Tomato Soup in the Stash.... (and other finishes)

...made a finish!!!

You may wonder what on earth I'm talking about?! Yes, I do talk about tomato soup, but not the liquid stuff we eat!  Remember my previous post, where I talked about binding for the "Hello Betty" quilt? I went through my stash looking for something brown, because I had "decided" the binding had to be brown.. Don't ask me why I had that fixed idea, because it had not turned out OK in the end! Well, going through the Moda Marbles I have,  what caught my eye was one called "burnt orange" and another one; "tomato soup", I compared those two colors to the "orange/red" in the quilt. "Tomato Soup" was the one that matched and fortunate I had enough of it for the binding. It looks fresher with this color on the binding, I think it had looked a bit dull using dark brown.
(Eh! The palm leaf turned out on focus, not the quilt! Photographer's mistake!)

I love the "tomato soup" binding!

I haven't made many quilts with light colors, but I must say I love this one (even if I didn't like the colors when I got the fabric) - it looks so fresh and happy!
I think it was Sue who asked me where I'm going to use it... I answered her most probably on the couch in the lower ground floor, but while doing this post I'm also thinking of using it for picnics. Not that we do a lot of picnics, but... just an idea! :)

Thanks to all of you for your comments on how to quilt the squares! I do appreciate your opinions! Thought it over for some days, I decided to keep alternative 1. It had been too much to unpick - I wasn't really in the mood for that - and I'm happy with it the way it turned out!

For this quilt I have used 1 layer cake, 1 jelly roll and 24" (60cm) for the binding. It was the first layer cake and jelly roll I bought (November 2009) - it was on sale; 50% off. For backing I have used two old bedsheets (added together). They were still usable, too good quality to be thrown away. It turned out to be a very cheap quilt - and I love it! :)

My first UFO-finish 2011 and first OPAM 2011 too!

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Do you make mug rugs? Do you find it addictive?

I have been making some mug rugs over the last weeks, and finally yesterday four of them are done! I have left to hand stitch the binding on another four mug rugs, but have to buy thread for that. And yes; it is very addictive!!! They are small and easy to make.

I've fussy cut some cup fabrics I had and for these mug rugs I used one fat quarter (pink floral) and a little bit of Moda Marbles (powder pink) for the rest.

The two small mug rugs measure 7.5" x 10" (19.5 x 26cm).

The bigger mug rugs measure 8.5" x 10" (21.5 x 26cm).

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Ah! Finally my BBQC project is revealed!

An Advent table topper! I received the "ugly" fabric from Sharon. At first I thought; GOSH - what do I make out of those fabrics?! I have always wanted to make an Advent table topper, using purple, but as purple is a bit outside my comfort zone I don't have much purple in my stash. And here it was, right in front of me - thanks to Sharon!

I discovered a block in a quilting magazine I wanted to try, and I really love how it turned out!

I have used all the fabric I received - the piece left is 8" x 21" . (20 x 53cm) I thought I needed it for the binding, so I didn't dare using it for the backing. I'm not good at all when it comes to mathematics, so how to calculate how much I need for this and that... well, forget about it! :)) If I had known I didn't need it, of course I had used it for the backing!

What was left after finishing the top, is what you can see here - used for the backing. From my stash I have used small strips of purple, which was the only suitable fabric I had for matching the "ugly" fabrics.

I loved doing the backing too - a little bit of art - lol!

Take a look here for other BBQC entries.

Do you ever notice the beauty of clouds? Take a look here to find out.

Sewing on Sunday / BBQC / Christmas Ornament Swap

We've had such nasty - but needed - weather the last days; rain and thunderstorms (you can read more about that here) - perfect for indoor activities.

Still no news about my dear "Nina", but good news is a dear friend kindly lent me her sewing machine for almost 3 weeks while she's on holiday - how great is that?! 

Do you remember my previous post? Yesterday I started piecing the blocks for a baby quilt. I have more than enough for at least two more baby quilts, but I'm running out of the white tone-on-tone background fabric. It is sold out from the web shop, so for the other baby quilts I'll have to think of something else for the background.

I've been sewing almost the whole day today, now I need a break! :) I've done 18 blocks - 6 each in pink, green and blue. I think that will be enough for one baby quilt. I haven't decided on size yet, I'll have to see how wide I do the sashing.

Sneak peak BBQC! :)

Already on Wednesday, when I got the sewing machine, I started sewing! The project for the BBQC is almost done! It is basted and ready to be quilted. I hate to brag, but I must say this project turned out much better than I expected - because purple is a bit outside my comfort zone! I really, really love it! :)

NNC's Christmas Ornament Swap 2010 turned out to be quite a thriller! The Postal Service - either in Malaysia or here in Mauritius decided to play a little bit with us! We all know parcels/letters take 1-2 weeks extra to reach its destinations during Christmas, but when one small parcel and a letter - both registered - had not reached here by the first two weeks of January, we began to worry. We were in touch with the post offices in both countries, where different answers were given how to inquire the parcel/letter.

Finally the registered parcel and letter arrived at the end of January, more than one month after they were sent from Malaysia! The Postal Service made us hold our breathe for some days!

Here's the lovely cross-stitched Christmas ornament I received from Margaret (no blog). The pattern is from Blackbird Design - Stocking series - all handmade!

I looove it! :)

The all-crafts ornament is from Nik.

I believe it is your "Em" that has done it, Nik? It's very beautiful - I do love it!

