little finishes

 Finally I have finished the last block from the free BOM by Dawn Heese from Linen Closet quilts.

Now I just have to trim them and decide on sashing.  Hmmm fabric choices, could take awhile!

I made a few of these small dresden plates in rainbow, when I discovered a pattern in Quilts and More (Summer 2016) magazine - which was for a pincushion.  The block is about 8" but I decided that one pin cushion was enough.  And instead of using linen for the background I used shot cotton in grey for a more modern look.  That lead to the more modern look quilting.

So finally a little wall hanging, perfect for a gift - which is why I have kept it under wraps until now!

Happy quilting Sue.

Merry Christmas

 Wishing you a 

 very Merry Christmas

with lots of love, laughter and time with family and friends, 

Sue.

Blue and orange friendship star cot quilt - finished!

Remember this cot quilt I made out of home made 2.5" strips from my stash?

 Well I finally got it quilted.  I used a variegated thread in blue/yellow and stippled it all over. I find stippling is the easiest free motion quilting pattern for me.  I have practised other patterns, but keep coming back to stipple because it generally melts into the background so you can focus on the colours and pattern.

I found a nice blue in my stash to bind it in.  I am all out of orange.  Pity it is definitely one of my new favourite colours!

The best bit is the snuggly flannel backing I found in my stash with diggers on it, and the colours even match! 

 Happy quilting Sue.

A Merry Dove

Back in September I brought a pattern called A Merry Dove , by "One day in May" designer Melissa Grant. 

 Melissa was at the spring sewing day run by A Quilters Harvest in Warracknabeal and showed me how to satin stitch.

 We got lots of free patterns in our goodie bags that day, of which I have finished none!  But figured this candle wrap (or potential gift with jar of lollies?) was needed by 25 December, otherwise it is redundant for rest of summer. 

 

So I set to and made it over a 24 hour period.  Not having a light box was the biggest fiddle.  There are lots of other things I should have been doing, but so what!

Happy quilting, Sue.

Two not quite finished finishes!

I finished the four stars from Kim Diehl's book "Simple Christmas Tidings"..

 

They are slightly addictive and I have more pieces cut out in different colours.  In the meantime the kids put up our Christmas tree, honesty there is not a spare branch on in it for another ornament!

I just need to add some perle cotton for hanging them...somewhere!





 

I finished this mini Dresden in reproduction fabrics some time ago.  Which I love on the linen.

I even hand quilted the top!



But I am not in love with the side join.  Hence it has not been on public display.  However recently I saw a pin cushion in this design with ruched sides.  So a new ruched side for this mini pillow/giant pincushion is on my "to do" list, after Christmas, while I am on holidays.

 Not in linen mind.  I have never heard of ruched linen.  But then again I have never ruched anything - gathered yes, but ruched no, so I am happy to be told different!

So there you go, two not quite finished projects!  I am running out of things to show you, must be time for a new project.  Oh that's right I am going on holidays soon....new projects started (not finished) are guaranteed!

Happy quilting Sue.



Log cabin from pre cut strips out of my stash

I am ashamed to admit there are no real progress photos of this quilt!  I needed a quick fix of mindless piecing and grabbed my box of  home made (using up stash) pre cut 2.5" strips.  I had a plan (e.g. pattern) for log cabins using red and green fabric with stars at the intersection of the blocks. I didn't give a lot of thought to contrast and therefore the original plan failed.  

 So I had to move to plan B, plain Jane log cabin blocks.  Well, first good friend Lisa came around and provided the motivation to make up a plan B!  Prior to that there was great temptation to stuff them in a corner and ignore them!  So first some unpicking.  And a bit of rethinking, but not too much!

 Some blocks are "red" and others "green", but in the end the mix works really well.  Mind you that blue/green strip sticks out more then you would think!  The blocks are suppose to be 12" finished but I had to trim them back a tad, so the flimsy comes in at 59" x 71". Not bad and I used up loads of scrap!

No border required, I am done with this top!  It might be pushing my luck, but hoping for a suitable backing in my stash!

Next: I made up these little stars, rotary cut (with a freezer paper template) and machine stitched.  The next step is backing, stuffing and a button is sewed in the center, hiding all imperfections ; )

I am hoping these can serve as cute Christmas Tree decorations - the pattern is from Kim Diehl's new book "Simple Christmas Tidings".  

Happy quilting Sue.

Autumn Stars Quilt finish!

The desire to reduce my stash of an overwhelming amount of brown fabric, resulted in a frenzy of piecing back in April this year.  

This is the only in progress shot I have, because the top went together so quickly.  The only hold up was finding the right border fabric!

  Quilted in an all over leaf pattern by Vicki Jenkin.  Sorry I must start writing down the names of the quilting patterns she uses, because I did spend a lot of time choosing this one!

There isn't enough room inside my house to take photos of this quilt, as it turned out so large!  Besides it deserved a follow up outdoor shot, now the garden is in spring mode!
Two finishes in two weeks, folks.  But it is all coming to an end, as I have not and will not have much sewing time of late due to work and personal commitments, especially as the silly season is basically upon us.
Rest assured I will be looking towards more finishes, but just planning them for 2017 ; )

Happy quilting Sue.