Improv Sewing Machine Cover

I've had a sewing machine cover in the works for a long time. As in nearly three years.

I started this project, intending to make it into my sewing machine cover, but it ended up wanting to be a mini quilt and who am I to argue?

Fast forward a year and a half, and I still hadn't done anything about my poor nekkid machine. Enter Krista's scrap destash. I bought a large ziplock stuffed to the gills with fabulous grey fabrics including linen, Kona, denim and chambray. Truly delightful.

I also bought a scrap pack of Wonderland because I have an inexplicable addiction to that fabric line even though it apparently causes me to lose all reading comprehension skills. Lovely Krista listed and accurately described the Wonderland scrap pack but somehow I read that it included some Echino scraps. As I was paying for my purchase on Etsy, I nerded out about the Echino scraps in the comments box, gushing about my luck in finding a scrap pack that included both.

Being the excellent Etsy shop owner that she is, Krista gently and kindly managed the idiot customer's (me) expectations and clarified that the scrap pack didn't, in fact, include Echino.

However, being the excellent person that she is, Krista included a few bits of Echino in the package, including a fantabulous selvage piece that formed the basis of the whole project. Thank you, Krista!!!

Are you still there? Not bored to death yet? Great! Photos ahoy!

This project is entirely improvisationally pieced, and I had a blast making it. So relaxing and low-pressure. The back was constructed the same way.

The whole thing was quilted with 50wt Aurifil in a variegated purple thread (colour 3840). The binding was courtesy of another Krista, who just happened to have it with her at the Loon Lake retreat. The shot cottons matched the Echino scraps perfectly - I couldn't imagine a more perfect finish for this quilt! It measures about 19" x 30" and I added some purple cotton twill for ties on either side.

I drape the cover over Bernie and it makes me happy every time I see it. I'm linking this project up with Sew Modern Monday, Manic Monday and Fabric Tuesday (buttons all on my sidebar).

Blogathon Canada 2012

Greetings! I'm delighted to help kick off Blogathon Canada, organized and sponsored by Sew Sisters Quilt Shop a wonderful business run by my high school BFF Judy and her sister Karen. Blogathon Canada is a week-long online party celebrating Canadian quilting bloggers, and I'm honoured to be one of the stops along the way.

I'm Felicity. I've been quilting for over 10 years but when I discovered the online quilting community, I truly felt like I'd found myself as a quilter and it kicked my passion into high gear. I started blogging in January 2010, and it has literally opened up a whole new world of friends and inspiration. This mini quilt is my first "modern" quilt and I haven't looked back.

Here are a few of my other "makes"

"Rainbow Sampler"

"In a (Solid) Pickle"

"Helen Keller Wisdom"

"Sea Glass on Sand"

When I stumbled onto the online quilting community, I had no idea that incredible inspiration and friendships lay ahead of me. I started following a few blogs, then followed links to other blogs and next thing I knew, I had joined the VMQG, and became close friends with many fellow quilters whom I never would have met were it not for the internet. So check out the links to lots of BC quilt bloggers at the end of this post, and their links and so on and be inspired! Be sure to stop by Cathy's too - she's the other Blogathon Blogger for today. The Blogathon button at the top of this post and on my sidebar has the list of all of the Blogathon bloggers for the week - check 'em out!

Before you go, though, would you like to win a little something? I thought so! I chose this cute little combo from Sew Sisters' fabulous offerings. A metre of some fabulous Keep Calm fabric from Timeless Treasures plus 4 coordinating solid FQs will go to one lucky reader.

As usual, I've kept the entry process simple. Just leave a comment. One per reader, please. The giveaway is open to International readers, and please please please make sure that I can easily get your email address if the Random Number Generator chooses your number.

Giveaway will be open though the Blogathon. I'll close it off on November 24th at around 9:00 pm Pacific and announce the winner soon thereafter. Good luck!

Check out these BC Quilt Bloggers!
Silver Thimble Quilting

Holly's Red Bike

Stacey in Stitches

Poppyrint

The Zodiac Quilter

Hilltop House Creative Works

Adventures in Life

Art by Rhoda Forbes 

Artisania

glitter, vinyl and thread

Happy Sew Lucky

Momiji Studio

Patchwork Pottery

Paul's Block Party

What Comes Next?

Red Spotted Patch

If I missed you, I apologize! Please add your blog in the comments.

What I've Been Up To (Hint: Not Much)

Unless you count coughing, blowing my nose and not sleeping, I haven't done much this weekend. I detest being sick and this is the second cold I've had in as many months. Child in preschool (aka germ petri dish) + two daily trips on public transportation (aka another germ petri dish) have conspired against me.

I did get a wee bit of sewing done last night before I coughed my head off all night long:

The Fresh Air HSTs are assembled into 4 placemats! And they're quilted! Yay! Just need to bind these babies and we'll be all set. That is indeed black batting that you see - Hobbs makes a black batting which I love for darker-coloured fabrics.

And I got the confetti/sewing machine cover pieced too:

I had to unpick a couple puckery seams, and they're not sewn up again but it's done. Putting it together was like a fun puzzle, putting bits here and there so that it all fit in something of a regular shape. It's about 20"x18".

So I have a dilemma - I was planning just to drape this over the machine and add a couple ties to each side to make it into a sewing machine cover. But it's too small as-is to cover my machine. Should I add some borders in the white fabric and continue with the plan, or keep this as-is as a stand-alone wall hanging and make a different cover that actually fits?

Decisions, decisions.

You'll have lots of time to ponder that question, because I'm taking a break while I a) recover from this cold and b) participate in a week-long intensive training course for work (there's even homework!!). See you soon!

WIP Wednesday

Here we are at WiP Wednesday again!

This project is an oldie but a goodie - the Sewing Machine Cover! I last worked on this last Fall. Yikes! Time flies!

Here's how it's coming along. I'm really happy with it so far - my first attempt at free/improv piecing and I like it!

Other stuff I have on the go:

Nametag challenge for VMQG. Here's what I've done so far. Gotta get moving - tomorrow is the meeting!

That Girl quilt along: no progress.
New Wave quilt: ditto.
Placemats: whole lotta nuthin'.

I didn't get much done at all except bee blocks this week, actually. Here's the other one:


Go see what everyone else is up to at Lee's!

WIP - Sewing Machine Cover

I've been needing a cover for my sewing machine forever, and it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. So I had a look-see at my Tutorials I Want To Try list over there on the right hand side and lo and behold: The Confetti Quilt. I had saved my shards from the Modify Tradition mini-quilt I made with AMH Bohemian, intending to use them for a Confetti Quilt. Serendipity! Here's my progress so far:

I'm excited to see this coming together!