200th post

In my mind I had planned a special 200th post, but alas this morning  I am unorganised, uninspired and procrastinating!  These are my finishes from last weekend, a boys I spy quilt I FINALLY quilted for Heart Kids SA.

 The top started by my team from our Heart Kids sewing session in Feb, also quilted and bound.

 And the quilt that my mother took home from the Feb sewing bee, to quilt and bind.  I think I still need to check it for unclipped ends and they all needs labels.

This is what I have been doing while I have been procrastinating...(from bottom to top) washing newly purchased flannel, finding a backing for the Scrappy Trips Around the World (not pieced it yet) and pinning a table topper.

 This is the reason behind my procrastinating and frustration.  I had vowed to finish a UFO this weekend.  And I was well on my way to achieving that goal, with the rainbow QAYG string blocks.  But I couldn't remember the method/measurement that I used for binding and joining the blocks the first time I did QAYG and I have been less that satisfied with my "from memory" version. 

Plus I realised that somewhere along the track one of the orange blocks was cut smaller then the rest.  Resulting in the sashings not forming a straight line and meaning that I will have to trim all down one edge, to make them the same width. 

So while this quilt is just awaiting its edge binding, I am certainly unimpressed with my efforts.  DS1 on the other hand is delighted and has been wrapping himself up in it, rolling around on his favorite colours and crowing to DS2 that he has a new special quilt that Mum made just for him!

So in order to find the mojo to finish this "mess" and learn to live with it (my kid likes it so what if I don't!) AND then the motivation to start the next UFO but do a MUCH better job, I am blogging! 

Sorry perhaps I will do a fancy pants 200+ post....we will see! Happy quilting Sue SA. 

Vintage machine fun

I drove a willing friend to a Biggest Morning tea (with a difference) last weekend.  Ray and Lorraine opened their home, to display Ray's collection of machines, Lorraine's collection of quilts and the local quilting group cooked up a delicious array of morning tea treats, all to raise funds for the Cancer Council.

These cute machines were in a display case, which was lucky because that eliminated the temptation to take one home!

 

 Naturally the red one was my favorite!

I loved the rounded design of this machine though.  There were a few millinery sewing machines, as well as ordinary domestic machines.

You see lots of black machines, but not many silver!  This reminds me of the original aeroplanes, with its lovely shine and simple design.  Nothing fancy, but a good solid stitch I am sure.

The beauty of this outing was that I got to have a hand crank sew on this machine.  I have a hand crank machine, but no idea how to thread it (or the bobbin) or service it.  So I got the titles of some specialist books from Ray, so I can look up the details of my machine. 
 
 And I got to treadle to my hearts content on this machine!  I discovered it is harder to get started on a treadle then you would think.  If you don't start off the right way the wheel goes backwards and you break your thread.  I got the hang of it fairly quickly though.  So now I am lusting after a treadle, in a beautiful cabinet!  I can see the risk of having one though, every child that came into the house would want to have a "play", but I guess that's exactly what I was doing too!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

PS Pop over to my other BLOG to see the quilts we have donated to charity this week.

Saturday distractions

Its the end of the week, its been a busy week.  You think you can sneak in a little quilting.  An hour passes and your surprised at how much you have achieved.  Awoken at the crack of dawn the next day you spend time at the machine instead of on the computer....and it pays off!

Don't mind the fact that this HeartKids SA top has been in your sewing room for months, its a finish!  Well nearly, just have to find the binding, its here somewhere under all this mess...

Phew,  I found the teal sister....

Boosted by your recent finish you trot off to the quilting shop, with a shopping list of three items, necessary to finish three different WIP that NEED finishing.  Alas you have a child in tow and the shop doesn't have the items you came for (although free advice for a cost saving measure, reduces the need for one purchase) HOWEVER said child finds new favorite fabric....

Which justifies purchases for a NEW project.....because your oldest born cannot possibly have too many quilts! And its nearly his birthday.  AND there is no justification for the fact I am easily distracted!

Because who really really needs fabric of foxes and gumboot wearing donkeys?  And I cannot even blame the child, as he was happy with his construction fabric.....the rest was my idea!

Including this panel which was on sale and we all have a soft spot for Maisy at our house.  I probably should have brought four of these panels, as DH was telling the story he read about recently of the parents with three boys that through they would try for #4 with the hope of a girl....they are now pregnant with quads...two girls and two boys!  Hmmm "lets start counting! seems a bit cheeky for that family, but otherwise I am hoping it makes a nice quick baby gift for down the track.
Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Victorian catch up

Last weekend was a long weekend in most states of Australia, plus our children had a day off school on the Friday.  We made the most of this extra long weekend to go and visit my family in Victoria.  My mother made the most of this opportunity to organise a surprise catch up with Lisa and Vicki, for me to see the progress of their quilts, since our weekend away together in Bordertown.

I was not expecting much progress, because I haven't achieved much, as it was less then a month ago!  However lucky Lisa has had a week off and was very productive sewing her triangles together into a top.  Lisa only started cutting on our weekend away, so has been very busy.

She also made these blocks on her week off, I just love these fabrics!

Vicki has made great progress with her Double Wedding Ring blocks and is very pleased with the outcome.  I am defiantly in the market for one of these special rulers, when I find out the name I will let you know, as it looked "easy". I say "easy" as I am still not convinced that it is one of those patterns you can be slap dash about it, but the ruler certainly reduced the need for cutting all those fiddly pieces of the rings individually, which is a big time saver.

