Wooden quilt hanger is hung

Very pleased that this lovely wooden hanger my father made me (at least a year ago) has finally got hung!  Its a small thing, but after spending weeks working at home, staring at this wall, I was determined to re hang some of my quilts and move then around - and the hanger was custom made for this wool applique hanging so it needed to happen!

Billy buttons

Billy Buttons - a flower that looks like you can play the drums with it! An Australian native that I have long admired.  My mother had a native ground cover with small yellow flowers that were disc like (eg round but flat) when we were kids - which she called Billy Buttons.  I have been on the look out for the past few years for one, as I think they would grow well in our sandy soils, but this version is a delightful alternative.  

A quilt finish that I forgot to post

I finally finished the binding on this quilt and completely forgot to blog about it. The pattern is called Vivid Grid, and was from the Spring edition of 2017 Quilts and More Magazine. 

I now have a massive pile of quilts to donate and it ended up in the pile without being photographed first.  I think I have said before that this block is much loved by me a) uses 2.5" strips and squares b) easy pattern to follow c) makes a decent size bloc and c) looks good no matter what colourway you use.

This is a variation on the original pattern though, as I added sashing and red cornerstones, so the plus signs stand out more.  I dont like excessive background fabric normally, but that is my own fault as I normally use white.  I am super pleased with this bright blue and wish I had brought more. 

The weather was ridiculously warm for a short spell August, to the point I had to wear shorts while I was gardening.  So adding a few garden photos to my post which has been sitting in draft mode for more than a month, apologies, full time work and family (plus domestic drudge, gardening and a bit of sewing) have been taking priority.

 

Happy quilting Sue.

Shoo fly or shoo sea gulls?

I have been cutting 2.5" squares and making 2.5" HST from my scraps for a long time.  I was tired of making four patches and star blocks so I decided to make Shoo fly blocks.  The project ended up being dominated by sea gull fabric, as that was my last addition into the scrap box - the long skinny scraps after trimming a quilt, the sea gull fabric was the backing.  

There was one lonely different sea gull print in the bottom of my scrap box that was begging to join this quilt. 

I am delighted with the end result.  A coordinated collection of scrap red, teal, green, yellow and blue fabrics have found a worthwhile home.    

Which will make another lovely kids cot size donation quilt.  

Happy quilting Sue.

Jacob ladder and a new Leaders and Enders

So I caved and started something new!  Its a golden rule, if I have the urge to sew, I go with it!

Honestly I have no idea where this is going!  This is a Jacobs Ladder block.  I am using three different fabrics, two for the HST and one for the four patches.  All these fabrics were part of a story pack I got as a prize.  The pretty and floral prints are not my thing, but I have had a fair crack at using them in another project, so just trying to coordinator what I have left.  

These are all the blocks together, not in the best light, but it was the end of a long day!  I am hoping that that I might get a small lap quilt out of this, but we will see....planning is not my strength!

While I was about starting new projects (LOL) I started the Bonnie Hunter new leaders and enders block.  This is the perfect L&E block in my opinion, just rectangles and squares, with minimal neutral.  Having said that trying to find four squares that are the same fabric in my my depleted scrap collection is hard.  So I have had to go back to the scrap bucket and cut more scraps in this sizq.  No drama, just need to seriously consider a scrap 16 patch or similar to use all those singular scrap squares.  Happy quilting Sue.

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.

Carolina chain finished

Carolina Chain quilt finished!  Pattern by Bonnie Hunter in her book Addicted to Scraps.  Made initially as leaders and enders blocks, then pieced specifically to try and get the top to a decent size.  

Quilted by me, using straight lines through the block centres and stitch in the ditch.  This is the second version of this pattern I have made and includes all the murky and country toned prints and cream to tan background prints - the first version had white clear based backgrounds and bright fabrics.  Another version is underway!  I find that working full time doesn't leave me with enough metal energy to sew anything difficult and this pattern just fills the need to mindlessly sew - not had to unpick once, its that easy!

Happy quilting Sue.

Tennis quilt, love all

Mild level of panic when hubby announces that DS2 snuggle quilt for the couch is too small and bit young for him.  DS2 is turning 12 in June and I really panic when I realise that I have NEVER made him a bed size quilt.  In fact his snuggle couch quilt was made by his grandmother. Luckily hubby was straight to the point, he likes tennis so can you make him a tennis themed quilt!

Phew, now I have a idea for a quick quilt and the not so local quilt shop, I have discovered has great novelty fabric range, so after a little bit of googling and some messaging and a parcel of tennis themed fabric is on its way.  In the meantime I drafted a pattern (stuffed up maths) and when fabric arrived I started cutting and sewing. 

