Baby jungle quilt finished

Scandinavian yoke sweater

Completed my sweater tonight 

Here it is befor I block the sweater

I have cold wet blocked it and it's now drying

The pattern is from here 

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=5320&lang=us#pattern_content

Free motion quilting on my own machine

Yes

I managed to finish my first quilt quilted on my own seeing machine, my new Janome QC 6260.

I used a variegated thread.

I still need to get my sticking more even, but not bad.

It's for my daughters friend and my daughter is over the moon.

First I did in the ditch around border and the pin wheels. 

Then a 5 point star in each square

And then the border where I had fun with stars.

Prep for machine quilting

First I lay out the backing make sure it's straight.

Then I use 505 to baste and add the batting

I lay out the batting then cut roughly to fit with backing and then turn up half way 

Baste with 505 and make sure it's smooths wen I add the one half of batting

Then I turn to the other half, baste with 595 and again make sure it's smooth

Then I repeat with top making sure it is centred on batting/batting

Minky corners

I got hold of this lovely minky animal print fabric to use for corner appliqués 

Tiger, Zebra, Leopard and Giraffe 

First I tested sewing the applique in minky 

After 4 or 5 little samples I started getting the hang of it.

My Janome 6260

So I purchased a new machine, my old Janome excel 4123 has served me well for 15 years, but lacked a few things. I wanted a larger area and needle down for fmq.

I love it already 

Jungle quilt - layout

After all half blocks were made 

I layed them out on the floor to come up with a design, I decided to make use of the colour difference between the3 different types of fabric so that thegreens surrounded the Browns.

I had 15 of one green, 14 of the other green and 14 Browns.

You can really play with the options here, I also needed to come up with an appropriate shape.

I came up with the above shape with the idea that each corner will be a block colour with appliqué animal.

Jungle Baby Quilt

When designing a stack and whack ® quilt its good to try all three options for each block as they can be very different 

Baby bunny quilt

Completed top for baby bunny quilt.

The base designed with double pin wheel blocks 

6x6 inch blocks

13  4.5"x4.5" bunny fabrics which are cut into 4 quarters each as shown here

13  4.5"x4.5" squares inyellow spotted fabric also cut into 4 triangles each 

26 4 1/8" x 4 1/8" blue squares then cut into 2 triangles 

As the bunny fabric is directional I divided the triangles into the four different directional triangles, they then have to be stitched together with the yellow triangles - from sketch you can see what side they have to be pierced.

When all have been pieced then add the blue triangle to create a square

Then trim the squares to exactly 3 ½ x3 ½"

Use the ruler to make sure midpoint is exactly 1 3/4 

When all are trimmed then piece four squares together to create one pinwhee, remember the directional bunnies so one from each pile.

Now cut 12   6½ x 6½" bunny squares

And piece the blocks together watch out for directions of the bunny.

Two bunnies are cut and hand appliquéd on

I used this template, transferred to freeze paper and cut out and ironed onto the fabric on wrong side cut with a generous seam allowance for turning and hand appliquéd. If machine appliqué cut without seam allowance.

Heart wall hanging

I made this wall hanging from the pattern here

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/stack-of-hearts-wall-hanging/44508

I was looking for a pattern suitable to celebrate a wedding for a close friend 

I altered the pattern a bit using hand appliqué turning over and quilting inside the hearts.

Hand appliquéd hearts

Quilting in the ditch and then made lines around the borders at 5/8 inch distances

Keeping the lines centred in the hearts made it just that bit better

Had this little sheep button which I lived to use

Tshirt quilt assembly

I could now start assembling the blocks, as I had a design which many different sizes square I first had a good look to see where I had discrete blocks which could be completed.

I ended with one area where I needed to be a bit creative when sewing.

As there was no straight line.

Tshirt quilt - cutting blocks

Using the planned layout I started cutting the blocks - do remember to cut with seam allowance, I was recommended to use ½ inch so this meant adding 1 inch to each block.

I would cut a piece of heat bond a slightly larger than the desired block and then place this on the reverse, with most tshirts I could see the logo through and could centre the stabilise 

I would then turn the tshirt with right sight facing me and using a large square ruler centre the design

Double check and double check therasires as when you have cut the blocks they are cut.

Final layout to see balance