DWR saga part II

I managed to put three rings together and it all looked nice until I added one more ring in the second row - then the four connecting pieces didn't match up and the whole thing looked more puckered than a lemon sucking witch :-( The instruction for the pattern say that you should only sew the melons to the centers just where the purple meets the end parts of the melons (the purple multi patterned pieces).... so I did but still don't get it. The whole thing is now ripped apart and I going to start all over again, but heck if I can get them bits and pieces to add up. Grrrrrrrr.

Feel free to post instructions and great ideas ;-)

One ring to find them....one ring to bind them....

Well I admit, I'm not totally sure if that is the correct paraphrase from the Lord of the Rings, but I hope so ;-)
After reading the instructions for the DWR quilt I bought along with heavy duty acrylic templates ( I swear - these templates going to last me a lifetime and be my legacy to a daughter in law (if I ever get one), they are like at least 5mm thick!) over and over again, I decided to try it out. So after auditioning a nice collection of blues, I got going with the smallest rotary cutter and it was no big deal at all. I even managed to follow the instructions and could sew the melon shapes and - attach it to the middle part without much trouble. Until I read that you ought to leave the end pieces un sewn until you piece the next rings to the first, so I have to use my nice ripetty--ripper at these parts -  hence the wobbly shape. But since I sewed the corner pieces together at first, I know that the whole thing lays flat when sewed together:-)

So without much ado - here is the first ring block:

 In lack of natural light, I used the flash so it don't look 100% ok. My MIL like the color blue, so all the rings are going to be in blue varieties, cause I don't think I have enough fabrics for all the rings to look the same. But I strongly suspect that I need to keep all the corner pieces (the most colorful ones at the end of the melon wedges) the same and - maybe the purple ones next, to bind it all together  - right??

Now I have to place it on Sam's bed (it's the same width as my MIL's) and calculate how may circles I need to make. To finish it of I plan to make a café au lait colored border and a blue binding.

So what do you think? I'm kind of proud of my very first try out with curved shapes :-D

One ring to find them....one ring to bind them....

Well I admit, I'm not totally sure if that is the correct paraphrase from the Lord of the Rings, but I hope so.
After reading the instructions for the DWR quilt I bought along with heavy duty acrylic templates ( I swear - these templates going to last me a lifetime and be my legacy to a daughter in law (if I ever get one), they are like at least 5mm thick!) over and over again, I decider to try it out. So after auditioning a nice collection of blues, I got going with the smallest rotary cutter and it was no big deal at all. I even managed to follow the instructions and could sew the melon shapes and - attach it to the middle part without much trouble. Until I read that you ought to leave the end pieces un sewn until you piece the next rings to the first, hence the wobbly shape. But since I sewed the corner pieces together at first, I know that the whole thing lays flat when sewed together:-)

So without much ado - here is the first ring block:

 In lack of natural light, I used the flash so it don't look 100% ok. My MIL likes blue, so all the rings are going to be in blue varieties, cause I don't think I have enough fabrics for all the rings to look the same. But I strongly suspect that I need to keep all the corner pieces (the most colorful ones at the end of the melon wedges) the same and - maybe the purple ones next, to bind it all together  - right??

Now I have to place it on Sam's bed (it's the same width and my MIL's) and calculate how may circles I have to make. I plan to make a café au alit colored border and a blue binding.

So what do you think? I'm kind of proud of my very first try out with curved shapes :-D

Backing

I confess, I find that finding backing that suits a project is not that easy. Well of course we can get xtra wide quilting backing over here too, but you can guess the price huh? And of course I can get it from the USA from stores like A Thousands of Bolts, but that mean getting one piece at the time cause there is only so much fabric you can squeeze into a USPS flatrate envelope...

