Three charity quilt tops

This is one of the charity quilt kits that I cut and my Mum put together.  I have pinned it and given it back to her for quilting.  These were a combination of mine and donated fabrics, largely from a friend who has sewn and quilted for decades so has a great big stash!

This is another kit that I cut from my scrap bag.  A lovely quilter in my group Pam made it up for me.  Pam loves pastel colours so I choose to give her this kit.  She did say that she wasn't thrilled with the dark purple and I tend to agree now its sewn...but too late I am not unpicking her good work!  

Its a terrible photo, but the only one I have...I think its upside down?!?.  I have sent the top off with wadding and backing to another local lady for quilting.  But before that I did sew some background fabric on the sides to make the quilt a bit wider.  This pattern is called Meet me in the Middle and I adapted it to fit the size scraps I had and desired finished size for kids charity.  My mother came to the rescue yet again and donated this lovely pastel pink print on a cream background that I used for the borders and backing.  

This top is not one I had originally cut as a kit.  But there were 10" squares already cut in a box that were left over from a quilt I made quite a few years ago.  I found them tidying up, plus my Twister ruler, so that seemed like fate!

I had purchased some new white fabric (small black pattern) for background on various scrap projects.  That made a great border for this quilt top.  

I really love this pattern and think if I can find more fat quarters that dont have directional prints I will make another one in the future.This top has not been allocated a backing yet. I have decided it doesn't need another border, but I will sew a 1/2" chubby binding on the front I think to give it a bright edge.  

Happy quilting Sue.

Dresden applique WIP, a Shoo Fly flimsy and a quilted finish!

I have slowed down in the hand stitching department, but this is the progress I made early on in our Covid19 lockdown.  I tend to sit and watch too much  news when something "big" is happening, but after awhile I get overloaded and stop.  

Still it was a good opportunity to get those tiny circles appliqued on.  I have two left to do, but the prep takes awhile and I need to motivate myself again. The weather is cooling off more and more, so tends to lead me to undertake hand stitching at night - no idea why!

I finally pieced all the Shoo Fly blocks together and added a border to make it the prefered size of the charity.  I have used lots of a Jodie Carlton sea gull print in these blocks and the colours are nice and bright so I hope it appeals to a child.  I will make more of these blocks but pay better attention to the ironing of seam allowance as these were all mashed together and make for lumpy intersections.  So not looking forward to quilting it! I was thinking that it could look quite nice with sashing, but again, will need to plan it so I can use a coloured sashing I think - too much white on a child's quilt is never a good thing!

I have finished hand stitching the binding down on the first of three four patch leader and enders quilts I have made.  This one used up all the pink and purple blocks and some of the light blue.  I decided using white with red print sashing would work well on this top and get it out of my stash!  There is quite a lot of it, as its left over backing.  I was going to make a scrappy pink binding, but accidently used the 2" die on my Go cutter instead of the 2.5".  In hindsight I could have tried the smaller size, apparently Lisa Bongean prefers this size for binding, but I was so cross with myself that I threw it in the 2" scrap bin and found something else. 

I have been very glad of my mothers stash during this lockdown as she has a good collection of fabrics big enough for backings and is happy to share!   I am in love with this fun backing and managed to make it stretch to one more quilt and it will feature in a few more tops to come as borders.   I did run out of wadding though and had to piece large left over pieces for this quilt.  Honestly the term "frankenbatting" was very appropriate in this case, it was very wavy!  Being mindful this is a child's charity quilt that would get lots of washing I choose to heavily quilt it, using a 2" grid.  Luckily the design made this very easy and I have a very large spool of white thread.

Happy quilting Sue.

Falling charms and puppy dogs tails

A good friend Lisa donated this small top and the directional print that were left over from a previous quilt she had made.  I added the side borders to make it square but we agreed a top/bottom border was necessary and there was sufficient fabric.  This photo shows me trying out cornerstone options, because I was just that bit short of fabric!  

Its all pinned now and ready to quilt, another cute* kids quilt that will be appropriate for my prefered charity.  (*prints are all dogs and cat themed)

This pattern is called Falling charms (by Missouri Star Quilt Co) and I had two charm packs that had been neglected in my stash for too long.  It is an overdue finish.  I started this months ago but the pink background fabric was a problem and the needle kept unthreading even when I put in a new needle. In the end a larger sized needle helped, but I am still throwing out the scraps of this pink homespun from Spotlight!  I was pinning the quilt ready for quilting when I realised that that red checked block was turned around....way way harder to unpick and re sew with hundreds of safety pins in the top, but I did do it!

