Twisted quilt finished

I am not pleased with the new Blogger interface.  I find it just freezes on my screen, no idea why, everything worked fine once I had reverted to the old interface.  Anyway, that aside I havent had a lot to blog about as working full time, home schooling, domestic chores etc all reduced my sewing output.  But here is a snippet of what I have achieved.  And just a heads up if I disappear from blog land you can still find me on Instagram (ahernsue) - a different sort of fun, that is more time friendly.

Finally a binding finish!  Its winter and has been cold, but it has taken me ages to finish hand stitching the binding down on this lap size quilt.  These fabrics were left over from a project finished many years ago and it was great to be able to use them together again.  I was very lucky that a friend Denise quilted this for me - she is a great supporter of Very Snuggly Quilts and is a great quilter.  

Temecula Quilt Co have had a free basket pattern on Instagram.  I held off and held off, then caved!  For some reason I wanted to use brown fabrics (not my favourite colour).  I had fun making these little baskets, but now not sure where to go from here.  That has been a common problem this year, starting mini blocks but not making them into a quilt.  I have decided that I need to drag them all out and try and see if I can make some interesting sampler style minis or just get enthusiastic to make enough blocks to turn them into something usable like a table runner. 

Happy quilting Sue.

Circa 2016 is no longer in pieces

Circa 2016 was a series of free quilt blocks to make a entire quilt from Temecula Quilt Co in 2016.  When I go back and look through my blog I did manage to stay fairly on track and was just trying to put it all together in late January 2017.  And from there it stagnated.

I do vaguely remember having a try to put it together once before.  The main issue was that the centre medallion was not the measurement in the pattern. And the side panels were different lengths.  Yep nothing was perfect.  But I pinned the heck out of it over the weekend and when my maths failed, I just kept pinning and sewing.  Its all together now, a nice lap size, but too big for a wall hanging.  

Its rippled and a bit stretched.  I dont even want to check how many points I may have lost. Lots of lessons have been learned since then about getting accuracy in small blocks.  Eventually it will get pinned and quilted.  But more importantly I have overcome the tricky bit and as a result I have another empty project box and one less old UFO.  

And that means I can justify starting a new quilt...doesn't it?!

Happy quilting Sue.

Mini quilts and summer fruits

Summer stone fruits are much loved in our house, but at the end of summer I am a bit over having to deal with them.  This year we only 

 had a handful of apricots and nectarines on the trees, so I was really pleased we got lots of blood plums. 

However I was given lots of tomatoes, so I  made tomato sauce, then a friend gave me figs that got made into jam.  So I decided that plum paste would be nice instead.  Well the first batch was a fail, so that was turned into plum jam.  This batch was successful and is now setting as plum paste.  But my kitchen looks like I killed a purple people eater, with stains on the floor, bench tops and I keep unearthing sticky spots every time I clean!  

This poor forgotten mini has been waiting months for me to sew two hanging corners on the back!  Now it just needs to find a spot to hang.  These are all blocks I made from Temecula Quilt Company free patterns.  I made a version in red and pink that has been completed for ages, so it was nice to get this one finished.

This is a much loved Australian native bottle brush flower,  starting to bloom, that I only planted last autumn.  These bushes do really well in our sandy soil, but previous owners only planted a red variety and this one is distinctly pink or salmon coloured.  

Janet from Rogue Quilter made a Tree of life mini using just one block, in plaids.  It was darling and it inspired me to start sewing something for myself, so I made this block (6" ), but cannot decide if I am having a "dirt" triangle at the base of my tree of life or not. 

What do you think?

I am making four blocks, just one block completed and without a pattern the trunk took a bit of mucking around to work out the right dimensions.  Now I am happy I think I will ditch the directional print! The HST finish at 3/4" and I am really pleased with them. 
Happy quilting Sue.

Tiny tree sew along by Temecula Quilt Co.

I tried to resist, because life is so busy at this time of year...and I actually wanted to make the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt!

I was nearly a week behind when I started making the Tiny Tree blocks in Temecula Quilt Co sew along. But one afternoon I carved out the time and got six blocks made in the one sitting - the unfinished blocks are 2 3/4" square.  While I love little blocks I still struggle with getting them perfect.  But this time I spray starched all my scraps then cut the pieces out...and hey presto it works -sewing perfect points was easy, so after years of chasing that elusive golden rule for perfection in mini quilts = starch!

 I made the next three blocks...and remade the first block, because the contrast was terrible.  Another few days flew by before I was able to sew again, and I was able to finish all the blocks.  It is just so unrealistic to think I was going to be able to sew each day, but I got there!  

