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.

Finally a quilt finish, or two

I have finally finished the commissioned photo quilt I was working on.  

 Unfortunately some of the photos started to shatter from being folded, rolled or just plain handled, as I quilted it.  Such a pity.  The family did the photos, so I have no way of knowing which photo paper/fabric product was poor quality.  

As a thank you gift I received a quilt history book published by V&A Museum, which is fabulous, hours of interesting reading, which I have started. 

 I brought myself some MORE fabric - advertised on Instagram, shop is downsizing its reproduction fabric, which means if I dont buy it now, then it wont be around to buy when I want it....right?!

 Border sides are on.  Just contemplating the cornerstone fabric options, above is option 1

 This is option 2

And lastly, is option 3 - no cornerstones!  I think that looks a bit too heavy, but would value your opinion.

Happy quilting Sue.

January purchases

SEW I do not make a habit of attending the Boxing Day sales.  

However I have had two BIG spending sprees this month!  

The first when Lisa and I went to Gails Patchwork Emporium, Ballarat.  Neither of us had plans for resisting temptation and both of us had a list of things we needed to buy!

I need sashing for these churn dash blocks I made out of a Midwinter Red layer cake (pattern by Missouri Quilt Co).  I loved the floral, but the spot worked better as sashing.  

So I brought the floral as well to use as corner stones.

I need to make a cot quilt.  These cute sheep were perfect and the mint will be sashing.

Lisa gifted me this bag pattern for my birthday.  She spotted the fruit print on linen, and I remembered to bring the bag pattern = perfect!  The stripe was purchased on sale at Spotlight later as lining.  But I still needed to find an accent fabric for pockets...perhaps a solid?

A week later and I went to Warrnambool to see the Southern Right Quilt Show and visited Periwinkle Patchwork, where I found a much nicer fabric for lining and front pocket  (Cotton and Steel aqua)  and a lovely polka dot for the handles and binding.  Ann has the best selection of dot fabrics!

 I also brought this bright yellow repro, brown strip and shirting on the left from Periwinkle.  The brown print on the right was a gift from Lisa out of her stash.  The green is from Joy's.

At the quilt show I picked up 50 cm each of these lovely repro's from Joy's stand (the Portland quilt shop).

Oh la, la!  Some lovely bright reproductions (fat quarters) from Elm Grove's  stand (Nullawarre 25 minutes from Warrnambool) selection at the show. This year I can see me making a big pieced reproduction quilt.....hmmm January is not even over and I am already making plans to break my resolution to finish up some UFO's first!

Happy quilting Sue.

Working on Circa 2016 in 2017!

So my excuse is that I was busy!  Honestly from September to December my work and personal life was flat chat.  So I stopped working on my Circa 2016 quilt.

I had made the hour glass blocks, but they were too big.  Easy peasy, took a larger seam allowance, problem fixed!  Yet the points still look good.  These might become my favorite block!

I tried to replicate the placement of the blocks as per the finished quilt on Temecula's blog.  

However colour and tone were sometimes an issue.  As much as possible I tried to let "it just happen" in a haphazard and scrappy way.

I got one side border completed and was feeling very pleased with myself. 

I failed to notice the side border was short by two blocks!  Some quick unpicking and that was fixed.

I realise the fat borders are too big, but the setting triangles were too big, so pattern requires you to to trim - fine for fat borders, nightmare stuff for loooong borders!

Happy quilting Sue.

Opps I missed a finish!

Not sure what happened but I must have been so busy with work that  I completely forgot to show you my finished wall hanging.

This pattern came from Carol Hopkins book "Civil War Legacies" which was gifted to me by Connie, when she was moving house.  The pattern has the interesting title of "Hookers Hat Patch" after General Hooker, who gave his soldiers red patches to wear on their hats.  

This wall hanging is under the 1 x 1 meter maximum size restriction imposed at our local agricultural show.  I have been asked to do some volunteer work the day prior to the show, and we promised to take the kids.  So I thought I would make an effort to put an entry in - its all about timing, the quilt was finished, the right size and I will be on hand to deliver it in time for judging!  I do not expect to win, but was happy to participate.

Happy Quilting Sue.

PS. Apparently no one else was happy to participate (or they didn't have a quilt that less then 1 m in size), because there were no other entries, so I was awarded first prize!  

Quilting Hookers Hat Patch wall hanging

Remember these little blocks?  

I think they are called Anvil blocks, but Carol Hopkins called her creation Hookers Hat Patch in her book Civil War Legacies, which is  my design source.

They have been made into a top, pinned and ready for quilting, for ages, and ages!

So I spent a day with friends doing a bit of quilting.  It was perfect really as I had to chop and change thread colours and stop and start blocks.  Chatting away as I quilted.

I finished all the little blocks, SID and the borders.  I just quilted straight lines along the stripes in the border fabric.  But now second guessing that idea as there seems to be a wobble in my edges : (

SO!  

Do I dream up some lovely little quilting design to go in the red zig zag sashing, or do I leave this space empty?

There is no rush to finish this wall hanging.  

I am just unsure if more is better or less is fine?

Happy quilting Sue.

Fabric acquisitions and giant pears

hmmm, fabric acquisitions, just a fancy term for buying more fabric?

Nope!

This gorgeous charm pack and tiny scissors was a present from my friend Stacy.

And this little bundle of reproduction prints was a present from my friend Lisa!  

I did buy the "muffin" packs (10 x fat 1/8s) from Threadbear at Castlemaine - because I don't really have any orange in my stash, let alone my reproduction stash.  But they look suspiciously gold in this photo.