So often I "cheat" that is getting normal wide fabric and sew it together, but that means that you have to have round 5-6 yards to fit a Swedish double bed and honestly, I very seldom have that kind of yardish in my stash. Soooo, I cheat even more and do something many quilter considers a no-no, I use bed sheets:-O Depending on the project, I can't see why not. I know I know, bed sheets don't have the same thread count as quilting fabric has, but for stuff like the headboard cover, the backing don't show at all. And the upcoming DWR quilt for my MIL - how often do anyone think she is going to wash it? Not once I believe.  Therefore I ordered two extra wide sheets from a catalogue company, affordable and it matching colors and is quite pleased with myself:-) And while waiting for them to arrive, I'm going to start audition blue quilting fabrics for the DWR. I must check my stash to see if I have enough of cream muslin for the background though, otherwise I simply have to make that ToB order nevertheless;-9

We are sewing, we are seeeewing

Think Rod Stewart there LOL. After a month or so of non sewing activity, I have set my mind to finish the Mariners's compass headboard cover in a near future. Why? I have come up with the perfect combined birthday and moving gift for my darling MIL. Me and my sis have't exactly been fortunate in the mother department, but I was very lucky to get a wonderful MIL along with the DH.  In two months time, she will move to her very first own home ever. The thing is, she has never lived by herself - she got married with my FIL direct out of her childhood home and they stayed together for 56 years. Now a widow since 2 months, she has to adapt to a new way of life. So what to get her? The other day it hit me - a Double Wedding Ring quilt!!! I must confess that I am mighty pleased with this idea and when run by the DH and my thoughts around the project, he totally agreed. My MIL loves blue, so I have to check out the description of the pattern I bought (it included thick acrylic templates - yayyhhh) on how much fabric is needed. Luckily she don't have a Kingsized bed, but a standard Swedish 90cm one :-D

Gahhhh, how I hate this climate and since it's only november, this is probably only the start of a truly horrible winter -  heavy winds, drifting snow and only +17C in the bedroom :-(

As far from Huston you can get

One of my dreams is to be able to afford going to the Huston show, but in meantime for that to happen, we have the Swedish version called The Sewing Festival. After being located at smaller very cramped fairs, it's now located at the very large Stockholm International fair in Älvsjö. You might think that since the fair is so large the festival ought to have grown in size, but oh no - it's only large in space, not in vendors and it took us about just over one hour to walk it through. We was smart enough to get there late in the afternoon when most of the visitors had left, so there was plenty of space and good air supply :-)

Anyhow, the big reward going there was spending time with my younger sis - it's sooooo nice to walk up and down the ails, checking out and discussing stuff. The fair host not only sewing stuff, but all sorts of yarns (that category has grown), scrapbooking and stuff we would rather be dead than caught with LOL. And we where so good - I even came home with most of the money I had brought. I only bought two seamrippers, a pattern for small makeup bags, some stiff foundation and a foundation with cm grids printed on it. Sis only bought some yearns and a new wallet. Plus we bought each other a Christmas present......yeah, this way you get something you really want :-D
Thank you darling sis for a wonderful time!

The thing is about fairs in Sweden - all vendors keep the same price for their wares that they to in shops etc. And absolutely no give aways, no matter if you show yachts, motorcycles, home decorating or - handicraft stuff. I was so fascinated to see how many women actually bought bundles of fat quarters or bags full of yarn at prices you could get twice as much for in American online stores. OK I admit, at times you have to bow down and buy fabrics in a store when you need to get the color combination absolutely right. But in the long run, buying on internet works very very well.

Time to get out of bed and start the lardy - bläääää boring.

Know read

I finished the Sheldrake mystery novel in record time. Normal I buy most of my books from Amazon.co.uk cause I buy a whole bundle at the time and mostly they are cheaper that buying them here in Sweden. But you on a lark I ventured into Akademibokhandeln yesterday and what did I find? Ken Follets latest "Fall of Giants" all 850 pages of glorious read. I think he is a great writer and has enjoyed Pillars of the Earth and  World without End extremely much.

Needless to say - I am sooooo happy that my brain finally has come around to it's usual bookaholic self after years of concentration problems:-D