I am still holding out hope I can do half the required blocks for Bonnies mystery quilt, but the biggest thing holding me back is the fabric.  I have to dig deep in the stash and might need to change a few colours to line up with what I already have in my stash.

This is the wall hanging flimsy completed, there was some unpicking required and still unhappy about the side triangles!  I had accepted its not going to be finished for Christmas, but definitely will be for next year LOL!

I was deadheading roses before the real heatwave hit and found a beautifully constructed nest in the middle of my standard rose - the one with the biggest thorns!  Birds are so clever, but unfortunately it belongs to a blackbird, which are not native and not welcome in our garden.  Still it is nice to see that our garden provides refugee to so many birds.

Happy quilting Sue.

A new Herb bed, a mini quilt finish and a ladybug quilt flimsy

I finally got around to finishing the quilting and binding on this little mini quilt.  The blocks were from Temecula Quilt Company circa 2016 sampler sew along.  I especially love the churn dash.  Tempted to make a whole quilt of mini churn dashes!  I tried a figure of 8 for the border, but its a long way from being perfect, I am considering it practise for the next one! ; )

We recently had lots of drying wind and some hot days.  So to wake up to half an inch of rain was a blessing for the garden.   Bit late for the crops, but nice for my plants.  The rain ment junior tennis was cancelled and hubby had time to attach the watering system to the new bed, on the newly renovated shade house.  I planted out parsley, chives and rosemary I had grown myself.  Then I put in  sage and thyme neighbours had grown, a curry plant (never had one before) sweet basil, lemon thyme and white oregano.  I rescued my Lemon Verbena which was frost affected and just coming back into leaf and planted that on the corner, where I hope it thrives.   I have potted up the mint and it is living in the shade house behind this bed.  So now all my herbs are in the one spot, between the kitchen and the BBQ, which is perfect!


Hubby gave up on waiting for the contractor and has started the paving preparation.  So with the cooler weather I am madly pruning/hedging and mulching while he is trying to get the paving done. Then next up is edging and lawn...hopefully all growing in time for hosting Christmas and a NYE party!

Another trip to Ballarat for Dads medical appointments, treatment is progressing well.  I purchased these cute fabrics with out doing any calculations in my head - given that last time I purchased too little.  This time I had too much and then made an error...so enough for two cot quilts (42" square each), one of which is made, other the blocks are ready for me to sew together.  Just gardening comes first!

This is fast becoming my favorite pattern as it is quick and easy.   These are 10" blocks, which finish at 9.5", so with a 2.5" cut border the total quilt is 42.5".

The front nesting box is outside my kitchen window and the two young birds (hybrids a mix of Eastern and Crimson rosellas) were ready to leave the nest and one was poking its head outside minutes before these two Crimson Rosellas arrived.  We call it house hunting, the pairs of birds turn up and give the box a through inspection, as if to consider it for next years nesting site and if its better or worse then the one they previously used!  They did not harm the fledglings, who flew out of the nest later that day.
Happy quilting, Sue.

Two new cushions and a mini that became a cushion

I just launched into a week of starting new projects with no rhyme or reason!

The bottom block is a Kim Diehl pattern from her book Simple Graces, and featured on the front cover as a quilt.  The book includes a pattern to make the block into a cushion cover and I justified the new start by telling myself it was better then making a test block which would never be used for anything. Plus I would have more cushions for the couch....because six cushions is not enough, right?!

I was able to use up some of the cushion inserts sitting in the cupboard and the zips I have purchased randomly...not sure why but I do that!  I also pieced the wadding scraps to quilt the top and did some new to me quilting patterns using my new walking foot - on the brown border I did a square spiral.  

This pattern is called Prairie Points from the book by Temecula Quilt Co, called Quirky Little Quilts.  The quilt in the book features lots of neutrals and solids but I wanted to showcase some of my shirtings.  I ended up using a lot of older shirting scraps already pre cut in my 1.5" strip container.  It was lovely to play with some old favorites!

I quilted the top using my new walking foot....as my other foot decided to die!  I honestly had no idea that I could wear out a foot, but my good friend Vicki (long time Bernina owner) talked me through all the issues my walking foot suddenly presented one afternoon (after being perfectly fine in the morning), and deduced the foot was no longer walking!  I borrowed Mums foot and presto the machine performed perfectly, so diagnosis was confirmed and I had to fork out serious $ to buy a new one.

It came with a stitch in the ditch plate, but after using it on the mini I am not super impressed. However prepared to give it another go on a larger quilt without so many seams. 