The second charm pack has been prepped with red background pieces and is sitting ready to go as one of the kits I have prepared for two charity quilting workshops I was running in late March and April.  Two ladies had already taken kits to sew at home because they were not available to attend on the dates.  I think the other dozen kits I had made from my own and donated fabric will also be handed out to friends who want to self isolate as much as possible - plus given them some entertainment.  So its still a win win in my book!
With the COVID 19 situation worsening every day around the world and the average age of quilters in the vulnerable category I have decided to cancel my March workshop and doubt that April will go ahead.  Over last weekend and this week in Australia (well the regional corner of Victoria that I live in) people have started to panic buy at the supermarket and major and minor events are being cancelled daily.  The local netball and Aussie rules football season is about to begin (a major part of any rural community in Australia) and the start date has been postponed to May - a friend of mine tells me he is concerned about how that will impact peoples mental health, such as  die hard fans live and breath for their football.  Schools are still open, unbelievably.  For now my kids are attending but each day I question myself.  So many social commitments and volunteer activities have been cancelled already, which is people being cautious V government imposed requirements.  Friends who two weeks ago were determined to have their much anticipated overseas holiday are now saying they are happy to cancel.  I am not panicked but being very cautious and avoiding the shops.  I have been buying a little extra for a few weeks now.  Its not enough to feed us for two weeks of isolation but certainly I can help out my parents and prevent them going to the shops.  Hubby already works from home and for the first time in six months I am pleased to be unemployed!  Having said that, I fear for the thousands that may soon find themselves unemployed or their business failing.  After months of horrible bushfires and such a strong sense of community and willingness to help our fellow Australians, I do hope that people can continue to find that good will to be kind and help others. 

Happy quilting Sue.

Three Quilts for children and some wildlife

I have seen a few Falling Charm quilts in recent years and a friend posted one on Instagram recently it prompted me to into action!  This is a free pattern from Missouri Quilt Company.

The pack of charms has been in my stash for 5-6 years!  It was quick to make the blocks, but I had trouble putting it together because of the weave in the solid pink - my needle unthreaded everytime I had to sew over a seam of pink fabric.  So it got shoved in the pile, until I could consult my Sewing Brains Trust and they successfully advised a heavier needle was required.

This found quilt top finally got quilted with some stitch in the ditch and straight lines. It is going in the donation pile for a kids charity.  

As well I finally put a small plain border on this star quilt.   I have just purchased a backing for it.   Had a complete brain fade and purchased extra for binding, only to find I had already made the binding from the leftover grey!   Its way bigger then I normally make a cot quilt (50" approx), but I am pleased with how the pattern turned out, so next time I will just make smaller HST.  

I want to make another version with pink and grey, just need to find the right fabrics.  I also need to do better calculations so I purchase the right amount of fabric, as I ran out of background when I made this.

Dad and I had a morning of driving around the district, picking up donated fleeces for our local fleece and flower show.  Driving past our farm (we called in to see my brother and progress with his renovations) we saw three kangaroos in the front paddock and they ran parallel to the road along our boundary.  I don't think I have ever seen kangaroos in the front paddock so close to the houses before, normally they are way down the back paddocks of our farm - because that is where the scrub is.  You tend to see them later in the summer looking for feed and water, but there is plenty of feed this time of year.  Unfortunately that is not the only wildlife sighting we have had, as my husband chased a 5 foot brown snake out of our yard, into the neighbours and then back into ours...and lost it!  So I am now very careful where I put my feet in the garden!

Happy quilting Sue.

Blue stars

I was sick and tired of coming across this lovely stack of blue 5" squares.  They were left over from a star scrap quilt I made ages ago.  Sew next thing I knew I am scrounging through the scrap bin looking for pre cut 1.5" sqares to make flippy triangles. 

I have nearly run out of neutral scraps and stash, but keep turning up bits and pieces to make the stars.  After a couple of days of flippy triangles though I was seeing stars!  This section had to get unpicked!

This quilt finishes about 64 x 55" which is slightly larger then the recommended size for teenagers, for my prefered kids charity.  

I am happy its done, but frustrated I have oodles of parts left over and still more 5" squares!  So I started another quilt (aiming for a smaller size) and in the process of rummaging through the parts/orphan box I found a little top already completed!

I do remember making this out of the left overs from a past kids quilt.  I think it got stalled because it was too small to use as a cot quilt, but too big to be a dolls quilt.  However it is  the right size to gift to my prefered kids charity (as a neo natal quilt), so bonus!  Sew now I have two tops to find backings, baste and make scrappy bindings for!  