I love that tag too! :)

Margaret and  Nik; thank you so veeery, veeery much! I do loooove it all!

Those are the all-crafts Christmas ornaments I sent to Nik in Malaysia and Maria (can't find her blog link) in Portugal.

The stockings are made of felt, decorated with rusty bells and buttons.

Not to forget; a huge THANK YOU to Margaret at NNC for organizing both swaps!

You can read about the other Christmas ornament swap here.

Here's the Christmas gift I made for my dear friend Grit (no blog) in Germany. It is made in her favorite colors red and yellow. :)

I forgot to add this when when I posted Christmas gifts I made, look here for the other Christmas gifts I made.

A warm welcome to my new followers;

- Sandy over at Beary Quilts

- Josephine Yap

- Joe over at The Mauritius Adventure 

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog.

Josephine, do you have a blog? I'd love to see your works and what you are working on.

Quilting abstinence

I have not done any sewing since beginning of November last year. Dear "Nina" (Bernina) is still at the "doctor" in Port Louis for check-up, so even if I had wanted to sew - I couldn't.

I have tried to convince myself a break from sewing/quilting is OK, to reload the batteries, get new ideas, inspiration etc. It is not that I was not able to do anything though. In my previous post you can see my UFO's from 2010 and older. The "Star Burst" quilt is ready to be hand quilted (yes, I'm doing it!) and the other quilts are ready to be sandwiched etc. Ever since I started quilting, I have dreaded the finishing; it's almost overwhelming - sort of... An idea to make smaller projects (I can hear you say that!)... yes, it is, but I looooove making bigger quilts - that's my "problem"! :)

I managed to stay off until a couple of days ago, when a severe abstinence hit me!

After some hours of gardening, I was on the couch reading a quilting magazine... Don't know how many times I've had a look in that magazine, but first that day I saw two blocks I wanted to try! One of the blocks for the baby/kid quilt(s) and the other one for the BBQC - read on...

Excited I went to my sewing room and fished out the bag with baby/kids fabric, sorted it on colors....

... and started cutting...

I know I have cut way too much for one quilt only, here I have enough for 54 blocks (9" sewn into quilt). Perhaps I'll have enough of the white-on-white - background - for one quilt only, not even that... I'm zero when it comes to mathematics, so what I have to do is start sewing the blocks and first then I'll see..... It's going to be a scrappy quilt, using at least 14-15 different fabrics/shades.

If I had known it takes ages to get my "Nina" back, I had started working on the BBQC (Brown Bag Quilt Contest) already before I went to Norway! Deadline is March 1st - not that much time left!

Correction! Just got to know deadline has been postponed to April 1st! (Wonderful!) 

Long time ago I received some lovely, purple fabric from Sharon in the US. Brown Bag means you are going to swap your "ugliest" fabric with your swap partner. 

I can't say the fabric I got from Sharon is "ugly" - are they? Purple isn't exactly my favorite color, it is outside my comfort zone when it comes to colors, but that I guess is the challenge! :)

If you want to see the "ugly" fabric I sent to Sharon, take a look here.

It took me quite some time to figure out what to make; it's going to be a tablecloth or table runner - have yet to decide on that. I have decided on the blocks, but that's going to be a secret! :) I also had to add one fabric from my stash. I hunted high and low, and the light one to the right on the photo is the nearest matching I came...

Well, it felt wonderful cutting fabric again - I have cooled down a bit now - LOL! Didn't know I missed it that much, and even by fooling myself to believe I needed a break for loading the batteries - hahaha!

Now it is just to wait for my dear "Nina"!



Tea Coaster Swap, Brown Bag Quilt Contest and a WIN

Earlier this year I signed up for the NNC's Tea Coaster exchange, hosted by Usha (no blog).

There are many talented crafters in NNC, and one of them is Zarina from Malaysia. I received these lovely tatted tea coasters from her.

Zarina has used her own hand dyed thread; Aubrille & Garden's Path.

If you want to see more of her hand dyes, click here.

  

Zarina crochets too; look at this beautiful doily I received together with the tatted tea coasters. The doily can be used for the tea pot.

Zarina is a quilter too, check out her blog here.

Once again, thank you so very much Zarina, for the beautiful tea coasters & doily!

My partner for the tea coaster exchange is Usha (no blog - Usha, I'm very sorry if I do a mistake, but you don't have a blog, do you?)

This is what I made for Usha; four quilted tea coasters and an extra for the tea pot.

A big thanks to NNC & Usha for organizing the tea coaster swap 2010!

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I always say I never win... How wrong was I???

When Kris over at Tag Along Teddies launched two new patterns and a giveaway, I left a comment for the giveaway - and I won the Butterfly Hunt pattern!

HURRAY!!! Isn't it cute?! Click on the photo and you'll see it more detailed.

Thanks a lot, Kris!

If you want to know more, click here.

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Brown Bag Quilt Contest - for more information, click here.

I have signed up for the BBQC, and my swap partner is Sharon (no blog) in the US. Today I received the "ugly" fabrics from her....  GOSH, aren't they ugly???? LOL! No, I don't see the fabrics as ugly. The colors go from light to dark purple. Purple isn't my favorite color, but after I made the table runner for Alynn, I'm a bit more comfortable with purple.

After auditioning the fabrics, I have an idea what to make, but I have yet to decide on pattern. This is going to be FUN!

I forgot to take a photo of the fabrics I sent to Sharon; too much in a hurry that day. :)

Once again; thanks for the "ugly" fabric, Sharon! :)