I started making this wool applique block about a month ago, so that I had some hand work.  Decided to add some pieced borders to make it bigger, then decided to turn it into a cushion.  Quilted the heck out of it, to a) use my new walking foot b) because I pieced the wadding from lots little scraps c) because I didn't cut the border pieces on the straight and they were wavy d) it filled in my day while the painter was in the house!  Very happy with the results., but did have to buy a zip to match, well close as I could get to this vibrant green.

So it was the Temecula Quilt mini that became a cushion, because I wasn't in love with the quilting, although I love the top.  

I will make another as a mini....someday!

Happy quilting Sue.

  

Temecula Quilt Co sampler

Temecula Quilt Company ran a free sew along for a mini quilt sampler in June 2017. I started the sew along with blocks from scraps, in a variety of colours and a second version in pinks and reds.

By October 2017 all the red and pink blocks were completed and sewn together with sashing.  Which clearly I didn't like and changed to add cornerstones!

Then on camp in April 2019 I found the completed flimsy and started quilting it.

Quilting the sampler was easy as I just did in the ditch, but when your up close and personal all the mistakes hit you in the eye.  I just kept going.....finished is far preferable then to adding another UFO to the collection!

So finally a finish for this old UFO and  it was in time for our exhibition.  Now to hunt down the multi coloured blocks and see where they are at!

Happy quilting Sue.

Sewing in Dunkeld part 1

Dunkeld is a small town on the southern side of the Grampians National Park in Western Victoria.

 I stayed in a school camp in the National Park, a short drive north of the town for the weekend.  The camp was organised by my friend and patchwork shop owner Ann.  The company, food and views were magnificent.

I worked on a number of projects including this very old UFO - Temecula Mini Monday sampler that was supposed to have a border, but had been in the sin bin so long I forgot that and just went ahead and quilted it.

My roomie Annette machine appliqued the start of this beautiful quilt.  I didn't know anyone at camp apart from Ann and her mother Barb.  It is so nice to make new friends!

Donna and I sat next to each other and she worked on this great hunting/4WD quilt for her son.  Correction she made the top in the weekend!  The four little stitcheries were all 4 wheel drive utes - which I thought were great, because I assumed it was impossible to find male themed stitcheries!

At this point I have to confess to forgetting  details, which annoys the heck out of me - especially when I had been given the back story on some of these tops!  This is Anne's quilt top  - and it was made with reproduction fabrics.  But I don't remember if this last quilts is Anne's or her friend Helens.  

It is always nice to see other peoples work....and then find out they have been quilting longer then you! LOL! These last two quilts intimidate the heck out of me and I endlessly admire those brave and skilled enough to master them.

Happy quilting Sue.

Where has October gone?

I lost my sewing mojo weeks ago.  The last sewing I did was wool applique while on holidays and dont even have a picture to share.  However on Friday, crunch time had to happen, because there is a deadline looming.

I started working on this photo quilt for a friends MIL.  It was not what I expected, but working with what we have. Luckily sewing friends pointed out that using Quilt as you go method would assist overcome some of the hurdles.  

I have brought the backing only to find I cannot get basting spray :( because the shop was closed Saturday - so no further progress made, waiting until Monday when the shop is open.

 Lisa asked me what happened to my Temecula Mini?  

So a little bit of sewing was eventually achieved Saturday.  Well unpicking and resewing.  Not just on this (sashing was wonky), but also on a backing.  But that is it for me.  Mojo still missing, but working on some motivation.

Like this great quilt top Kaye finished on Friday.  

Cute kit for a grandchild she brought some time ago.  Bit hard to see, but fabric is perfect for the beach theme, fish,water and seaweed fabric!

 Two new purchases, which will hopefully inspire some sewing action in near future.  I am hoping the triangle tool will make flying geese easier to piece and more accurate....fingers crossed!

I have been enjoying the riot of colour spring brings.  Once a upon a time I thought owning a a carefully laid out blue and white garden would be lovely....now I crave masses of colour all jammed in together!

But the reality is I am starting to run out of room for more flowers

Happy quilting Sue.

Marvelous Mini Monday ...more tiny blocks

I had been putting off making these 36 patch blocks :(

But decided that the easiest way was to strip piece them.  Worked out fine for the red version of my Marvelous Mini Monday blocks. 

Thought I would try Trip Around the World style in rainbow colours for my scrap version.

But I didnt like it.  So after much procrastinating (and many weeks) I had another attempt.

Which is fine in my book.  

Did an audit of my blocks and worked out what was missing and which ones needed resewing...because I had lost most of the points.  

 Still struggling with the log cabin in red.  Not thrilled with the scrap version but its done.

Final photo of the scrap version of the sampler blocks.

No idea why but the flying geese have given me the most problems.

Still they are all done!

Happy quilting Sue.