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.

Warm Regards by Kim Diehl flimsy finish

Warm Regards - 60 x 60 " pattern by Kim Diehl.  I have made a few adaptions to the pattern, nothing serious, but appliqued my berries rather then make suffolk puffs.  

Its hard to get a good photo when it takes up most of the space on the lounge room floor.  But I was handing it over to Vicki Jenkin, long arm quilter expert to work her magic.  I am just very lucky that she had a cancellation in her schedule, so there was a rush to get it finished.  It was the push I needed, because other projects are calling me and I was ready to start something new, but did not want this become a UFO.  I have several quilts that are honestly at the stage I need to either throw them out or give them away, but its like that favorite dress you don't fit anymore, because one day I might loose weight / find the motivation to finish that quilt LOL!  Another reason why this quilt is going to the LAQ, because it would never get finished if I was to quilt it!

Happy quilting Sue.

Warm Regards flimsy progress finally

Generally I find, there is a task as a quilter that you simply avoid doing, for me its cutting large pieces of fabric.  Or in this case, trimming back my 20" square central applique block for Warm Regards quilt.

I had procrastinated for three days....which meant that I had two cot quilts fully quilted and with binding machined on....even stitched the ends in!

But finally at the end of the weekend I just "did it!".  

Sew with a perfectly trimmed square I was able to sew on the three block deep sides, and then the longer sides with more applique and pieced blocks.

I am thrilled to finally get to this stage! The only thing delaying progress had been my fear of trimming that centre square!

However I was productive in the meantime nad have been making appliqued blocks for the final border.  I squeezed in piecing two borders before I had to stop and make tea.  The final step is to applique more berries over the joins in this borders.  I tried, but didn't quite match up all the triangles with all the block, so I might need to unpick a one or two to make them perfect.

Very excited to see this beautiful quilt nearly finished.

And the hunt for a backing fabric must commence....damn another excuse for shopping trip!

Happy quilting, Sue.

Birds n borders

One morning I went out to feed our one chook ...but while she was happily pecking at scraps in the enclosed yard,  I could hear noise in the hen house.  The only way into the hen house for this hawk is through a little tunnel...so he was keen to catch something, a mouse or a sparrow perhaps?

Luckily all I had to do was open the door and he flew out. The hawk was not injured, but so glad I found him when I did, as he may have done himself an injury if he had been stuck in there all day.

A few days later this little magpie turned up for some attention on our back door step.  We resisted feeding him, but could see that he has a injured foot, it is all bent backwards.  I have not seen him fly, but turns out he is self sufficient and he has been hanging around happily eating grubs and worms in our back lawn.  

Except for early one morning when my husband found him down the 1 meter deep hole dug for gazebo posts.  Luckily we own a bird net and he gave little resistance to being netted, scooped out of the hole and then untangled himself to wander off again!  He is quite calm and will let you get very close, ignoring my husband as he works in the backyard.

A friend gave me this cute little bird tin for Christmas, which has been perfect for storing my Warm Regards berries, ready to applique.

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The end is in sight....this photo shows me working out which block can go next to each other (in all four borders)  as well as which flippy triangles on blocks I haven't trimmed yet.  

Warm Regards progress

I dragged out the basket with Warm Regards and started by trimming one of the four corner appliqued blocks.  Then sewed the Italian cross blocks around it.

I did another corner section,  and then added a row onto the section of blocks that go in between.

I managed to get all the sides completed in one afternoon, which was good going as I had two lots of visitors.  I was short about seven Italian cross blocks and my mother's arrival was a big help, as she helped me with the final colour layout and choosing colours for the last blocks.  

The next step is to trim back the centre applique panel which is 20.5" square.  Unfortunately I cut the background slightly larger, but it hasn't shrunk at all, despite all the applique.  And when I drew a line as to where I had to trim back to, and another line for the seam allowance it was very evident that I was going to loose lots of appliqued leaves :(

SEW there is lots of unpicking and resewing that needs to occur next...needless to say, the centre panel is back in its basket, waiting for another day when I have the time and patience!

Dont worry I am keen to move this project along.  I have given away quilts lately to family members and my much loved aunt choose the only quilt I had finished this year.  Its new home is on the opposite side of the country (henced too far for it be safely returned for next years guild exhibition), so I need to get another finish in, so I have something to show!

Happy quilting Sue.

Slow and quick stitching

In desperate need for some quilty gratification I spent the day adding sashing to these I Spy blocks we made back in March. 

