End of Tetris QAL

All the blocks for this quilt have now been made and I have stitched them together to make the top. A reminder of the process before I show you the completed top.

Week 1

was stitched to week 2 

Then week 3 and 4 were stitched together

 Week 4

Week 3 and 4 were stitched above week 1 and 2

Finally weeks 5 and 6 were stitched together and added to the top

week 6

I wanted a square quilt when it was finished so I made 3 more tetris blocks and added them to the right hand side.

Finally I added a narrow white and then black border. The finished top looks amazing. I wasn't sure it would all work as I hadn't put the blocks together before they were all finished. Each week I had just cut the colours I needed from fabric I hadn't used before.

I already have the backing and the wadding (batting) so this week I will finish the quilt including the binding. 

Thank you Melissa from Happy Quilting for running this quilt along. It has been fun and is the first time I have taken part in a quilt along. To make it even more perfect I won the give away for the week 6 block. Yipee. So really good as I have made a very pretty quilt and won a lovely jelly roll and had the fun of visiting other people's blogs and Flickr photos to see what they have made. I will definitely join in another quilt along in the future.

Tetris QAL week 6

The final block of the tetris QAL run by Melissa over at Happy quilting. For once I have completed this quickly. Every other week I have completed my block just before the next weeks pieces come out. It's been fun to do and it has used up some of the scraps (but not many.)

Next the borders and the finishing and then this quilt will go to Project Linus. In our area many of the Linus quilts are going to a women's refuge. The quilts are greatly appreciated as the women and their children, for a variety of reasons end of having to leave their home and all their belongings.

I will be showing the completed quilt very soon.

Tetris Block QAL week 5

I am taking part in a tetris block quilt along over at Happy Quilting. The button for the quilt along is on the right of the blog. I have been rather slow at getting this weeks block sorted out. I only looked at the pieces this morning but I've managed to get week 5 completed.

The final block is this week. The blocks look really good together and will make a great Linus quilt.

I will be posting some more pictures of the quilts on display at the Festival of Quilts 2012 at the NEC Birmingham UK later this evening. 

Tetris block 4

Melissa over at Happy Quilting is running a Tetris quilt along. It involves making a block a week for 6 weeks based on the Tetris pieces that Melissa gives for that week. It is fun fitting the pieces into the grid and then sewing them up. Here is my finished block for week 4.

The green at the top of the block has cows and sheep on it. All but the white and the yellow are fabrics that have been used in my grandmother's garden quilt that I am making using the English Paper piecing method. Which reminds me that I need to spend some time on that project again as I am falling behind.

Only two more weeks to go on this Tetris quilt along. I wonder what the pieces will be this week.

Tetris block 3 and a finish

Well with all the excitement of the Olympics not much sewing got done this weekend. I thought I could sew and watch but the sport this weekend proved just too exciting. Anyway I finally made the Tetris week 3 block. The colours are rather pale and only the sunflowers and the orange have any zing but it was all I could find without rummaging through cupboards. Again I fitted the pieces in the grid in the order they appeared in Melissa's list. Use the button on the right to go to Happy quilting and see what is happening.

The finish wasn't all my work. Lucy finished the quilt she had been making for her boyfriend. I helped her do the quilting and the binding. It has helped clear space for the next project.

Lucy is pleased with her first large quilt. Originally she was just going to quilt the nine patch in the ditch but in the end she quilted across the sashing as well and was very pleased with the result. It meant the quilting was much quicker to do and a lot less ends to bury. Better still Steve was pleased with his present. The backing has lots of elephants all over it.

I now need to get going on my little quilt swap and finish a couple of other projects. Unfortunately however it will have to wait until I have caught up with the ironing and house work.

Tetris block 2 and a finish

Yesterday I found time to complete the second block for the Tetris QAL. Use the button on the right to take you to Melissa's site to see the completed blocks so far or to join in the fun. Here is my second block.

I managed to find a different selection of fabrics to block 1 in my scraps pile to make the 3inch blocks. I managed this arrangement at the first attempt going down the list of playing pieces given and placing them as I would in a game. 

If I put the two blocks together I can make two complete rows, that is a row with no white squares. Can't wait until the next selection of pieces are released.

I also completed this months baby quilt for Linus. This used some left over fabric from our Guide project so I only had to buy the wadding. Next months Linus quilt will use the Tetris blocks.

The colours are not showing up right due to the lighting, the border is in fact a pale lavender colour and the binding and 'blue' in the quilt is purple. 

Pets on Quilts starts tomorrow and I have been searching through my photos of Scamp and Picasso 'helping' with my quilts. Scamp loves to have his photo taken and even tried to get into picture above.

Sunshine, Olympics and stitching

I have really been enjoying the sunshine and started the garden tidy up since the weeds have grown huge as a result of all the rain. It also enjoyable to walking Scamp without getting soaked.


I haven't seen much of the Olympics so far but I did catch most of the opening ceremony which I enjoyed and the men's cycle race yesterday. Neither of these were good for sewing to as they needed to be watched but I got quite a bit of knitting done.


Yesterday I decided to make a straight skirt for the summer. I have had the material for a long time and just hadn't got round to using it. It is Laura Ashley and was bought as a remnant.

The skirt has a side zip and a slit at the hem on the left side. The back has two waist darts but the front doesn't. Really quick and easy to make. I must get someone to take a photo of the things I make being worn. 


Lily Pad Quilting is gearing up to Pets on Quilts which runs during August. Click the button on the right to follow the link and find out what it is all about. They ran a test 'linky' party to make sure the links will work for the event. Whilst having a look at the links I came across Happy Quilting where Melissa is running a Tetris Quilt along. As I love the game I decided to take part. Follow the link to find out more. Here is my block for week 1

The blocks should be 5inch squares but I am using 3inch. The quilt along makes 6 blocks and the finished size was too large for what I wanted. My quilt will be 30 X 45 inches without the borders. This will be my Linus quilt for August. I now need to make my week 2 block as I am behind having started late.


Finally got round to getting started with free motion quilting. When I was last doing quilting over 20 years ago I did it all by hand. The machine really speeds the process up but I was wary of trying this technique because I had been told how difficult it is to control the machine when you first start. This is my very first try.

I started with just getting used to the machine without the feed dogs and then tried doing a leaf. I was not too unhappy with this start and have already progressed on with the technique. I will post next week to show my progress.

I have finalised my design for the little quilt swap I am taking part in, the fabric has been bought and later this week I will be starting work on it. However before then I have a quilt to bind and one to quilt and bind.