Opps.  Stuffed up the math, sort by one 8.5" square :( 

In the meantime I got a full time job!  But as I am now working a 30 minute drive from the "local" patchwork shop (instead of a 1.5 hr drive), she arranged to have her daughter deliver my extra fabric on her way to work so I didn't need to pay postage, sounded like a good idea.  Except it took all week to arrive and when I did get the message I had to pick it up at the butchers!  LOL it was bad enough having to tell my new employer that I was expecting a private parcel to be delivered to work, then I had to ask where the butcher was located in town, but he didn't seem fazed about being a fabric parcel drop off/pick up point!

So this was the result, two rows of tennis rackets, one row of tennis balls and one of grass fabric (because he plays on lawn) combined with a dark blue, two light blue and a row of orange.  I got all the fabric from the Little Desert Patchwork shop except the orange.  I purchased a red fabric but it was the wrong shade when it arrived and in such large pieces it looked terrible.  Luckily Spotlight had the orange which as the same tone on tone print as the bright blue so it was meant to be! 

Then even more luckily my dear friend Vicki, kindly long arm quilted it within two days as she likes to do an all over pattern between custom quilt jobs.  I didn't put the binding on, just trimmed it and gifted it for this 12th birthday.  He was happy enough....just took me another month to get the binding sewn on, but its done now!

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.

Falling charms finished in red and Spider-man!

Another one of my kids charity kit quilts that someone else sewed up.  There is a small mistake in the pattern in one corner, but its such a lovely quilt that I am sure nobody will mind.  

 

I had no hand in making this fabulous Spider man quilt, but wanted to show you how easy and fun kids quilts can be with a bit of homespun and a panel.  I have no idea why I need to convince you, because its me with the panel collection!! LOL I will get around to them one day!

This was a kit from my stash (still regretting the dark purple strip) using a pastel pink background and backing donated from my mothers stash, sewn by a member of our quilting group Pam, then quilted and bound by another member Denise.  I am very pleased by the result, but not this photo - it was a very dark cold winters day and the colours are not this dark.
Quilt photos are very rare at my place now as the pile of charity quilts to finish dwindles and my own sewing output is nearly zero.  I am enjoying my new job, but just not enough hours in the day to do any sewing as well.  Weekends yields a little free time that I have ended to spend in the garden when the weather was nice - I am blaming being cooped up inside non stop!
Happy quilting Sue

Two bags, two bears paws and some retail therapy

I made this bag twice.  I cut it out, sewed most of it together and it would not work.  Much swearing and despair later I gave up.  A friends advise was to make the small version first, so I did and it worked.  Much sewing of incorrectly cut pieces later I got the large version finished.  Its shallow but wide, so great for carrying fabric bundles or even a large quilt.  Disappointingly I have used a lot of very expensive fabric to make this bag, so learned my lesson, always make the smallest version in scrap first!

Small bag was gifted to a nephew who is one and just at that age that carrying things around, hiding things etc are fun.

On the making front I also completed two blocks for donating to a lady who was making teenage boy quilts.  I used some striped fabric I had picked up from a online destash.

I brought a large collection of reproduction fabrics online from a destash also, but dont have a picture. Hubby didnt say a word, but he must have wondered because the bag was super heavy, as I got meters and meters, mainly $10 p/m, so bargain prices!  Most of them were either backgrounds or backings.

This collection I purchased from Periwinkle Patchwork, over the phone with some help of a few photos emailed.  I want to make another chevron quilt, after the easy success of the tennis quilt, but this time a smaller HST, because it is a cot quilt. I am not sure if rabbits go with sea creatures, but its all cute, so that is good enough for me!

Happy quilting Sue

Some super cute kids quilts I didnt make

I had scheduled two workshops to make kids charity quilts earlier in the year and they both had to be cancelled because of COVID19.  I had worked hard cutting up my scraps and making kits so people just had to turn up ready to sew.  This made it easy to distribute some kits to people who were looking for projects during the COVID19 Stay at Home" weeks.  Jan Hopper made this kit which is a scaled down version of the pattern Meet me in the Middle.  I had purchased the light blue as a background especially as I am sick of white or tan!  The pattern just uses 2.5" strips and some yardage for background, so a great scrap buster and perfect kids quilt in my opinion.

These novelty fabrics are definitely left overs squares from my stash, but I only included the multi coloured star border print not the yellow sashing or binding in the kit. So pleased Jan Hopper added the yellow sashing, it just makes this quilt sing!  

I have found it really exciting to get these quilts back and see the finished product.  I have also been getting tops back from various people and I have one friend Denise that is  happy to quilt them which is a big relief.  I have started a six month work contract, so full time work and a two hour daily commute does not allow much time to do my household chores let alone quilt.  I am more than happy to bind after Denise quilts, so we are both happy!

I am not keeping up with blog reading,  but with other peoples sewing to show off, hopefully I can keep up posting on my blog for a bit longer.  

Happy quilting Sue.

