Thursday 23 June 2011

Being a joiner-inner, but not joining crochet squares yet

I've got so much to tell you!  Nothing exciting, just blog life!  First of all, remember my Rule Britannia cushion?  A friend asked if she could buy one from me, wahoo!

OK, on to the joining in that I've been doing.  I signed up for the We Can Do It! Sampler over at Sewn.


The first week's block was a log cabin.  It had to be easier than the half square triangles I've been attempting?  (Thanks ladies for your lovely helpful hints about HSTs, I didn't realise it was so fraught with difficulties and just went blundering in as usual).  Now, I'm not making a quilt from these blocks, I just can't justify the expense in fabric and don't have enough coordinating fabrics, so I'm using fabric from my stash and making... stuff!  Any suggestions would be greatly received.

I started out by laying out some fabrics, I chose a cute little bunny for the middle and worked around that, trying to do the light and dark values as suggested.

Here's my fabrics:



There are a couple of bits of charm square in there, and a piece of layer cake and some scraps and some parts of fat quarters.

Now, we were supposed to be focusing on seam allowance.  I duly measured my first two strips and they all lined up and were the correct size.  Then I got complacent.  And ended up with this:



Clearly it's a wonky log cabin block, on purpose of course!  I really don't know what went wrong but when I measured it at the end it range from 11 inches to 12 inches!  Some trimming later and the addition of a border...



Ta da! It's a cushion!  The fabric round the edges and on the back is actually a tea towel, bought 5 for £3.50 (varying styles) from Asda.  Bargain.



I look forward to next week's challenge.  If you're new to quilting, or just fancy giving it a go without any huge pressure, come and join in.

That's not the only joining in I'm doing.  I've also signed up for
Amy's Creative Side
Over at Amy's Creative Side.  I'm planning on trying to finish my elephant ballerina cross stitch.  I'm not sure how likely that is as I've only got until Monday!

And finally, I've been a fan of 52 Crafts in 52 Weeks since I discovered it last year.  She's now completed her challenge and is inviting us to join in for the next 52 years.  You can do either a challenge a week, or a challenge a month, or just dip in and out as you like.  It starts on July 1st with printing.

But you know what I haven't been joining?  These crochet squares.



They're destined to be a cushion... I'm planning on sashing in white but have no idea how you crochet sashing so that should be interesting!




11 comments:

Tracey said...

Wow, just love your crochet squares and the bright colours, Its a good idea to use things like tea towels as fabric , great stitching, x x

BubzRugz said...

You're going great.. wonderful that someone wants you to make a cushion for them... the greatest compliment!! I'm no expert but I think you just needed another pair of strips on the other side.... this is a nice site for guidance on a lot of blocks....
http://www.quilterscache.com/BlocksbySizeC.html
and I have picked up a couple of easy ways to do HST - I made pinwheels - links in my side bar "How To" .....
Hugz

Sarah said...

I think I'm going to have to check out the links, joining in 52 crafts over 52 weeks sounds fantastic. Even if it's only some of them! Thanks for sharing

Leila said...

Great job fixing it and making it into a cushion! This is the perfect project to use scraps on - and the bunny in the middle is perfect.

Sandra :) said...

I don't stitch particularly accurately, so I paper piece (stitching on a printed line = perfect accuracy!) or I cut the fabric pieces larger, stitch, then trim down to size ... or my personal favourite - WONKYBLOCKS :) I'll take a picture later on tonight of the wonky log cabin blocks I made for a toddler quilt - there's no stress when you make the block a bit larger than you need, then just cut it to the right size, hehe. I don't have a life goal to stitch The Perfect 1/4" Seam - I do things my own way and usually manage just fine :)

Nancy Lee said...

You know over here there is huge debate raging over the need for perfect accuracy in quilting. Some people on side with the 'perfect', while others are fans of the 'naive'.
Me, I says do what makes you happy. There isn't any such organization as the crafts police (whew!). I love that block. Brava on the cushion -- and what a score on the backing fabric!

Sandra said...

Lovely cushion! The bunny square is so cute!

Nice to hear you sold a Rule Britannia cushion :) It feels great to be asked to make something we did, I'm now in the middle of crocheting another lacy short poncho like mine. Makes me feel proud someone's wearing something I did, so congrats to you too!

Love the crocheted squares, hope to see the finished piece soon.

BTW thanks for the comments on my blog.

Allie said...

I LOVE YOUR SPIRIT - you're not afraid to try anything, and you keep landing on your feet! That cushion is just gorgeous. And congratulations on selling a cushion, excellent!

Nicky said...

Great little cushion Wendy, such a sweetie. Your crochet square colours are awesome! Love those brights. Have a super weekend!

Threeundertwo said...

The log cabin cushion turned out great! I bet if you look online you can find some sort of tutorial for joining crochet squares. Try youtube. I think when I've done it in the past I just used a big old tapestry needle and matching yarn. I like your idea of white sashing much better.

Erin of HomeSavvyAtoZ.com said...

I have talked and talked about quilting and have it on my "to do list." I enjoyed your post and your cushion turned out great! I would love for you to link your post up at my Savvy HomeMade Monday link party at http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/blog-party-9/

I am a new follower!