Happy quilting Sue.

Two more bright fun kids quilts finished

I finally got the binding on two quilts I quilted a little while ago.  I normally enjoy binding at night, but a hand stitching project had distracted me.  I briefly lost my piecing mojo but had lots of energy for quilting - a very rare thing indeed, so I ran with it while it lasted!

The next quilt is decidedly girly with pink, purple and green blocks...and a pretty backing of mermaids - sorry it is a bit hard to see here with the light shining through the quilt!

The sun was shining briefly but it was bitterly cold this day, so I didn't hang around for better shots!

 The rosemary is flowering in our garden making a lovely splash of blue.

And then a few of the flag iris have also started to flower, creating more splashes of colour around the garden.

 

There is one more kids charity quilt pinned and another top to be pinned, but they will be waiting awhile now as I have started a new quilt and have plans for a second.  I am finally using some fabric I won several years ago (in our local quilt show), in conjunction with the yardage I won recently.

Happy quilting Sue.

Finishes x three

I think this is Vivid Grid # 3!  Top was made out of 2.5" stash fabrics, just pulled out the red, blue and yellow for blocks and beige background.  I was seriously short of yellow but a lucky find of yellow scrap bag at Periwinkle Patchwork solved that problem.  I enjoyed diagonal quilting this, quick, easy and looks great!

I have been on a quilting roll!  This charity quilt got made at camp in May from some already made eye spy four patches I found in my stash.  A fun musical print was used as sashing and a cheerful orange print that I purpose purchased to brighten this quilt up.

This Eye Spy quilt became very very blue, but I still like it!  I tried a white sashing and it just didn't work.  So I just went with blue.  It used more precut stash and a bunch of left over blue binding strips from past projects.

Hopefully it makes a sick child smile.

Happy quilting Sue.

Homage to Richmond!

Aussie rules football runs through the winter months, so typically occurs on cold and windy days.  It was cold, wet and windy the day I took these photos and I was dodging showers to get out to take photos.  Hence plenty of action shots of the tops flapping in the wind were unavoidable.

This kids quilt is indeed a homage to Richmond Football Club in a Eye Spy format.

My friend Lisa is a avid Richmond supporter and loves cats, there are lots of cat prints in the black background fabric...as well as Star Wars, so something of interest for everyone!

Sticking to my tried and true method of polka dot sashing and diagonal colourways to make a colourful quilt top.

And for my third top I stuck with the winning formula of blue, blue and a splash of orange!  This is because I have an abundance of blue blocks but I do admit I really like it!  I will have to go back and do a count of how many kids quilts I have made out of this donated Eye Spy fabric, because there are still a pile of made blocks and pre cut squares in my sewing room - somewhat diminished, but enough for a few more tops yet!  

But for now I am going to be busy quilting!  Its all good because a) its winter. reasonably wet so I am stuck indoors b) I quit my job and need entertaining while I "look" (wait is a better term in regional Victoria) for another part time job to apply for c) the builder finally arrived to renovate our ensuite 9 mths after we discovered the shower was leaking - so I need to be home but out of his way!

Happy quilting Sue.

Four patches and kids tops galore!

I started making four patches as part of Rainbow Scrap Challenge many years ago.  And I am still making them, it just took me until June to get back on track this year!

The problem is you think you have oodles of blocks and then when you lay them out, at 4" finished they don't go far enough for a quilt!  So after racking my brain and cruising images on the internet, I came up with a plan to make them stretch a little bit further..

Which resulted in lots of sewing of sashing onto blue four patches. Which turned into this rainbow!  Blue is Junes colour but I do have way more blue scraps then any other colour.  As I am loving this look and love the simplicity of  using my 2.5" scraps and sewing four patches, I am just going to continue sewing.  No reason to try and make this into a top anytime soon, just enjoying the process!

While I was on a sashing roll I got together these purple and pink novelty four patches.  These blocks (and fabric) were mainly given to me last year from my friends at our Robe retreats.  There has been quite a few kids charity quilts made and donated by me since then but not necessarily from the fabrics they gave me.  Which is silly because it was all pre cut! 

Sew I have been working my way through the bag, sorting blocks into sizes and colours.  Sewing up small squares into blocks and then laying out on my lounge room floor (aka design wall).  The second top missed out on sashing because I thought all that lovely colour needed to shine undiluted!

I am happy with these two purple n pink tops, just need to consider borders and find some suitable backing fabric.  I have already pinned two kids quilts this week, so I am back to having a "to be quilted" pile, only one month after clearing the decks!  

