Sewing in Dunkeld part 2

Anne also made this quilt, which I am sure is called Periwinkle block.  But this is not Ann who owns Periwinkle Patchwork!

I think this is Yvonnes quilt but my memory is not reliable!  However I am 100% sure she made the top that weekend.

More lovely quilt tops - this one is all the old world romantic florals.

Baby quilt that was made over the weekend. 

Bedford Mystery quilt - some South Australians will recognize this quilt, as was a fundraising kit, but was extended by her own personal stash/scraps.

And a beautiful octopus crochet for premie babies to grasp instead of pulling out their tubes.

Happy quilting Sue.

Sewing in Dunkeld part 1

Dunkeld is a small town on the southern side of the Grampians National Park in Western Victoria.

 I stayed in a school camp in the National Park, a short drive north of the town for the weekend.  The camp was organised by my friend and patchwork shop owner Ann.  The company, food and views were magnificent.

I worked on a number of projects including this very old UFO - Temecula Mini Monday sampler that was supposed to have a border, but had been in the sin bin so long I forgot that and just went ahead and quilted it.

My roomie Annette machine appliqued the start of this beautiful quilt.  I didn't know anyone at camp apart from Ann and her mother Barb.  It is so nice to make new friends!

Donna and I sat next to each other and she worked on this great hunting/4WD quilt for her son.  Correction she made the top in the weekend!  The four little stitcheries were all 4 wheel drive utes - which I thought were great, because I assumed it was impossible to find male themed stitcheries!

At this point I have to confess to forgetting  details, which annoys the heck out of me - especially when I had been given the back story on some of these tops!  This is Anne's quilt top  - and it was made with reproduction fabrics.  But I don't remember if this last quilts is Anne's or her friend Helens.  

It is always nice to see other peoples work....and then find out they have been quilting longer then you! LOL! These last two quilts intimidate the heck out of me and I endlessly admire those brave and skilled enough to master them.

Happy quilting Sue.

French General Frivol

Moda Frivols tin #5;  Atelier is the pattern and the fabrics are  Petite prints Deux - French General.

I pieced this little quilt (33 x 30") while I was on camp in March.  I then came home and quilted it very simply while I was in the mood for quilting.  It was great to get a quick finish on something that had been sitting in my sewing room (in its lovely tin) for too long.  

I love growing African Violets, they are the perfect house plant for a "fair weather gardener" like me - someone who likes minimal effort gardening.  I subscribe to having house plants to clean the air and add some living colour, but keeping them alive has been a challenge!  My success is down to the pots, Decor brand, which have a reservoir of water underneath and the plant sucks up the moisture as it does in nature, through its roots.  The bonus is that African violets don't mind a period of dry, so if I forget to top up the water it doesn't seem to stress the plant, but more importantly I cannot overwater them.

Happy quilting Sue.

Three tops and a block

I had my annual long weekend away with friends in March to sew and catch up.  Life is busy was chaos and I didn't do any pre cutting before going away.  But I had the Mini Quick Curve ruler, Mini Wonderful Curves book and fabric I purchased from Periwinkle Patchwork packed together and I made this pattern called Sea Glass.  I love this book, but a lot of the quilts are wall hanging size, and this pattern size is a modest 28" x 35".  I brought extra fabric though and so far I have added a extra row on one side and bottom.  They are four inch blocks, so need to add more to make it a large lap sized quilt. 

Anyway that is on the to do list - as I girl cannot work on one quilt alone while on camp!  And there was only so much laying out room I could hog!

 

Sea Glass was only on my "to do list" since Christmas.  But this cutie has been waiting patiently for several years!  Vicki gifted me a Moda Frivols No. 5 tin - French General print Petite Prints Deux, and the pattern is called Atelier - finished size is 30 x 33".

Frivol tins hold pre cut 7" squares of fabric and the pattern warned that you needed to be very careful to not make a cutting mistake with the red....but I used every skerrick of the indigo & white and had red left over...go figure!  I love this little quilt and looking forward to having it finished so I can display it on my sea trunk coffee table.  

For my third project I had sewn an extra seam on all the flippy triangle corners for my Kim Diehl Warm Regards border and collected all the half square triangles in a little bag.  I trimmed them and sewed them into Broken Dishes for a new mini.  I didn't take any extra fabric to make a border and I am still debating if it needs one or not. 

During the weekend I made one block from the Sew Kind of Wonderful pattern Posh Petals.  I had all the fabric I had purchased in January at Elm Grove Quilts, but had not brought sufficient stash to supplement the scrappy look I wanted.  These are large blocks  at 16" square, but my sample was quarter of an inch too small.  So I need to either make it into a mini or unpick and reset my seam allowance...we will see which one wins!

Happy quilting Sue.

Dogs on quilts

This summer I needed to make four cot quilts, all for boys. 

 This last quilt is for my husbands nephew - the first child for his youngest brother. My brother in law and his wife both love dogs.  This pattern was the perfect fit for a couple that love dogs.  So I ordered an online pattern on the internet and printed off the pages.

It has been many years since I have paper pieced.  I was a very keen paper piercer about 15 years ago and made many quilts from Margaret Rolfs books, animals on much smaller then these 8 inch blocks.  But I am clearly out of practise, as there was lots of unpicking and language that needed to be censored.  Especially on this ear, which I had to resew three times...last time because the first piece was upside down!  

By the end of the 11 blocks I was over paper piecing.  There are supposed to be two narrow blocks of machine appliqued paw prints at the top and bottom of the middle row.  But I was very grumpy so skipped straight to sewing the top together.  Please note this was the first time I had sewn flange on blocks as well.  I had real issues with the foot slipping and they are not straight, but I just persisted. 

This baby needs a quilt soon and I was determined to get this top done, so I could move onto something I wanted to do!  The eyes and noses were added last, I satin stitched those on, again fiddly and time consuming and I remembered why I love machine piecing v machine applique. 

But adding the facial features made the dogs come to life and I started to enjoy the cute dogs and the fun lime green spot.  I got all the  fabric for dogs out of my stash and the blue background was left overs from backing for another recently finished cot quilt.  I did buy the navy for the flange and the lime green.  

I needed to add a final border.  So back to Spotlight I go and found this wonderful star print.  I immediately brought the rest of the bolt, which was not a lot, as it will work well to tie a busy novelty print kids scrap quilt together really well.  I wanted the softest fabric for a backing so I purchased some flannel with dogs on it, super cute!  Quilting has commenced, as this baby has been born and the weather is cooling down!

Happy quilting Sue

RSC cot quilt finished

Sew I finally got the quilting and binding done on this cot sized quilt. It all came out of my stash, apart from the cute dot border fabric I brought on sale at Periwinkle Patchwork when we were on summer holidays.

 

I just quilted diagonal lines in the bocks and stippled in the border.  This quilted used up some of the Rainbow Scrappy challenge star blocks and four patches that I have been making for the last few years.  

Somehow for no apparent reason I have not made a single RSC block this year.  When I think it through its because I dont have any neutrals cut.  I do have a small collection of stash left (that is not reproduction fabric) but the majority of the neutrals are very cream/.tan and I was enjoying the white neutrals in this quilt with the clearer colours.  However scrap reduction must continue, so cutting some more 2.5 inch strips in neutrals is getting bumped up the to do list priority, so I can reduce my scraps and make some more charity quilts.

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.