Confession I did buy all these 30 cm cuts - also from our trip to Castlemaine!  I needed some bright yellow and strong greens.  The brick reds at the end were "just because" purchases ...a) I liked the print and b) they were on sale!  The soft green the other end wasn't on sale...but I had to have it!

And this my friends is my super sized home grown pear, all 742 grams of it - or for my American friends = 1 pound 10 oz!  My son took it to school for show and tell and it came home very bruised.  When I cut it up, it was all floury and not nice, which was disappointing as the rest of the crop has been lovely.

Happy quilting Sue.

A new quilt is born!

These sweet little blocks came alive in my sewing room.  I had spent a very long day making apricot jam, my first ever solo effort!  As a reward I needed to stitch something "easy". With all the lovely books I have received lately these ones spoke to me the most....after turning my bookshelf inside out and failing to find a pattern for a basket block I loved.

 What intrigues me about this block is how different it looks depending on which way you set it.  The pattern I found (by Carol Hopkins in Civil War Legacies - quilt pattern is called Hookers Hat Patch!)  is what I would call a anvil block and it sets them in a vertical zig zag - which I love, but don't think I have ever done before. 

Working from my reproduction stash I am using red, brown and gold fabrics as suggested by the author.  It is not a combination I have used before and suddenly I feel that my past use of colour has been very repetitive and safe.  So here's to interesting and new colour combinations in 2016 using new to me layouts.

Is that a sufficient excuse to be working on a quilt that is not on my wish list...when its only January?!  Some people wait til February to break their NYE resolutions!

A dive through my sewing bin uncovered enough selvedge to make a jigsaw.  I think there are enough clues here to track down some more of the lovely shirting I have been using.  The pattern calls for 28 x 3" blocks.  so I am nearly there.  Not sure I want to stop really, even though this size will make a stunning miniature.

Madness really.  Perhaps the heat has got to me?

Happy quilting Sue.

Work in Progress, Churn dash wall hanging

So this wall hanging, was waiting on a border.  

Then when I found a piece of fabric that suited it...that was large enough, we (Lisa and I) decided that another border of flying geese was a good idea.

But then I ran out of raspberry toned prints. 

Why of why do I only buy small pieces of reproduction fabrics??!  

So we went on a road trip to buy more fabric!

Disclaimer: The brown leaf print is just because and the brown stripe is the background I need to finish the Dresden's. ; )

Happy quilting Sue

Spring has sprung some beautiful fabric

Spring has sprung in my garden.  

And some new beautiful fabric has sprung up in my sewing room.

  The dainty sweet purple and white alyssum flowers are very pretty.

These array of browns and purples are calling my name.  It's not a combination I have used before, but it suddenly makes total sense.

 Grape hyacinths are a favorite of mine, for that true blue colour.

 And now I have a whole lot more blue fabric to play with, so many I am not sure where to start!

I have always preferred pink to red flowers in the garden, but these long floral spikes on the Hakea shrubs are new to me and I am a happy convert.

 Red fabric on the other hand has always been a favorite of mine, and reproduction red is no exception.  There are plans afoot for these gorgeous beauties.

 I have no idea what this flower is, but I love its cheery orange/yellow petals against the different greens.

 And funnily enough I now have some pretty fabric that matches:)

 A true sign of spring is seeing the daffodils bloom.

 A true friend is someone who GIVES you her stash of reproduction fabrics.

What could I say, my reaction was a bit understated, I am claiming shock!  

Thank you Lisa, your generosity has made my fabric collection bulge at the seams, my creative energy flow and my heart sing!

I didn't quite roll around the floor amongst my new collection, but I have been lovingly petting it, rearranging it, playing with combinations and looking at new pattern ideas... a lot!

Happy quilting Sue.

Stash enhancing trip

I had a lovely day at the Melbourne Quilt show on Friday.  I had my Log Cabin quilt hanging (no prize!) and so I had to do my share of white glove duty.  That required a 5am start to get the early bus/train to Melbourne, but met some lovely ladies on the way to chat with!  

I enhanced my reproduction stash with some more greens (for a specific project) and reds (just because) and a bargain priced brown, which will be used for a table runner backing/binding that I have planned.  The other colours were also at bargain prices, so "just because"!

I have long looked for zipper ornaments and finally found some.  As is the way, I got the Matoska dolls first, which were not cheap, but I brought them in red and blue....somewhere during the day (of endlessly diving in and out of my bag) the tiny container the blue ones were in fell out of my bag and disappeared :(  However I had brought a packet of the cute silver ones in scissors, sewing machines and trees, so I am well stocked now!  

The last tub of ground walnut shells has long been used up, so I was pleased to spot another one, for when I want to make another pincushion.  These good needles are another necessary tool I treated myself to.

Finally I brought some new scissors, as mine have not been the same since the fell (opened out) on the tiled floor in Adelaide.  Plus I splurged on a tumbler die for my Go Cutter.  I wanted a die with  more then one tumbler on it, but in the end went for the single as it was larger.  I am planning on tumbling my remaining stash of novelty prints and making them into charity quilts for kids.  

I had a great day out and then took the train to Geelong that night to meet DH and the kids at my in laws.  We had a lovely weekend there and I was able to gift the red scrappy bargello quilt to my husbands aunt, who was thrilled to receive it and loved the colours (phew)!  

Back to "work" today, hopefully I will have some sewing to show you next time!

Happy quilting, Sue.

PS I didn't take photos of the quilts in Melbourne, as lovely as they are, but rules are you can only take photos for personal use not publishing.