For any new readers I am going to start with a little about me, which I admit to copying and pasting from my about section. Those few sentences took me ages to write the first time round ;-)
I am Kelly, 35 years old and married to the man who I have been with
since I was 17. We have a 3 year old kidlet. My day job is in a large
teaching Hospital in London, where I am a
Transfusion Specialist. I went up in the world, before blood I was a
poo tester!
 |
| Me! |
Beth gave us hoppers a few questions to answer:
- How long have you been quilting? - I only learnt to sew 3 years ago and then got hooked on quilting after taking a six week starter course at my LQS.
- Favourite quilting tip(s) - Chug a glass or two of wine while you are FMQ, guaranteed to get those shoulders relaxed ;-)
 |
| Mouthy stitches swap - zipper pouches |
- Favourite blogging tip(s) -Turn the word verification off.
- Favourite fabric (or wish list fabric) - I am a total fabric tart, but at the minute I am loving Summersville.
 |
| Freebird quilt - made in March 2011 |
- Favourite craft book -The Practical guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman.
- Favourite quilting tool -Walking foot closely followed by the seam ripper.
 |
| Brit quilt swap - Mini quilt |
- Favourite music to listen to while quilting -Glee soundtracks (Stop laughing!!)
- Binding - by hand or by machine? -Machine stitched to the front and then given to my sewing buddy to hand stitch to the back.
 |
| Sewing machine cover |
So as I am obsessed with rainbows and Geese, I decided to photograph my progress whilst making the mini Flying Geese pin cushion that now lives with Emily.
The making of a Flying geese circle mini:
- The Geese template can be found here and the tutorial where I learnt how to piece the geese circle can be found here.
- The original block size is 6.5" unfinished, so I scaled the template to 33% on my printer to get a 2.5" unfinished block. Don't forget to add the 1/4" seam allowance back on after shrinking.
 |
| The making of a mini! |
- I reduce my stitch length down to 1.4 to make it easier to remove the paper once the block is pieced.
- Paper piecing wastes a lot of fabric and I tend to be over generous with my cuts because it annoys me more when I realise that I haven't quite covered the area.
- I leave the paper on until the whole circle is pieced. I get less shifting this way and my points are less likely to have been chopped off.
- Iron all seams flat to reduce the bulk where all the layers meet in the middle. The backs of my paper pieced blocks are never pretty!!
- I added a 1/2" borders to the geese circle, backed with fusible fleece and then hand stitched with the only stitch I know - running stitch!!
- I fussy cut a 5" square and with right sides together sewed a 1/4" seam leaving a gap for turning. Then I stuffed and hand stitched the opening closed.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today and please visit the other bloggers hopping this week:
June 12
Yzo from Chez Roo
June 14
You are so funny! Great post Kelly.
ReplyDeleteGlee? Hehehehehehehehehehehe!
ReplyDelete(I totally get it, I'm just taking the piss!)
You are going to be famous for those geese and rainbow colours!! Great job Kelly :)
ReplyDeleteHow fun to get to know you better!! I loved seeing all your fabulous work. Your teeny weeny geese circle pincushion is awesome!!
ReplyDeleteNice to learn a bit more about you!
ReplyDeleteNice to get to know you! Your tutorial project looks lovely, but paper piecing confuses me. I love you rsewing mchine cover, too!
ReplyDeleteEverything you make is so cute! I love the pincushions - maybe this project will finally get me to try paper piecing? I keep writing that but I still have yet to try - maybe because my printer only works half the time. Loved your post - great to learn more about you - I didn't know about your day job. Oh, and I won't laugh - We listen to Glee a lot over here as well.
ReplyDeleteLove the pincushions! I have paper pieced the flying geese pattern as a small wall quilt. Lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteYour pincushions are awesome! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI adore this pincushion and I am so going to make it now. No shame on the Glee, it is totally one of my hand-sewing shows! I will definitely be using your wine tip (though it might just make me fall asleep at the sewing machine :D)!
ReplyDeleteYou know how much I love those flying geese of yours. I will definitely be giving this a try soon - maybe a bit bigger on my first attempt than these diddy mummas though!
ReplyDeletexxxx
I do love those mini geese! That is the only problem with this blog hop - my to do list is growing out of control!
ReplyDeleteJust want to let the blogging world know that you are one of my faves!! And .....well.......your blogging tip just confirms my feelings!!
ReplyDeletegreat tutorial - thank YOU!
ReplyDeleteFun post! Thanks for sharing your tutorial for such a fun little project! I really need to try that sometime!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kelly, so nice to meet you! Love your projects, you have a great eye for color!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog---each and every post.
ReplyDeleteMini geese! Too cute.
