What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Half of the year is gone and what a time it has been.... When I posted my Q2 FAL list, we had just started the lockdown, not knowing how long this was going to last. The lockdown is (slowly?) being lifted here and the new normal being established. In the meantime, I have also been told that I will lose my job in the next couple of weeks so of course I have been very busy looking for another one. All in all, although we have spent so much more time at home where I could probably have sewn a ...

During my quilting marathon last month, I quilted this "lockdown rainbow" quilt made up from a stash of blocks that had resurfaced after over 10 or 15 years at the bottom of a draw...

When Kelly from True Bias released the Calvin Dress pattern at the end of the summer last year, I bought it straight away. It looked like the perfect sundress I was missing in my wardrobe. The sew-along started even before we were home from our holidays but I joined in as soon as we got back. I had this lovely lightweight floral fabric in my stash that was great for a summer dress.

As soon as Kelly released the Rio Ringer top and dress, I bought the pattern and printed it. It was the perfect candidate for the #sewtogetherforsummer loungewear challenge and looked like a great pattern for a summer nightdress. It is also one of the 2 patterns for May for Sew My Style. I also washed my fabric promptly and then everything sat there because I was working on other projects. I didn't manage to join the sew-along but sometimes delays are a blessing. Kelly presented some hacks on her blog after the sew-along, including a scoop neck version that ...

Why did it take me so long to finally try this pattern, I am not sure.... I bought the Comox Trunk pattern by Thread Theory a while ago. I printed it and assembled it as well but somehow I never went further. Maybe I was put off by the number of pieces required for such a small garment. I knew it would be a great scrap buster too.

Finally! 5 full sets complete, ready to be handed back and distributed to front line workers in my local hospital.

Clouds Factory released a free rainbow pattern "Andra Tutto Bene" in March during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in Italy. I downloaded it and ordered sky blue iridescent Aida fabric and DMC threads from Cross Stitch Workshop to make it promptly. Although it is quite small and easy, it took much longer than I anticipated but it is now finished and I will keep it as a memory of this unusual time we are going through.

My kids seem to be forever growing! I make them PJ, turn my back and it seems that's it, they need new ones because the ones I just seem to have finished (a few months before... admittedly) are just too short. During the Black Friday sales, I spotted this lovely glow-in-the-dark moon and stars jersey on the Fabric Godmother website, that I knew would make perfect PJ for my eldest daughter. I duly ordered 2 meters that have sat in my stash since.

With the current epidemic, every little help and I was humbled to be able to make some wash bags for the hard working front line workers to wash their uniforms in.

I went into deep dive in my stash for some suitable fabric for the first batch of bags I made and managed 12 bags that will go to my local hospital shortly. Those one were threaded with some cord I bought from my local shop via phone. 

My neighbours contributed to my efforts by giving me some of their old beddings to cut off. 

I made 13 more bags ...

During Black Friday sales, I stocked up on a few fun prints from Fabrics Galore to make night dresses. After experimenting with the Lark Tee pattern by Grainline Studio, I settled on an elongated crew neck style. I traced the pattern adding 11' in length and  using size 12 for the bust,  14 for the waist and 16 for the hips.

Of course the garment comes together quickly on the overlocker, it's only 5 pieces after all.

I have used the pattern a dozen of times probably now, so it should have been fast and easy to make one more, surely. I cut a new pair of PJ for my son from the 11th gear pattern by New Horizons Designs, last Thursday and set about to sew it up on Saturday afternoon. 

The only person in the family not to get anything hand-made recently is my son. And he's growing so fast that he could do with new stuff. Although at his age, hand-made is restricted to things other won't see

After my successful first attempt with the pink animal print, I decided to make another night dress, based on exactly the same pattern with a gorgeous organic cotton I had in my stash. I had already used some to make a Blackwood cardigan before but I had plenty left. The only difficulty with this one was to match the stripes. So I took a long time to cut the pieces and I cut them flat to ensure they would all the straight! So the cutting took quite some time.

The first time I made jeans was about 3 years ago when I went to a 3-day course with Charlotte at the Village Haberdashery. I duly bought denim, etc afterwards but never did anything with it. Earlier last year, I offered to my dear husband to make HIM a pair of jeans. He accepted the offer and picked the leftover from my first pair and the Quadra pattern by Thread Theory. The jeans were cut last autumn and he decided on a Star Trek designs for the pockets which I did at the time. 

Late last month I picked up my abandoned passport pieced horse from a pattern by Tartan Kiwi, with the hope to finish it for my daughter's birthday. Well I'm glad to say that having a deadline once more helped to keep me focused. The horse is finished and gifted! Yeah

In November Victory pattern ran a sew-along for their Lola sweater dress. I had all intention to participate and bought and printed the pattern there and then but sadly that's as far as I went. I took the pattern with me during our Christmas holiday but again didn't touch it. Well last weekend I finally cut it away,  read the sew along details and cut my pieces. I had quite a lot of fabric left from my Linden sweater so I used that for my first try, complemented by lovely cuff fabric I ordered especially for a little ...