Mum got a final border out her stash and sewn onto the fish quilt. 

Mum had to search the shops for this great red spot print for the car quilt, which I don't think I showed you previously, but she did start at Bordertown.

This was my contribution to show and tell (because the Zig Zag quilt top was still in pieces at home), as you can see (in the poor light, top LH corner) the teal sister is nearly finished and the yellow stars are WIP.  We had to share our show and tell space with my boys and their train tracks!

Happy quilting Sue SA.

Stitching update

I should have posted on the weekend, but really got distracted with life, kids and trying to squeeze in a few more minutes at the machine!  Since coming home from Bordertown retreat I have been hand sewing my chocolate stars into a completed sister, while viewing my way through the complete set of Downton Abby on DVD.  Significant progress has been made on the teal stars and they are ready to be sewn together.

The time that I have been able to sit at the machine though has been spent working on my Zig Zag Quilt.  I really love the colours, sorry it is a bit dark, but the top half is alternated with a light blue, which doesn't appear as sharp in this photo as the white.

I am really pleased with the progress, all the blocks were in rows (on diagonal) and just needed to sew the rows together.  Alas it is not as wide as I would like, so I have gone back to making blocks and trying to salvage every last piece of fabric in each colour to add two blocks to each row. 

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Stitching frenzy in Bordertown

No serious quilting retreat is complete without some shopping. 

This store has been in operation for a long long time and the ups and downs of a retail sector are repeated in the wooden floors - which are best described as like walking on a sailing ship! 

The interesting array of fabric keep us busy however and we all got our wallets out. 

Mum was on a mission to make five cot quilt tops, she started with cute dinosaurs and dots.

 The next one quilt top featured fish.  The third (sorry no picture) had the cutest car print.  I think three tops is a good effort, especially as she also started a fourth top, using the big twister ruler. 

Mum is in the black in the next picture, she hid behind her quilts!  Apologies as you can see I take better quilt photos then I do of people!

 There is no hiding behind this quilt, it is so big!  Lisa (right) wanted to get her Scrappy Trips around the World top together and she did!  She had to do some reverse sewing to make the colour coordinated lines in the right place, but it was so worth it in the end. 

 Lisa tackled this large star top next, spending time making sure she didn't double up on fabric placement and it all paid off in the end.  Lisa also found time to start a new project using her triangle ruler, all acceptable when you have ticked off TWO large UFOs!

Vicki started off with nine meters of reproduction fabric, pre cut into tumblers - which she cut in 1 HOUR, using the Go Cutter, which she hired HERE.  I was oh and ahhing over her fabrics when she brought them in.  Vicki is a professional long arm quilter so having a weekend away to PIECE rather then quilt was a real treat. 

She didn't stop at one new project though, she also got out her new curved ruler (also from Periwinkle Patchwork) and started making these Double Wedding ring blocks - which started life as a jelly roll. 

 I spent a lot of time fiddling with the placement of these "modern" blocks, made in a class with Lyn Uphill in April. The pattern/instructions was for a different placement, however this is what I ended up with, hence I have quite a few left over blocks.  I think I will buy some additional background and make another "top" so I can include the left over blocks and make the quilt double sided.  That might be next years project, cos I am still distracted with this project....I got two long sides of my pieced border completed for the big twister quilt.  But I have to find some additional light squares of Indigo Crossing to finish the other two sides.  The third side is 3/4's done, but the fourth side hasn't been touched.  This all took way longer then I had anticipated. 

 I played with my new fabrics, gifted to me by my mother, thanks Mum!  These yummy yellows are begging to be included in the Seven Sisters Quilt. I also got some double pinks, so there is a real dilemma as to when I stop/how big this quilt will be. I did cut some of the teal fabric, ready for stitching at home this week.  Mum had also managed to buy me one shirting (all from HERE) and it was the perfect colour for the background of my teal stars...which solved a big problem!  Thanks Mum!

 

Finally I started a new project as well!  These are the fabrics that Lisa gave me in December and she was the one who introduced me to Zig Zag quilts.  The laying out of the blocks takes a bit of getting your head around, but they were super quick to make.  I made a bunch more, but resisted sewing them together, until I was at home and had more space to lay all the blocks out.

I had a fun weekend, sewing, eating and catching up with friends.  We machine sewed until late (something I don't do at home) and all achieved lots, but this week I will only be looking to fit in some quiet hand stitching in front of the telly.    This week I start teaching 20+ six year olds to make a quilt.  This is going to be an interesting experiment, which is how I am approaching it...suck it and see!

Happy quilting, Sue SA. 

I'm off to Funkytown....

My bags are packed (well nearly), the sewing room and kitchen sink are ready to be squeezed into the back of my car and then I am off to "funky town" aka Bordertown...HERE.  I am joining my mother and two friends from Victoria  for a quilters weekend, starting tonight and I cannot wait!

My red sister is finished and packed.

As is the Blue and White Nine Patch top...still without its corner triangles....sorry but I wont be shopping for fabric on the Internet to find more of the background print, because we had MORE dodgy activity on the credit card, so it got CUT UP and put in the bin. :(

So lets hope there is enough cash in my stash to buy a fat quarter on my travels! 

Have a great quilting weekend folks and hopefully I will have some progress photos to share next week, that's all folks!  Sue SA.