ReplyDeleteNice, Kelly! I'll never tire of your rainbow geese!
ReplyDeleteHaven't tried the wine tip before. Maybe thats exactly what I need to help my quilting :)
ReplyDeleteMy most successful sewing project was completed after a few glasses of pink fizzy - I thought it was a fluke butI might have to follow your advice and repeat!
ReplyDeleteGreat pincushion :-)
Great to meet you, Kelly! Love that little pincushion...gorgeous! I have to try making one myself now...
ReplyDeleteOh my that pin cushion with those teeny tiny little gees circle
ReplyDeleteLove your post, Kelly. I can tell we'd get along great if we ever met :) We share a love for the pre-sewing glass of wine, our favorite book is Practical Guide to Patchwork, we're both fabric tarts... it's a match.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your mini quilt for the swap is FANTASTIC. I'm working on a spiderweb quilt as we speak.
Hi There Kelly, lovely to meet you and your work is amazing. So bright and colourful. Great tutorial too :-)
ReplyDeleteLove your mini flying geese - love my mini magnets!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my pincushion, thanks awesome lady! Great to know you a bit better too :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Kelly! Nice to meet you on this hop. I also love your mini flying geese!!
ReplyDeleteAmanda
I salute you for your choice of introductory photo of yourself. :) That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog for a few weeks now and have definitely enjoyed it! It was fun to see you pop up on the hop today!
Thanks for the tips on the mini-flying geese. I love how your pincushion turned out and it's nice to meet you too!
ReplyDeleteYour mini geese are too adorable! I am jealous of your trip to Malta - I went there when I was a kid, it would be so fun to go back!
ReplyDeleteLoving the rainbows and paper piecing! Great showcase of projects!
ReplyDeleteThose tiny flying geese are wonderful! I am a bit of a Gleek also, as well as a fellow science nerd who also moved up from poo:)
ReplyDeleteYour Brit Mini is so awesome! So excited to meet you! I have just ventured in to the paper piecing world so for I love it!
ReplyDeleteLove the tiny flying geese! I've been trying paper piecing the last of days and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Thanks for sharing and so nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteVicki @ Quilting Lodge
First off, I totally listen to Glee soundtracks while quilting!! I feel like a kindred spirit already! I also adore the circle of geese block having recently made one but seriously, a mini! I can't imagine! Maybe it wouldn't be any more difficult, the other one certainly wasn't THAT hard, but I've always been intimidated by the small size.
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to comment on this. I exclusively listen to the glee soundtrack. I was going to say I exclusively listen to it whilst sewing but the truth is, I basically can't be bothered to find new music so I listen to glee virtually all the time. I love it. LOVE. And I'm NOT ashamed!
ReplyDeleteI apologize for not commenting soon. I opened up greader to over a 100 quilt related posts. Gawk! I love your mini geese and I am so impressed by your skill. Thanks for the tips, I need to attempt paper piecing again...in a long long time after I forget the first attempt. And I also enjoyed your honesty in your answers :)
ReplyDeleteOOoh I love your blog! :) Very pretty header. I really need to try the trick with drinking before FMQ - sounds like it would make it even more fun, hehe.
ReplyDeleteOh you did make me laugh - were you really a poo tester?? Thanks for sharing, your blog is lovely and I shall visit often. I have been wanting to make the flying geese circle quilt so thanks for the tips - a mini is a good way to try something new.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, love the wine shot, I agree, everything is better with three glasses of wine.
ReplyDeleteHello Kelly I have just blog hopped here and I'm glad I did! I remember your super funky bag from the FQ Retreat with the Melody Miller fabric and I love it so much that yesterday I bought some of the pale viewfinder fabric to make an Amy Butler bag pattern that I have been looking for the right fabric to make it out of, so thank you!! There were so many people at the Retreat that I only got to talk to a fractio of them, but I hope there is another next year so maybe I will meet you next time!
ReplyDeleteOh lovely....I have an idea already. Great to meet you and know how you feel about Summerville. Check out Lucie's Etsy store (Summerville) too. great stuff there!
ReplyDeleteNice paper piecing idea. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm your Aussie twin! I met my man at 17 too, and we're celebrating our 14th year together soon (come on, do the math, lol!)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of scaling down the blocks!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I met when I was 15 and started dating when I was 18.. we've been together for 12.5 years now and we have a 4 & 6 year old - not quite another Aussie twin, but close enough!
Fantastic, your post is full of our English humour that I miss so much now I live in the States. Love the pincushion too! I've very recently started paper piecing and this looks so tiny but I'd like to give it a go. Great to meet you even if I am a little late joining and getting up to date with the blog hop, ChrissieD :)
ReplyDelete