I have found so far this one seems to cover most of the main hand sewing needle brands... needle review
I am fed up with the clover needles I am using and just received some Roxannes to try only to discover they are even thicker and harder to work with! I know my fabric has a really tight weave but I can never get more than one stitch at a time without pliers to pull the needle through! lol
So I have ordered some piecemakers, as I read a good review elsewhere, but think I will definitely try the Jeana Kimball out.

Another DJ blog that I found interesting...

http://www.martine4425.blogspot.com/

Good pics of her work.

Melissa

I am definitely addicted now

Well I have now made my third block in three days. I watched a tutorial on YouTube showing appliqué methods this morning so had to have a go while it was fresh in my mind! I've done E10 and am happy with the result. I'm looking for some more "easy" blocks to try next. Still going with my plan of randomize colours, just choosing what I think will look good for the block out of my dozen or so fabrics.

Block number three

Freezer paper is the way to go! I'm having a go at appliqué tonight... E10.

Block number two

Here's a couple more hours of work! Thanks for the in home tutorial, it all makes sense now.

Don't be too shocked... I've started!

Well after several weeks of procrastination and avoidance I've finally bitten the bullet and started. Don't look too closely at my first piecing, I am kind of happy even though it's far from perfect. I'm learning as I go along and experimenting with different techniques. I am not following an exact plan or layout just a colour pallet in general of tea stained plain and gold / red / brown patterns I'm playing around with. I want to do the whole quilt but will see where I get to! It's square a4 I'm doing first and don't ask me why that is I just started with that one!!!! Two hours to do a third of one square!!!! Full steam ahead now.

Time for a post....

Hi All! Well the blog has been quiet for over a month now, and I guess that means that everyone is flat out busy with life in general, and hopefully finding time to have a bit of fun (and craft) in there somewhere.
I thought that I would give you some inspiration/a laugh and show you where I am at with the DJ blocks... Both my action plan and my method have changed as I have proceeded - typical. I started with A1, which incidentally took several hours, then did the easy blocks as recommended by Anthea. Then I decided that since the amount of fabric required is such an unknown I would do all the blocks of one of my largest colour ways and see how much extra I required - this plan I am sticking to and am in the middle of at present. So I am working my way through all my dark green blocks in whichever order I fancy.



Regarding the method I am doing freezer paper hand piecing with running stitch and initially was placing the freezer paper on the back, this didn't allow for fantastic accuracy though - as you can tell from my photos... The easy nine patch blocks I didn't use any paper at all just a pencil line to show seam edges. More recently I have been using the freezer parer on the front this allows the accuracy to be under a millametre and has the added bonus you can leave it on until you join the blocks to the sashing keeping them stable - this is a great find Anthea and how I am planning to finish of the remaining x blocks lol!

The first photo shows the fronts of the blocks I have done and the second the backs, the ones that look all white on the front are still wearing their freezer paper. The blocks are; A1, A4, A6, A8, B5, B13, E12, H1, H13, M6, M10, K4.

I'd love to see how everyone's blocks are going if you have the time to blog...

Take care xxx