Happy quilting Sue.

Warrnambool 4 patch flimsy finishes

I finally got a border on this kids charity quilt.  Lots of colours would work, but I just felt Orange rarely gets centre stage and needed a chance to shine! ; )

The blue I brought to border this very blue quilt came from a quilt shop.  It felt stiff but I figured a good wash would fix that, so I washed it and it still felt like cardboard. :(  

I pieced all the Vivid Grid blocks into a top but decided this was a good size as is (using guidelines from Very Snuggly quilts) and the upper limit of size I like to quilt myself (approx 50 "square).  I am happy with this top, but dont love the cream background.  Wish I had thought to make a blue background with red and yellow crosses...next time! This is fast becoming a favorite pattern.

I have been making the backings for all three quilt tops (that I made on retreat), using a great fish print I brought from Spotlight when we were at Warrnambool - it was such a bargain I brought the rest of the bolt.  Because all three quilts just needed 10" extra added to the width of the fish fabric, I used the crunchy blue as the side strip on the back.  That got rid of it and I made a promise to myself to never buy fabric that feels remotely hard again!  

Happy quilting Sue.

Warrnambool Retreat

This is me packed up and ready to go at home...after I had a bit of a cull, to make sure Lisa and I both fitted in the car.  As it turns out, my stuff fitted in exactly half of the backseat and boot.  

We left for Warrnambool on Thursday morning and got there after lunch, after a lovely relaxing drive with a stop for coffee and cake, as you do when your on holidays!

 I was trying to blog on my phone so l could join in Chookys virtual sew along the same weekend :)  but it did NOT work!  Might be something to do with me needing new glasses, as my 0 birthday creeps up!  Or my lack of IT skills ; )

WARNING 3 New projects commenced!!

This top was one of two I kitted up before we went.  I found sufficient pre made four patches in my novelty stash, as well as cornerstones, I just had to cut the sashing.  Sashing was a new purchase from Spotlight while they had 40% off patchwork fabric.  I had taken some fabric for possible borders, but decided to wait and see if I liked something better at home.

I had also pre cut all the parts for these Vivid Grid blocks, from my pre cut 2.5" strip collection.  I had oodles of blue and red but not so much yellow.

Luckily when we went to visit Ann at Periwinkle Patchwork I found this bundle of joy...bargain scrap bag!  All pre cut 2.5" squares, perfect for adding to my blocks.

I got all the 10" blocks made, but not sewn together.  So when put together this should be 50 x 50" which is a decent size quilt for a kids charity quilt.

I made another Eye Spy top, from a different sized collection of four patches - all blue, with blue sashing from my stash.  This is also going to be a  kids charity quilt. once it has some borders.
There was some bag construction, some further retail therapy, lots of chat, coffee and time spent relaxing reading books and magazines brought to share. 

Happy Quilting Sue.

Horsham Patchwork Quilters Show

The Horsham Patchwork Quilters group had their show the last weekend of May, in our local town hall.  The venue is ideal but very very large, with wonderful high ceilings.

Having discovered a new found interest in curves I was drawn to this drunkards path.  However it also caught my attention because I have a few of these fabrics in my stash as well!
A lot of quilts looked tiny when hanging in this lovely space! 

I have previously made Scrappy Trips from my 2.5" stash of strips but I fell in love with this wonderful pretty, happy and bright quilt made by Pam Capstick.  

 

I love the way she used the lovely colours in this quilt to create the background colour wash and was super impressed with the amount of work in hand piecing all those blocks.

Lots of gorgeous detail (from doilies and embroidery) in this quilt. Up close shot you can see the pieced hexagons with a mix of diamonds and triangles that helps creates that lovely detail.

A second quilt (well wall hanging size) was made by Kaye Hoffman from old doilies, buttons, lace and ric rac.  It really caught my attention because I knew I had a small collection of these at home.  But my mother gifted me all the doilies and fancy work that she had been handed down through the family.  So there is no excuse for me to not make something similar! 

We normally have a challenge at our shows (held every two years) but this year for something different we were asked to make a neonatal quilt (24") and this is mine.  Honestly I made it in a day, using what I had in my stash, but it is one of my favourite makes for the year!  

I really liked this modern version (made by Faye Woodhart) and think I will try making this in a larger block with some of my novelty scraps.

All the neonatal quilts were then taken home for washing by the coordinator and will be delivered to the Very Snuggly Quilt Coordinator of the Victorian Quilters guild in July, who then distribute them to the babies being cared for at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.

Happy quilting Sue