I've been in a bit of a funk, sun frazzling the brain and stuff. So in an attempt to get me out of it I made a little list of things I've wanted to do (not things I have to/ should do...;-)). I decided to knock a couple of them off the list.
One of the things on the list was to learn a bit more about patchwork and quilting and try out some new (to me) techniques and patterns. I've been itching to make another quilt since my first attempt last summer. I wanted to try out some 'traditional' patterns. So, looking around, I fell in love with Jodie's pattern for a pinwheel baby quilt, when I saw it on the 'Two dogs and a Quilt' blog (link on the right) available for free in the Moda Bakeshop. After ordering the fabrics I need, I realised that this was the same quilt that Georgia had made so beautifully and I had admired on flickr. So it was meant to be. :-). I'm also treating myself to a rotary cutter, which should help to improve my cutting when it arrives. Now I have a ruler and a mat (I didn't last year), it didn't seem like such a big purchase.
In the mean time, I started this project yesterday. I've wanted to make a log cabin something ever since my beloved Uncle Michael gave be a needlecraft book for my 12th or 13th birthday and I loved the designs. He is the only person who has ever bought me craft books. He always took great care to notice what I was interested in at the time and then went and found me a book about it for my birthday. I also googled, of course, and decided to have a go at foundation piecing for the first time, following the great instructions provided here - and it's addictive!
I want to get better, I drew sewing lines on each and every strip to try and make my piecing more accurate, but I still need to work on this. I think that having a rotary cutter will help me to cut more exactly, and trim the finished blocks better, and then it's just practise and care I guess.
I made four blocks last night (I started with a 2" square and used 3 cm strips (mixing up the measurement systems there, comes from being young enough to have only learnt metric at school and old enough to have parents that only used inches...) And 3 cm is the width of my ruler, making cutting easier..... I'm going to make them up into a cushion cover for a dear friend, who always writes the right things, when I need to read them.
And links! Thanks to Stripey Cat for her very clear explanation on how to do it.
And um, does this post win a prize for greatest number of brackets used in one post? Eek.
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