This flaunt is the reason for the Very Important Quilt I mentioned last week, in case you haven't worked it out. We are going to be grandparents for the very first time, late July/early August, courtesy of our DD and DSIL! Here is the very first indication that Bubs was on the way:
Yesterday was the first ultrasound which was at 13 weeks and yes, it's definitely a baby! I am quite surprised that such a tiny being who is just 6 cm from crown to rump can be seen this clearly. We are all very excited at the news (needless to say) and so is Jenna who will be big half-sister to Bubs (what do we call him or her at this stage??).
Went out shopping this morning and bought the beginnings of Baby's 'glory box' (some washers and burp cloths) as well as looking at prams and strollers. I had not looked at such items very closely for years and wow, how they've changed! Lots of sewing and knitting ahead for me this winter - can't wait. Actually, I couldn't wait and already am well on the way to having a little jumper made. The parents intend to find out the baby's gender later which I am happy about because then I can get into some colours!
All very exciting (have I said that yet?) for this first-time grandmother-to-be.
Daphne (not on my usual computer so don't have my signature handy)
As I said, it's been a long break and even then I couldn't have this posted for yesterday - very slack. Anyway, here's what I've been up to in the last week. I found an interesting but simple design called Continuous Steps on Quilting About which kind of appealed and what was more, I could try it out with my Japanese prints (the colourful kind, that is) before perhaps using the design to make a VIQ (Very Important Quilt) soon. More about that in the weeks to come. It will need a couple of borders to make it a useful size though.
I am happy enough with it and you might notice I've tried a bit of colourwash technique with it. However, if I make the VIQ in this design I think I will organise the fabrics differently.
BTW, Oscar (my dear old 15 years old ginger boy) even approves. I found him quite settled on it in the dark one night where I had it laid out on the floor in my sewing room! He left some of his personal embellishments on it which, sad to say, I had to brush off it next day.
Now for a MINI-TUTORIAL: Last week I watched Jinny Beyer on a free video from Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims and saw the simplest idea for getting seams to meet exactly. If yours already meet exactly then you don't have to read this but this is for the benefit of those like me who battle to get seams meeting properly. I tried it and it works beautifully!
First, with seams pointing in opposite directions, butt the seams together and place a pin 1/16" each side of the vertical seam. You can check how the seams will look by opening out the two pieces. If they don't meet, then try again!
Now stitch right up to the first pin, holding it at right angles to the stitching. Remove the pin and do a couple more stitches and then remove the second pin. Continue stitching.
Voila!! The seams meet and there is no frustrating frogging (unpicking). BTW, in case you are wondering why there are different fabrics in the pics, the last two turned out fuzzy and I had to do new ones!
Let me know whether this has helped you. I've been doing PW for years and tried a number of different ways of getting the seams meeting. Very simple but it was a lightbulb moment for me. Maybe I'm just simple ;-).
