Monday Makers!#36

Welcome to Monday Makers!#36. Time is definitely flying! I want to thank all the linkers to last week's MM. I had 14 linkers and it is the highest number that my link up received. I am so happy that it is growing nicely. 
Last week, I started making placemats to compliment my scattered colours table runner. I finished piecing them and one is ready to be quilted.

I found some more of the yellow I used in my runner. Since I didn't have the other colours, I chose darker shades (Shade, value? Have to learn them properly) of the green and pink. 
I was more relaxed this time when inserting my colours and happier with their placement in terms of randomness. 
One thing to keep in mind when deciding on the placement of your strips if you are making a bigger project like a runner; too much playing might make you confused and you might end up with a design far from what you like right at the beginning. (You also might regret that you haven't taken a photo of your initial design- I did that!) 
Oh, I have to say that Alex, the author of the book Improvising Tradition which this project is originally in, left a sweet comment to my blog post about my runner and shared the link on her Facebook page- she is also following Hug-a-Bit Quilts on Facebook at the moment! Made my day really!!!

Now, it is time to link up. Show me your projects ladies and gentlemen! 

1.Your project can be anything you start on that Monday as long as it makes you move and be active and creative: a new quilt, a knitting project, scrap booking, cross-stitching, baking-we don't mind yummy recipes!, a gardening project, painting your house!, tidying up the pantry!...This is your Monday and you are the maker of the day!

2. Grab the button from the side bar or put a link back to me in your Monday post.

3. Click on "add your link" and just fill in the required areas. 
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.

5. To link an Instagram photo, click the Instagram icon at the bottom of the link-up screen and use the URL of your IG feed as the link (for example, my URL is http://instagram.com/hugabitquilts) Please hashtag #MondayMakers!
6. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!

7. Share the photos of your finished Monday projects in your next link up- I am hoping you will come back again!: Who doesn't love a sweet, finished project or a "before-after" photo?


Till next time,
Nurdan

An InLinkz Link-up

Lest we forget...

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Letter to Anzac Morthers

Ataturk, 1934

Lest we forget...

Image from Fanpop.com

Monday Makers!#35

Hi all!
Hope you had a wonderful week.
The weather has been horrible here; crazily rainy, stormy windy, ice cold...I envy you who live in the Northern hemisphere. I already miss spring even the winter hasn't showed its real face yet. For now, I am dreaming of the Turkey and Europe trip we will be going in early July. It will be for a month and I am pretty sure I will get enough sun to soak up into my bones!
Now to Monday Makers!
Have you seen my scattered colours table runner yet? It turned out really nice and for today's new project, I am planning to start a pair of place mats to match with the table runner. I don't have any left overs from the colours I have used in the runner but there are plenty of other nice colours which I can match. In the end, who doesn't like lots of bright colours anyway?
So, here is my finish from Monday Makers!#33

Come and show us what you have achieved  last week and what you are starting today.

1.Your project can be anything you start on that Monday as long as it makes you move and be active and creative: a new quilt, a knitting project, scrap booking, cross-stitching, baking-we don't mind yummy recipes!, a gardening project, painting your house!, tidying up the pantry!...This is your Monday and you are the maker of the day!

2. Grab the button from the side bar or put a link back to me in your Monday post.

3. Click on "add your link" and just fill in the required areas. 
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.

5. To link an Instagram photo, click the Instagram icon at the bottom of the link-up screen and use the URL of your IG feed as the link (for example, my URL is http://instagram.com/hugabitquilts) Please hashtag #MondayMakers!
6. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!

7. Share the photos of your finished Monday projects in your next link up- I am hoping you will come back again!: Who doesn't love a sweet, finished project or a "before-after" photo?

An InLinkz Link-up

Scattered colours table runner

I will shock you with this post because I will actually blog about a finished project- hurray!!

Couple of weeks ago, I started this table runner as a quick and easy project. As usual, it took me a while to finish it but a late finish is still a finish and I am happy about it.
I want to share some details about this project with you.
Some of you might already know and follow Alex of Teaginny Designs. I came up with Alex on Flickr first and immediately I started following her blog too. Alex is creating beautiful quilts and other home decor items made with improvisation technique. There are so many photos of her beautiful and inspiring projects both on Flickr and on her blog. When I was going through her Flickr photos, I saw the picture of her book called Improvising Tradition. It immediately grabbed my attention with its title and cover photo and I didn't hesitate to buy my own copy.
In her book, Alex is teaching you how to combine some traditional patterns with strip piecing, strata piecing and slice and insert techniques and make 18 beautiful, modern projects. For someone like me who feels nervous when it comes to applying improvisation techniques, this books takes the pressure of you by taking you through the projects step by step with great photos and illustrations and explanation.
So, to get started, I chose the scattered colours table runner project.

I fell in love with this table runner when I first saw it on Flickr and since then, had been thinking about making one.
I had some Kona charcoal and lots of 10 inch Kona precuts in beautiful colours. After some playing with the colours, I chose a nice mustard yellow like in the photo, a pink and a neon green. And, made this.