That makes for a decent sized quilt for favorite kids charity group, so not adding a border.  Went to Spotty and brought some nice green fabric as backing on sale.  Then at 5 am this morning when I woke up and decided I was going to sort backings to quilts and deliver them to my long armer....I changed my mind.  So stripy backing it is!

The applique all got finished for the four corner blocks this week.  I made a couple of design changes, to these blocks, minor but just made life easier.  

The most obvious one is that I used a star centre on two flowers in pink and a yellow circle on the other two.  Just liked it more!

No motivation to work on this quilt further at present.  I dread squaring up blocks and that is what has to happen next.  So off to distract myself with backings for now.

Happy quilting Sue

Warm regards progress

I sewed more of the Italian Cross blocks for this quilt last week.  Trimming them was not fun, trying to line up the corners and centre.  They are not perfect, but neither am I and just focusing on having fun!

I have made reasonable progress on finishing the applique for these four blocks.  I am just auditioning berries for the tops.  I have two more stars in the centre of the purple flowers to applique on and considering leaving two pink and sewing the last two in yellow.

Raising baby budgies is obviously not as taxing as child rearing, as the mother has gone and laid more eggs, before all the current fledglings are out of the nest!  These are the first three, sorry about the quality of the photo, my phone doesn't cope with distance (the babies like sitting at top of the cage) and the wire causes it to focus on the wrong subject.

Two dozen bottles of Granny Smith apples grown by us have been preserved, with help from my parents.  Mum has all the canning equipment and a nifty apple peeling machine, which made the process quicker. 

Dad turned up the next day with boxes and buckets of Pink Lady apples from his trees at the farm. I have stored some in our second fridge, but giving the rest away.  I still have two buckets of Granny Smiths to decide what to do with.  I predict there is more apple peeling in my future!

Happy quilting Sue.  

Warm regards centre block finished

Last night I stitched the last two leaves on to the central applique block for my Kim Diehl Warm Regards quilt.  I have four other smaller blocks to complete that sit in the corners - the stems cross over from the central block to the corner blocks, hence those last bit remain unstitched for now.  

Not sure if I am going to piece the rest of the pieced blocks next, or keep appliquing.  The weather has turned wintery, so hand piecing seems appropriate, however my soul needs the therapy of mindless piecing.  

Happy quilting Sue.

Progress on Warm Regards

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In a last minute rush, before we left to go on holidays, I prepped some hand sewing and packed it into my checked luggage.  It came out once, but was not touched!  There was plenty of reading, just no stitching.  I am blaming the heat for my lack of action...sweaty fingers!  When we got home I had my monthly sewing group, it was a no brainer to pack the prepped Warm Regards blocks and the most progress was made on this corner block.  

Prior to going away I had made slow progress (one birds wing!) on my Warm Regards centre.  But I am also counting the purchase of this beautiful green fabric I brought online as "progress".  Yep I finally overcame my reluctance to buying fabric off the web.  I just had to have this "old" Judie Rothermel print,  for leaves on this central panel. 

First weekend back from our holiday, we had to go away to attend my husbands oldest niece's engagement party.  

There was hand sewing galore in the car and at my in laws, and I used all the prepped leaves, stems and baskets, plus stitched down the last pesky bird wing.  

So I am back to needing to prep more leaves and some more flowers :)

Happy quilting Sue.

Binding done, tick, what’s next?

This is the Monkey cot quilt, just large squares that were gifted to me, joined together and stippled.  The binding is a a very old print, but perfect for this simple but fun quilt.

The digger panel cot quilt all finished with the binding stitched down. 

And just to make sure I had really earned that callous in my finger, I stitched on a few bird wings.

It is fair to say that currently I am spending more time focusing on my day job and family responsibilities and less at sewing. Hopefully I can carve out some additional sewing time in March.

Happy quilting Sue.

First finish for the year!

I have been plugging away at the Warm Regards quilt, making the background blocks, here is my progress so far.

I have also started the applique in the centre block.  Just made the berries (took most of a day!) and have tried their placement here...which I haven't finalised,  I think I need to buy some applique glue, as an alternative to pins.  I am normally happy with pinning, but there are too many berries here that will move when I go to pin them one at a time.  

And after all that teasing, finally the reveal of my first finish for 2018!

I love a cheats finish...this was quilted by Vicki Jenkin, long arm quilter and she finished it after Christmas.  But then I had to put the binding on and to be really honest, the label is stitched down, but not written on!  I needed to find the name of the fabric line as well - so I could write the label!