Pumpkin and black mini in progress

After months of making charity quilts I recently made a mini quilt from the Quilts and More magazine, which then inspired me to make another.  This pattern is called Nine Patch Checkerboard (22'x22") from the Jo Morton book Little Favourites.  The pattern in mini quilt books are not always true scaled down miniatures, but this one uses 1.5" squares, and that was sufficient challenge for me at the time!

I figured it would be "easy" because there were mainly squares v triangles...however trying to square up the block was a bit dicey.  I definitely need a new small ruler with more 1/8" lines marked all along the ruler.

I also struggled to find much variety in my black fabric.  In the end the final block uses two different scraps of black fabric, in order to get enough to make a block!  As some of the fabrics are quite colourful and busy I ended up ordering a larger piece of black from Elm Grove Patchwork for the borders.  I found that I have a substantial collection of pumpkin and cheddar fabrics, so really had fun auditioning the different prints for the tiny border.  

 

My birthday plant from last year has a new flower and a second one down closer to the base about to come out.  I think this is a peace lily, but no matter what it is, I just adore the colour of that flower!

 

Happy quilting Sue.

Frolic finished

 I participated in Bonnie Hunters mystery quilt along in 2019 and finished the top months ago.  I sent it to the long arm quilter and good friend but told her I was not in a hurry.  I didn't want to quilt it myself because it is a bit big and the seam intersections are plain lumpy!  I dont recall making a quilt with such lumps before.  But it is a very heavily pieced quilt. I enjoyed making this quilt and using these colours, even though they are not my usual palette.  I mixed in reproductions with moderns and everything in between.

I picked a really nice mottled ink blue for the backing and a lime/grass green thread for quilting. 

I wanted a all over pattern and this gives a lovely movement to the quilt.  I guess it is really a version of baptist fan, which is a bit of a favourite :)  I used the left over backing to bind the quilt and now its in the pile for gifting!

Happy quilting Sue.

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.

Fishing camping quilt version number 2

Yes you have seen this quilt before!  This is the second quilt using the same fabric and pattern (that seems to be a theme for me this year) but I had to use a solid green from my stash for the sashing. 

Pattern by Elaine Theriault, published in Quilts and More magazine Spring 2017.

I had to also piece a backing but still very happy to make two teenager sized quilts out of this original purchase.  There is a little collection of  scraps, which hopefully I can stretch out to a quilt in a different pattern for a smaller child.  I quilted this one myself, and was very boring and went for straight lines, because that is what I feel most comfortable doing. I can do some basic FMQ, but I lost my nerve just picking a thread colour for this quilt, so stuck with straight lines and a different thread colour to match each block.

 

Very happy with this finished quilt and that the charity pile to give away is growing! 

Happy quilting Sue. 

Quilts n more Spring 2017

This is the Spring 2017 edition of Quilts and More magazine.  It has been on my coffee table for at least six months and to be honest doesn't stay in the book case very long.  Hence I have ended up making a LOT of projects from this one edition, and many of them this year!

The main reason is the Vivid Grid pattern (page 46!) which has become a favorite pattern because; a) easily made with stash, scraps or jelly roll, b) only uses 2.5"stripes and squares" c) is not complicated pattern to layout or piece, hence quick to make.  

Sorry terrible photo taken at night, but this is a cot sized fourth version of Vivid Grid that I changed up slightly by adding sashing.   My first Vivid Grid was pretty and bright, using a combinatino of stash and scraps, in 2017 after I brought the magazine.  It was gifted to my husbands niece.

Second version was made using a jelly roll Collection for a Cause and finished in early 2018.  I took the quilt to  UK and gifted it to a friend Jim, who we visited on his family farm that year.   

Third version was made from stash using up red and blue and a scrap bag of yellow pieces I brought when on retreat in 2019 at Periwinkle Patchwork.  Can you see the millenium fabric in red (LH corner)...I have just used some of the last 2.5" squares in the fourth version, LOL!

Page 72 is Natures Guide and I have now made this quilt twice this year!! (at this point your allowed to think the pandemic has sent me crazy!)  This is version one (half size  pattern), and version two is very similar;  a different sashing fabric and quilted by me instead of a professional long armer.  I will blog about version two soon.

Page 86 is A Bit of History, a mini quilt by Ann Hermes using antique fabric.  My version is made using very bright reproduction scraps instead. I wanted to make something for me and another project from the magazine, plus I am a fan of Ann's patterns.  

Page 58 Top your Table: Spring table runner  was a project I finished in our spring 2017....which is fall in the northern hemisphere!  I love seasonal themed projects to decorate the house, but I think I only finished one other from this series....I need to rectify that!

So that still leaves a few projects unmade from this magazine, including a large and mini Shoo Fly and a gorgeous chocolate and pink log cabin that is not in the photo, but very tempting!  I have decided if I am going to go whole hog or not, LOL!  That might depend on how long this pandemic and my period of unemployment run for.  

Happy quilting, Sue.