Jack!

Big, big finish last week! Jack and I kissed and made up and I got quilting.

I am beyond thrilled with the way that this project turned out. It is hard to tell from this picture but this is a big mamajamma quilt. I wasn't sure what to do for the quilting. I wanted something that would work with the angles in the blocks but that wouldn't be too fiddly to work on. I decided to quilt in diamonds and I love the way it worked out. I moved the couch and coffee table to tape out the lines and after the taping was done it was surprisingly fast to do.

I used a plain Kona Coal grey for the back but laid in a row of blocks for interest. I loved this fabric but it made me crazy at the same time. It is the London Underground map, however it isn't accurate! 

The designers chose to make the map repeats flow together instead of have a clear definition so they have extended lines and moved stations. I am a little too purist for that so there was a lot of fussy cutting that happened to make it as close as possible to the authentic map.

The above photo makes me believe that my photography skills are improving too. Although even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.

Jack is now happily living on my Mum and Dad's spare bed, a thank you present for everything they do for John and me on a regular basis.

Finished projects and a win!

I have been working on several projects simultaneously, not my usual way of working, but it has been interesting. During my tantrum break from my Jack quilt I finished up a couple of other projects.

The first is my "Apples for Isia" quilt. I have been gathering pieces of Aneela Hoey's "Little Apples" line for months. I haven't had a clear plan for them, I just knew that they needed to come home with me. The problem with that was that they were just too sweet to leave in the closet. I felt guilty about the fact that I was the only one who could love on them and knew they needed a real home. A full post is coming later with pictures of where they ended up.

The next was a neat little project. I had been commissioned to make a little dress for a friend's little girl. I found a wonderful tutorial for a shirred twirly dress at From an Igloo's blog and decided this would be a perfect dress for Sydney.

I used some beautiful "Queen Street" fabric that I had and bought some pink for the ribbon and trim. She could not look sweeter in it and was so excited to put it on that as soon as she saw it she began taking off her clothes to change! 

Check out the tutorial here: http://fromanigloo.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-garden-shirred-twirly-dress.html

Also - the big news this week was that I won a bundle of Bella from the French Seam!!!! I picked it up on Wednesday before I went and got two cavities filled (good job I went to the store first - I was totally numb and drooling after). Look at the pretties!

I already have a plan for it. Of course.