But I though I wanted to use fabric line name, so I can give this quilt a name!  However it was a "Collection with a Cause Historical Blender" jelly roll from Moda, so not inspiring me at all.  The pattern is Vivid Grid by Sharon McConnell and was published in Quilts and More Spring 2017 edition, which I have made before, from my bright 2.5" scraps.  Think that I used a whole jelly roll and yardage of background fabric - a tan check.  I like the muted soft colours, but not sure who I am going to gift it to yet.

So quilt without a name, you are my first finish for 2018, lets hope there are more to come!

Happy quilting Sue.

Hand work for tripping around

We had a holiday in Qld a few months ago, that I especially prepped some wool applique for.   The pattern is called Fall Harvest by Stacey West of Buttermilk Basin.  However having plenty of reading matter meant that I didn't sew, until it was time to watch the footy grand final, resulting in only achieving a moderate amount of stitching.  

 Since finishing the photo quilt commission last weekend I have slowly been adding more blanket stitch and just have one full pumpkin and a few little pieces to finish attaching.  The pattern then has a pieced border of patchwork fabric.  I think this is going to be a cushion rather then a wall hanging.

This poor project has been neglected for far longer and I had to dig around to find it.  But now I have I am keen to finish it ASAP!  The reason being it is a lovely appliqued panel on a zip closed bag, with  clear vinyl on the other side, which is perfect for carting around hand stitching projects! LOL!

Just need to stitch the last six leaves and one flower, then onto the clam shells, which are prepped and ready to go :) 

Happy quilting Sue.

Spring is here

 Spring is here, officially and because the self sown sweet peas have started to flower....

....along with the self sown Cornflowers.

Then I noticed the first of my daffodils flowering.

Which prompted me to finally finish my Spring table runner!

 

Pattern by Jacquelynne Steves, published in Spring 2017 edition of Quilts and More magazine.

Ironically I have also finally finished hand stitching the binding on this table runner, Spring Blooms.

This is a Norma Whaley pattern called Spring Blooms which you can buy on the Timeless Traditions. website.    A shot of the back, which I pieced to use up some scraps of green and to show off the quilting.  Sometimes my quilting is great, lots of time its just OK.  Fairly happy with this!

Hope your enjoying some pretty blooms at your place!

Happy quilting Sue.

Hand quilted evidence

I cannot believe it, but here is the evidence...I hand quilted something and finished it!  The quilt police will be out to inspect and fine me, but I don't care!  Part way through freely quilting a pattern (four orange peels) in the red squares I remembered your suppose to mark the pattern!  But they turned out OK and if they didn't it was no bother to pull them out and re do.  I finished the quilting while we were away in the caravan, but it took me all week to pick the binding and sew it on.  I like the black binding, but definitely a first for me!

This little basket quilt was a free pattern from Temecula Quilt Co and she made 113 of these cake stand blocks (link to pattern is HERE) ...big deal you say, well they are 2.5" square, so yes they were FIDDLY and making nine was enough for me!  I laid my 6 x 12" ruler behind it to give you some idea of the scale.  I am disappointed that I cut some of the points off, but I am hoping one day to learn some secrets to accurate piecing of miniatures.  Secrets that probably apply to normal quilting, eg fine tune your quarter inch!

 I dragged out my box containing my blocks and fabric, set aside for the Farm House Kitchen quilt this weekend.  This quilt had been in progress so long its now a UFO.  I started with a great deal of enthusiasm and was stumped when I got to the applique bit.  I use to be a reasonably good at needle turn (with freezer paper) applique.   But somewhere in the middle of raising two babies I ditched hand work for quick machine piecing and lost my skills and my confidence.

 There is another UFO that involves applique in my cupboard - the shapes are fiddly.  And I found that a few hours in front of the TV this weekend with some simple shapes has restored my memory, skills and confidence.  Mind you those cherries are a bit ordinary, but once I find my Perfect Circles (already pulled the house upside down) I will be able to rectify that.  I also had to make these four pieced baskets.  That involved a bit of fiddly as the blocks are different and not on point like the rest of them (about 15 in total).  I didn't want my fruit to be lying sideways.  So I re engineered the pattern to suit myself.

These blocks are next, to be filled with plums and apples, plus some handles.  I have sewn the centre seam with a very long stitch on my machine, so it is easy to unpick and continue my hand work beyond the seam line.  I will go back later and stitch it properly.  Not sure if this is the standard way of doing things, just my preference, I am worried about stretching the bias edge of the triangle if its not joined.  Now I just have to keep up the enthusiasm, as this quilt was planned to be my "summer" bed quilt, so I have eight months to get it finished!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.