To be honest, I was a little nervous when I was slicing my strips for the coloured inserts. As much as I tried to let it go, I think I (unconsciously) chose to be on the safer side and most of the time centred my inserts. As a result, my inserts look quite organised and grouped rather than scattered LOL.

 I love the neon effect of pink and green and also love how yellow creates the balance between the colours.

For quilting, I chose to do straight stitching because I wanted the quilting to have the least effect on the overall look of the runner. I chose to bind it with the charcoal, as Alex says in her book too, to take the attention to the coloured inserts.

You can find the Jewel Box Coasters projects from her book as a free download at Sew Mama Sew's blog. 

Lastly, you can purchase your own copy through the link below. Please note that I am an Amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book by following the link below, you make a small contribution to my blog.

Thank you!

Monday Makers!#34

Hi everyone!
Hope the last week treated you well. Mine was emotionally full of ups and downs but I am still alive!

Last week I started a table runner; a project which could be finished quickly. Well...I did finish piecing it in two days but had to make time to quilt it. I also said that I was going to put some more photos with more details about it but I just couldn't do it. Mondays and Tuesdays are really the only days I can spend on quilting and taking some photos; whether progress shots or photos of a finished project. Now that the winter is almost here and days are quite short, there isn't any daylight left to take outdoor or even indoor project photos. The sun sets around 17:40 and by the time I pick up the family and come home, it is already dark. Anyways.
I finished quilting it just an hour ago and I am hoping to prepare the binding and -if my son sleeps a little early- sew it tonight. By this way I will have plenty of time to take some photos of it tomorrow. I am quite happy with the outcome but I want to share more about it, again, hopefully tomorrow
For now, I will show you a progress photo I took yesterday. It gives you an idea about what it looks like. After some gardening, thanks to rain, I had a chance to spend an hour to quilt it.

All three colours are very nice but I love the yellow especially.

Now it is your turn to share your finished projects from last week and freshly started ones today!

1.Your project can be anything you start on that Monday as long as it makes you move and be active and creative: a new quilt, a knitting project, scrap booking, cross-stitching, baking-we don't mind yummy recipes!, a gardening project, painting your house!, tidying up the pantry!...This is your Monday and you are the maker of the day!

2. Grab the button from the side bar or put a link back to me in your Monday post.

3. Click on "add your link" and just fill in the required areas. 
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.

5. To link an Instagram photo, click the Instagram icon at the bottom of the link-up screen and use the URL of your IG feed as the link (for example, my URL is http://instagram.com/hugabitquilts) Please hashtag #MondayMakers!
6. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!

7. Share the photos of your finished Monday projects in your next link up- I am hoping you will come back again!: Who doesn't love a sweet, finished project or a "before-after" photo?

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Makers!#33

Happy Easter everyone!
Hope you have had a nice and peaceful Easter.
It was so calming and relaxing for me and my family. We haven't gone anywhere; we took the advantage of the cool weather and did lots of gardening, enjoyed lazy breakfasts and movie nights at home.
The bunny in the photo was made by my son at his childcare centre. He painted it, glued the cotton nose and paws and put the black dots into its eyes. How gorgeous is it! He is so proud of his bunny. When we picked him up on Thursday, he ran to us with the bunny in his little hand and said "look mummy, look daddy! I made a pink bunny!" I am so proud of him. It is amazing to see how much he achieves in every ways of his life even though he has only one hand with five fingers. I love him to pieces...

Last week, I put all my energy together and decided to start a new project; something simple and can be finished in a short time.

I have had all these gorgeous colours left over from my Layers of Charm quilt and some Kona charcoal which I bought a while ago. I thought these bright colours looked beautiful on charcoal; so I decided to make a scrappy table runner with improvisation technique.
I cut my strips and some squares and rectangles for the coloured inserts the other night and started putting them together. I will share some photos and more details in the following days. So far, I like the way it looks and am very happy that I am slowly back to quilting. I have forgotten how therapeutic it is for me...

Now to Monday Makers!
This is the do.Good stitches Cherish bee block I made last week. I made two with the same colours.

It is also the first star pattern I have ever made. I am not a fan of stars-don't know why-thought I wouldn't enjoy making it but it was quite fun to make.

Again, I want to thank all the linkers to last week's MM. I love seeing new bloggers and all the beautiful things they make.
So, what have you done during the Easter period? Come and link up your beauties!

1.Your project can be anything you start on that Monday as long as it makes you move and be active and creative: a new quilt, a knitting project, scrap booking, cross-stitching, baking-we don't mind yummy recipes!, a gardening project, painting your house!, tidying up the pantry!...This is your Monday and you are the maker of the day!

2. Grab the button from the side bar or put a link back to me in your Monday post.

3. Click on "add your link" and just fill in the required areas. 
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.

5. To link an Instagram photo, click the Instagram icon at the bottom of the link-up screen and use the URL of your IG feed as the link (for example, my URL is http://instagram.com/hugabitquilts) Please hashtag #MondayMakers!
6. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!

7. Share the photos of your finished Monday projects in your next link up- I am hoping you will come back again!: Who doesn't love a sweet, finished project or a "before-after" photo?

An InLinkz Link-up