A History of Me aka The Scrappy Tripalong

I finished off my Scrappy Tripalong this week with the lovely black and white striped binding and I'm chuffed with how it turned out. And so is Lola by the look of it.

  

I've named it A History of Me, as this quilt contains lots of little bits of fabric that I've been collecting since I first started quilting. Some are fat quarters I've picked up here and there. Others are left over from other projects.

There's a cute little Submarine print I picked up at The City Quilter in NYC. Amy Butler prints from an Amitie Kit I made a few years ago. Some Summer in the City prints from Urban Chics that I fell in love with. Leftover Central Park prints from my Swoon quilt. A Heather Bailey print from when my friend and I were bored at work and decided to go shopping instead.

Every square means something to me, so its A History of Me.

Binding Found

No sewing, but I did find the perfect binding for my Scrappy Tripalong quilt. As suspected, a black and white stripe was the perfect fit. Now just to find time to get it bound!

A little searching on Gumtree earlier this week found me a 'new' cabinet for my kitchen. I've always wanted one, it was half price, and already assembled. A bit of effort required to get it home but I love how it looks in the kitchen. Plus now all my pretties are on display. All my mixing bowls are tucked away in the draw.

I've actually lost a little storage space, but it looks so much nicer than my shabby old cupboard. The only casualty was my lovely Just Joey rose; we lost our balance getting the old cupboard out of the house and the rose snapped at the base. Never mind, she'll be replaced soon enough.

And tomorrow should see me finish of the painting in 'the room'; new furniture arrives next weekend so time is of the essence!

The Binding Conundrum

With a day off today (chest infection encore) I made the most of it and knuckled down to get my Scrappy Tripalong quilt finished. I love the look of the lines so I'm not going to quilt it in the other direction. But what to bind with?

I've got a multi-coloured stripe (below) that might work, but any other suggestions?

Off and Quilting!

Finally I've got my Scrappy Trip in the machine. I was going to use a zigzag/honeycomb quilting line, but after one row I wasn't too keen, so I 'unquilted' it and went with my original plan: two straight lines down the sides if every row.

I may turn the quilt around and do the same in the other direction, but at the moment I like the look and feel of it. And it's far less lines than my Hopscotch quilt!

The sewing room has been sanded and washed down today; painting happens Saturday!

Quilt Basting: Scrappy Tripalong

Basting a quilt is probably my least favourite part of the process; I hate crawling around on the floor because it makes my knees hurt, and I usually have to clear the lounge room to make enough room to spread the quilt out.

But I snagged a little down time this afternoon and it was over and done with pretty quickly, aside from a little canine help. Millie and Jack have always known that quilts are off-limits, but Lola thinks they are great for rolling around on. Normally Bella is busy trying to scoot underneath but not today.

When I baste, I always start at the bottom, and roll the quilt as I go. That way I can reach my arm underneath to guide the pin, to make sure it catches the batting but not the carpet. Then when I'm done, its already folded!

Lola spends a lot of time trying to lick Millie's face...not sure she's too impressed.

Oh, and my bestie welcomed baby number 3 today, a healthy little boy.

Much Better!

I couldn't help myself...blame the Virgo in me, I have a problem with being perfect sometimes. I pulled out the block that was bugging me, divided it in half and re-stitched it. The green is now a little less obvious then it was, though it still seems to stand out in photos. I can rest easy now!

Excuse the hose, was being a bit lazy...

Not too much else acheived today; I'm working on some cushions for the first market of the year but they aren't done yet. I also helped my mum out by building her some Ikea shelves...I think Bella has a new favourite spot!

Scrappy Tripalong

You can call me Miss Determined! A little bit of spare time this afternoon and all my Scrappy Trip Around the World rows are now a quilt!

Boy is it big! Any thoughts on quilting it? No more lines for me just yet, maybe a stipple, we'll see.

There's one block that really stands out (with a green centre). It's not quite as obvious in person as it seems in the photos. Hmmm, do I unpick and readjust that block? If I shift the green off-centre it might not be quite so obvious...

Friday Fancies

Today is a little more sedate than the madness that was Wednesday. After a late night catching up with my lovely Canadian friend, I had a bit of a late snooze this morning, then headed out with Millie for a bit of a walk. What is with this weather! It's quite chilly and wet which is not what summer is meant to be about.

I finally finished a couple of wheat bags I've been meaning to make for my next market; the fabrics are Summer in the City by Urban Chiks and Bliss by Bonnie and Camille.

And....I finally cleared the loungeroom floor so I could play with my scrappy tripalong blocks! Though keeping Bella away from them (she thinks her job is "block randomiser") is a bit of a task. I think there will be a few final tweaks, and a bit of seam re-pressing then I might get the rows together today.

There's also been a couple of deliveries for the shop this week: Happy-Go-Lucky pre-cuts (Bonnie and Camille for Moda), and the new Thimble Blossoms patterns to go with the fabric range (yardage due in May).

Squeeee

What does a sensible girl do when she finally ditches the guy who has time for everyone but her? And I mean the type that can't even be bothered to send a postcard from overseas?

She heads to Europe of course! I've been wanting to do this trip for a while, and now it's clear I don't have a travel buddy, I'm heading out on my own. I just booked today and I'm so excited. I'll be doing 4 days in each of London and Paris, then heading over to Italy to spend two weeks travelling around (map below). Pizza, pasta, gelato!

My friends and sister have also been totally lovely to me the last few days; I've had lunch, dinner and movie invitations coming out my ears which makes me feel so special. My grandma (who is recovering well from her head injury) may have even had a few things to say to cheer me up.

I snuck in a little sewing time last night and today (sticking to my resolutions!), with six more scrappy tripalong blocks to show for it. I've now got 20, and still lots of strips, so I've decided to go the whole hog and head for 36!

Friday's task will be to get back into the Cuzco quilt; I think I've solved my triangle problems, just need to see if I can pull it all together.

Then There Were 18

I've snapped myself out of my little funk; the person causing all my stress is gone. So I have plenty of time to get back into my quilting, and just enjoy life in general without being weighed down by the drama. It feels good!

I snagged a little time today to quickly whip up two more blocks:

I thought I was only up to 14 or 16, but I laid them all out and there are 18!

I'm not quite decided on whether to aim for 25 or 36...I guess we'll see how fat those fat quarters streatch with a few scrap bits thrown in. It's like organised chaos!

Four More

A couple more blocks for the Scrappy Trip Around the World.

Glad I finally found some dark blue to include!

Instagram hash tag is #scrappytripalong if you want to take part.

Scrappy Trip Around The World

I took the plunge yesterday and started in on this quilt along. I started cutting strips from fat quarters and a a handful of scraps. It's made me realise there are a few colours missing from my collection, namely dark blues and all types of green! It's going to be a very pink/blue quilt.

I got four blocks whipped up quite quickly; I'm not hurrying this project, especially as I'm starting a Cuzco quilt as well.

If you want to join in, the hash tag on Instagram is #scrappytripalong, and instructions can be found by googling 'scrappy trip around the world'.

2012 BOM Block Seven

Welcome to 2013!

Block 7 arrived over Christmas, and despite it being 40c today, I plugged myself in at the sewing machine. My pressing leaves a little to be desired, it's top hot!

Block 7 is "moonlight serenade" by Sandy Gervais.

I've also been taken in by the 'scrappy tripalaong' which has been booming over on Instagram. It's such a simple idea with stunning results. So I've dug out all the random fat quarters I've collected over the last few years, and am hoping to dig in as soon as the temperature drops.