Christmas Cheer

I have been busy this week making edible and

 non edible gifts for the staff at DS1 kinder or kindy as they like to call it here in South Australia!

 I was lucky enough to win a bundle of fat quarters from Michelle Hill's new fabric range at the Quilters guild December meeting.  It is sitting under the tree, so I can fool myself that Michelle personally delivered it just for me!  That and the fact that I am scared that by letting it into my sewing room I will be tempted to start something new!  I am staying away from my books until after NYE, then I wont feel so guilty about the UFO's I didnt complete this year.

 These are some pictures of a new project that I did sneak in this year.  About a month ago I was wondering about how was I going to find the time to finish TWO The Aussie Santa Sacks by Millamac that I had started.  However thanks to Erolyn, Stacy, Elaine and Jane I got the last pieces cut out and fused onto the background fabric.  Then I persisted and using my fabulous "new" machine finally got to use the blanket stitch, to sew down all the animals.

It didnt take as long as I thought, even though I had to stop and change thread colours regularly.  I am really happy with the end result and even enjoyed stippling the background.  DS1 was slightly interested in his santa sack (previously had a quilted stocking made by me) but DS2 was not interested at all.  However they are both eagerly anticipating the big car trip so we can spend Christmas with my family - yep the car trip!  I am positive the prospect of seeing grandparents (both sets) is also high on their agenda, but Santa is running a very poor THIRD on their priority list!  Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Quilts from the Heart

 All of a sudden November has come and gone and December is here.  I didn't mean to leave it so long between posts but we have been reasonably busy over the last month. 

 I completed my BF quilt and another cot quilt (girl), both of which were presented to their new owners during November.  I took photos of the completed projects on my mothers digital camera but couldn't them to download onto her PC.  I am hopeful that I can rectify this problem, but you will have to wait until we next visit! 

Also in November I attended the Festival of Quilts, at the Adelaide showgrounds.  I had entered DS2 quilt but it wasn't eligible to be judged as a large portion was from a kit.  I enjoyed looking at all the quilts and got an extra good look at one section while I spent two hours as white glove volunteer.  I caught up with some friends and did a little retail therapy, of course! 

I knew Christmas was fast approaching so I decided to make a late decision to make Santa sacks for my two son's, from a Millamac pattern I brought earlier in the year.  However I haven't taken photos of them yet, just sewed in the last stitches before attending the Guild meeting last Thursday night!

I thought I would treat you with pictures of some of the 20+ quilts I photographed last week, from the charity quilting group I belong to, Quilts from the Heart.  There are seven other ladies in the group, most of whom would not call themselves quilters.  However they are very good at making quilt tops, then our teacher, Elaine Kennedy, of Pine Grove Quilting quilts them all on her long arm machine.  All our fabrics are donated (and most of it isn't proper patchwork fabric) and I spend a bit of time trying to keep it sorted, so I can find borders and backings as required.  Not to mention that all important extra 3" that matches so a top can be finished!     

 I have just realised that most of these pictures are of the string pieced quilts, which wasn't intentional, just happened to be the first ones I photographed.  The string piecing technique has been a big hit with Ann, who was making two tops a week at home!

I don't think that the camera/being photographed inside does the colours any justice, but you can see that there has been a move from scrappy strings to colour coordinated - a fantastic effort when you are dealing with left overs! 

Happy quilting, Sue!